After Conquering Los Angeles, Josh Altman Has His Sights Set on San Francisco

Real estate is a competitive world, and we've seen the agents of Million Dollar Listing butt heads over business deals more than once (in each city, in each season). With every agent trying to sell more and more, can agents really be friends? Apparently! Josh Altman, an experienced Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles broker who is admittedly "aggressive" in his approach, and Million Dollar Listing San Francisco's Justin Fichelson are new friends with a clear admiration for the other's work. "I think [Justin's] great on the show. He’s a very, very nice guy so I think that comes through and I think that will appeal to a lot of people who list their houses. He’s a genuinely good guy," Josh told The Daily Dish. "I’m known for being more of the aggressive one. There are many successful, different styles, so he has a good one that’s unique to his show and I have one that’s unique to my show."

Given Josh's five season history, what does the first-year MDL star think of the L.A. vet? "He’s kind of got the Entourage swagger going on. [Laughs]," Justin said. "Everyone’s got their own style. On New York Fredrik [Eklund]’s completely different so I think that’s a good thing of the show; you just have to be yourself. That’s what makes it interesting." Josh admitted to watching all iterations of the MDL franchise. "I get a kick out of it, I like seeing other areas. The drama’s always fun and it’s fun to see your show in a different setting," he explained. And when it comes to expanding the Altman Brothers up the California coast, let's just say he already has a gameplan in mind. "How should I say this? I would take that town by storm. I would destroy the entire real estate system and build it up again. [Laughs]," he said, noting the differences of the two cities. "[San Francisco is] not flashy. In Beverly Hills you’re measured by the size of your house, what car you drive, and the flashier the better. Out there, they look at me as an outsider. If it was up to me I’d love to come up there and mix it up a bit to show them how we do it out here, but in the meantime I’m sending my referrals over to Justin." 

"It’s a strange place up here," Justin admitted about his hometown. "The people with a lot of money...they’re probably at Burning Man right now. [Laughs.] [They wear] t-shirts, shorts, and they look like the little hipsters that go to UC Berkeley." 

Each broker has experience working with friends and family (Josh with his girlfriend Heather and brother Matt; Justin with his client Chammy), but that doesn't mean they get special treatment or use different tactics. "If you have a friend or family member or whatever it is you always want to make as much money for them as possible [but] you’ve gotta try to keep it as professional as possible," Josh explained. The approach remains the same, but Josh did admit there can be a higher potential for drama. "Look, everything we do is because we’re pros at it. If your house isn’t selling it’s not ‘cause of the agent, it’s because the house is overpriced or there’s something else in that situation. So if the 'friend' has an issue with that, then they’re not your friend," Josh explained. "At the end of the day, we do the best we can do. And any time, in any business, and in any career if you’re working with your friend and there’s money on the table there’s a chance that there could be a situation that gets ugly."

See how Josh motivates his Altman Brothers staff in an unseen clip from MDLLA. 

Unseen Moment: Go Inside a Staff Meeting With the Altman Brothers