The Tracy King Team with Compass covers the complete range of residential real estate services in Northeast Los Angeles and the surrounding neighborhoods. Started by top producing agent Tracy King over 30 years ago, our team has a long history in the neighborhood (with many of us born and raised here) and we take great pride in our community.
From representing sellers, developers, and landlords through a comprehensive valuation and marketing plan to representing buyers and renters with an educated view of the current market, our process is one of our greatest assets. We take the time to truly understand our clients’ goals and tailor our service to their unique wants and needs.
We know that buying or selling a home can be an overwhelming, and many times emotional, journey. Our team is there every step of the way so that our clients have the confidence that they are making a sound personal and financial decision.
Read more about each of us below!
Over the past 30+ years, I have been very fortunate to be a part of the Eagle Rock community and to build my business here from the ground up. Growing up in Springfield, Missouri, I could never have predicted that I would one day be running a successful family business in Los Angeles. What a wonderful journey it has been!
Real estate is my fourth profession and incorporates many elements from my previous three: social work, food, and computers. Social work skills such as helping people manage change in their lives are invaluable in my work. Computer skills are more and more important as real estate pursues the dream of the paperless transaction and life in "the Cloud," laced with increasing doses of social media for both fun and connections. And almost any open house of mine that you walk into will welcome you with the seductive aroma of freshly baked cookies. This is my 30th year in the real estate profession and I would say I've found my calling and my passion.
I love being involved with cool architecture, style and space. But I also love to see the potential in a less than ideal environment and help to make it someone's dream come true, whether that means a fixer with great bones or a stepping stone in the path of their real estate travels.
Real estate has been a big part of my life and, really, we all live somewhere so we are all involved with real estate somehow. I bought my first house back when the entire purchase paperwork consisted of one page. Today, you could design a pretty effective workout program by just heaving all the documents around.
My passion is making your real estate dream a reality. I am committed to making sense of this complicated business and doing everything in my power to make your dream happen for you.
DRE #01048877 | tracy@tracyking.com | instagram
I have been helping people buy and sell homes in Northeast Los Angeles and the surrounding neighborhoods for over 12 years. Born and raised in Eagle Rock, I know all the ins and outs of the community, and love to share my favorite spots. I am passionate about helping my clients figure out the best strategy to make their goals a reality, and am that person who gets excited about checklists and figuring out the details of a project!
After graduating from Eagle Rock High School, I chose to move to Liverpool, England to get my bachelor’s degree. Moving to a different country for college was an incredible experience and while I loved my time there, I missed the sun and decided to re-plant my roots in Eagle Rock.
As I figured out what I wanted to do next, I helped renovate my family’s 1920s duplex, and was encouraged to get my real estate license. I worked as a real estate assistant for several years, where I learned the systems and processes to manage all the details within real estate transaction, from completing contracts to communicating with lenders and escrow officers to solving the inevitable problems that come up. In 2011, my mother and I decided to make this a family affair and create a partnership.
Fast-forward to present day and I am happily helping my clients realize their house goals - whether that's purchasing their first home, seeing the potential in a fixer, or guiding them through the selling process so they can get to their next chapter in life.
When I'm not making sure all the I's are dotted and the T's are crossed, I enjoy hiking with my rescue pup, checking out the nearest tiki bar, and listening to live music (especially if there's a horn section involved). I am perpetually planning my next trip (at the top of my long list of destinations that I’d like to travel to is Kenya, Italy, Southeast Asia, and the wine region of Mexico), or looking for the next vintage home to restore (check out my most recent project here).
DRE #01834633 | keely@tracyking,com | instagram
For Closing Coordinator Athena Torres, the world of real estate fit like a glove the moment she decided to pursue it as a career, bringing her experience and knack for customer service and organization together in a meaningful way. With over 15 years in the real estate industry, this charismatic, empathetic, and tenacious mother of twin daughters is motivated by the thrill she feels when bringing a client’s deal to completion.
