World’s Worst Kept Housing Market Secret: Real Estate Reality Shows Aren’t

July 15, 2024
  • Reality shows are cheap to produce and remain popular with audiences
  • Almost everything said and shown in these shows is a lie
  • Real estate is only the vehicle for character interactions

Ryan Serhant is at it again with a new real estate reality show. I think it’s his third rodeo. This one is called “Owning Manhattan.” He has successfully converted his celebrity into a real estate brokerage firm with 12 years of selling property. I can’t imagine how he sustains the intensity of his schedule with a personal life but he is clearly a master in getting the word out about his new effort. I wonder if that translates into better marketing of his properties in the same way. Just searching on the phrase “Owning Manhattan” yields a Google page like this:

My Reality

Since the great financial crisis (GFC), I’ve been pitched a dozen real estate reality shows, usually as the voice of reason. Not to cast aspersions to current and past reality show stalwarts, but I believe it would be brand-damaging to my credibility as a valuation expert and market analyst because of what the “reality” part means which I’ll get into later. Also, I know I would not be anywhere close to entertaining or need to be on the same level that Ryan has mastered. But I’m not against the shows as a genre and I don’t think they inflict long-term damage on the real estate brokerage profession as many Manhattan-based firms believe – I’ll leave that to NAR who has done a particularly good job at damaging real estate agents. I don’t watch any reality shows these days but then again, I hardly watch any television except for old Perry Mason black and whites and CSPAN hearings (I know, dull & boring).

Ruining People’s Lives

Immediately after the financial crisis began, an entertainment lawyer in New York who was a big fan of my blog and a colleague of my firm’s legal counsel, brainstormed with her colleagues in Los Angeles and pitched an idea for a show that went something like this:

My wife and I would be scrambling to get all four of our sons off to school – packing their lunches, stuffing their homework in their backpacks, making sure they were adequately dressed for the day’s weather, catching the school buses, you know, common parental morning chaos. Then after the last kid was on their way, the cameras would follow me taking a commuter train from Connecticut to Manhattan where I would gear up over the next hour for my busy day in Manhattan, ruining people’s lives. “Ruining” was their choice of words, which was a very big red flag.

After the Lehman collapse and the housing bubble burst in the fall of 2008, it was anticipated that appraisers would be valuing residential properties with a substantial haircut. From September 2008 through April 2009, property values in Manhattan corrected about 30% and this show would capture the chaos and heartbreak. With a recession and subsequent job loss, it would be tough for people to sell their homes without significant financial duress.

My immediate response was “never” even though I was very appreciative and flattered by their efforts. Other pitches came afterward, with a wide range of intensities, but all came with similar themes of ruining people’s lives. They all labeled me as a real estate “guru” who had the power to “ruin” people’s lives. One idea was to be the real estate “guru” working with some family members who just lost their last parent and were fighting about what to do with the house.

In a more comical example, I would pass along sage advice to flippers in Texas who screwed up a home flip. While sitting on a horse (at that time I had never sat on a horse), I would impart wisdom such as:

“When you fall off of a horse, you gotta get back on.”

Me in character as a cowboy styled real estate guru.

Oh, Canada

I got emails and calls from producers over the years who were bouncing show ideas for an appraiser role. During the housing bubble 15 years ago, most of the real estate reality shows were filmed in Canada because their bubble never burst. The shows never mentioned the name of the town and viewers thought they were U.S. based. I’ve been told that many of these shows were produced in Brooklyn, creating an entire cottage industry. Looking back at shows like Property Brothers and Holmes on Homes are devoid of Canadian references.

Thoughts On The Reality Of These Shows

I’m not aware there ever has been one featuring an appraiser. Since I am a list keeper at heart, I ended up with a list of 12 show pitches I received for real estate appraising in reality show situations. None interested me and I haven’t been pitched again since the pandemic.

UPDATE (7/15/24 2:29:44 PM ET) A reader just told me about a show I hadn’t heard of: My House Is Worth What?

Admittedly it was also fun to watch some of the early real estate reality shows and then text the people I knew who were cast members or guests while it was being broadcast, knowing they would be watching it.

Everyone (should) know(s) reality shows are not based on reality. At the beginning of the modern era boom of this genre in the late 1990s, shows like Big Brother and Survivor began it all.

The genre was never something that interested me, but it was a hit for television networks because they were cheap to produce and were popular with viewers.

I tended to watch crime shows like Lockup and Cops and used to predict how long it would take for a “perp” to appear without a shirt on. Then I learned that Cops included scenes that were fake to the “perp’s” (victim’s) detriment through an incredible podcast “Running from cops.“

It’s a controversial branding role for brokerage firms. Most real estate brokerage firms that I am familiar with wouldn’t allow their agents to participate. Those that do, fully embrace the marketing opportunity for the firm. Most Manhattan firms I know of are adamant that these shows are brand-damaging. I disagree. However, I do think they will quickly be forgotten over time since it is a bubblegum-type genre, quickly chewed and quickly spit out.

The home sales are staged and have often already closed. Most of the episodes of real estate shows involve new development because there are essentially real estate porn. The homes are aspirational for viewers. Many of the homes have already been sold, and the show storyline pretends it is still available. Each show’s secret sauce is the manufactured controversy between the cast members. For home resales, stalwarts like “Househunters” or “Househunters International” each buyer sees three homes and you are invited as a viewer to predict which one they choose. Fake as a concept but the simplification makes it compelling television for many. Essentially the final content is just a series of misrepresentations to generate audience interest. Ask yourself why people buy People Magazine or the National Enquirer at the grocery store checkout aisle. Fantasy and aspiration win the day.

The show stars leverage the opportunity to market their brand to sell stuff. They sell books, make business deals, start brokerage firms, expand their real estate teams and, oh yes, sell more real estate. It’s not about making money directly from the show. One show pitch threw out numbers like $6k per show which seemed high and all the shows (12?) would be filmed in a series of about three weeks on location. I know a bunch of the current crop of real estate casts and they are some of the hardest-working people I know in real estate. They are doing it for the exposure to create other opportunities.

These shows generate a lot of stress for the participants – If a cast member is boring, they will get written out of the show. This concept incentivizes a lot of bad behavior which is being normalized as these shows age. The motivation of the people on a show franchise like “Real Housewives” is to remain on the show to continue getting attention, and that is often accomplished by bad behavior, physical fighting, cruelty, and generally awful realities. Some of these cast members are people who have no problem with shaming someone or being shamed to remain on that show and even become a bold-faced name.

How not to engage with a real estate reality star. I’ve made this mistake three times that I can recall and didn’t realize it until after it happened. Before I took the selfie with them, I found myself saying something like “I don’t watch this type of program but I’d like to show my niece, who is a huge fan, that I’ve met you.” Oof. Awkward. They still take the picture with me while I’m reeling internally about being so rude. I wonder what they think?

Not my cup of tea, but this looks promising if you like this type of reality.

Did you miss Friday’s Housing Notes?

July 12, 2024

The Challenge Of Office-To-Residential Conversions – Red Stapler Edition

Image: Chat & Ask AI

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