West Metro — Minnesota Real-Estate Agents

1. Ben Ganje

9.5/10

$800K+ · 181 reviews

Ben Ganje leads one of Minnesota's top-producing teams — the Ben Ganje Group at Lakes Sotheby's International Realty in Edina — with more than $1.5B in career sales, 1,500-plus homes closed, and 181 reviews at a perfect 5.0. Across roughly 24 years he's ranked among the top three agents in the state by volume. He's the choice for luxury and new-construction buyers and sellers who want a proven, high-powered team.

2. Joe Houghton

9.4/10

$350K–$3M · 183 reviews

Joe Houghton runs Minnesota Property Group under RE/MAX Results out of Plymouth, and the numbers are the headline: 1,600-plus homes sold since 2002 and 183 Zillow reviews at a perfect 5.0. He's the high-volume, broad-coverage choice across the west metro — from Lake Minnetonka waterfront to first-time and move-up buyers — backed by a full team rather than a solo practice.

3. Ellen DeHaven

9.2/10

$2M+

Ellen DeHaven is one of the most established luxury names on Lake Minnetonka — a 40-plus-year Coldwell Banker Realty veteran in Wayzata with more than $800M in career sales and 300-plus lakeshore homes closed. She is the seasoned, top-of-market choice for estate-tier lakefront in the roughly $2.7M–$8.75M range, where experience and a deep buyer network matter more than a large digital presence.

4. Bryce Caldwell

9.1/10

$500K–$2.5M · 27 reviews

Bryce Caldwell is the most content-rich independent agent operating in the Lake Minnetonka west metro corridor. Four years focused on Wayzata, Orono, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, and Deephaven has produced genuine hyperlocal expertise that shows up in how he talks about bays, school district boundaries, and dock rights — not just listing counts. The best fit for buyers and sellers in the $600K–$2.5M range who want a knowledgeable local specialist, not a large team machine.

5. Graham Smith

9.1/10

$150K–$2.8M · 100 reviews

Graham Smith has run The Graham Smith Team at Keller Williams Integrity Lakes since 2002, building $125M+ in career volume and 100 Zillow reviews at 5.0 (172 across platforms). He's the deeply-reviewed choice for Minneapolis city neighborhoods — from first-time buyers to investment — backed by a full team and two decades in the market.

6. Brian Scates

9.0/10

$300K–$1.2M · 155 reviews

Brian Scates runs his own brokerage, Scates Real Estate, out of the Plymouth / northwest-metro area — a GRI-designated broker with 20-plus years, 800-plus career transactions, and 155 Redfin reviews at 4.9. He's the high-volume, independent-brokerage choice across the west and northwest metro, comfortable from first-time buyers to the upper-mid market.

7. Jeffrey Dewing

8.8/10

$500K+ · 5 reviews

Jeffrey Dewing is a 28-plus-year Coldwell Banker Realty veteran working luxury across Edina, Wayzata, Lake Minnetonka and Minneapolis. With a range that runs from the mid-$300Ks past $22M, he pairs a long track record with big-brand marketing reach — a credible choice for luxury sellers who want an experienced hand and a recognizable name.

8. Kristi Weinstock

8.8/10

$475K–$3.9M

Kristi Weinstock leads The Weinstock Group at Coldwell Banker Realty out of Excelsior, on the south shore of Lake Minnetonka. A 20-plus-year veteran and long-running Twin Cities Super Agent, she covers the south-lake and southwest metro across a wide range, from mid-market homes to $3.9M-plus lakefront. A strong choice for buyers and sellers centered on the Excelsior–Shorewood–Chanhassen side of the lake.

9. Daniel Gustafson

8.7/10

$150K–$3M

Daniel Gustafson is a 20-plus-year Coldwell Banker Realty veteran who has built his brand around Lake Minnetonka and the Orono corridor — his site is literally lakeminnetonkarealestate.com. He's a steady, experienced choice for buyers and sellers on the north and west shore, comfortable from entry-level up to $3M waterfront.

10. Brandon Doyle

8.7/10

$220K–$750K · 139 reviews

A second-generation, tech-forward Maple Grove team pairing an outstanding review record with genuine new-construction expertise.

11. Tom Nicklow

8.6/10

$250K–$1.5M

Tom Nicklow has run Minnetonka Realty, a brokerage carrying the city's name, as broker/owner for the past 14 years, inside a firm with more than three decades of history there. He has sold Twin Cities residential real estate since 1984, holds the NAR's GRI designation, and was named a Mpls/St Paul Magazine "Super Agent" in 2023 and 2024. He works alone rather than leading a team, and covers a broad mix of property types — lakeshore, distressed, land — rather than one narrow niche.

12. Carrie Schmitz

8.5/10

$165K–$2.4M · 334 reviews

A 14-year NW-metro veteran whose team carries the largest review count of the agents we vetted for Plymouth, with communication specifically singled out by clients.

