Meet Emmy-Nominated Actuality TV Star, Actual Property Agent Mercedes Javid
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Go behind the scenes with Inman’s Dani Vanderboegh to get the solutions to all of your burning questions on the most recent releases. Keep tuned to Real Tea, the intersection of actual property and actuality TV.
You would possibly acknowledge Mercedes “MJ” Javid from Bravo’s 2012-2021 sequence Shahs of Sundown. The long-running actuality sequence adopted the lives of an all-Persian forged for 9 seasons, which Javid mentioned got here to an natural shut in the course of the pandemic and on the identical time she had her little one Shams, who’s now 5 years previous.
Although there was no actual property factor to the present, a number of forged members had actual property ties, together with Reza Farahan and Javid, who “grew up in actual property” and has had her license for 20 years. In December, she’ll have fun her two-year anniversary at The Company, the place her gross sales sit at over $15 million, in accordance with the corporate, and previous to that, she was with Keller Williams.
Most not too long ago, she was on Season 2 of The Traitors. If you happen to’re unfamiliar with the present, it’s basically a homicide thriller sport in a lushly furnished citadel in Scottland, hosted by Alan Cumming.
For 12 episodes, 22 actuality TV stars (suppose Bravo, Survivor, Massive Brother, MTV competitors stars) duke it out in competitions, whereas at the least one forged member is “murdered” by unknown “traitors” or voted out by the group, which is generally composed of “faithfuls” (non-murderers), all whereas the faithfuls attempt to determine who the traitors are and vote them out to stroll away with over $250,000, or a break up pot, relying on how the sport goes.
Javid made it to the ultimate three, however didn’t win a portion of the pot on the uber-popular present that’s now nominated for a 2024 Emmy for “Outstanding Reality Competition Program.”
The 76th Emmy Awards are on Sunday, and forward of the ceremony, Inman sat down with Javid to get the Actual Tea on actual property, elevating children and actuality TV.
This interview has been edited for size and readability.
The Traitors
What was it wish to be on The Traitors?
The Traitors is a homicide thriller elimination present competitors the place each single day, you get up, and also you fall asleep not understanding in case you’re ever going to see these stunning individuals that you simply’ve simply met ever once more.
You’ll get up, go in full hair and make-up and be ready for hours to be perhaps referred to as to breakfast, or perhaps not. If you happen to get referred to as to breakfast, they may be calling you into the room the place you’re going to get the letter, the place you open it and discover out you have been murdered. After which it’s a must to sit down and provides your exit interview and say the way you felt about that.
Or they’ll say, “OK, MJ, let’s go to breakfast,” and also you’re going to the breakfast room. When you get into the breakfast room, all these massive reactions.
The most important query I obtained on Traitors ever was, “How come everyone seems so stunned within the morning at breakfast?” As a result of we didn’t know if we have been going to be in that room or not till the final second.
And we’re all one another’s reactions in order that we are able to discover out if somebody seems like they knew who was coming or not in order that we are able to discover out who the traitors could be.
What was filming like?
So that you’re fully fish out of water. You’re entering into a brand new tradition. It’s an exquisite tradition. On the set, [the quality looked like] Dances with Wolves. It was so intricate.
The cameras, the dollies, taking pictures these stunning scenes with Alan Cumming, rising from — actually out of nowhere. And they’d mild up the torches, and we’d have these quaint Land Rovers which are carrying us over to the grounds … and we’re competing in a homicide thriller.
How lengthy have been you gone?
A month.
And also you’re fully disconnected from the surface world the whole time?
You get off the airplane, and a producer will greet you and say, “Howdy. MJ, how was your journey to get right here? Can I’ve your cellphone? We’re going to confiscate it, and we’re additionally going to go looking our baggage and be sure you don’t have a backup or any type of communication in anyway to achieve out to anyone.
Was that arduous?
It was very troublesome, and I shortly discovered what disassociation actually seems like and the way it feels.
How did you deal with your purchasers once you have been gone?
I truly needed to inform my purchasers, “Pay attention, I’ve had this actually distinctive alternative. Can we put it on maintain for about two weeks or so?”
And I even have lots of [other agents who] may step in … if want be.
