Million Dollar Listing New York: Caped crusaders and Serhantian egos

Recap of Season 5, Episode 3

Luis D. Ortiz, Ryan Serhant and Fredrik Eklund
Luis D. Ortiz, Ryan Serhant and Fredrik Eklund

After last week’s saga of lost listings and failed promises, the men of “Million Dollar Listing New York” are doing their best to bounce back. Fredrik transforms a construction site into a marketable mansion, Ryan gets the spring back in his step and Luis tests the waters with a new “partnership.”

Here’s where our three heroes ended up:

Swimming in futility
Thanks to coveralls, a sprinkling of flowers and some good camera work, Fredrik and his assistant Jordan are able to turn the Schumacher’s unpresentable ground-floor unit into something a little more appealing. While Jared, the buyer’s representative, isn’t feeling the listing, Fredrik’s promises of TLC strike a chord with the caped client from Singapore. The buyer desires a pool (alas, no love dungeon) and he wants it with the $9.5 mansion, for $1 million under ask.

Unlike Jared, who won’t bow to the pressure of carbs, Armen, the mansion’s developer, is willing to parley. They finally settle on a $9 million offer, pool included. During a celebratory trip to a Japanese dog boutique, however, Fredrik learns his half-hearted cleaning was for nothing. A buyer who already owns at the building is exercising his option to pick up the ground-floor pad at a heavily discounted $6.7 million. “If there’s a slight chance, however unlikely, you should’ve told me,” Jared pouts. And while he won’t accept any dog apparel that’s not Guillard and Louis Vuitton, he does accept Fredrik’s apology.

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The ego is not master in its own house
Because he’s not “any other broker,” Ryan is tackling his latest listing with a helping of Serhant ego. The two-story penthouse as 52 Cooper Square is yet to be listed, and Ryan wants to keep it that way. He thinks “play the buyers against themselves” by marketing the 5,000-square-foot spread as a whisper listing and setting a price between $10 million and $20 million — because, why not?

After a flurry of showings, Ryan gets an offer of $14.5 million, but tells Elad, the seller’s moneyman, that he can do better (can’t we all?) But Elad gives him just 48 hours to pull off a deal with Sherif, who toured the apartment in what could be the fastest showing on record. Luckily, a few follow-up iPhone shots by Sherif’s not-so-nice broker take care of business. Ryan narrowly escapes getting fired from his second listing in two episodes, ​and presents Elad a $15.5 million offer for the penthouse.

Always the bridesmaid
In search of a new partnership and borough, Luis is off to Brooklyn, co-listing a three-unit building in Williamsburg with his new partner in crime, Jordan. Things are off to a rocky start when Luis ignores Jordan’s request to not talk to the owner about chopping the price of the building’s second-floor unit, which is clearly suffering from middle-child syndrome. The owners​ won’t budge, but they​ do agree​ ​to take the penthouse off the market, in hopes that the first-floor garden pad and second-floor ​apartment will sell ​before the grand prize is revealed.​​ The brokers schedule a more dressed-down open house, because Brooklyn is back to being just Brooklyn.

Though Jordan ​fails to show up in his Brooklyn garb (which apparently involves a whole lot of denim), the open house is off to a relatively smooth start — but the prospective buyers want a piece of that penthouse. Despite their agreement, Jordan shows the off-the-market unit anyway, completely undermining Luis’ “authority” and “power.” Another partnership, another headache for Luis.