Million Dollar Listing LA - General Discussion

[Evangeline]

Does anyone know if the vaulted threads that are linked to on the first page will come back? I've been binging old seasons of Million Dollar Listing and I'd love to read old ones. 

After binging a few seasons and watching new ones, the Brits are lovely, and I like both Josh Altman and Josh Flagg in different ways. I think I usually side with Flagg in their arguments, but they both are frequently obnoxious and both seem to do be quite competent at their jobs.  I do find it telling that Flagg appears to be friends with the Brits, and Tracy seems to be friends with Flagg, but the animosity between Altman and Flagg does not appear to be scripted. . 

Madison is consistently awful. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I tuned in particularly to see Dubai and Carolyn Stanbury. I used to watch that London show. What a massive load of crap that Atlantis project is and what a lot of fake promotion for it. They are building this massive waste producing hulk in the middle of nowhere. Who will buy those residences?  How will Tracy function as brand ambassador. I imagine she will do little more than just get this promo on the teevee. Please let me know if you have any other ideas. 

And what does Carolyn’s husband really do?  Always thought he just did shady finance deals. 

Josh F and Bobby were looking at some ugly ass houses for scripted disagreement. We’ll eventually see the real one, which will be some miraculous compromise. 

[bichonblitz]

Ugh. Listening to Tracy oohhh and ahhhhh over the Atlantis project was not entertaining. Then again, I don't get the fascination with Dubai at all. Nothing but a shopping mecca for the rich with overdone tacky hotels like Vegas and a camel ride thrown in for fun. 

I didn't like Bobby at first but he's growing on me. The back and forth banter between Josh and Bobby is funny. 

[oakville]

3 hours ago, bichonblitz said:

Ugh. Listening to Tracy oohhh and ahhhhh over the Atlantis project was not entertaining. Then again, I don't get the fascination with Dubai at all. Nothing but a shopping mecca for the rich with overdone tacky hotels like Vegas and a camel ride thrown in for fun. 

Tracy said the temperature was 120 degrees in Dubai. It would be difficult to enjoy the outdoor amenities in that weather. I can't see why any of her clients would be interested in buying property in Dubai.

It was nice to see Caroline. She was hilarious on Ladies of London. I miss that show.

[walnutqueen]

7 hours ago, Evangeline said:

Does anyone know if the vaulted threads that are linked to on the first page will come back? I've been binging old seasons of Million Dollar Listing and I'd love to read old ones. 

Sadly, no.  All the vaulted M forums were lost forever.

[TheLastKidPicked]

11 hours ago, 2727 said:

I'm sorry he and Bobby are having a spat next week, but Flagg put up the same fuss with Colton wrt where they were going to live. Flexible he's not.

5 hours ago, bichonblitz said:

I didn't like Bobby at first but he's growing on me. The back and forth banter between Josh and Bobby is funny. 

There seems to be a lot more to Bobby than first meets the eye.  

My question is, what does Josh bring to the relationship besides piles of money?

[lynxfx]

The No Sex and the City exploration of Dubai was pretty boring. For the amount of money and so-called best in class condos weren't that impressive at all. For starters, the finishes didn't look that great. The kitchen cabinets were straight out of IKEA for all that I could tell. At first I was thinking that the outdoor spaces would be useless, but looking at the averages they are lower than Vegas which really only has 3 months of extreme heat. The coolest thing they showed was that interactive physical 3D model. Anyway, don't really care for this storyline.

The hunt for the garage basically had no pay off. What a waste and I'm a huge car guy. While it does include very cool technology to protect the vehicles, the layout and design couldn't be more boring for a garage/museum. Even the floors were builder grade garage epoxy. Plus for that scratch they could have at least built a killer house section even if it was still 1 bed. The land is all you are buying. I am jealous of the location. I've driven thousands of miles on the Malibu canyon roads. It is unbelievable and worth a go if you are ever in LA.

