Million Dollar Listing LA - General Discussion

[seigle]

Like I said that property "The New Castle" because the old one burned down, have gone through different brokerage agencies including Coldwell Banker, The Agency and Douglas Elliman L.A. It was also featured numerous times in articles and TV like Secret Lives of the Super Rich. And yet still no takers as it is overpriced as the comps doesn't support the price at all and not on the sand. For that price you can get a property in Paradise Cove or Carbon Beach. Looks like The Tracy Tutor Team lost the listing as well. Maybe he can't deal how pompous Scott Gillen is.

The Bradbury Estate was sold for $23M if I remember correctly.
The Altmans lost Dovetail on Bradbury "The Harry Potter themed listing". Maybe it's staged as may of them were or maybe the deal fell through. It's still on the market for $15M.

Edited July 17, 2020 by seigle

[abronfeld1]

3 hours ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

That explains a lot!

And thank you for posting that.  I sometimes forget how many smart people we have posting here.

 

Actually the EB-5 regulation specifically excludes investment in a personal residence. I'm not saying that some characters will not try to obfuscate their investment in a residence as a commercial enterprise, but it is clearly against the written rules. https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/about-eb-5-visa-classification

[Grrarrggh]

37 minutes ago, abronfeld1 said:

Actually the EB-5 regulation specifically excludes investment in a personal residence. I'm not saying that some characters will not try to obfuscate their investment in a residence as a commercial enterprise, but it is clearly against the written rules. https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/about-eb-5-visa-classification

Yeah, and Melania Trump was given an "Einstein" visa. Raise your hand if you think rich people care about "rules".

[geauxaway]

I really liked the talk between Josh and Tracy.  Josh is right, that guy is gonna run her ragged.   And for what?  She looked and sounded tired this entire episode.  
 

On another note, my son was in the room when I was watching and asked me why that guy (Flagg) sounds like a baby voice? 🤣

[lynxfx]

1 hour ago, seigle said:

The Bradbury Estate was sold for $23M if I remember correctly.

Finally went and looked it up. You were darn close, sold for $24,380,000 in 2017. That sounded so cheap from what I remembered on the show. Then I saw that it was originally listed at $78m. It took 5 and a half years to sell after numerous price reductions! The latest estimate puts it at $12m.

I just like that it is easily spotted on google maps because of the giant cross pool.

[Starlight925]

1 hour ago, abronfeld1 said:

Actually the EB-5 regulation specifically excludes investment in a personal residence. I'm not saying that some characters will not try to obfuscate their investment in a residence as a commercial enterprise, but it is clearly against the written rules. https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/permanent-workers/employment-based-immigration-fifth-preference-eb-5/about-eb-5-visa-classification

Interesting....I know the EB-5 has gotten stricter in recent years.

The EB-5 buyers in my neighborhood don't live on the property they purchased; they rent out the homes that are on the property via their LLC that they formed, thus, they are considered "property managers", rather than personal residence.  They formed an LLC that has a name similar to "Sunshine Home Management" (not the real name, but something like that.....not posting due to privacy).

The laws have recently gotten much more strict in this area, so this may not be possible today, to your point.

In fact, the $1.8 million EB-5 investment was recently raised from $900,000.

I do think that a lot of the "foreign buyers" are simply buying these homes to sit empty, as a place to park money.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Sterling

[seigle]

2 hours ago, lynxfx said:

Finally went and looked it up. You were darn close, sold for $24,380,000 in 2017. That sounded so cheap from what I remembered on the show. Then I saw that it was originally listed at $78m. It took 5 and a half years to sell after numerous price reductions! The latest estimate puts it at $12m.

I just like that it is easily spotted on google maps because of the giant cross pool.

The original owner clearly over spent on building that property. Sadly the location doesn't justify the price. Yeah, 5 years to sell and multiple price reductions to keep interests. The maintenance and carrying cost on that property is probably massive.

