HOUSING ‘STRONGER THAN EVER’
‘Million Dollar Listing’ star talks about the pandemic-fueled market and Thepls.com
Obsessed with the online real estate listing-craze of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles” star David Parnes of The Agency is behind a new bookmark-worthy site. Dubbed Thepls.com, it offers a free, searchable platform for properties up to three days before they appear on the Multiple Listing Service at online third-party sites. It was originally a membership-based, off-market listing forum exclusive to agents — created by The Agency’s top-selling agent, Christopher Dyson, along with co-founding partners Mauricio Umansky (the CEO and founder of The Agency), James Harris (Parnes’ business partner and “Million Dollar Listing” co-star) and Parnes — in 2017. But Parnes, the dapper 38-year-old Londoner, said they “decided to take the site down and rebuild it so our agents could use Thepls.com in a 100% compliant manner” with the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation policy. That policy requires brokers to enter listings in the MLS within one business day of publicly marketing a property and up to three days if marketed on a Friday or face potential fines. The new site, which has been running since midjanuary, is free for the public to use.
“Buyers are able to access properties on THEPLS. com first, before they appear anywhere else, including Zillow. And for the first time anywhere, potential sellers can search for which agent has the best-matched buyer for their home and connect directly with that agent,” Parnes said in an email follow-up to an early phone interview when we asked him about the pandemic’s effect on the luxury real estate market.
Q How has business changed for the luxury real estate market since the pandemic?
A It’s actually stronger than ever.
Q Why do you suppose?
A I think the reason for that is the lifestyle that California affords.
The weather is nicer. More people live in houses here versus New York, Chicago, Miami and London even. And I think that is a big deal because, in a POST-COVID world, people value their space more.
Moreover, more people work from home now.
So, the house has become more and more important. As such, we see a lot of demand from first-time homebuyers and buyers in general because it’s such a good environment to live in under the circumstances.
You couple that with low borrowing rates — especially for first-time homebuyers — and you see demand really go through the roof, which is what’s happened.
Q What price bracket are we talking about when we talk about borrowers?
A I would say $10 million and below is when you typically see a loan and a mortgage. And that will incorporate virtually all first-time homebuyers for sure.
Q Who are these first-time homebuyers?
A Typically, they’re couples or single people in their 20s and 30s and from all industries. They can lock in this cheap debt right now for the long term. So, it’s an incredible opportunity.
Q Do low rates offer any benefits to the super-rich?
A For them, I think it’s more opportunity cost. If someone with a lot of money has their money sitting in a bank, they’re not going to get a lot of return on it. So, we’re seeing a lot of them put it into real estate because it’s tangible. They can use it. But I also think they can borrow and take advantage of this cheap debt whether they purchase all cash and then refinance, or what have you.
Q What did you do to brace for what you’ve said yourself was an uncertain future at the start of the pandemic?
A We were very active on social media as far as market updates. We were doing a lot of Instagram Live. We were heavily promoting our properties on Instagram and being positive about the situation. And then it all turned around, thankfully.
Q When was that?
A Within about three weeks. When we hit April, we suddenly saw all these showing requests and demand peaking. We became super busy.
Q Has the pandemic affected a change in the kinds of homes people desire?
A What’s interesting is we saw a movement away from older architecture, whereby it was more compartmentalized. All these people wanted open-plan living. But now what we’ve actually seen, interesting enough, is a reversion of that. People want to compartmentalize again. The main spaces can be open plan, but people want their own distinct spaces with privacy to accommodate their new lifestyles since they’re spending so much time at home.