Reality TV and real estate have long intersected.
But here’s the weird thing: The agents on screen are often more famous for their reality TV hijinks than for their real estate.
Which is to say reality TV often doesn’t feature established industry icons. There’s no show, after all, that puts say, Gary Keller, Rich Barton and Robert Reffkin in a house together to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real.
And that’s what makes Netflix’s upcoming real estate show Buy My House so intriguing: The cast isn’t stacked with botoxed New York and Los Angeles socialites. Instead, it features two names very familiar to Inman readers: Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman and Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman.
The show appears to basically apply the formula from Shark Tank to real estate. So instead of pitching business ideas, homeowners walk on stage to try to sell their houses. The trailer went up earlier this month, showing participants pitching everything from middle-class homes to very high-end properties.
“Real estate mogul Glenn Kelman,” as the trailer describes him, is seen at one point telling someone “I want it so bad I can’t even stand it.” And “top New York City power broker Pam Liebman” throws some cold water on one man’s pitch.
“There’s no way that house is worth $5 million,” she says.
Liebman and Kelman are joined in the cast of experts by Danisha Wrighster, who according to the trailer “went from single mom to self-made millionaire” and NFL linebacker Brandon Copeland, who is “unstoppable on the field and even more competitive when he’s buying houses.”
The trailer for the show is splashy. But the premise of a Shark Tank-like show that features relatively middle-class properties is an intriguing one.
It’ll also be interesting to get glimpses into the minds of the experts, who are repeatedly referred to as “tycoons” in the trailer. Kelman, for instance, has a reputation as a frank leader who is willing to take more opinionated public stands on issues than some of his industry peers. But Kelman is also usually not out there weighing in on individual houses. So this could be a chance to see a different side of him and the other “tycoons” in the cast.
The show debuts on Sept. 2.