13. Becky O'Brien

8.5/10

$175K–$660K · 66 reviews

A 25+-year Maple Grove veteran whose electrician/housing-inspector background gives real technical edge on rural, acreage, and lakeshore deals.

14. Beth Reilly

8.4/10

$225K–$2.1M

A hyper-local West Bloomington specialist who, with husband-and-wife partner Dan Burling, has built a 13-year practice concentrated almost entirely in one submarket.

15. Kelly Brown

8.4/10

$65K–$2.4M · 173 reviews

A high-volume, all-women boutique team whose social-media-driven marketing has landed it among Minnesota's top 10 teams by sales volume, with real closings in Plymouth.

16. Gregg Larsen

8.3/10

$275K+

A 30-year Lake Minnetonka waterfront specialist — strong for lakefront or luxury business, less suited to a budget starter-home search.

17. David Chase

8.3/10

$184K–$1.4M

A two-decade Twin Cities Realtor and Bloomington broker-owner who has lived in the area since 1982, running his own small independent brokerage rather than a large franchise team.

18. Steven Milkovich

8.2/10

$55K–$1.1M · 112 reviews

A NW-metro team lead with nearly a decade of top-5% production, explicitly built around trade-up buyers, first-timers, and luxury clients across Plymouth and its neighboring suburbs.

19. Katie Fears

8.1/10

$180K–$1.2M · 6 reviews

Katie Fears is an active Edina Realty agent in Eden Prairie (part of the Leicht Fears Group) with a fast-growing practice — 61 homes sold and 21 in the last year, at a perfect 5.0 across her reviews. She's a strong, responsive choice for mid-market buyers and sellers across Eden Prairie and the west metro, from first purchases up to about $1.2M.

20. Mary Pat Nydahl

8.1/10

$400K–$1.8M

Mary Pat Nydahl is a Chanhassen-based REALTOR with Edina Realty who works with her daughter Erin as the Nydahl Group. She has held a Minnesota license since 2009, after 27 years teaching in Eastern Carver County and Minneapolis Public Schools. The team's stated service area centers on Chanhassen, Chaska, Victoria, and Carver rather than the wider metro, with listings ranging from modest townhomes to seven-figure acreage parcels. Review counts and sales totals are not published on the sites checked, so her track record is easier to describe qualitatively than to quantify.

21. Jaclyn Gavzy

8.1/10

$450K–$1.8M

A marketing-background Compass agent posting real $10M-plus annual volume across Minneapolis and the West Metro, verified by RealTrends rather than just self-reported.

22. Julie Diedrich

8.0/10

$240K–$1.4M

A Bloomington native who grew up in and still lives in the city, selling as part of the 30-plus-year Nancy Walker Team at Coldwell Banker.

23. Gary Metchnek

8.0/10

$100K–$860K · 87 reviews

A steady, full-service Edina Realty solo agent with a perfect 5-star record and verified buyer-side experience in Plymouth.

24. Nate Thompson

7.9/10

$250K–$650K · 5 reviews

Nate Thompson is a long-tenured Edina Realty agent in Eden Prairie — licensed since 1993 — who focuses on first-time buyers and relocation across the southwest metro. He's the patient, experienced choice for a first purchase or a move into Chanhassen, Chaska or Eden Prairie, with three decades of local experience behind a modest, steady practice.

25. Chad Anderson

7.9/10

$200K–$1.6M

A Bloomington-headquartered brokerage co-founder whose interest in real estate started young at his grandfather's rental properties, and who now runs his own small local firm.

26. Aaron Argent

7.9/10

$145K–$630K

A solo agent headquartered in Blaine with a decade-plus track record and a 4.8-star Redfin rating, covering an unusually wide swath of the metro.

27. Eda Rivers

7.8/10

$60K–$1.6M

Eda Rivers is an individual Realtor with Compass Minnesota, based out of the brokerage's office in Edina. Zillow attributes roughly 70 career sales to her, about 14 in the past year, across a price range from around $60,000 to $1.6 million and an average near $409,000. Client accounts on Zillow and her brokerage bio consistently describe her as responsive and patient, particularly with first-time buyers. She works as a solo agent rather than leading a team, so the person a client hires is the person handling the transaction.

28. Jonathan Brenny

7.8/10

$200K–$700K

A relocation-focused Edina Realty agent embedded in one of Maple Grove's longest-running, highest-volume local teams — strong institutional backing, thinner individual public track record.

29. Andy and Teresa Mitchell

7.7/10

$285K–$1.7M

An Edina Realty husband-and-wife team with Minnetonka named explicitly as one of four core southwest-metro markets.

30. Miriam Johnson

7.3/10

$450K–$875K

A solo Coldwell Banker agent with confirmed transactions inside Minnetonka and an unusually hands-on read on home condition from a prior career in TV home improvement.