Inside Hollywood’s billion-dollar real estate agencies – and the stars that make them

The assemblage began gathering astatine 5pm, into the movie-perfect backyard of a 1920s Spanish-style Los Angeles property erstwhile owned by Madonna. The aerial was truthful brushed and eucalyptus-scented that you could wrapper yourself successful it. Glasses clinked. The excavation glinted successful the slinking sun. In the Santa Monica Mountains above, the Hollywood motion gleamed similar a enactment of perfectly capped teeth.

Into that aureate airy stepped Mauricio Umansky, caller disconnected his debut the nighttime earlier connected Dancing With the Stars. He made his mode to a crystal lectern and began cracking jokes for the attendees, who were determination for a star-studded awards show.

Unlike the Oscars oregon the Golden Globes, these awards didn’t spell to actors, directors oregon screenwriters. They went to existent property agents, crowned successful categories specified arsenic “Stratospheric Sale of the Year”. The victor of that grant was Kurt Rappaport, who represented Beyoncé and Jay-Z arsenic they closed connected a $US190 cardinal ($290 million) Malibu pad past May. As a existent property broker with 2 seasons of Buying Beverly Hills and 13 seasons arsenic a existent hubby connected The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills nether his belt, Umansky was the consummate MC for the evening’s Power Broker Awards.

Celebrity has transfixed the existent property world. Agents successful markets specified arsenic Los Angeles and New York pursuit stardom arsenic fervently arsenic they pursuit deals.

The Power Broker Awards were held astatine 1920s Spanish-style property erstwhile owned by Madonna.Credit: The New York Times

They roseate to glitzy heights during the pandemic, floating into surviving rooms connected shows specified arsenic Million Dollar Listing, Million Dollar Beach House and Buying Beverly Hills. Captive audiences watched agents rake successful six-figure commissions and wrangle idiosyncratic dramas arsenic they listed, bought and sold immoderate of America’s astir eye-popping existent estate. Selling Sunset, successful which an ensemble formed of couture-clad agents bickers and bids successful stilettos, premiered successful 2019 and rapidly became 1 of Netflix’s astir fashionable shows.

The agents present person existent staying power, fuelled by viewers’ insatiable tendency for world tv contented and the escapism of peeking astatine properties they could ne'er spend to own.

Housing affordability successful the United States is astatine a crushing low, with skyrocketing prices, elevated owe rates and a deficiency of inventory accessible to low- and middle-income households. The imagination of homeownership is much elusive for Americans than it has been successful decades. According to Danielle Lindemann, a prof of sociology astatine Lehigh University and the writer of True Story: What Reality TV Says About Us, that disconnect increases the programs’ allure, expanding the daydream of Zillow surfing by packaging it arsenic premium content.

“Paradoxically, with these shows, we arsenic viewers forge what’s called a parasocial relationship, which is similar a relationship oregon idiosyncratic narration with a quality connected TV,” Lindemann said. “We privation to spot this wealth. We tin unrecorded vicariously done it. You get to beryllium successful this hyperreality wherever you astir get to consciousness similar you’re a portion of it.”

Power Broker Awards attendees went to the Hollywood Hills for an afterparty astatine the Californication House, a $US38 cardinal James Bond-inspired mansion.Credit: The New York Times

‘Growing My Name’

“Every cause contiguous is trying to get their ain show,” said Alexander Ali, laminitis of the Society Group, a Los Angeles-based nationalist relations steadfast that exclusively markets personage agents and their properties. “You’ll beryllium hard-pressed to find an cause who doesn’t person societal media and a PR strategy.”

His institution represents agents who person worked with the Kardashians, Ariana Grande and Justin Timberlake – Ali calls it “the CAA of existent estate,” referring to the Hollywood endowment agency. Three years ago, helium decided to make the Power Broker Awards.

The Hollywood Reporter, which since 2017 has invested heavy successful its existent property coverage, has been a co-sponsor of the awards since their inception. The mag publishes an yearly database of the apical agents successful Los Angeles and New York based connected their income volume, homes sold to Hollywood clients, and visibility successful the media.

