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Go behind the scenes with Inman’s Dani Vanderboegh to get the solutions to all of your burning questions on the latest releases. Keep tuned to Actual Tea, the intersection of actual property and actuality TV.
You would possibly acknowledge Mercedes “MJ” Javid from Bravo’s 2012-2021 collection Shahs of Sundown. The long-running actuality collection adopted the lives of an all-Persian forged for 9 seasons, which Javid mentioned got here to an natural shut in the course of the pandemic and on the identical time she had her youngster Shams, who’s now 5 years outdated.
Although there was no actual property component to the present, a number of forged members had actual property ties, together with Reza Farahan and Javid, who “grew up in real estate” and has had her license for 20 years. In December, she’ll have a good time her two-year anniversary at The Company, the place her gross sales sit at over $15 million, in keeping with the corporate, and previous to that, she was with Keller Williams.
Most not too long ago, she was on Season 2 of The Traitors. For those who’re unfamiliar with the present, it’s basically a homicide thriller recreation in a lushly furnished citadel in Scottland, hosted by Alan Cumming.
For 12 episodes, 22 actuality TV stars (assume Bravo, Survivor, Huge Brother, MTV competitors stars) duke it out in competitions, whereas not less than one forged member is “murdered” by unknown “traitors” or voted out by the group, which is usually composed of “faithfuls” (non-murderers), all whereas the faithfuls attempt to determine who the traitors are and vote them out to stroll away with over $250,000, or a cut up pot, relying on how the sport goes.
Javid made it to the ultimate three, however didn’t win a portion of the pot on the uber-popular present that’s now nominated for a 2024 Emmy for “Outstanding Reality Competition Program.”
The 76th Emmy Awards are on Sunday, and forward of the ceremony, Inman sat down with Javid to get the Actual Tea on actual property, elevating children and actuality TV.
This interview has been edited for size and readability.
The Traitors
What was it prefer to be on The Traitors?
The Traitors is a homicide thriller elimination present competitors the place each single day, you get up, and also you fall asleep not figuring out in case you’re ever going to see these lovely individuals that you just’ve simply met ever once more.
You’ll get up, go in full hair and make-up and be ready for hours to be possibly referred to as to breakfast, or possibly not. For those who get referred to as to breakfast, they is also calling you into the room the place you’re going to get the letter, the place you open it and discover out you had been murdered. After which you must sit down and provides your exit interview and say the way you felt about that.
Or they’ll say, “OK, MJ, let’s go to breakfast,” and also you’re going to the breakfast room. When you get into the breakfast room, all these huge reactions.
The largest query I obtained on Traitors ever was, “How come everybody looks so surprised in the morning at breakfast?” As a result of we didn’t know if we had been going to be in that room or not till the final second.
And we’re all taking a look at one another’s reactions in order that we are able to discover out if somebody appears to be like like they knew who was coming or not in order that we are able to discover out who the traitors is likely to be.
What was filming like?
So that you’re utterly fish out of water. You’re moving into a brand new tradition. It’s a stupendous tradition. On the set, [the quality looked like] Dances with Wolves. It was so intricate.
The cameras, the dollies, capturing these lovely scenes with Alan Cumming, rising from — actually out of nowhere. And they might mild up the torches, and we’d have these quaint Land Rovers which might be carrying us over to the grounds … and we’re competing in a homicide thriller.
How lengthy had been you gone?
A month.
And also you’re utterly disconnected from the surface world the complete time?
You get off the airplane, and a producer will greet you and say, “Hiya. MJ, how was your journey to get right here? Can I’ve your cellphone? We’re going to confiscate it, and we’re additionally going to look our baggage and ensure you don’t have a backup or any type of communication in any respect to succeed in out to anyone.
Was that arduous?
It was very tough, and I shortly realized what disassociation actually appears to be like like and the way it feels.
How did you deal with your purchasers once you had been gone?
I really needed to inform my purchasers, “Listen, I’ve had this really unique opportunity. Can we put it on hold for about two weeks or so?”
And I even have lots of [other agents who] might step in … if want be.
How does it really feel to be nominated for an Emmy?
