Reality television spreads to NYC Realty

Some New York City brokers are getting their shot on the small screen, as the reality TV craze has spread to real estate.

Cable television shows like the Discovery Channel’s “Double Agents” and Home & Garden Television’s “House Hunters” have been popping up on the airwaves, giving viewers the chance to see home buyers and agents as they search for the perfect home.

Others, like the A&E Network’s “Sell This House,” bring in real estate experts to advise owners on problem listings, and a few bring in agents to judge efforts to renovate a home.

While the bulk of the shows are shot in Los Angeles, several have been filmed in New York.

Aileen Grossmann, a manager of a Citi Habitat office in the Flatiron District, recently helped a couple find a place in Murray Hill on an episode of “House Hunters.”

The episode is scheduled to air in the next several weeks. Reruns will regularly appear over the next few years.

Grossmann, a former TV producer who landed the role because of her contacts in the industry, said the concept is perfect for New York.

“People go to open houses merely out of shared curiosity and nosiness here,” she said. “This show plays into the fascination with what other people do with the small places they live in.”

In the episode, insurance consultant Yoav Irom and his fianc e Lisa, who works in fashion and design, are looking for a larger apartment in the Murray Hill neighborhood where they live. Lisa’s current 800 square foot apartment can’t handle two dogs and recent arrival Yoav.

The couple faces time pressure in the show because they want to find a place before their upcoming wedding, which is several weeks away-not an easy situation in the current market.

“In New York, you have to move on it in a week if you want a place,” says Grossmann in the show. “There’s not that much to choose from.”

The show films the couple as they look at three places — a renovated two-bedroom that Lisa thinks “lacks character,” a comparatively inexpensive apartment that needs renovation, and a “light and airy” two-bedroom with French doors and a second loft bedroom.

The couple ends up going with the third apartment – which can “seat 20 dinner guests” in the living room – with just two weeks to go until the wedding.

Grossmann said it was difficult to set up the shoots, because of co-op boards. Because of that obstacle – and because real life is a relative term on reality television – some of the proceedings were slightly contrived.

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“It was the biggest nightmare ever, because of co-op boards,” said Grossmann. “I had to beg people to let us use their apartments.”

The couple is shown looking at two condos on the program, even though they had ruled out condos as too expensive, compared to co-ops. Grossmann also didn’t get approval for the co-op that was shown, because of time constraints, but said she hopes more people will become aware of the show in the future and permission to film will be easier to secure.

“When this airs, if people have fun with it, I think it will mean easier access if more people know about the program,” she said.

Betsy Allman, supervising producer for “House Hunters,” said that so far two episodes have been filmed in New York, and “we plan to do more this season.”

The show, which airs Thursday nights, is among the top rated programs on Home & Garden Television, or HGTV.

Allman said the show searches for agents anyway they can. “We go to open houses and see signs and drive through neighborhoods,” she said. Brokers can also approach the show with good homebuyer candidates. There is only a courtesy fee for appearing on the program, but, of course, being on the show can be a good marketing opportunity for an agent. Some observers have also said the shows might create a more positive image for the real estate industry as a whole.

Other reality shows, like A&E’s “Sell This House,” filmed in New York last year and plan to return in the coming months, said Rob Sharenow, executive producer at A&E.

The show is based around the concept of the open house. Each week features homeowners looking to sell and prospective buyers secretly videotaped as they express their observations upon first seeing a home. Enter a real estate and home decoration expert who watches the video with the seller and advises on changes. In the end, the place is transformed, and the buyers are brought back through.

“We filmed in a one-bedroom in Manhattan – one of the smallest properties that’s been on the show, and the most expensive,” said Sharenow, “and it was one of our more popular episodes, and the apartment sold right after we staged it.”

While the show doesn’t focus on agents, Sharenow said there is currently a show up for consideration on A&E that prominently features brokers.

“The whole home show craze, I don’t think its going to stop,” said Sharenow.

Other home shows on the tube, mostly related to home renovation, include “Building Character,” “While You Were Out,” “House Rules,” “Curb Appeal,” “Trading Spaces” and others.

Real estate TV’s popularity isn’t confined to the U.S., either. There is no shortage of real estate agents on British television. One recent show featured London agency Greene & Co. as the subject of a six-week hour-long prime-time national slot on BBC2. Agents from the company were followed by cameras for six months last year as they went about their work.

Finally, there is the current mother of all TV reality shows, which is arguably real estate-related because of its central character – “The Apprentice.”

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