Best of the Beach 2026: Residential Buying Agent – Mercedes Van Pelt, Compass
Residential Buying Agent Mercedes Van Pelt Compass Real Estate Mercedes Van Pelt was born at South Bay Hospital in Redondo Beach — the building that now houses the Beach Cities Health District — and has spent her entire life in the communities she sells. She has lived in nearly every South Bay city at one point or another, and that depth of local knowledge, she’ll tell you, is not something you can fake or replicate. “Unless you’ve got local boots on the ground,” she said, “buyers get caught up listening to the national news about real estate. They’ll say, ‘Isn’t the market really soft right now? Can’t buyers offer significantly below asking?’ And I have to say — well, if you look at Redondo Beach, the last 10 homes, eight out of 10 sold for $50,000 over list price. El Segundo right now has almost no inventory, and everything is selling for 10 percent over asking.” The difference between what the headlines say and what is actually happening on a specific street in a specific South Bay city, Van Pelt says, is exactly where a great buyer’s agent earns her keep. Van Pelt came to the business nineteen years ago by way of necessity. Her second child was born with disabilities, and she…
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