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Josh Altman Reveals There's a "Lot at Stake" with His $48M Listing: "Make It or Break It"
The Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles agent is feeling pressure to get a deal done for "a whale of a client."
Josh Altman is used to selling high-profile homes, but on Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles Season 15, Episode 4, the agent was feeling extra pressure to get a major deal done.
On the July 31 episode, Josh went to see a potential listing in a luxe area of Los Angeles.
"There's some massive estates on Benedict Canyon," he explained. "In the past, I've listed a house that used to be owned by Cher and Eddie Murphy. The average price is over $11 million, and it will go up to $100 million for a brand new, incredible, best-of-the-best estate. We're talking big bucks here."
Josh then revealed he was at the listing being sold by a longtime client named Max Nobel.
Who is Max Nobel from Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles?
As Josh explained during the episode, Max Nobel is a developer who owns a design and build firm, Nobél.
"We met about a decade ago, we've been doing deals since, and he's one of my top clients," Josh said. "He is probably the single most talented designer/builder that I've ever seen, hands down.
"Max is basically what built the Altman Brothers," Josh continued. "Just in a year alone, I could have over $100 million in sales just with him ... That's called a whale of a client."
Inside Josh Altman's $48,000,000 listing on Benedict Canyon
As Josh toured the property, he was blown away.
In addition to featuring what Josh described as the "biggest damn door I've ever seen in my life" (24 feet tall, to be exact), the house also had 30-foot ceilings, seven bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, and a 20-car garage.
Josh was also particularly impressed with the home's 1,500-square-foot primary bedroom, declaring, "This is the sickest owner's suite I've ever seen in my life."
After chatting a bit, Josh and the developer landed on a $48,000,000 listing price.
"As special as this property is, this is going to be work," Josh explained. "This is going to be an uphill battle. People aren't parting with 48 million bucks like they did a couple of years ago. When it comes to pricing this house, I'm taking the price of the dirt alone, just the multi acres, I'm taking, of course, the price per square foot of a house — about 3,000 a foot — but also the amenities that come along with it."
In addition to landing the listing, Max told Josh that he was already looking for his next project. While Josh jokingly asked him not to work with other agents on that, the developer explained, "I need to see what you can bring."
Needless to say, Josh was feeling the pressure.
"A lot at stake," he said. "I'm batting 1000 with Max. Now we're in a different market, and the stakes are high. The price of the house is the highest of what we've done together yet. I mean, you can do the math, that's a lot of commission." (If you don't want to do the math, that commission would come out to $1,440,000.)
"On top of it, he wants to go get another one, which will come with even more commission," Josh continued. "That's like a make-it-or-break-it type of client."
Josh Altman opens up about real estate market changes
With that in mind, Josh was hard at work finding the perfect new property for Max.
"I've been pounding the pavement," he explained. "I've gotta find the next deal before we're done with the previous deal, and to be honest with you, it's a different market out there. Inventory is low. It's slim pickings for developers, and, of course, expectations are high."
"Because of the current market conditions, there's not a lot of inventory," he added. "Sellers are reluctant. If I don't show them something soon, they're going to lose faith in me. That I lose sleep over at night."
After showing one house that didn't interest Max, Josh brought him to another that was listed at the top of his $25 million budget, and the developer was thrilled.
"Let's move forward as fast as we can," Max told Josh. "Let's make it work."
Although Max and his business partner wanted the property, Josh explained, "That doesn't mean I can get it for them at a price they want."
He added, "The only thing worse than not finding a property for a client is finding them a property and not putting a deal together."
