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It’s no surprise to most agents that real estate reality shows don’t fully reflect the full reality of the real estate industry and the typical agent working in it, panelists said Thursday at the Inman Connect conference in Las Vegas. .
“Reality is a misnomer,” Douglas Elliman’s Ernie Caswell told the audience. “This is entertainment.”
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Ernie Caswell | Douglas Elliman
Carswell is the star of a reality show kendra sells hollywood. He was joined on stage at Inman Connect by The Agency’s Ben Belack, who stars in ” buy beverly hillsand Side host Katie Kossev.
“How do we better inform the public about this?” Kosseff asked the two reality stars.
“I think it starts with not having a herd mentality when it comes to marketing,” says Barack. He lamented the practice of agents promoting sales figures and accolades through social media and print marketing, and said he had made a significant shift in recent years to focus more on consumers rather than promoting himself.
“Our marketing materials are more consumer-centric,” says Barak. “I want it to be less about me and more about making the consumer the hero.”
Kosseff admits that she doesn’t watch real estate reality TV shows because her life already involves real estate. But she also suspects that, unlike Caswell and Barack, who both seem to be very professional and serious about their businesses, many agents who appear on real estate reality shows aren’t 100 percent professional.
Ben Barack | The Agency
“To be honest, I think for agents who have been headlining the show for years, it definitely strengthens their business,” Caswell said.
“However, it attracted agencies who thought, ‘This is so easy, we just have to do a fashion section…’” Carswell continued. “That’s not the case in Beverly Hills at all. It’s hard work, but we love it.
“What other jobs can you do in the national market that don’t have an income cap?” he asked.
Unfortunately, reality TV has turned the industry into one of “fast cars and high heels,” Carswell added.
“That really disappoints me because it attracts the wrong elements.”
For Barack, participating in the reality show is his strategy to draw more attention to his business. When he saw high earners like Caswell and The Agency CEO Mauricio Umansky on reality TV shows, he thought it might be possible if he did the same would provide a boost to his business as he is relatively unknown in a market in which he did not grow.
“I think people will hire people they know,” says Barack. “So I focused on being known to as many people as possible.”
“I want Ben Belack’s name to keep popping up in people’s minds – real estate.”
Katie Kosseff | Katie Kosseff
Unfortunately, with this kind of fame, celebrity agents can also attract unwanted attention, Caswell added.
“It’s a mixture,” he said. “We got some calls from really crazy people… but there were also some real people who were attracted to the agents on the show who seemed to represent professionalism… but it was deleted a lot.”
Both Carswell and Barack lamented that the show’s most serious parts often didn’t appear in the final episodes viewers watched on television.
“What’s really professional and low-key is that in the cutting shop,” Caswell said.
Instead, producers like to emphasize interpersonal drama, such as big breakups, he adds.
But Barack added that agents who want to capitalize on their popularity through videos don’t need to be on a major reality show.
“I think, in general, everyone is turning to algorithms, everyone is discovering brands on YouTube; they’re really into hyperlocal,” he said.
“So if you become the mayor of the beach, you’re going to be hard to beat. And it’s very cheap to push your video as an ad into the feed of someone who’s in your network.”
Carswell advises that it doesn’t matter if there’s already a big, No. 1 brokerage in your market because people like to see new faces. But in the end, he echoed Barack’s sentiment that agencies should redirect their marketing to clients rather than bragging about their accomplishments.
“I really like what Ben said, that we should focus on the customer,” Caswell said.
Email Lillian Dixon