Edited July 17, 2020 by seigle

[dleighg]

6 hours ago, lynxfx said:

Finally went and looked it up. You were darn close, sold for $24,380,000 in 2017. That sounded so cheap from what I remembered on the show. Then I saw that it was originally listed at $78m. It took 5 and a half years to sell after numerous price reductions! The latest estimate puts it at $12m.

Just took a look at that Bradbury estate, which I vaguely remember from the show. Is that the one the Altman's helicoptered into? Anyway, much as I hate white boxes, I'd far prefer a WHITE BOX to that monstrosity. So much OVER THE TOP "opulence" which has to match the style of the buyer. It seems that kind of style really needs to be a custom-built house, not "spec." 

And it seems clear from the New Castle and this thing, LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION never goes out of style.

[Stan39]

On 7/14/2020 at 11:37 PM, Marley said:

The developer is such a dick I really don’t like him or care to see him anymore. I liked Altman bugging him made me laugh. Also was he driving on the driveway? Douche.

I like Bobby. I’d like to see more of him and Flagg.

Still don’t get why anyone would pay 75 million for that house.

Eventually it will be worth $75M, it just might be Scott’s great grandkids that end up selling it. 
 

Scott saying he owns it so he doesn’t care how long it sits there would make sense if he lived in the house or was using it for some purpose. But the way it is now, where he can’t even enjoy it, says he’s not being smart about it. Even minimal costs of upkeep and maintenance won’t be recouped. 
 

I don’t know Scott’s background, but he must be successful doing this. I wonder if he got into developing at a time when it was easy to do and he associated his success with all his dickish behavior. Maybe he’s really good at smaller Malibu flips? But then he just got greedy and put all his poor decisions into the Castle and now he’s paying for those mistakes. It just doesn’t make sense to me otherwise. Nobody would choose to overpay for a property from an unreasonable and difficult seller if they could just go to the next house and buy something cheaper from someone more agreeable. I don’t see what value Scott brings to the table.  

[geauxaway]

42 minutes ago, Stan39 said:

I don’t see what value Scott brings to the table.  

But the deck nails are all in a perfect line!  And there’s a cigar room.  And what appears to be the most uncomfortable bath tub in the world (but apparently I’m supposed to be very impressed with it).

I did like the AB’s busting his chops tho.  And the best part is, they’re not wrong!

Edited July 17, 2020 by geauxaway

[TheLastKidPicked]

7 hours ago, Stan39 said:

But the way it is now, where he can’t even enjoy it,

This sounds crazy, but I feel sorry for guys like Scott.

He is proof that money cannot buy happiness.  Look at the scenes this year with the Brits-- especially when their little girls are around.  Now, Scott may have 100 times more money than them, but who do you think is happier?

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by TheLastKidPicked

[Booger666]

Fair point.  Those brits are adorable with their little girls.

[seigle]

BTW guys, remember that house on heather road? Daniel Starr's development project? The property Altman "stole" from Flagg? Then Starr want to exit the contract Altman agreed with the clause that the Brits and Flagg couldn't get the listing. That house came to market and Fredrik Eklund is the listing agent. I don't know if this could be another drama for the show.

[dleighg]

23 minutes ago, LucindaWalsh said:

The bonus for me with her will always be that she wears dorky clothes. And that she loves her dorky clothes.

Really? Are they dorky? I mean I find them kind of odd, but they sure look expensive!

[Grrarrggh]

1 hour ago, LucindaWalsh said:

I was iffy on Tracy when she first came on but I look forward to seeing her now. I love how she is so feminine and girly while being smart and level headed in business. 

WHAT?!? What does either of those descriptions have to do with the other?!?!?! Why would one exclude the other? And on what are you basing your ideas of "feminine" and "girly"? (though why a grown woman would want to be girly is unknown). 

Edited July 18, 2020 by Grrarrggh

[CrazyInAlabama]

My guess is the individual agents pay the marketing costs, and if the client fires them,  or more likely, the sales contract expires, without a sale, then the marketing money is gone.    My understanding the staging is paid for by the seller.   

