Interview: Josh Altman Talks Million Dollar Listing | Shockya.com

Read Shockya.com's exclusive interview with leading Los Angeles real estate agent Josh Altman, who appeared on the fourth season of Bravo’s hit reality series ‘Million Dollar Listing’ during the winter of 2011. Altman has made a name for himself in Hollywood, and is one of the leading agents in the business, as a result of drawing in celebrities and high net worth cliente from around the world. He currently works at the highly regarded, luxury real estate firm Hilton & Hyland Real Estate. Altman discusses with us, among other things, why he decided to appear on the show, and what he enjoys the most about the real estate business.

Written by: Karen Benardello


ShockYa (SY): You appeared on the Bravo reality series ‘Million Dollar Listing’ during the show’s fourth season. What was your motivation in appearing on the show?

Josh Altman (JA): Bravo had approached me, due mostly to my celebrity cliente, and my success in the real estate business at such a young age. When they approached me, originally I wasn’t sure if I was going to do the show, because it was a reality show,and typically, reality shows make people look silly. (laughs)

But after doing a lot of research, and watching the old shows, I felt I could bring something to the show that no one’s brought yet. I felt as a real estate agent, marketing yourself and advertising yourself is the most important thing. I thought the advertising and the marketing that I would get out of a national TV show is priceless, compared to what I’d be able to pay for in magazines, or any of the regular things that relators do. So that’s why I decided to do it. I was pretty happy with the results.

SY: So appearing on the show has helped your business?

JA: Yes, it has helped my business, but I think my hard work is the reason it has succeeded. Not so much from the TV show. The TV show’s fun, and it gets my name out there. But at the end of the day, it’s all about making sales and performing at my job. That’s the reason why my business has been successful.

We just closed the largest condo sale in Santa Monica, for $10.5 million, last week, and that was an amazing sale that we’re very excited about. This year, to date, we’ve already sold $20 million in product. Last year, we sold over $60 million in inventory. We’re pretty happy with the results, but that’s not by any means from the show. That happens to be from our work, and working 24/7.

SY: Besides the Santa Monica sale, you also recently sold the sixth largest sale in LA County, for $16.5 million on a listing at Beverly Park. So do you feel that your own success has spoken for itself?

JA: Yes, I feel my own success has spoken for itself. I think that’s the reason why ‘Million Dollar Listing’ wanted to follow me around. It’s because of the success I got the show, it’s not that I got success after appearing on the show. So there’s a big difference. Everyone asks, are you doing that well because of the show? The truth of the matter is, I was doing that well before. But now, everyone just sees what I’m doing.

SY: You originally entered the real estate business by flipping homes with your brother and partner, Matt, in 2002, which led you to own and run your own mortgage company. You eventually became a top earning real estate agent with the highly regarded, luxury real estate firm Hilton & Hyland Real Estate. Why do you enjoy the real estate business so much, and is there a particular area that you enjoy over the other?

JA: Well, I always say, people ask me what my job is, and I say, I don’t have a job, because I love what I do. I love everything about real estate. My favorite thing to do, actually, is flipping homes. I love doing that, and that’s something I do on the side as a hobby. There’s something about buying a run-down house, and making it beautiful, I have fun doing that whole process. Then, of course, at the end of the day, you make money on it, and that’s nice.

I also love being an agent. I get to help people fulfill their dreams of owning a home, which is an American dream. So I get to see people at pretty much the happiest points of their lives, when I hand the key over to them. So that’s extremely fulfilling for me. That’s pretty much my favorite part about it.



To continue reading this interview, please visit: Interview: Josh Altman Talks Million Dollar Listing | Shockya.com