Aileen Smollins of Parasol Realty Group. (Aileen Smollins/Submitted)
By Jessica Koslow
After spending years running her own all-inclusive resort-based travel company, Aileen Smollins discovered a new talent flipping houses — which quickly blossomed into her next career. It’s been an amazing journey, she said. It was her calling.
Her first house was a craftsman in the Jefferson Park area of Los Angeles.
“I am very interested in style,” Smollins, who is with Parasol Realty Group, said, “and seeing how a house can transform and look so much better.”
Smollins said that when renovating a home, one should adhere to historical codes and maintain the character.
For the past five years, Smollins has helped residents buy, sell and rent homes on the Westside. As a native New Yorker who moved to LA at the age of 26, she has no trouble raving about the area.
“When I first moved here I wanted a change from the hectic New York lifestyle,” she said. “People told me I was more like a laid-back Angeleno. LA is easy-going, the people are open-minded and, of course, the weather is great.”
Although Smollins helps her clients all over the Westside, one neighborhood holds a special place in her heart.
“We had moved to Playa Vista after our house flooded in Santa Monica,” she shared. “We were renting, and when we redid our house in Santa Monica, we chose not to move back, and we rented it out. Playa Vista has been a refuge for me.”
This word, refuge, has resurfaced for Smollins after the devastation of the recent Los Angeles fires.
“A lot of people didn’t have Playa Vista on their radar,” Smollins said. “I have been helping fire survivors from the Palisades relocate here. It’s an organic, wonderful community of people. You feel secure and safe. Everything is right here, and you don’t need to leave. You are taken care of.”
Having lived in and enjoyed the neighborhood for the last couple of years, Smollins instantly contacted the people she knew who had been affected and invited them to visit.
“I got a lot of people in rentals right away,” she said, “and they told their friends. Helping people is a big drive for why I do this.”
Being a people person is another reason Smollins loves her job.
“I love working with people,” Smollins said. “I enjoy the process of meeting someone who says, ‘I’m interested in living in this area,’ but then being able to educate them on many areas. I like to find out what drives them or motivates them and get them to the result that makes them happy and feel great, get them to where they want to be.
“I enjoy that everyone is different and unique. I find pleasure in meeting all different types of people. You deal with so many people with different stories, so you meet people where they are and discover what they need.”
Smollins handles families, older couples and younger first-time buyers. She prides herself on going the extra mile for her clients and doing whatever it takes to make them happy.
In her years of experience in real estate as both an investor and an agent, she has learned to embrace one abiding principle: Keep it real. She stays down-to-earth and approachable and always treats others the way she wants to be treated: fairly, honestly and with integrity.
On one occasion, she was working on a first-time purchase with a couple from India. Their parents had never been to America. She spent hours on the phone with the parents and by the side of her clients as they spoke to their parents to make sure the house had the right look and energy flow for them and their parents.
Smollins strives to earn her clients’ trust and respect and build lasting, often generational, relationships. She also frequently draws on her experience as a home rehabber to help her clients envision possibilities and understand how to improve the design and style of their homes.
When asked what excites her most about her business, she replied, “I have always believed in working collaboratively, especially with clients. One of my greatest pleasures is to get them exactly what they are looking for and having them be extremely happy with the result. For me, the rewards always justify the means.”
In her downtime, she enjoys long walks, yoga, playing Mahjong and being with her family and dog, Leo. As a longtime Westside resident, she is a committed and community-driven organizer and fundraiser for local schools and organizations.
Parasol Realty Group, Aileen Smollins
407 N. Maple Drive, Beverly Hills
310-980-1936
aileen@parasolrealtygroup.com
parasolrealtygroup.com
DRE No. 02125351
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