Agree with the above saying that Kelly Roland still picked a house where your only two neighbors can look right in. Those trees have a few years before blocking the view. Nice house though. 

I did like the 3rd house Josh and Bobby looked at. Sure the location makes it harder to commute but they would get a pretty large plot. Was also glad to see Josh say about the second home that even though he could turn it into something more valuable and livable, it wasn't worth stressing their marriage over. Is he actually growing up? ha  The previews show it isn't over though. 

This season went quick and some of it turned out to be filmed a couple years ago. I wish we got to see a bit more real estate porn. Pretty surprised that Heather stayed pretty much off camera the entire season.

[Marley]

Tracy’s whole storyline is so lame and boring. Her assistant is not as funny as she thinks either. I don’t really care about Dubai tho and the condos didn’t blow me away or anything.

Did not care about the garage either. Meh.

Josh and Bobby are my fave. I wish the whole episode was them house hunting.

Kelly Rowland being on the show seems weird. I would’ve thought she would’ve had a bigger budget.

[howiveaddict]

I love all the older homes that Josh Flagg is into.  Lots more class than new monstrosities.

[oakville]

19 minutes ago, howiveaddict said:

I love all the older homes that Josh Flagg is into.  Lots more class than new monstrosities.

Agreed. I was hoping he was going to buy the home in Bellair that was owned by friends of his family.

I hate the new white box homes they feature on the show.

[walnutqueen]

Although I admire Josh's alleged willingness to compromise with Bobby's aesthetic, I really want Josh to find a fabulous old home and restore it to it's former glory.  He was born to putter around vintage L.A. - the soul of an 85 year old grandmother, in the body of a 26 year old.

[lynxfx]

2 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

the soul of an 85 year old grandmother, in the body of a 26 year old

My wife took that literally and thought he was only 26. I would only add that he also has the dry sense of humor of an old Brit.

Off topic, but has anyone seen the new Netflix series "Selling Sunset"? It looks like Million Dollar Listing LA had a baby with Housewives of Beverly Hills. One real estate agency owned by two guys whom also happen to only employ attractive and catty women agents. 

[walnutqueen]

4 minutes ago, lynxfx said:

It's worth it, they have had some solid original programs lately. I'll update on that Selling Sunset show once I watch.

I'm sure it is, but since I am poor, and Netflix is raising their prices, I'll stick with my 99 cents a month for a year Hulu subscription (thanks, Cyber Monday dealz).

[CaptainCranky]

Tracy and Dubai = boring

Josh and Bobby = cute and watchable

Kelly Rowland = typical celebrity

Altman and his car guy = if he's so smart then buy your own lot and build yourself a 25 car garage for $5m

[Stan39]

3 hours ago, CaptainCranky said:

Tracy and Dubai = boring

Josh and Bobby = cute and watchable

Kelly Rowland = typical celebrity

Altman and his car guy = if he's so smart then buy your own lot and build yourself a 25 car garage for $5m

Dubai just seems like the Mecca for the nouveau riche. Not saying there’s anything bad about them, but everything just seems high gloss and “big” for the sake of it. Nothing has charm or style. And somehow Tracy, Caroline, and Erika just come off tacky in this episode, doing “touristy” things that are also very stereotypical.

I actually think a compromise between Flagg and Bobby’s two styles would look great. Bobby is too contemporary and flashy, while Flagg is too old Hollywood glamour. Something in between could be very charming, beautiful, and tasteful. But that means they won’t buy something like that. 

I actually think Josh’s client should do just that, buy property and build his own garage. The one-bedroom house part was nothing special and I’m sure he could buy land and build his own garage for cheaper than $10M. As unique as that house is there’s nothing really spectacular that can’t be replicated. 

[Pike Ludwell]

I view the Dubai stuff as boring filler, in that they are running out of ideas for interesting angles on the LA real estate deal process. And please .... no more education on the geography, history and dynamics of Dubai!!