[Stan39]

2 hours ago, LucindaWalsh said:

I always wonder if there is something written in the contract that if you (the seller) ditches the realtor that you have to reimburse for the expenses. I get that you have to spend money to make money but I don't think DE is going to just lose out on hundreds of thousands of dollars because the seller walks away.  I have no clue, for sure, but I always wonder about it when watching. 

I was iffy on Tracy when she first came on but I look forward to seeing her now. I love how she is so feminine and girly while being smart and level headed in business. And that the guys seem to respect and support her for her brains while also having a soft spot for her as a woman. It's a fine line in the business world and I think they have all managed to work it.

 The bonus for me with her will always be that she wears dorky clothes. And that she loves her dorky clothes.

I’m just glad Tracy isn’t doing a Lisa Vanderpump knockoff, which is what most reality TV women try to do on these shows. The fake humility, the humblebrags, the “social causes” and volunteering that always ends up being filmed and photographed, and the pretense that she’s above all the drama and too good for everything while also being in the middle of it. Tracy seems genuine and straightforward and not snarky about her business. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

On 7/16/2020 at 7:59 PM, geauxaway said:

On another note, my son was in the room when I was watching and asked me why that guy (Flagg) sounds like a baby voice?

I loved when Altman was talking about Josh Flagg and admitted that he was going to miss "the little wierdo".

The reason for Flagg's baby voice is that Flagg will never be a 30, 40 or 50 year old man.  Never.

He will be this young, rich boy in arrested development as long as he can.

And he will leapfrog from that into being an eccentric old man straight from that.  And knowing Josh, that is fine with him.  He knows that he has inherited more money than he can ever spend and he simply doesn't care what the outside world thinks of him.  The perfect arrested development rich kid and then the perfect eccentric old millionaire. 

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by TheLastKidPicked

[dleighg]

9 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

The reason for Flagg's baby voice is that Flagg will never be a 30, 40 or 50 year old man.  Never.

He will be this young, rich boy in arrested development as long as he can.

There's that scene they keep playing in the recaps, where Josh and Josh are sitting next to each other, talking about their differences with regard to the Razor house. And Josh F has this really weird grin/grimace that totally freaks me out. 

[TheLastKidPicked]

9 minutes ago, dleighg said:

here's that scene they keep playing in the recaps, where Josh and Josh are sitting next to each other, talking about their differences with regard to the Razor house. And Josh F has this really weird grin/grimace that totally freaks me out. 

It is a little freaky, but it illustrates the point that Josh Altman is doing this for the money and Josh Flagg doesn't need the money and sees all of this as a game.   Remember when Altman came by in his new car to pick up Flagg?  And Flagg's comment,  "I've never ridden in a Rolls Royce before!"  BHWHAHAHAHA!  And then the two of them road-tripping, Thelma and Louise style. 

 

Edited July 20, 2020 by TheLastKidPicked

[dleighg]

1 minute ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

It is a little freaky, but it illustrates the point that Josh Altman is doing this for the money and Josh Flagg doesn't need the money and sees all of this as a game.

He did a pretty good job getting an extra 800k on the house from Altman. Apparently he guessed that the real top price was $1M more than what Altman said. So he proposed something just under that and got it.

[TheLastKidPicked]

1 minute ago, dleighg said:

He did a pretty good job getting an extra 800k on the house from Altman. Apparently he guessed that the real top price was $1M more than what Altman said. So he proposed something just under that and got it.

You are exactly right! And this is what makes Flagg a good negotiator.  He doesn't need the commission so he negotiates from a position of strength.  If he doesn't get the deal he wants, he will walk out and be just fine.  So he holds the power in negotiating.

When Josh Altman said,  "Flagg wants me to think he doesn't care about this deal,"  he knew what was up.

 

[TV Diva Queen]

42 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

It is a little freaky, but it illustrates the point that Josh Altman is doing this for the money and Josh Flagg doesn't need the money and sees all of this as a game.   Remember when Altman came by in his new car to pick up Flagg?  And Flagg's comment,  "I've never ridden in a Rolls Royce before!"  BHWHAHAHAHA!  And then the two of them road-tripping, Thelma and Louise style. 

