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Go behind the scenes with Inman’s Dani Vanderboegh to get the answers to all your burning questions on the newest releases. Stay tuned to Real Tea, the intersection of real estate and reality TV.
Ryan Serhant’s return to reality TV is official. Unlike Million Dollar Listing, where Serhant got his start, this show is solely focused on his eponymously named brokerage, SERHANT, and it’s on Netflix, rather than Bravo.
The show follows 11 New York City SERHANT agents with various experience levels at the less than 5-year-old brokerage, which boasts bespoke penthouses, new developments and a reality TV-seasoned leader. From there, the drama ensues, but within the folds of real estate, unlike other real estate reality TV shows, as Inman’s Lillian Dickerson pointed out.
If you’re not yet acquainted with the brand new cast, read “Meet the SERHANT. agents on Netflix’s ‘Owning Manhattan.’”
But if you’re ready to rehash some of the most memorable storylines of the season, read on.
Spoiler Alert: Here’s your fair warning that there will be spoilers below.
The rookie’s rough road
If you are a real estate agent, you probably can relate to young Savannah Gowarty. As the season kicks off, she’s the newest agent of the cast.
“Savannah is one of our newest agents. She’s a Southern belle,” Ryan Serhant says in a poor imitation of a Southern accent. “I saw a unique personality in her, a real hunger to survive and thrive. And so I told her that she could join our firm under what we call our Apprentice Program.”
Because Serhant saw potential in her, Gowarty left the custom homebuilder she worked for and moved to the Big Apple. This is a far cry from the slower-paced life she’s used to in North Carolina, where, as she points out to her colleague Jessica Markowski, you hear birds and cicadas when dining outdoors at a patio restaurant, as opposed to the traffic and noise pollution that’s inescapable in NYC.
She’s already experiencing a bit of culture shock as she acclimates to the city, and she’s swimming in rentals while trying to prove she’s got the tenacity to do more.
“New York real estate is just a completely different animal, but I came to the city because I want to build an empire,” Savvannah Gowarty says.
“My goal at SERHANT. is to work my way up and sell multimillion-dollar properties. But right now, because I’m new to New York City, I have to start with rentals,” the newbie tells viewers.
She adds. “I could have easily stayed in North Carolina, but I wanted more for myself, and I know I can make it here.”
As Gowarty struggles to get leads, Jessica Markowski — who describes herself as a Kim Kardashian and Ryan Serhant all rolled up into one — offers to let her help. (Markowski previously worked at a company founded by Kardashian.) She tells Gowarty that she has a ton of clients and would love some help, seemingly the beginning of a beautiful partnership (more on that later).
Owning Manhattan. (L to R) Savannah Gowarty, Chloe Tucker Caine and Jessica Markowski from episode 105 of Owning Manhattan. Credit: Courtesy of Netflix/© 2024 Netflix, Inc.
All of her frustrations of not being able to get leads (and make money) and shady co-workers build, and finally, Gowarty asks to have a personal conversation with Serhant, the CEO who’s struggling with the growing pains of turning a team into a 600-agent brokerage.
The conversation is awkward, simply due to Gowarty’s inexperience and Serhant’s responses. Throughout the conversation, Serhant vacillates between looking uncomfortable and terrified that she might cry; she did not.
She lets him know that she’s actively being recruited by another company that’s offering her guaranteed salary for a few months and deal flow, an offer she tells Serhant that other agents are telling her she’d be stupid not to take. She then asks Serhant, what would he do if he were in her shoes.
“I’d stick with the winning ticket,” Serhant tells her. “You going with another team and another firm that is giving you something nice and shiny is betting on them. You staying here is betting on yourself. And that’s a decision that only you can make.”
“We’ve had, like, one one-on-one [meeting] since I’ve been here. I just, I would like more attention from you,” she tells Serhant, who scoffs a bit and laughs before turning back to her dead serious face. Gowarty continues, “I know I have potential. I’m fully confident that I’m going to be very successful at this. But if I stayed here, I need more deal flow. If I could be on a team here that was producing enough to save me a little bit more, I would stay in a heartbeat. I want to know if you would be able to offer that.”
