Some of the showings the agents do are clearly staged, as no earnest house showing would include a dramatic fight between two realtors. Selling Sunset is a reality show, or more accurately as described by Netflix, a “docusoap,” which means that of course there are aspects of it that are manufactured. Mary Fitzgerald told Cosmopolitan that so many people show up at the office to take pictures that some days, “It’s almost like an assembly line.” Since the show has gained traction, the working office has become something of a tourist spot. The Oppenheim Group office on Sunset Boulevard that’s featured in Selling Sunset opened in 2014. “The Oppenheim Group was then my dad‘s real estate brokerage in the ’80s and then I started it again in 2013,” he says. The Oppenheim Group website describes the brokerage as “Founded in Hollywood by Jacob Stern in 1889 as The Stern Realty Co.,” but in fact it’s not a continuous real estate company.Īccording to Jason Oppenheim, his great-great-grandfather on his mother’s side started Stern Realty Company in Los Angeles in the 1880s. But the Oppenheim family has been selling real estate in Los Angeles for generations. His twin brother Brett, who has appeared on all seasons of Selling Sunset, was part of the brokerage but broke off last year to start his own real estate group. Emma got her real estate license in 2019, and her Instagram bio describes her as a CEO of a vegan empanada brand, an agent at the Oppenheim group, and an angel investor.Ĭurrently, the Oppenheim group is run by Jason Oppenheim. Another new cast member, Emma Hernan, joins the agency to replace Christine Quinn while she’s on maternity leave, and the Oppenheim brothers describe her as someone who’s worked for them on and off, but never full time. Before becoming a real estate agent, she worked as an actor in Mexican soap operas. Season 4 of Selling Sunset features a new cast member and real estate agent, Vanessa Villela, who tells her new colleagues that she only began working in real estate a year ago (she got her license in 2020). But the agent who actually got her license the earliest is repeat villain Davina Potratz, who became a realtor in 2006. Selling Sunset always touts Mary Fitzgerald as the most experienced agent of the group, and the records show that she did in fact get her license in 2008. “Even a superficial investigation would identify previous team photos, hundreds of millions in transacted sales, and more than 50 years of combined licensed real estate experience from these agents.” “Any insinuation that the agents on our show are not experienced, successful, or licensed, evidences a complete disregard for the facts,” Oppenheim said in a statement to People in 2020. In the now infamous final shot of The Hills series finale, star Brody Jenner is seen waving goodbye on a street in front of the Hollywood sign, before the shot pulls out to reveal he is merely standing on a film set with a large camera crew-hinting at the artificiality of the show.Īfter Teigen’s tweets, several cast members chimed in to defend themselves and their colleagues. That Selling Sunset is created by Adam DiVello, who also created docusoap classics Laguna Beach and The Hills, adds fuel to the speculative fire. None of this client information was divulged on the show, but as celebrity home-buying news is its own beat in the Hollywood gossip world, the fact of this kind of sale is easy to find. The client selling the house was Sean Rad, one of the cofounders of Tinder. While it’s unclear whether or not parts of that scene were exaggerated for the camera, Mary really did sell the house, a $9.2 million mansion in Los Angeles, to its current owner, the music producer Benny Blanco. She ultimately ends up making the sale, and gleefully shares that she sold her wedding venue on her wedding day. The client, who’s not shown onscreen, is a “big music producer,” Mary says. (What multi-million dollar house wouldn’t be suitable as a wedding venue?) Being the hard worker that she is, Mary shows the house to a client on her wedding day, while she’s in the middle of getting her hair done. In the finale of season one, for example, agent Mary Fitzgerald is holding her wedding at one of her listings. The Oppenheim Group lists more than 30 agents on their website, but only a handful of them appear on Selling Sunset, so it’s possible that when one agent is showing a listing on TV, they are sharing that listing with another agent who works off-screen.
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