Edited March 24, 2019 by Pat Hoolihan

[CaptainCranky]

2 hours ago, Stan39 said:

I actually think Josh’s client should do just that, buy property and build his own garage. The one-bedroom house part was nothing special and I’m sure he could buy land and build his own garage for cheaper than $10M. As unique as that house is there’s nothing really spectacular that can’t be replicated. 

I was being sarcastic on the $5m figure. As a car guy the dynamics of that garage are unique from the air filtration etc plus the fact a hauler could unload on the property makes it unique. And yes the construction cost of the garage compared to houses would be a lot less but the cost of a lot that big in Malibu could be large, very large considering you would have to do a tear down.

My point is simple. I doubt if you could find a house in Malibu for a teardown that would be for the $5m figure.

Edited March 24, 2019 by CaptainCranky

[TV Diva Queen]

I was hoping that Booby would cave and let Josh buy that Chasens house. They can rehab it to suit both their tastes and have a piece of joyous history. I loved that house!  

I love that we got to see the Mommie Dearest house and even the Bunny hut. That’s why I watch this show. I love old Hollywood architecture   

Edited March 24, 2019 by TV Diva Queen
Typo

[Stan39]

3 hours ago, CaptainCranky said:

I was being sarcastic on the $5m figure. As a car guy the dynamics of that garage are unique from the air filtration etc plus the fact a hauler could unload on the property makes it unique. And yes the construction cost of the garage compared to houses would be a lot less but the cost of a lot that big in Malibu could be large, very large considering you would have to do a tear down.

My point is simple. I doubt if you could find a house in Malibu for a teardown that would be for the $5m figure.

I realize you were being sarcastic, but I really don’t think it would cost $10M to recreate that property. Spend a few million on the property, tear it down, and build the garage. I get that the garage is high-end, but the property is just a big box close to the highways. I bet you could find something for $3-4M and build that garage for $1M. But it doesn’t matter, my guess is they (shockingly) meet in the middle and sell for $7-8M. 

[CaptainCranky]

1 hour ago, Stan39 said:

I realize you were being sarcastic, but I really don’t think it would cost $10M to recreate that property. Spend a few million on the property, tear it down, and build the garage. I get that the garage is high-end, but the property is just a big box close to the highways. I bet you could find something for $3-4M and build that garage for $1M. But it doesn’t matter, my guess is they (shockingly) meet in the middle and sell for $7-8M. 

I think you and I are on the same page. The seller and buyer both need to be realistic. The seller has an extremely small pool of potential buyers and the buyer can't duplicate something like this for the money he has offered.

I agree somewhere between $7-8 M is realistic.

[oakville]

7 hours ago, Pat Hoolihan said:

I view the Dubai stuff as boring filler, in that they are running out of ideas for interesting angles on the LA real estate deal process. And please .... no more education on the geography, history and dynamics of Dubai!!

I am curious as to how many Americans would want to own property in Dubai. It would make more sense for any ex pats to rent a condo or home if they were working there.

[MajorNelson]

The Dubai project was a snoozer, but assuredly we are not the target market.  Dubai is a tax haven and various mega wealthy "domicile" there for the benefits.  Have them buy a 5M condo, and then they save millions per year.  Easy pitch. no?

Edited March 26, 2019 by MajorNelson

[CruiseDiva]

That Atlantis property in Dubai looked to me like a larger and tackier version of Atlantis in the Bahamas.

[CaptainCranky]

2 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

That Atlantis property in Dubai looked to me like a larger and tackier version of Atlantis in the Bahamas.

It is.

[atlantaloves]

Okay I am just about through with this show. Does anybody know if the New York show still exists? This L.A show is far too scripted. 

[Pickles]

13 minutes ago, atlantaloves said:

Okay I am just about through with this show. Does anybody know if the New York show still exists? This L.A show is far too scripted. 

The NY show does still exist and will be coming back, but I am not sure what the timeline is for its return. 

