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Veteran broker pair dishes on what it’s like to house-hunt with celebs
PESKY paparazzi follow celebrities en route to dinners, appointments and, yes, even real estate showings. As a result, brokers have a front-row seat to the hectic — and sometimes hilarious — scenes that ensue when stars search for homes. In never-before-revealed anecdotes, brokers to the stars John Gomes and his business partner of 10 years, reality TV’s Fredrik Eklund, both of Douglas Elliman, tell The Post stories about working with some of the world’sorld’s biggest boldface names. mes.
There was the timeme about two years ago whenn Kim Kardashian and Gomes mes were touring homess in downtown Manhattan. The apartment showing was going swimmingly. She showed up early andnd even sat down on thehe living room sofa withth Gomes — resting her er head on his shoulderer to ponder the place e in quiet repose.
“It was such a sweet moment,” Gomes recalls. But when they left, the tranquility shattered. d.
“I never saw so many paparazzi. I couldn’t count howw many there were,” he says. “I had paparazzi zzi on bikes grabbing onto the handles of my car, trying to follow us to the next place so they could take more pictures of her.” Gomes recalls that, despite the circumstances, Kar-Kar dashian kept her cool.ool.
It wasn’t the onlyy time things got hectic. Once,nce, photographers ran red lights to catch up with Gomes as he took Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malikalik — when the latter waswas an unexpected addition — to see apartments. Other incidents are more low-key. Leonardo DiCaprio arrived at a meeting sporting a hat and sunglasses — but with no photographers in sight. When it was over, DiCaprio walked out onto an equally vacant street. Eklund and And when Gomes met with Sarah Jessica Parker, she was wearing not Manolo Blahniks, but Wellington boots. When Eklund was working for a different brokerage, he says, actor Mickey Rourke strolled unannounced into his office with some five dogs, interested in seeing a property. With pets in tow, they went to check it out. “I remember thinking, ‘These dogs are probably the decision-makers,’ ” Eklund quips. Then there was the funny coincidence with actor Daniel Craig. Seven years ago, Eklund and Gomes had a listing for a one-bedroom duplex penthouse in Tribeca with lots of outdoor space. An apartment stager had decorated it using James Bond films as inspiration: lots of mirrors, fur throws and gold detailing. It was a lucky accident that Bond himself ende up touring the unit. “He fell in love with it,” says Eklund. “He identified with it and bought it.” Sometimes it’s civilian fans who glom onto a house tour. When Gomes and Eklund were repping a listing that Justin Timberlake aand Jessica Biel wanted to see immediately, Gomes had to contact the apartment’s owner to warn him who was coming. Gomes also made it clear that the owner had to clear out and not tell anyone about the visit. Thirty minutesmin later, when the couple arrived, the owner, friends and the building doorman were all standing outside to catch a glimpse. As they took the elevator up to the apartment, Gomes broke the tension. “I looked at [Biel] and said ‘Nice shoes,’ ” Gomes says. “And Justin Timberlake started laughing, she smiled and everyone just relaxed.”