It feels unbelievable. And I knew whereas we had been there that we had been creating one thing that was actually particular. And I knew as a result of the forged is such a stupendous ensemble of unbelievable individuals.
Actual property
How did you get into actual property?
I grew up in actual property. My dad flipped condos and homes, and he’s the one that I might shadow, not solely in actual property however my entire life. And [at 17 years old], I might stand and watch him negotiate, after which I might generally discover him to be too beneficiant. And that was my pocketbook he was reaching into.
Doing actually fast math, I’d be like, I believe he’s leaving cash on the desk. I might soar in. I might negotiate. Nobody kicked me out of the dialog. And subsequent factor you recognize, I simply saved him, like, $20,000.
After which [years later], he checked out me after I graduated from faculty, and he was like, “Why don’t you get your real estate license so that I can give you the listing instead of another real estate agent, since you’re genuinely and organically getting yourself involved. And you’re negotiating, and you’re doing a better job than me.”
I [was] like, “Hell, yeah.”
In order that’s how I began. And by the way in which, [when I first got my driver’s license], I used to drive round … Sundown Boulevard from Beverly Hills to Malibu, and if I noticed an open home signal, I might cease.
What 16-year-old would wish to see homes as an alternative of going to the mall or no matter a standard child would do at that age? I prided myself on figuring out the streets by coronary heart in Beverly Hills from a younger age.
Previously yr or two, there’s been the millionaire’s tax, the Nationwide Affiliation of Realtors settlement, and rates of interest and residential costs have been excessive. How are you managing the altering market? How are you speaking to purchasers about it?
[I tell clients] you must keep inside your funds. You don’t wish to alienate your self from the true property market, and one of the best ways to alienate your self is to not personal one thing. So simply be modest. Purchase one thing, however don’t assume it’s your final home.
My first property was a home that I didn’t wish to reside in. I used to be nearly mad. I used to be like, “I’m not gonna have a house that doesn’t have a powder room.” However now I’ve 1,000,000 {dollars} in fairness in that property with out even noticing that I’m paying a mortgage as a result of I’ve owned it for a very very long time … So the phrase is, you purchase the home, not the speed.
The rate of interest is one thing that’s going to return down. Purchase that home, you’re going to get it at a lower cost; then when the rates of interest go down … you’re simply competing towards extra patrons. The market turns into a frenzy, and you might be in the end going to borrow extra for that very same home.
If that home at this greater rate of interest was 1,000,000 {dollars}, when the rates of interest go down, it’s going to be $1.3 million, so that you’re higher off shopping for a slice of the pie. Get your self out of the rental market.
And has your consumer technique modified in any respect?
My technique has not modified. I like working with {couples} … I don’t tackle lots of purchasers without delay.
I’m very 24/7 about my method. I’ve administrators which have wanted to name me at 1 a.m. as a result of that’s the one time [due to] capturing overseas, and so they wish to go over an inspection report that they weren’t even current for.
I’m their eyes, their ears, and the person who’s guiding them. So I like that I might be somebody that they’ll let loose a sigh and know, “MJ’s got my back. I know that she cares. I know that she’s not a salesman, she’s not pushy, she’s not trying to upsell me.”
I do know there are lots of NDAs with high-profile purchasers, however are you able to inform us about a few of your movie star purchasers?
Sure, after we listed [Christina Ricci’s] home, I used to be allowed to say that it’s her home. And it turned a PR technique that labored. However the consideration that the home obtained was due to me, The Company, Christina Ricci — how nice she is in her profession — and Jeff Lewis, creating a stupendous collaboration together with her … Each single one that walked into that home was blown away … no person felt like they had been strolling right into a cookie-cutter home.
As a result of as of late, with a contemporary farmhouse, each single home appears to be like precisely the identical, having this open flooring idea with the identical shade of cupboards, the identical shade of paint and the identical flooring — each home appears to be like the identical.
However you need individuality. You need your own home to really feel particular, particularly when you have got the funds you can personal one thing that you just wish to be enthusiastic about. Folks don’t need their homes to really feel like the identical factor that they simply got here from. And Christina Ricci’s yard is that this oasis zen Buddhist paradise, and it simply had such mature landscaping. It jogged my memory of White Lotus — Italy and Hawaii.
