Rob Giem

Rob Giem’s fingerprint is all over places such as Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. 

That includes 15 Del Mar in Crystal Cove, which sold in 2020 for $61 million and remains Newport Coast’s most expensive deal ever. The over 18,000-square-foot residence was purchased by LoanDepot founder Anthony Hsieh. 

More recently, the long-time coastal Orange County agent, who has more than three decades in the business, represented the buyer, along with Garrett Rau, in the purchase of 1 Pelican Crest Drive in Newport Coast’s Pelican Crest neighborhood. The property, which had been gutted with plans to build a nearly 17,000-square-foot home, sold for $42 million. It currently holds the title of priciest 2025 deal in Orange County. When Giem joined Compass in 2017, after serving as a partner at HOM Sotheby’s International Realty in Newport Beach, he was the brokerage’s first agent for what was the then-new Newport Beach office and its first address outside of Los Angeles. 

He left Compass in January 2025 to join Side-backed Plus Real Estate as a co-founder and time will tell whether the same successes Giem had at Compass can be duplicated at his new brokerage. Not big on self-promotion, Giem is one of the rare agents who won’t produce a headshot for media coverage on his deals.

 — Kari Hamanaka