“Million Dollar Listing LA”: Baby got bun

From TRD LA: Nobody said real estate was going to be easy.

But throw in a new baby, a fledgling relationship and a family who needs you, and it becomes downright messy.

In this episode, our band of home-pushing heroes struggle with the work-life balance. Josh Altman tries to fit in some Baby 101 while finding the right buyer for a home on Benedict Canyon. Tracy Tutor Maltas deals with the ups and downs of being a mother in the fast-paced, high-intensity world of selling real estate. Madison works up the courage to pop a very important question to his boyfriend Cody. And James Harris… well, James Harris doesn’t have it so bad this episode.

Here’s where we left off.

Baby on the brain

Give it to Josh, who’s had a hard go of splitting time between his real estate duties and the needs of his pregnant wife. In this episode, he’s making the necessary adjustments to help wife Heather prepare for their future daughter. He’s building cribs, setting up ridiculously expensive strollers and practicing swaddling techniques at the office. You know, baby stuff.

“Apparently we’re training for the baby Olympics now,” he says. “So look out dads, I’ll f*ck you up!”

How fatherly.

When he’s not busy cramming for the final exam, Josh is on the hunt for buyers for a sleek, spacious home on the infamously noisy Benedict Canyon Drive. The sellers have employed the help of Spanda and Parsua, who run a concierge service to help busy clients sell their home. Josh is tardy for their listing appointment, where Parsua dubs him the “brother that’s always late.” Ouch.

The baby is already taking over Josh’s life and she’s not even here yet! There’s a moment in the episode where he’s clearly about to lose it, but his brother Matt quickly reminds him that it can’t be that hard, because all babies do for the most part is eat and poop.

This worldly wisdom arrives just in time for a pair of sisters to view the Lancer property, which they love despite being miffed at the home having a closet that’s bigger than most New York City apartments. They initially want a $300,000 discount because the closet isn’t up to snuff, but they ultimately agree on $4.9 million because the house is massive and they can put their stuff wherever.

Mother real estate

Our fabulous friend Tracy finds herself in a very unfabulous situation at Homewood, where the sellers have terrible furniture and the next-door neighbors are super nosy. Though the furniture situation resolves itself, Tracy is still having trouble nailing down a buyer.

However, that’s proving to not be as difficult as balancing her work life with the responsibility of being a mother. She meets her very handsome hubby Jason for lunch, where they catch up about work, life and the goings-on of their two daughters, Juliette and Scarlet. At one point, Tracy mentions that her youngest daughter is in second grade, when in fact, she is in third. When her husband gently reminds her of this, Tracy becomes emotional, highlighting her struggle as a working mother.

“I hope they see what I do and they want to grow up and be independent and be successful in their own right,” Tracy says. “I want them to grow up and feel like they can achieve anything they want to achieve without the help of a man.”

Preach!

Tracy dusts herself off and gets back on the horse at Homewood, where she’s received two offers. Both come in $500,000 under the $5 million asking price, so Tracy decides to pursue the all-cash, 21-day close offer. She meets with Hue and Richard, the buyer’s representatives from Partners Trust, who comment on her jewelry and belittle her bun, because let’s face it, they’re men.

But she doesn’t let their bullying dissuade her, as they’re no match for her superior real estate powers. She walks away from the table with a $4,800,000 offer, bun in tow.

See you later, boys!

Elsewhere in the episode…

James Harris is tasked with selling a relic of a home in Beverly Hills, where seller Bobby has lived for the past 53(!) years. Because Bobby has come to love the home, she refuses to show it to developers who may knock it down. Also, she doesn’t want any open houses, because who needs those “looky Lous” anyway? Despite these constraints, James manages to host one open house, which draws the interest of two prospective buyers: a family from the area and, of course, a developer. The developer will buy the home at full price, while the family wants a significant discount. Because Bobby wants to preserve the home, she’s willing to compromise on the price, and over a game of gin rummy, decides to accept the family’s offer.

Madison and his boyfriend Cody hit the second leg of their trip home to Scottsdale, Arizona, which features a full-fledged family reunion. A setting like this could be intimidating for a newcomer, but Madison’s family members are genuinely nice people, especially his grandmother and grandfather. It seems like they enjoy Cody’s company, as well, prompting Madison to pop the question — no, not that question, silly. The two decide it’s time to take another step in their relationship and move in to together, age gap be damned!