At that moment, Serhant tells her that it takes time to build relationships and that he thinks that she might have some unrealistic expectations about how quickly her career is supposed to go.
“Things take time. If you want a little bit more one-on-one time with me, that’s what I’m here for,” Serhant says. “But this is not the company where you come for a handout.”
In a confessional, Serhant reveals more about what he was thinking at the time: “This is a two-way street. I don’t owe you anything. I’ve got hundreds of agents who are doing business every day that I actually do feel like I owe something to. And to then come to me and say, I’ve got another offer unless you give me stuff. Uh, OK.”
Spoiler alert: Gowarty is no longer at SERHANT.
She is currently working with Elevated Advisement, a team under Compass.
Let’s acknowledge Gowarty’s courage here. She approached her boss and asked for what she wanted, even though she may not have fully grasped the non-9-to-5 nature of real estate. Despite facing drama with Markowski and another agent, she did not mention it during the next crucial moment.
The infamous podcast
As mentioned earlier, Markowski initially offered to assist Gowarty. However, in a few episodes, Markowski’s loyalties shifted as she aligned herself with the self-assured former model Jonathan Nørmølle, who believed he had proven himself by selling $100 million in real estate within his first year.
Markowski told Nørmølle that Gowarty preferred working with older, experienced agents, which Nørmølle took as a personal insult.
In Episode 4, after sending a scathing email to Gowarty and refusing to acknowledge her response, she confronted Nørmølle and Markowski during podcast planning.
“Experience doesn’t necessarily come with age, right? I sold $100 million in my first year in business,” Nørmølle claimed.
To which Gowarty promptly replied, “That was on a team.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ve sold $550 million since then. Yeah. Ryan recruited me,” Nørmølle responded.
“He recruited me too,” Gowarty shot back.
“Did you receive a bonus when you were recruited?” Nørmølle inquired.
“Does that really matter?” Gowarty questioned.
“It does. Otherwise, you were just chosen,” Nørmølle stated. He then quizzed her on how she would handle a $5 million listing. She confidently claimed she knew exactly what to do but declined to provide specifics.
After the most petty conversation of the season, the trio agreed not to collaborate moving forward.
Owning Manhattan. (L to R) Savannah Gowarty, Jessica Markowski and Jonathan Frank Normolle from episode 104 of Owning Manhattan. Credit: Courtesy of Netflix/© 2024 Netflix, Inc.
Subsequently, Markowski and Nørmølle recorded a podcast using SERHANT. Studios and criticized many agents in the office and on the cast.
After boasting about their modeling backgrounds, they went on to belittle their colleagues.
“Jade Shenker is a New York socialite, and in every single video she posts, she talks about how her dad is a real estate tycoon and mom was a model,” Nørmølle mentioned.
“For some reason, I don’t like the culture of hyping too much, more than you need to. And I feel like Jordan [Hurt] hypes knowing everyone,” she said.
“And I’m OK with saying Jordan March as well,” he added. “And same with Chloe [Tucker Cain]. Chloe is just all talk. It’s like you don’t have to try that hard, and it’s OK.”
“It’s like anybody that are in their 30s or 20s or whatever that has millions of dollars, they would rather — much rather — go with you and me than some fucking dude in a blue suit and bald, you know, half car salesman, I can promise you that,” he commented about Nile Lundgren.
“So we are bridging that gap. And this might sound cocky, but there’s no competition at all. For example, Savannah [Gowarty] right, with her, what the fuck would she do with the deal? What would she do with the deal? Like, if I was running it and if I owned the firm … I wouldn’t give her a deal. She would fumble it. Then Ryan loses money. If Ryan gives deals to us, he knows we’ll close it. So there’s a difference there, right? And there’s a track record,” he continued.
Unsurprisingly, their colleagues were upset, but this podcast led to a tense conversation between Serhant and Nørmølle. Serhant met the agent at a new development, surrounded by unfinished concrete walls.