Three times a year, successful Los Angeles, Miami and New York, Ali partners with The Wall Street Journal for an lawsuit called “Upfronts”, a sneak preview of existent property listings that apical agents program to enactment connected the marketplace aboriginal successful the year. It is held successful a movie screening country and modelled connected the yearly presentations that tv networks marque to entice advertisers to their upcoming shows.

In the existent property brokerage industry, arsenic successful the lodging marketplace – wherever median location prices are present six times the median American income and a bulk of American renters are spending much than 30 per cent of their income connected rent and utilities – determination is simply a chasm betwixt the haves and have-nots. The mean cause earns $USUS46,014 ($74,000) a year, according to the National Association of Realtors. Umansky’s nett worthy is $US100 million, according to reports.

“When I decided to spell connected television, I said, if I’m going to bash this, it’s going to beryllium for the involvement of the concern and the involvement of increasing my name,” Umansky, 53, said successful an interview.

He got his commencement successful existent property astatine the steadfast Hilton & Hyland, which is owned by his brother-in-law Richard Hilton (of the Hilton edifice dynasty). Umansky archetypal appeared connected Real Housewives successful 2010 and past capitalised connected the vulnerability to motorboat his ain existent property company, the Agency, successful 2011. Buying Beverly Hills premiered successful 2022. The Agency earned $US12.4 cardinal successful income that twelvemonth – much than $US1 cardinal much than successful 2021.

Some younger agents who joined tv shows accidental they spot personage arsenic 1 of the quickest ways to physique their brands. Mia Calabrese, a New York-based cause with Nest Seekers International, had lone been a existent property cause for 2 years erstwhile she joined the Discovery+ bid Selling the Hamptons successful 2021.

“It was an accidental to catapult my existent property career,” said Calabrese, 32. “Having the level of being connected tv allows you to beryllium exposed to truthful galore antithetic clients and truthful galore antithetic markets. It’s a selling constituent for my sellers. My listings are going to get much eyes than a listing with idiosyncratic who’s not connected television.”

How It Started

Luxury existent property voyeurism has been a fixture connected tv since Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. That show, which ran from 1984 to 1995, made its host, Robin Leach, a household sanction – and a household voice. But TV existent property agents didn’t genuinely measurement into the spotlight until 2012, erstwhile Million Dollar Listing, already a fixture successful Los Angeles, deed New York arsenic well.

At first, that spotlight was limited. Home-renovation shows, which took disconnected successful the aforesaid period, offered a faster way to fame for their starring figures, specified arsenic Chip and Joanna Gaines and Drew and Jonathan Scott (aka the Property Brothers), who showed Americans however to flip mean properties successful a substance of weeks (often with questionable off-camera results).

John Gomes and Fredrik Eklund, who pb a 90-person superteam astatine Douglas Elliman Real Estate, were already palmy brokers erstwhile Eklund joined the archetypal play of Million Dollar Listing New York.

Becoming a tv prima was “very intentional”, Eklund said.

Guests instrumentality a selfie astatine the Power Broker Awards afterparty.Credit: The New York Times

When helium arrived successful New York successful the aboriginal 2000s, Eklund was already good known successful his autochthonal Sweden. This was partially due to the fact that of his erstwhile vocation arsenic an big movie prima nether the sanction Tag Eriksson. It was besides due to the fact that helium understood the invisible, influential currency that fame tin deliver: helium grew up successful a salient household with links to premier ministers and movie manager Ingmar Bergman.

Eklund believed that his off-screen concern arsenic a existent property cause would payment if helium built the close benignant of on-screen persona.

“I realised precise rapidly the much susceptible and truthful and unfastened I americium with the audience, with the camera, the much of a marque successful existent property I volition become,” helium said.

Gomes and Eklund sold much than $US3.7 cardinal worthy of existent property successful 2023 and number Gigi Hadid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Lopez and Daniel Craig among their clients.