Zero interest in Dubai. Anyone who watches any of the Housewives has seen the same Dubai stuff over and over--dinner in the desert, camel rides, etc. And, I called it, Tracy had to pop in and see her old family friend Carolyn Stanbury (former Ladies of London). They should probably just call it quits on this LA show and continue on with NYC.

[Pallas]

I just started a topic for Selling Sunset and moved a bunch of posts from here to there. Please remember to keep on-topic: conceding that your post is off-topic does not render it germane. If you'd like to open a discussion of another, similar show without a topic to link to, please start one!

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 3/24/2019 at 1:19 PM, Stan39 said:

I really don’t think it would cost $10M to recreate that property. Spend a few million on the property, tear it down, and build the garage. I get that the garage is high-end, but the property is just a big box close to the highways. I bet you could find something for $3-4M and build that garage for $1M. But it doesn’t matter, my guess is they (shockingly) meet in the middle and sell for $7-8M.

On 3/24/2019 at 2:39 PM, CaptainCranky said:

I think you and I are on the same page. The seller and buyer both need to be realistic. The seller has an extremely small pool of potential buyers and the buyer can't duplicate something like this for the money he has offered.

As a car guy, I really enjoyed watching Altman on the hunt for this property.

Think of it like this:  You have a collection of very high end cars.  You have to walk a fine line between your collection being convenient for you to have friends over, and yet private enough that prying eyes don't stumble across your valuable (and vulnerable) collection.

I've had this happen in real life a few times now where I've become friends with a person, and after a while they say,  "Come on over to the house-- I have something to show you."  And BAM!  There is the Shangri-La. 

Knowing this, it was fun to watch Altman and all of his contacts say the same thing,  "I know every high end home around here, and I've never heard of this property."

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm wondering if there is available land in that area for the garage, driveway, etc., at a decent cost, and in the correct location. 

[CaptainCranky]

14 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I'm wondering if there is available land in that area for the garage, driveway, etc., at a decent cost, and in the correct location. 

In Malibu I seriously doubt it.

[AttackTurtle]

I really like the Brits and I will always love Flagg.  Flagg’s relationship with Edith was perfection.  I like Heather, but Jesus, Josh is an asshole.  

I like Josh’s relationship with Bobby much better than Colton.  I did not get Colton.  

As much as I like the Brits and Flagg, I follow NY’s Frederic on Instagram and if I could trade places with anyone, holy moly let me be on of his twins.  They’ve already traveled more in a year than I have in 40. 

[TV Diva Queen]

That was the season finale?  No recap?  I need to know more about Flagg’s rehab on that beauty house. Did the two Josh’s get the listing?  Tracy sell any units in Dubai?  I’m pissed!

[EtheltoTillie]

Wow it was so suspenseful wondering whether Tracy was going to get the Atlantis gig. I was on the edge of my seat. 

[buttersister]

How much did the Dubai Chamber of Commerce pay for Tracy’s infomercial? $$$$zzzz.

My hope for next season is that Flagg and Bobby have bought a damn house and are somehow, miraculously happy with it.

[Stan39]

On 3/24/2019 at 3:39 PM, CaptainCranky said:

I think you and I are on the same page. The seller and buyer both need to be realistic. The seller has an extremely small pool of potential buyers and the buyer can't duplicate something like this for the money he has offered.

I agree somewhere between $7-8 M is realistic.

Oh wow. Look at that. $7.3M. Lol. This show is so dumb. And I watch too much of it because I could see this coming a mile away. 

[EtheltoTillie]

On 3/25/2019 at 2:08 PM, CaptainCranky said:

It is.

Quote

On 3/25/2019 at 11:28 AM, CruiseDiva said:

That Atlantis property in Dubai looked to me like a larger and tackier version of Atlantis in the Bahamas.

On 3/25/2019 at 2:08 PM, CaptainCranky said:

It is.