How does it really feel to be nominated for an Emmy?
It feels unimaginable. And I knew whereas we have been there that we have been creating one thing that was actually particular. And I knew as a result of the cast is such an exquisite ensemble of unimaginable individuals.
Actual property
How did you get into actual property?
I grew up in actual property. My dad flipped condos and homes, and he’s the one who I’d shadow, not solely in actual property however my entire life. And [at 17 years old], I’d stand and watch him negotiate, after which I’d typically discover him to be too beneficiant. And that was my pocketbook he was reaching into.
Doing actually fast math, I’d be like, I believe he’s leaving cash on the desk. I’d leap in. I’d negotiate. Nobody kicked me out of the dialog. And subsequent factor you recognize, I simply saved him, like, $20,000.
After which [years later], he checked out me after I graduated from school, and he was like, “Why don’t you get your actual property license in order that I can provide the itemizing as a substitute of one other actual property agent, because you’re genuinely and organically getting your self concerned. And also you’re negotiating, and also you’re doing a greater job than me.”
I [was] like, “Hell, yeah.”
In order that’s how I began. And by the way in which, [when I first got my driver’s license], I used to drive round … Sundown Boulevard from Beverly Hills to Malibu, and if I noticed an open home signal, I’d cease.
What 16-year-old would need to see homes as a substitute of going to the mall or no matter a traditional child would do at that age? I prided myself on understanding the streets by coronary heart in Beverly Hills from a younger age.
Up to now yr or two, there’s been the millionaire’s tax, the National Association of Realtors settlement, and interest rates and residential costs have been excessive. How are you managing the altering market? How are you speaking to purchasers about it?
[I tell clients] it’s a must to keep inside your funds. You don’t need to alienate your self from the actual property market, and the easiest way to alienate your self is to not personal one thing. So simply be modest. Purchase one thing, however don’t suppose it’s your final home.
My first property was a home that I didn’t need to stay in. I used to be nearly mad. I used to be like, “I’m not gonna have a home that doesn’t have a powder room.” However now I’ve one million {dollars} in fairness in that property with out even noticing that I’m paying a mortgage as a result of I’ve owned it for a very very long time … So the phrase is, you purchase the home, not the speed.
The rate of interest is one thing that’s going to come back down. Purchase that home, you’re going to get it at a cheaper price; then when the rates of interest go down … you’re simply competing towards extra patrons. The market turns into a frenzy, and you’re finally going to borrow extra for that very same home.
If that home at this greater rate of interest was one million {dollars}, when the rates of interest go down, it’s going to be $1.3 million, so that you’re higher off shopping for a slice of the pie. Get your self out of the rental market.
And has your shopper technique modified in any respect?
My technique has not modified. I really like working with {couples} … I don’t tackle lots of purchasers without delay.
I’m very 24/7 about my strategy. I’ve administrators which have wanted to name me at 1 a.m. as a result of that’s the one time [due to] taking pictures overseas, and so they need to go over an inspection report that they weren’t even current for.
I’m their eyes, their ears, and the person who’s guiding them. So I really like that I could be somebody that they’ll let loose a sigh and know, “MJ’s obtained my again. I do know that she cares. I do know that she’s not a salesman, she’s not pushy, she’s not making an attempt to upsell me.”
I do know there are lots of NDAs with high-profile purchasers, however are you able to inform us about a few of your celeb purchasers?
Sure, after we listed [Christina Ricci’s] house, I used to be allowed to say that it’s her home. And it turned a PR technique that labored. However the consideration that the home obtained was due to me, The Company, Christina Ricci — how nice she is in her profession — and Jeff Lewis, creating an exquisite collaboration along with her … Each single one that walked into that home was blown away … no one felt like they have been strolling right into a cookie-cutter home.
As a result of today, with a contemporary farmhouse, each single home seems precisely the identical, having this open ground idea with the identical shade of cupboards, the identical shade of paint and the identical flooring — each home seems the identical.
However you need individuality. You need your own home to really feel particular, particularly when you’ve the funds that you may personal one thing that you simply need to be enthusiastic about. Folks don’t need their homes to really feel like the identical factor that they only got here from. And Christina Ricci’s yard is that this oasis zen Buddhist paradise, and it simply had such mature landscaping. It jogged my memory of White Lotus — Italy and Hawaii.