Many agents who enactment with megastars accidental the cardinal to their occurrence is furiously safeguarding their clients’ privateness and stepping beyond the accepted relation of salesperson to go much of a confidante.

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Tomer Fridman, the exclusive cause of the Kardashian clan, is tight-lipped astir the celebrities helium works with. But helium admits that his relation successful their lives goes acold beyond existent estate. At a clip erstwhile Hollywood’s ultrarich are progressively looking to go existent property moguls, Fridman acts arsenic a fiscal adviser.

“You request to beryllium a trendsetter for these clients,” helium said. “You person to spot the marketplace trends and wherever they should beryllium investing.”

Fridman, a existent property cause with the Jones Fridman Group astatine Compass, resisted going connected tv for much than a decade, contempt his A-list clientele. But he, too, is present buying astir a aviator for a yet-untitled world tv show.

After the Power Broker Awards wrapped, the attendees loaded into Ubers and headed to the Hollywood Hills for an after-party astatine the Californication House, a $US38 cardinal custom-built James Bond-inspired mansion with a occurrence pit sunken wrong its infinity pool. The location was built connected spec – that is, without a peculiar purchaser successful caput – by Branden and Rayni Williams, a existent property powerfulness mates whose lawsuit database reads similar a drawstring of TMZ quality alerts: Jennifer Lopez, Bruce Willis and Jane Fonda, to sanction a few.

The Williamses designed the1200-square-metre location and oversaw its operation and design, including a concealed nightclub tucked connected its little level and a $US40,000 customized rotating circular bed. The afterparty – attended by a who’s who of Los Angeles existent property – doubled arsenic an unfastened location for the property.

Among the guests was Selling Sunset prima Jason Oppenheim, who runs the luxury brokerage Oppenheim Group alongside his duplicate brother, Brett, and whose romanticist beingness is regularly featured connected the show. Standing connected 1 of the Californication House’s galore glass-enclosed balconies arsenic Los Angeles glittered below, Oppenheim said helium hoped his fame was helping mean Americans spot existent property arsenic a way toward increasing their ain incomes.

“To the grade that I’ve helped pull radical to existent estate, I’m proud,” helium said. “For me, existent property is the astir breathtaking happening successful the satellite and it’s large for generating wealthiness for people.”

The Power Broker Awards was held successful the Hollywood Hills.Credit: The New York Times

Out of the Spotlight

Some agents who person been connected tv accidental that the agleam lights came with an uncomfortable glare.

Aaron Kirman was a regular connected CNBC’s Secret Lives of the Super Rich erstwhile the web offered him his ain program, Listing Impossible. The amusement aired successful 2020, astatine the tallness of the pandemic, but was not renewed aft its archetypal season.

Kirman, CEO of Christie’s International Real Estate California, said helium loved being the prima of his ain bid but, from a fiscal perspective, it wasn’t worthy it.

“I truly wanted TV, and I fought to get connected TV,” helium said. “But it took clip distant from my business, and I mislaid millions of dollars successful listings arsenic a result.”

Kirman said helium was unfastened to appearing connected different programme successful the future, but wasn’t chasing the idea. He is focused connected his listings, which see an eight-bed, 20-bath property successful Beverly Hills listed for $US126 million.

Josh Altman has been appearing connected Million Dollar Listing since 2011, often alongside his brother, Matthew. He said helium considers the clip helium spends filming to beryllium a savvy concern successful his career.

“We support doing the amusement due to the fact that it’s different advertizing instrumentality for us, the aforesaid mode you would wage to beryllium successful definite magazines,” helium said. “It opened a batch of doors for us.”

But helium doesn’t recognition his occurrence to being connected TV. If anything, helium says, the other is true. Altman says that the Altman Brothers – the siblings’ existent property radical astatine Douglas Elliman Real Estate – sells much than $US1 cardinal successful existent property each year.

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“The amusement didn’t marque us,” helium said. “We made the show.”

This nonfiction primitively appeared successful The New York Times.

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