Maybe a tossup in tackiness.  I have been to the one in the Bahamas.  The really annoying thing was that they had very few umbrellas by the pool so we could not sit in the shade.  Also, they played loud music at all the pools.  This is a common problem in many resorts lately.  We did have fun on the water slides, though.

[lynxfx]

That was a pretty unsatisfying season finale. Guess not a lot happened last year in real estate. They had to pull footage from 2 years ago to pad out the Brit's stories. Tracey helped a weird friend and then did a multiple episode promo for Dubai. Altman just had two odd over priced properties that both sold way under listing. And Flagg had a few interesting properties but then got hung up on their own house with no resolution. 

Not a fan of cliff hangers on this show. Takes too long between seasons and sometimes we don't even get a conclusion to the cliff hanger. They just move on.

[2727]

The thing with Flagg's house hunt is that Bobby doesn't want to live in a suburban neighborhood with good schools; he wants to be in a hipper area with other people in their 30s. Which he calmly explained to his palpitations-having spouse. Flagg's "compromise" was then to offer to buy a house where Bobby doesn't want to live and remodel it to suit him. So an updated Spanish style house in a family neighborhood. Win for Flagg, I'd say, and directly opposite his dad's advice that marriage sometimes means giving in to make your spouse happy.

It's interesting that when Flagg and Colton were arguing about where to live, it was Colton who wanted a sweet suburban house whereas Flagg was adamant about staying in a hipper condo or hotel.

Thus ends my overly-enmeshed musings on TV reality show stars.

Edited March 30, 2019 by 2727

[Starlight925]

16 hours ago, 2727 said:

The thing with Flagg's house hunt is that Bobby doesn't want to live in a suburban neighborhood with good schools; he wants to be in a hipper area with other people in their 30s. Which he calmly explained to his palpitations-having spouse. Flagg's "compromise" was then to offer to buy a house where Bobby doesn't want to live and remodel it to suit him. So an updated Spanish style house in a family neighborhood. Win for Flagg, I'd say, and directly opposite his dad's advice that marriage sometimes means giving in to make your spouse happy.

It's interesting that when Flagg and Colton were arguing about where to live, it was Colton who wanted a sweet suburban house whereas Flagg was adamant about staying in a hipper condo or hotel.

Thus ends my overly-enmeshed musings on TV reality show stars.

Right, that's exactly what I thought.....that Bobby still doesn't get what he wants, which is to live in a cool, 30's neighborhood.  

The real compromise would have been to find an older home in a young neighborhood, perhaps one that's going through gentrification, and for Flagg to modernize it.  Basically, Flagg gets what he wants, and Bobby can become resentful in years to come, living in an "old people" neighborhood.

I love them as a couple, so I do hope this works for them.

[Stan39]

16 minutes ago, Sterling said:

Right, that's exactly what I thought.....that Bobby still doesn't get what he wants, which is to live in a cool, 30's neighborhood.  

The real compromise would have been to find an older home in a young neighborhood, perhaps one that's going through gentrification, and for Flagg to modernize it.  Basically, Flagg gets what he wants, and Bobby can become resentful in years to come, living in an "old people" neighborhood.

I love them as a couple, so I do hope this works for them.

My guess is they’ll sell the house as soon as they finish remodeling it. Flagg and Bobby both think they’re smarter than everyone ele so I’m sure they’ll sell for a profit in order to buy the next fixer-upper in the “perfect” location. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

17 hours ago, 2727 said:

Thus ends my overly-enmeshed musings on TV reality show stars

I hope not! Half the fun of watching this show is coming on here to talk about it.

39 minutes ago, Sterling said:

I love them as a couple, so I do hope this works for them.

If they work out, it will be because Josh realizes that he needs Bobby to keep him grounded.  Bobby seems to be able to call Josh out on his B.S. in a way that Josh is willing to accept it.

14 minutes ago, Stan39 said:

My guess is they’ll sell the house as soon as they finish remodeling it.