 

He also said "brand new" RR.  Which was even better.  Throwing shade at Altman for his new RR/new money and Flagg has a vintage one..along with vintage money.  

[TheLastKidPicked]

21 minutes ago, TV Diva Queen said:

He also said "brand new" RR.  Which was even better.  Throwing shade at Altman for his new RR/new money and Flagg has a vintage one..along with vintage money. 

Nice catch!

 

[Stan39]

5 hours ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

I loved when Altman was talking about Josh Flagg and admitted that he was going to miss "the little wierdo".

The reason for Flagg's baby voice is that Flagg will never be a 30, 40 or 50 year old man.  Never.

He will be this young, rich boy in arrested development as long as he can.

And he will leapfrog from that into being an eccentric old man straight from that.  And knowing Josh, that is fine with him.  He knows that he has inherited more money than he can ever spend and he simply doesn't care what the outside world thinks of him.  The perfect arrested development rich kid and then the perfect eccentric old millionaire. 

 

Here’s the thing, I don’t think Josh is truly eccentric or truly doesn’t care what people think. I think he’s completely aware and tries to appear eccentric and that he doesn’t care. I was just watching Secret Lives of the Super Rich and there’s a rich guy in a super exclusive building looking to sell his house, but he’s filled it with 40 years worth of taxidermy that he’s been collecting. And he’s completely oblivious to the realtors request to move the taxidermy to sell the house. THAT guy is eccentric and doesn’t care. Flagg acts the way he does because he thinks it makes him interesting and funny. (Admittedly, sometimes it does)

[Carolina Girl]

On 7/9/2020 at 12:39 PM, geauxaway said:

Awhhhhh!   I love me some Chad Rogers!  Starla just turned 13 this week (yes I follow him).  🤣

Actually, I just did a quick check on a "where is he now"?  Dude looks really good - I give credit for the transformation of his physique and he appears to be rockin' the longer hair.  

[dleighg]

Not a huge fan of the "mid-century modern" in Pasadena. It struck me as rather "tract house" except for the fancy-pants tile and wallpaper. I grew up in a tract home subdivision in NJ in the late 60s and it reminded me too much of that. 

[TV Diva Queen]

I hope they come back to that Long Beach house and we get to see it again.  It was just amazing, and I don't care if it is dated.  I hope the new owner maintains the character of that gem and not turn it into another white box beach house.  

[dleighg]

7 minutes ago, TV Diva Queen said:

I hope they come back to that Long Beach house and we get to see it again. 

I agree. I also think Josh's marking plan made sense (more than I usually think about such things). But wow, three bedrooms is likely to be a tough nut to crack. 

[Stan39]

22 minutes ago, dleighg said:

I agree. I also think Josh's marking plan made sense (more than I usually think about such things). But wow, three bedrooms is likely to be a tough nut to crack. 

I like how this season is going and definitely don’t miss the drama. That being said, they’ve made it abundantly clear the SoCal real estate market is drying up and the agents are expanding to new areas to maintain business. They’d never do it, but I’d love it if they featured some new, local agents in these areas and their thoughts on Flagg, Altman, Tracy, and the Brits coming into their territory on a much more regular basis. To me, that’s a more real issue than Altman and Fredrik’s “beef”. I get that these are top agents, but I wonder how the agents in San Diego, Pasadena, Long Beach feel about things. Do they feel pushed out? Let’s face it, whatever pressure the MDL agents are feeling to maintain their business, I have to imagine the littler guys are feeling even more pressure. Yes, I realize I said “little” to refer to agents selling million dollar homes, but this all has a ripple effect, right? When this show started it was basically Malibu, Beverly Hills, downtown LA, and a few other spots. 

[dleighg]

I was curious about that rather unattractive island (with smokestack??) in the view from the Long Beach house. A little Google Earth and is actually an oil rig!

https://la.curbed.com/2018/9/28/17858248/history-long-beach-oil-islands-thums

I don't think they are as successfully "disguised" as this article seems to think they are.

And not surprising, but they had lots of looky-loos.