“Whether it’s a seller receiving their check or a buyer receiving the keys to their dream home,” describes Athena, “I can feel that joy and it’s the most rewarding part of my job—and why I work so hard to achieve complete satisfaction for our clients.”
Having began her professional career working in the customer service department of a large food and beverage company—where she worked diligently for 6 years to become a much-valued member of the team—Athena learned how to effectively communicate with, attend to, and decipher what her customers wanted. For the past ten years, Athena has used these skills to communicate with all significant parties in a real estate transaction and navigate the team’s clients through the final stages of their home purchase or sale.
When she's not keeping the team organized and on track, Athena enjoys going to concerts, watching her twins' school and hula performances, and hosting barbecues and tamale-making parties for family and friends.
DRE #01775726 | athena@tracyking.com | instagram
A dedicated musician with a background in marketing and the entertainment industry, Chris Vargas brings a welcome dose of talent and dynamism to his role as Buyer Specialist (and as our in-house general contractor) with the Tracy King Team. From working in production for feature films and television (including Dexter, Iron Man, and Transformers) to serving as a Public Relations and Marketing Coordinator for an agency in downtown Los Angeles (where he developed social media strategies and influencer activations for clients such as Nike, Pepsi Co., and Supreme), Chris is no stranger to creative problem solving and facilitating seamless strategies from a behind-the-scenes perspective.
In fact, it was while apprenticing with a finish carpenter and general contractor that Chris received his first taste and appreciation of the real estate industry. After spending so much time transforming homes with his own hands, Chris yearned to experience the entire process—and especially to witness the people’s reactions to the properties he had restored. “Working in construction, I got to see the inside of the same character homes that I had grown up skateboarding by as a kid,” shares Chris. “Since I enjoy working with people and love the homes and neighborhoods of Northeast LA where I grew up, exploring the real estate business made sense.” As a result, Chris received his real estate license in 2014 and was mentored by the Partners Trust La Canada office prior to joining the Tracy King Team at Compass.
In what may be perceived as a twist of fate, Chris’ passion for both music and real estate converged when he discovered a house that held a secret stash of vintage drums. Beyond adding a few pieces to his personal collection, Chris devised a renovation plan to give the home a much needed cosmetic facelift before going on the market and, together with his crew, was able to get the seller $280,000 over the original listing price.
When he's not working on houses or helping clients find their new home, Chris enjoys playing drums in with local bands, fishing, and restoring vintage cars and motorcycles. Check out his most recent home restoration here.
DRE #01961073 | chris@tracyking.com | instagram
Eagle Rock native April Vargas brings a wealth of service experience, organization, and people skills to her role as Office Coordinator and Lease Specialist for the Tracy King Team. Her calm, personable, and detail-oriented presence has made April an ideal fit for the team’s approach to buying, selling, and leasing homes in Eagle Rock and the greater Northeast L.A. region.
“There’s something very special about being able to work in the neighborhood I grew up in,” shares April. “Being able to be involved in the community makes it so much more fun to come to work every day.” As a native of the neighborhoods the team works in, she offers clients an enormous advantage from day one. “My family has been in Eagle Rock forever, and sitll lives here,,” April says, “I’ve been driving down these streets all my life and can talk to clients about the history, the cool spots, and what it's like to be a part of this community.”
Upon joining the talented team of Tracy King, April shared that it was one of the smartest moves she has ever made, pointing out that being in a “mom and pop atmosphere” means that every voice and every idea has the possibility of becoming something great, as opposed to being lost in the shuffle of a big company.
Prior to real estate, April held clerk and management positions for small local businesses as well as the City of Los Angeles Parks & Recreation division before transitioning into a rewarding career working with the elderly at various residential care facilities helping to develop memory care programming for seniors with dementia and Alzheimer’s. When she’s not at the office, April’s adventurous and athletic side plays out in the form of softball, snowboarding, riding motorcycles and dirt bikes, and a myriad of watersports, to name a few.
DRE #02069201 | april@tracyking.com | instagram
We conduct business in accordance with the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. It is illegal to discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, sexual orientation, or national origin.