I think Josh realizes that flipping houses would be too much work for him to want to do.  

Although I would eagerly watch a spin off series of Josh driving his contractors crazy!

Edited March 30, 2019 by TheLastKidPicked

[2727]

I assume everyone is on the edge of their seats to see Flagg and Altman working together next season to sell that mysterious, expensive co-listing?

[AnnA]

I thought Bobby wanted a more modern house and not necessarily a younger hipper neighborhood.  I don't see either Bobby or Josh wanting to live somewhere because their neighbors are young with children.    I think it's more about the style of houses in an area.     

[EtheltoTillie]

3 hours ago, 2727 said:

I assume everyone is on the edge of their seats to see Flagg and Altman working together next season to sell that mysterious, expensive co-listing?

Another staged suspenseful moment! 

[lynxfx]

5 hours ago, 2727 said:

I assume everyone is on the edge of their seats to see Flagg and Altman working together next season to sell that mysterious, expensive co-listing?

I'm now floating off the edge of my seat to see if Altman gets that $100m beach development in Playa Del Rey. I mean they just left with him standing there watching the sunset. Come on MDLLA, what happened? I'm defying gravity over here!

[geauxaway]

Flagg had some major pit stains in the opening sequence. 😬

Is it realistic that this Dubai developer would be that open to putting an American female as the agent?   He seemed pretty traditional.  But then again, what do I know. 

That Atlantis building looks like a half played game of Jenga.

Edited March 31, 2019 by geauxaway

[Starlight925]

35 minutes ago, geauxaway said:

Flagg had some major pit stains in the opening sequence. 😬

Is it realistic that this Dubai developer would be that open to putting an American female as the agent?   He seemed pretty traditional.  But then again, what do I know. 

That Atlantis building looks like a half played game of Jenga.

I noticed everything you're saying!  I'm wondering if Flagg is trying to use some natural deodorant, rather than an anti-perspirant.  That was awful, and I'd be so embarrassed if I saw that on myself later.

I thought the same thing about the Dubai developer, except that he has that woman working for him.  Plus, a huge draw to Dubai is the world class shopping, which is such a female endeavor.  It seems like he likes Tracy and her sense of style.

Your comment about the building looking like Jenga made me laugh.  Such a great description!

[MajorNelson]

Too bad Flagg didn't take his father's advice.  It was pretty good.

The Dubai project...holy cow it was supposed to be open in 2008 and then the Great Recession hit.   (See the second link. ) The first say it will be open in 2019 despite major design changes in the last year.

https://www.arabianbusiness.com/content/376393-the-royal-atlantis-to-complete-in-2019-despite-design-changes

https://www.arabianbusiness.com/palm-atlantis-rises-up-from-sand-59820.html

[Surrealist]

On 3/30/2019 at 12:27 PM, AnnA said:

I thought Bobby wanted a more modern house and not necessarily a younger hipper neighborhood.  I don't see either Bobby or Josh wanting to live somewhere because their neighbors are young with children.    I think it's more about the style of houses in an area.     

Yeah, I thought Bobby meant his preference for modern architecture more so than living in a younger, hipper neighborhood. 

[HunterHunted]

On 3/31/2019 at 2:27 PM, geauxaway said:

Flagg had some major pit stains in the opening sequence. 😬

On 3/31/2019 at 3:05 PM, Sterling said:

I noticed everything you're saying!  I'm wondering if Flagg is trying to use some natural deodorant, rather than an anti-perspirant.  That was awful, and I'd be so embarrassed if I saw that on myself later.

How people dress is so much more casual. I don't think he was wearing an undershirt or underarm shields. Those are just things that would ever occur to someone his age. Even when you go shopping at super high end retailers, the sales people at those places don't recommend these types of items. I'd say that even through the early 90s, they still did, but they don't now. I think Flagg didn't know how to prevent the pit sweat stains.