About Brian Guiltinan

Whenever the subject of San Diego luxury real estate comes up, Brian Guiltinan’s name will likely follow. After all, the San Diego native has been involved with some of the most expensive sales ever to occur in the county. Now, as the first known real estate advisor specializing in properties valued in excess of $20 million, Mr. Guiltinan is the first call wealthy Southern Californians make when buying or selling high-end properties.

For the past decade, Mr. Guiltinan has foraged an amazing career in luxury real estate. Beginning in 1995, he experienced some early struggles, and even considered abandoning his real estate career. At that point Mr. Guiltinan began to reevaluate his career, and concluded that the area he wanted to target was Rancho Santa Fe, the most affluent neighborhood in San Diego. He received cautionary advice from other agents to stay out of Rancho Santa Fe. “People told me that I was too young to sell real estate in Rancho Santa Fe, and that it was simply too exclusive an area to be successful,” he stated. Undeterred, he set about Rancho Santa Fe in a fervor, with a single minded goal of being the most successful agent.

Using his networking skills, and his strong connections to the community, Mr. Guiltinan soon befriended many of Rancho Santa Fe’s residents and businesspeople. “The real estate business is about relationships, and I knew I would be successful if I could obtain lasting friendships with successful people in the Rancho Santa Fe area,” he says. These relationships soon paid off, as he became one of Rancho Santa Fe’s top agents. The coup d’etat came in 2000, when he sold a $22 million home in Rancho Santa Fe. At the time, the sale was the most expensive in San Diego history.

Eventually, Mr. Guiltinan decided he needed ultimate control over his career. In 2003, he formed The Guiltinan Group to encapsulate all of his ideas about properly running a real estate brokerage. “I knew that the most important thing was branding, to create a high end image for my company that would make clients comfortable.” With several creative marketing strategies, such as a wrap on the Rancho Santa Fe Review newspaper and a sponsorship of NBC’s weather broadcast, The Guiltinan Group quickly became a household name in San Diego.

Mr. Guiltinan’s own success as a real estate agent did not stop. Though his primary duties included recruiting agents and supervising marketing, he occasionally assisted clients in high end real estate. This “dabbling” proved quite prosperous, as Mr. Guiltinan had the highest sale in La Jolla in 2005, a $23.5 million dollar property.

This success did not go unnoticed. Steve Games, President of Prudential California Realty, an affiliate of Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, soon noticed the upstart Guiltinan Group. Prudential was, and continues to be, the leading residential real estate brokerage in San Diego. Mr. Games soon began to speak to Mr. Guiltinan about the possibility of Prudential and The Guiltinan Group joining forces. Mr. Guiltinan warmed to the possibility due to Games’ sincerity. He stated, “Steve is an amazing businessman and person. His enthusiasm is evident in everything he does, and his energy is unparalleled.”

The relationship culminated with Prudential purchasing The Guiltinan Group in January of 2006. Throughout the sale, Mr. Guiltinan stuck to the principals that have made him successful. “I knew that I would only sell my company to someone with the same vision as myself, someone who was committed to creating the ultimate luxury real estate company. As it turns out, I couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone other than Steve Games.”

Prudential also had another advantage for Mr. Guiltinan. The company has offices throughout Southern California, which Mr. Guiltinan knew would give him greater exposure and even greater opportunities with affluent clientele. Infusing his excellent ideas with Prudential’s reputation and presence is proving to be a winning combination. As President of the Estates Division, Prudential’s luxury homes division, Brian has been instrumental in implementing new ideas to help Prudential solidify its status as San Diego’s leader in luxury real estate.

This is apparent with Mr. Guiltinan’s formation of a new service geared towards servicing $20 million plus property listings. “The $20 million plus property is a different animal, and requires a different skill set,” says Mr. Guiltinan. “The marketing must ensure maximum exposure to wealthy buyers, and the whole process must be overseen by someone with the experience necessary to coordinate all the moving parts. I see myself as a real estate advisor, not an agent, and as such, I coordinate everything from hiring professionals to stage the property to increase its attractiveness to hiring the best team of inspectors possible who have years of experience working with luxury properties.” There is no doubt that the owners and potential buyers of these properties have a great resource in Mr. Guiltinan.