Boutique brokerage a player in Lake Tahoe real estate

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — Of the many towns that encompass the Lake Tahoe Basin, there are many full-time residents, second homeowners, and even vacation rental owners that have their piece of pie in Tahoe’s real estate market.

Mountain Luxury Properties, also known as Mountain Lux, is a boutique, independently owned real estate brokerage that’s offering an elevated concierge experience that rises above. Longtime resident and real estate agent in Lake Tahoe, Gregory Ochoa, decided to act fast and take advantage of pursuing his dream to open a boutique brokerage in 2020, and two years later, Mountain Lux has become one of the premier real estate brokerages within all of Lake Tahoe.

Since launching, Mountain Lux has successfully closed 218 transaction sides, with 10 of these properties having sold for over $5 million which included seven lakefront transactions. One of Mountain Luxury Properties’ lakefront listings at 1340 W. Lake Blvd, Tahoe City is listed at $17,900,000 and is currently under contract.

“I began selling real estate in 2011 and had been a real estate appraiser prior to that,” Ochoa said. “As I started to build my career in real estate, selling and appraising began to overlap for me. I had worked for another boutique brand at the time, which allowed me to flourish with the advantages that a boutique brand can bring to both their agents and clients.”

Shortly thereafter, Ochoa’s former broker sold his brokerage to a larger real estate company, and Ochoa saw an opening to continue to define the boutique real estate industry, thus Mountain Lux was born.

“I always envisioned starting my own brokerage, I was just waiting for the right opportunity,” Ochoa said.

In early 2020, Ochoa decided to take the leap and opened Mountain Lux; however, during this time the COVID pandemic created much uncertainty for the real estate market, Lake Tahoe, and the world.

“I had signed a lease at our first Mountain Lux office location right when the pandemic hit in March 2020,” Ochoa said. “I thought: ‘Oh my god, this is a horrible idea,’ and I was really nervous that it was the wrong timing because all real estate agents at the time really didn’t know what to expect, like everyone else.”

Although the brokerage opened during the uncertainty of 2020, Mountain Lux persevered, and in just over two years, has grown.

After opening their first location in South Lake Tahoe, Mountain Lux continued to rapidly grow by acquiring two additional office locations in Tahoe City and Zephyr Cove.

“Within a boutique real estate model, we have a lot more flexibility to create a more intimate culture amongst the agents,” Ochoa said. “The [real estate] agents are a bit more collaborative than they typically would be in comparison to working at a ‘big box’ brand.”

In fact, as Mountain Lux is proactively working on continuing to curate their culture, they continually harp on providing a collaborative approach, versus competitive; in turn delivering a positive, uplifting environment for both the brokerage’s real estate agents to openly ask questions and grow as agents, as well as help properly guide their clients in the right direction. 

Mountain Lux is not just a luxury real estate brokerage; as longtime Tahoe locals themselves, the agents are passionate about providing the same high-end service to the local community as well.

“The company’s name is Mountain Luxury Properties but we’re very careful and let people know that we don’t just represent the high-end of real estate,” Ochoa said. “We facilitate deals at all price points. We are extremely passionate about applying our high-level expertise to all of our clientele, not just the luxury market.” 

Looking forward, Mountain Lux has no plans of slowing down, and is eager to continue to expand throughout the Lake Tahoe Basin. 

“More expansion is on the horizon for us,” Ochoa said. “In the next year or so, you’ll see us growing quite a bit. Expanding and bringing on the right agents for Mountain Luxury Properties is of the utmost importance to our growth.” 

For more information on Mountain Luxury Properties, visit https://www.mountainlux.com/