And I think Tracy wimped out on her outfit for the party. She looked great in some on the things they showed her trying on-- I liked the one with the matching headband.

Edited July 22, 2020 by dleighg

[Thumper]

I loved that green dress on her, too.   Funny about the $22,000 (I think) Mick Jagger jacket!

As soon as I saw the people coming to the Long Beach house, especially after “we live down the road,” I thought Looky Loos!  (I probably would have done the same thing!)

[janiema]

I am really enjoying this season without the stupid drama (except for the Fredrik/Josh thing). I wish all the Bravo writers would see this and redo their programming in a more positive way.

Tracy is really growing on me.

[dleighg]

I was curious about that rather unattractive island (with smokestack??) in the view from the Long Beach house. A little Google Earth and is actually an oil rig!

https://la.curbed.com/2018/9/28/17858248/history-long-beach-oil-islands-thums

I don't think they are as successfully "disguised" as this article seems to think they are.

While Josh was bragging about "not even a sidewalk" there is in fact a pedestian/bike path right across the sand, clearly visible in Google Earth. I also wonder exactly how "easy" it would be to add on bedrooms, given that the home seems to be designed around the courtyards and so on.

https://www.traillink.com/trail/shoreline-pedestrianbicycle-path/

[jrzy]

4 hours ago, TV Diva Queen said:

I hope they come back to that Long Beach house and we get to see it again.  It was just amazing, and I don't care if it is dated.  I hope the new owner maintains the character of that gem and not turn it into another white box beach house.  

I loved that house,  I hope the new owner appreciates the history and beauty within and just improves what's already there.  One thing I really like about Flagg is that he totally gets the value of these beautiful historical homes.  He is dismissive of these new ugly white builds and that makes me a  fan.  Of all the realtors,  if I had money, I would go to Josh Flagg to help me find a home.

[Stan39]

1 hour ago, jrzy said:

I loved that house,  I hope the new owner appreciates the history and beauty within and just improves what's already there.  One thing I really like about Flagg is that he totally gets the value of these beautiful historical homes.  He is dismissive of these new ugly white builds and that makes me a  fan.  Of all the realtors,  if I had money, I would go to Josh Flagg to help me find a home.

And when he shows you houses he won’t constantly tell you how “sexy” it is. I don’t know why, but I find it creepy when these agents talk about houses being sexy or “how much fun” a new owner will have in the master bedroom. Let’s just keep the conversation about square footage and light fixtures, thank you very much. 

[Carolina Girl]

2 hours ago, jrzy said:

One thing I really like about Flagg is that he totally gets the value of these beautiful historical homes. 

He also has a very impressive knowledge about the architects who designed these gems.  I remember there was one sale he made last year or the year before where he urged the buyer NOT to take the higher offer because it was a developer who was itching to tear it down - that it was better to go with the buyer who appreciated the beauty and architecture and was not itching to get out the bulldozers to build another white box.  

[Bayou7]

I used Zillow to checked out the house on Haslam Terrace ( from last night's show)  that Altman said he wouldn't take as a listing for $15M, Josh said that he wouldn't start it at anything over $13M. I wanted to see what the house eventually sold for.  Well Zillow has the actual numbers for that house at 1651 Haslam Terrace. It's clearly the same house. The show correctly stated the selling price in 2015 at $8.2M. But then the numbers go very different from what was discussed in the show. Zillow shows that the house went on the market in August of 2018 with Douglas Elliman as the agent( the Altman Bros?) at $9.295M and went off the market that November after a reduction to $8.95M. It then went back on the market in Jan 2020 for $9.995, still with Douglas Elliman---most likely the Altmans. It was just taken off the market on JUly 5th after a reduction to $8.995M.

   So I'm wondering if the Altman Bros are using the show to hype a property that's not selling. I've just found this forum, so I don't know if there have been previous discussions and may be widely known that the show isn't always straight up  with the numbers.  

