About Alta Mar

Born on the sand, raised on trust

We started with a card table, two phones, and a view of the Pacific. Seventeen years later, the view is the same — and so are the values.

Aerial view of turquoise surf meeting golden sand
Bright, airy coastal apartment interior
Our Story

Seventeen years of sunrise appointments

Marisol Vega founded Alta Mar in 2008 — the worst year in modern real estate — on a simple bet: if you tell people the truth about houses, they'll trust you with the biggest decision of their lives.

The bet paid off. Today we're a team of twelve who have placed more than 640 families along the California coast, almost entirely by referral. We've grown slowly and deliberately, because warmth doesn't scale — people do.

Meet the Team

What We Believe

The Alta Mar way

Candor First

We'll tell you when a house is wrong for you, when a price is high, and when waiting is the smartest move. Honesty is the whole brand.

Local to the Bone

Our agents live in the towns they serve. We know which streets get the fog, which bluffs get the wind, and which neighbors throw the best parties.

Clients for Life

94% of our business comes from people we've already served — or their friends. We measure success in decades, not closings.

The Journey

Milestones along the coast

The Card Table Year

Marisol opens Alta Mar in a borrowed office above a Newport Beach surf shop — and closes eleven homes in a collapsing market.

North to Montecito

A record-setting estate sale opens the Santa Barbara market. The team grows to five, all hired from client referrals.

The Billion Mark

Cumulative sales pass $1B. Alta Mar launches its private off-market registry, now the quiet engine of a third of our transactions.

Carmel & Beyond

A new studio in Carmel-by-the-Sea completes the coastal map — Malibu to Monterey County, one team, one standard.

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Career Sales
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Families Placed
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Agents, All Local
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Repeat & Referral

The People

Faces you'll actually see

No hand-offs, no "team members you haven't met." These are the people who answer the phone.

Portrait of Marisol Vega

Marisol Vega

Founder & Principal

Portrait of Grant Whitaker

Grant Whitaker

Partner · Malibu

Portrait of Sofia Nakamura

Sofia Nakamura

Partner · Montecito

Portrait of Theo Bramwell

Theo Bramwell

Partner · Carmel

Come Say Hi

Coffee's on us, the view is free

Drop by any of our three studios, or we'll meet you at the house you're curious about.

Inviting, warm living room interior