Chris and Kim Murphy of Murphy & Murphy Southern California Realty have a couple of significant reasons for their success.

"It's all about relationships," said Chris. To that end, we limit how many clients we work with at a time to 15. That includes clients with homes getting ready for the market, clients with homes on the market, and clients with homes in escrow.

"That way we can give them our full attention," Kim explained.

And the personal approach is working. They've averaged one sale a week since the beginning of the year. It's a success rate that they say is very rewarding, not...