[Jeff Lewis] did a very nice job, and so did Christina. They chose every part collectively, each fixture, each wallpaper; the home was completely customized. There was nothing cookie-cutter about it, and there was a theme that was very congruent. They actually thoughtfully reimagined the house to be extra functionally modernized in order that they nonetheless had an old-world allure, however reconfiguring areas and maximizing closet and storage.
In January, you and Jeff Lewis (of Hollywood Houselift and Flipping Out fame) did Watch What Occurs Reside and teased an upcoming undertaking. Inform us extra about that.
There are a few different issues within the works, and it’s very thrilling as a result of he’s most likely one of many best, most beneficiant individuals who make such sensible selections in actual property and design, and anybody who works with him is fortunate to purchase a home that he’s labored on as a result of it’ll be essentially the most totally and splendidly cared for home.
He’s very a lot the additional mile man, and that’s nice as a result of he’s not likely fascinated about his revenue. He’s fascinated about the product. Whenever you get to face behind that and current that and promote that — it’s a very great point.
Actuality TV
Let’s speak about extra actuality TV. What’s it like being a mother versus being on digicam?
I used to be raised as an solely little one, the place the world was no matter I needed. So, for me to have the ability to heart my world round my little one is just not one thing individuals would have [thought], that MJ goes to be a great mother.
Lots of people are like, nicely, she’s an actual property shark. She’s a celebration woman, however we are able to’t see her in some other manner.
The most important praise that somebody may give me again then [was], “She’s hungry. I need her to be my agent.”
And as we speak, that’s nonetheless top-of-the-line compliments you could possibly give me. However I additionally know that I’m rather more compassionate as a result of I’m a mother. I’m most likely a greater pal … what I’d have performed to maintain [Shahs of Sunset] going would have been completely completely different … it was a present that was constructed round friendships that, sadly, took a flip for that point being. And, all of us needed to develop up a bit bit — so much.
Author’s be aware: Javid did say that she is on good phrases with longtime mates Reza Farahan and Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi, regardless of ending Shahs of Sundown on unsure phrases and even saying earlier this yr that she’s not mates with Gharachedaghi on Andy Cohen’s late-night Bravo talkshow Watch What Occurs Reside.
How do you’re feeling about Netflix’s Buying Beverly Hills, which stars colleagues and your CEO, going away?
Unhappy. That’s ridiculous. To start with, I binged Season 2 in a single weekend … It was so good. And I did turn into actually invested within the tales … I watched it in full awe and admiration. I’m a fan.
Would you think about doing an actual property actuality TV present?
Sure … Josh Altman and I shared an EP [executive producer] after we have been each beginning on Bravo. We have been each beginning our reveals. And we obtained much more actual property protection on Shahs of Sundown within the first few years. So I typically suppose that my trajectory in my actual profession … was unimaginable.
Do you’ve a favourite actuality TV actual property agent?
I like Tracy Tutor … I really like Mauricio [Umansky and Ryan Serhant].
What’s your scorching tackle actual property actuality TV?
It’s very disrespectful to what we do to indicate it in these broad strokes … it’s actually a disservice to indicate actual property in an inauthentic manner. So once I see it on reveals which are making an attempt to place an excessive amount of Hermès bandage costume on the profession of it, then I say, “You understand what? I really like watching it for the outfits,” and I’m eternally impressed by how stunning the outfits are on sure reveals.
Whereas if it’s a present with Ryan Serhant, I’m going to take out my pocket book, and I’m going to say, “I’m going to make use of that. That is nice.” As a result of he actually cares, and that comes by means of … He tells a narrative about actual grit that you need to have in what you do … that man is the chef’s kiss.
What was the perfect half about being on actuality TV reveals like Shahs and Traitors?
My proudest actuality TV profession moments are these once I represented self-confidence and was within the place to spearhead ladies feeling nice about themselves and of their pores and skin. There weren’t many representations of physique positivity and self-confidence [for women] once I was on TV, so it was a vital alternative that I obtained to encourage ladies to step into their energy.
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