 

[TV Diva Queen]

18 hours ago, jrzy said:

I loved that house,  I hope the new owner appreciates the history and beauty within and just improves what's already there.  One thing I really like about Flagg is that he totally gets the value of these beautiful historical homes.  He is dismissive of these new ugly white builds and that makes me a  fan.  Of all the realtors,  if I had money, I would go to Josh Flagg to help me find a home.

right?!?  How about his face when he learned who the architect was.  Love him!  and i too would use him to find me home.  

[Carolina Girl]

19 hours ago, jrzy said:

Of all the realtors,  if I had money, I would go to Josh Flagg to help me find a home

I completely agree.   

[Stan39]

3 hours ago, TV Diva Queen said:

right?!?  How about his face when he learned who the architect was.  Love him!  and i too would use him to find me home.  

It’s just a shame the other agents didn’t get it. I understand pointing out flaws as a negotiation tactic, but taking a tour of that home and then saying, “My clients really want another bedroom” really seems to miss the point. 
 

It’s too bad Long Beach isn’t a destination, otherwise someone should buy it and rent it out as a single-family resort experience. It would be great for hosting events or for a family that wants resort amenities without other people around. 

[dleighg]

3 minutes ago, Stan39 said:

It’s too bad Long Beach isn’t a destination, otherwise someone should buy it and rent it out as a single-family resort experience.

But I hate to harp on the three-bedrooms thing, but that's only big enough for a family of 4 (as I'm assuming the kiddos each get a room at that price point LOL). So you couldn't even have "house guests" drop in. We rented beach houses every summer throughout our kids' childhoods, and even we, not wealthy, wanted four bedrooms so that we could have friends or aunts etc. drop in while we were there. 

[Stan39]

6 minutes ago, dleighg said:

But I hate to harp on the three-bedrooms thing, but that's only big enough for a family of 4 (as I'm assuming the kiddos each get a room at that price point LOL). So you couldn't even have "house guests" drop in. We rented beach houses every summer throughout our kids' childhoods, and even we, not wealthy, wanted four bedrooms so that we could have friends or aunts etc. drop in while we were there. 

But my point (which was Josh’s) was that you could easily add another bedroom or two. I’m not saying the place doesn’t need renovations, just that when people talk about finding a house “with good bones” that house is what they’re talking about. I got the impression those agents didn’t care who the architect was or how unique the house is. 

[NYCFree]

I think another wing could easily have been added, given the huge side lawn we saw. It could well be kept in the original style of the home, by making it connect with another enclosed patio.

Josh Flagg has repeatedly said that people lack vision, and I agree with him.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I loved Josh Flagg's house this week, and Tracy's too.   

[geauxaway]

Did Tracy even mention the Malibu development this week?  If she did, I missed it (which is fine, the less publicity for that jerk the better).

I am loving this season and now I want to go see the AB mural!  

[TheLastKidPicked]

34 minutes ago, geauxaway said:

I am loving this season and now I want to go see the AB mural!  

Speaking of the Altman Brothers, did you all notice a difference this season?

The agents are just more likable.  Even some agents I didn't like in the past are so much more fun this year.  I'm sure becoming a father has a lot to do with Josh Altman's changes for the better.

 

[NYCFree]

2 minutes ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

Speaking of the Altman Brothers, did you all notice a difference this season?

The agents are just more likable.  Even some agents I didn't like in the past are so much more fun this year.  I'm sure becoming a father has a lot to do with Josh Altman's changes for the better.

 

Except for the silly Frederick/Josh A. “fight,” they’ve focused on real estate more. The in fighting was looking more and more staged, perhaps they responded to viewer feedback and are just giving us the real estate porn we crave.

[CruiseDiva]

Regarding Flagg's Long Beach house with three bedrooms... when he did the walk-through I seem to remember another room with an outside staircase--for the chauffeur?  Couldn't that be "converted" to a 4th bedroom? Or was I dreaming or maybe I've got the million dollar houses mixed up.

[dleighg]

10 minutes ago, CruiseDiva said:

when he did the walk-through I seem to remember another room with an outside staircase--for the chauffeur?

yes there was-- for the "gardener." Wonder why they don't count that as a bedroom?