The Netflix reality show “Selling Sunset” has gotten so soap-operaesque in its five seasons on the air, fans probably couldn’t fathom how it could get any juicier.
After all, just last season, Jason Oppenheim, who’d founded the Oppenheim Group with his brother, Brett, had dabbled in a rather controversial relationship with employee Chrishell Stause (ex-wife of “This Is Us” actor Justin Hartley), only to end in a heart-wrenching breakup. Meanwhile, fan favorite Christine Quinn was dramatically given the heave-ho.
How is Season 6 ever going to top that?
Well, for starters, in the premiere episode, “I Wanted To Hate You,” both Jason and Stause have moved on with new love interests. Quinn has been replaced in the cast by Bre Tiesi, who slinks into the Oppenheim office a mere six weeks after giving birth to an infant she had with her baby daddy/”best friend” rapper/TV host Nick Cannon.
How’s that for a bombshell season premiere?
Believe it or not, amid all these personal plotlines, the cast also has time to tour some staggeringly beautiful real estate. But do these posh properties lead to a successful sale? To find out, we located these listing and were surprised to discover that many are still on the market today.
What gives? The premiere makes this pretty clear as Brett and Jason gather their group together for a tough-love pep talk.
(Adam Rose/Netflix)
“We know it’s a little bit of a soft market,” says Brett. “We have interest rates that are out of control, so we’re going to have to work twice as hard to make the same amount of money. Get your heads in a good place.”
Indeed, watching these agents struggle makes plain just how much the market has changed since “Selling Sunset” was last on the air. Check out what happens to the homes they attempt to sell, and learn the new rules of luxury real estate today.
Celebrity doesn’t sell like it used to
(Realtor.com)
There was a time, not long ago, when a hot celebrity name attached to a property could add millions to the price. But that ain’t necessarily so today.
Oppenheim powerhouse Emma Hernan has a listing that her client bought from none other than Harry Styles.
“I bet he got a little ‘watermelon sugar’ here,” Hernan jokes to Stause as they both bounce on the bed in his former primary suite.
It turns out, this four-bedroom, six-bath, 4,401-square-foot house has been listed since October 2022 at $7,995,000. Today, the price has been trimmed to $7,245,000.
Let’s just say the market isn’t exactly “As It Was” about a year ago.
It’s tough to renovate a condo
(Realtor.com)
If you’re thinking of buying a condo, whether it’s a luxury property or not, remember, you have to jump through far more hoops to make even the smallest changes than you would to a free-standing residence.
Even real estate barons like Jason have a much harder time renovating a condominium. After he and Stause broke up, he wanted to keep busy, so he poured himself into a penthouse condo remodel project, which involved purchasing four units, combining them into two, and completely reconfiguring them both.
He reveals that it’s taken over a year to finish them, and that’s because he had to get permits from the homeowners association as well as the city for every little thing, including alterations to the windows, deck, and even the door handles.
Although the project began in late 2021, both condos are still on the market. The West penthouse is listed at $7,495,000, or for rent at $49,900 a month, and the East penthouse is listed at $6,995,000.
It’s no wonder these promising properties eventually bring Jason to concede, “This is my last condo project.”
High home insurance costs can sink a sale
(Realtor.com)
Depending on the cost and location of the home, insurance prices can be almost as high as your mortgage payments. Hernan shows off an example of this as she plans a brokers’ open house for a mansion she almost managed to sell.
“I had a great buyer, locked and loaded,” she recounts. “And then we found out about the fire insurance.”
“We got numerous quotes, and the lowest we could get was just under $200,000 per year,” she concludes. “It’s a lot of money, even for a house of that magnitude.”
Now is a great time for buyers to get a good deal
(Realtor.com)
What’s happening with high-end real estate often sets the trend for more normally priced properties.
The home Hernan is selling was last purchased by a developer in 2017 for $3,650,000. He remodeled it into a five-bedroom, nine-bath modern masterpiece, which he put on the market for $18,995,000.
On the show, this home is listed at $18 million. Yet the price has since been reduced, and it’s now available for $12,995,000.
That’s a killer discount that should encourage all buyers at all levels to at least try to negotiate their way to a lower price.