“As a broker in New York City, this is what you aspire to. You want to build relationships with architects, general contractors, interior designers, developers so they turn to you, trust you… You want buildings like this, which is why I brought you on. If you don’t act professionally and if you create podcasts — in my podcast studio, which I pay for, designed for you to generate business and close more sales — and if you use it to gossip and badmouth other agents — not just at other companies…” Serhant informed Nørmølle.
Nørmølle attempted to interrupt, but Serhant shut him down.
“You spend so much time seeking attention instead of striving for excellence. If you dedicated half of your efforts to becoming great, you would be exceptional. Everyone would have to take notice of you,” Serhant added.
“Any association with negativity reflects poorly on you. Since I allowed you to work with me, it reflects negatively on me and the entire company. So you need to remove the podcast from all platforms where you posted it. I have already handled it on our end, but you must apologize to Savannah. If you don’t, you can choose your career path, but it won’t involve me. Do you understand?” Nørmølle acknowledged the statement.
Owning Manhattan. (L to R) Ryan Serhant and Jonathan Frank Normolle from episode 102 of Owning Manhattan. Credit: Courtesy of Netflix/© 2024 Netflix, Inc.
In classic reality TV style, Nørmølle delivered a horrendous apology to Savannah. He apologizes, but then reveals he’s only doing so because Serhant instructed him to. Following this, he proceeds to lecture her on her behavior. After wasting another agent’s time by “previewing” a listing for an absent, unvetted client and then failing to keep quiet when instructed by Serhant, Nørmølle is eventually let go by Serhant. “Here’s the deal. I think you’re going to have a huge career. It’s just not going to be here,” Serhant tells him.
Spoiler alert: Jonathan Nørmølle is no longer with SERHANT. He’s now with The NextGen Team at Highline Residential.
In a plant smackdown, newbie Chloe Tucker Cain beats veteran Nile Lundgren in a competition to land a listing. Despite Lundgren’s experience, Tucker Cain impresses with her research and pitch, ultimately winning the listing with a $600,000 commission attached. While Lundgren takes the loss in stride, Tucker Cain celebrates with a successful launch party. Ultimately, they secure an unexpected offer to rent the property for $150,000 a month, sealing the deal. Lundgren also has an impressive win when he helps secure a deal for Serhant’s 737 Park Avenue apartment. Lundgren, in his excitement, enthusiastically slaps Serhant’s undoubtedly expensive watch during what was meant to be an energetic, celebratory high five.
Spoiler alert: The $150,000-per-month rental ultimately went to Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny, although the agents were unaware at the time due to NDAs.
Serhant offers a 4 percent commission split – a $10 million commission – to whoever brings the buyer for the most expensive apartment in the world currently on the market, overlooking Central Park.
Tricia Lee, who wasn’t initially invited to the Central Park Tower deal, expresses her desire to break into Manhattan real estate after proving herself in Brooklyn. She impresses Serhant with her successes and eventually secures a deal to sell a new development in Brooklyn, setting her up for future opportunities in Manhattan.
At the end of the season, Serhant rewards his top producers, including Tricia Lee, with Cartier watches as a token of appreciation. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining strong relationships within the company, comparing it to never stopping dating in a marriage. Even though I constantly focus on them, I always make it a point to express my love and gratitude to my top salespeople. It may sound strange, but I believe in treating them well, just like dating, by occasionally treating them to steak dinners,” Serhant reveals in a confessional.
He emphasizes to the group that he is dedicated to retaining them and ensuring their happiness at the brokerage. Seeking feedback on how he can improve as a boss, Lee mentions the lack of face time that new employees often feel they will receive with Serhant, echoing Gowarty’s previous concerns.
This gesture signifies Lee’s acceptance into Serhant’s inner circle, a goal she has been pursuing all season. As she transitions to Manhattan, it is evident that big opportunities lie ahead for her.
Spoiler alert: By the end of the season, Tricia Lee successfully sells most of Brooklyn Point, secures future projects with the developer, and receives a brownstone in Manhattan from Serhant.
The season concludes with Serhant leaving his own party to attend a meeting that results in him acquiring Roman Roy’s penthouse from “Succession” and the remaining $300 million worth of inventory in the building.
What were your favorite moments from “Owning Manhattan”? Feel free to share in the comments below.
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