Just this week, I received a direct message on Instagram from a young person asking for a job after watching reality real estate show Selling Sunset . And this isn’t the first time. It seems that every time you blink, a new reality TV show promising to portray high stakes real estate emerges.
This week it’s Marking It in Marbella , next week — probably somewhere else equally as aspirational, marketed with a catchy alliterated name. Some may argue that it’s great to see young people wanting to kick-start their career in property and being encouraged by these TV shows, but we have to face facts. Young people’s heads have been turned by the glitz and glamour, and what they’re left with is an unrealistic picture of what the sector is.
Meanwhile viewers are given the impression that becoming a super prime property agent is an easy get-rich-quick scheme, at a time when we need it to be seen as super professional and highly skilled. Netflix shows such as Selling Sunset, Buying London and now Making It in Marbella, are taking the reality TV world by storm. While there’s clearly an appetite from the public to see lavish properties, the day-to-day of how agents sell those properties, and the clientele buying them.
The reality is, these scripted storylines create a misconception of the super prime property world. For instance, in these shows, many of the ‘agents’ talk candidly about square footage, prestigious addresses and celebrity neighbours. In reality, our client .