Jim Van Zanten

Jim Van Zanten is a native Californian and seasoned real estate professional with 44 years of experience. With well over $1,400,000,000 in personal sales, Jim has established himself as a driving force within the real estate industry. He has been fortunate to operate several prominent real estate companies in the South Bay Area. He founded South Bay Brokers Inc. with a partner in 1985 and after attaining 1 billion dollars annually in gross sales, he merged the company with Vista Sotheby’s International Realty in 2015.

Happily married for 42 years, Jim & his wife Jean love the South Bay and make it a personal mission to give back to their community, frequently sponsoring local high schools and ensuring local arts, culture & sports live strongly within their community and its youth. Their son Eric graduated from LMU’s Film and TV School in Recording Arts.

When not taking care of business and spearheading the #1 real estate team in the South Bay, Jim & Jean spread their ‘aloha spirit’ all over the Island of Hawaii, and other exotic travel favorites. Besides a passion for exquisite wine and fine dining, Jim continues to bleed blue for UCLA basketball. Go Bruins!

Jim has a BA in Economics from UCLA, graduating Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. His MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA in 1981 is concentrated in Real Estate and Finance. With 43 years of experience under his belt, Jim has also attended & led countless real estate courses and encourages his agents to continue their education by setting up compelling speaker engagements and other compelling real estate focused events.

Vista Sotheby's International Realty: Jim is still active as a manager at Vista Sotheby’s. Vista Sotheby's International Realty is a full-service international real estate firm with 250 agents under the brokerage. Recognized as industry leaders and experts throughout the Southern California marketplace, its agents are uniquely positioned to guide their client’s real estate objectives quickly and successfully. The direct affiliation with Sotheby’s auction house and Sotheby’s International Realty® offers the company an unparalleled global reach. Vista Sotheby’s now mainly operates in the Palos Verdes peninsula, Long Beach and the beach cities of Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, El Segundo and Manhattan Beach. Each year Vista closes over $2,200,000,000 in residential home sales.