[Jeff Lewis] did a very nice job, and so did Christina. They chose the whole lot collectively, each fixture, each wallpaper; the home was completely customized. There was nothing cookie-cutter about it, and there was a theme that was very congruent. They actually thoughtfully reimagined the area to be extra functionally modernized in order that they nonetheless had an old-world allure, however reconfiguring areas and maximizing closet and storage.
In January, you and Jeff Lewis (of Hollywood Houselift and Flipping Out fame) did Watch What Occurs Stay and teased an upcoming challenge. Inform us extra about that.
There are a few different issues within the works, and it’s very thrilling as a result of he’s most likely one of many best, most beneficiant individuals who make such sensible selections in actual property and design, and anybody who works with him is fortunate to purchase a home that he’s labored on as a result of it’s going to be probably the most completely and splendidly cared for home.
He’s very a lot the additional mile man, and that’s nice as a result of he’s not likely excited about his revenue. He’s excited about the product. If you get to face behind that and current that and promote that — it’s a very great point.
Actuality TV
Let’s speak about extra actuality TV. What’s it like being a mother versus being on digicam?
I used to be raised as an solely youngster, the place the world was no matter I wished. So, for me to have the ability to middle my world round my youngster shouldn’t be one thing individuals would have [thought], that MJ goes to be a superb mother.
Lots of people are like, nicely, she’s an actual property shark. She’s a celebration lady, however we are able to’t see her in another approach.
The largest praise that somebody might give me again then [was], “She’s hungry. I want her to be my agent.”
And at the moment, that’s nonetheless the most effective compliments you would give me. However I additionally know that I’m rather more compassionate as a result of I’m a mother. I’m most likely a greater buddy … what I might have finished to maintain [Shahs of Sunset] going would have been completely completely different … it was a present that was constructed round friendships that, sadly, took a flip for that point being. And, all of us needed to develop up a bit bit — quite a bit.
Author’s notice: Javid did say that she is on good phrases with longtime associates Reza Farahan and Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi, regardless of ending Shahs of Sundown on unsure phrases and even saying earlier this yr that she’s not associates with Gharachedaghi on Andy Cohen’s late-night Bravo talkshow Watch What Occurs Stay.
How do you are feeling about Netflix’s Shopping for Beverly Hills, which stars colleagues and your CEO, going away?
Unhappy. That’s ridiculous. To start with, I binged Season 2 in a single weekend … It was so good. And I did develop into actually invested within the tales … I watched it in full awe and admiration. I’m a fan.
Would you think about doing an actual property actuality TV present?
Sure … Josh Altman and I shared an EP [executive producer] after we had been each beginning on Bravo. We had been each beginning our reveals. And we obtained much more actual property protection on Shahs of Sundown within the first few years. So I typically assume that my trajectory in my actual profession … was unbelievable.
Do you have got a favourite actuality TV actual property agent?
I like Tracy Tutor … I like Mauricio [Umansky and Ryan Serhant].
What’s your scorching tackle actual property actuality TV?
It’s very disrespectful to what we do to point out it in these broad strokes … it’s actually a disservice to point out actual property in an inauthentic approach. So after I see it on reveals which might be making an attempt to place an excessive amount of Hermès bandage gown on the profession of it, then I say, “You know what? I love watching it for the outfits,” and I’m eternally impressed by how lovely the outfits are on sure reveals.
Whereas if it’s a present with Ryan Serhant, I’m going to take out my pocket book, and I’m going to say, “I’m going to use that. This is great.” As a result of he actually cares, and that comes via … He tells a narrative about actual grit that you need to have in what you do … that man is the chef’s kiss.
What was the perfect half about being on actuality TV reveals like Shahs and Traitors?
My proudest actuality TV profession moments are these after I represented self-confidence and was within the place to spearhead girls feeling nice about themselves and of their pores and skin. There weren’t many representations of physique positivity and self-confidence [for women] after I was on TV, so it was an important alternative that I obtained to encourage girls to step into their energy.
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