Since the launch of Netflix's Selling Sunset, we have enjoyed being able to get the scoop on the real estate market especially within one of the top agencies in The Oppenheim Group this docuseries. We have enjoyed seeing this team booking listings, holding open houses, celebs they work with and the drama that comes along. This month, our cover is luxury real estate brokerage owner, attorney, contractor and developer - Jason Oppenheim. We took some time to talk to the Selling Sunset star to find out how he transitioned from being a corporate lawyer and eventually to working in real estate. He talks with us about his firm, his team, the successful show, which has just been greenlit for a fourth and fifth season, as well as the importance of philanthropy and making it a team effort.

ATHLEISURE MAG: Prior to being in real estate, you were a corporate lawyer, what was the moment that you realized that you wanted to work in the real estate industry as I know that your great-great grandfather Jacob Stern, started his firm in the 1800s and was instrumental in creating a number of deals in the early development of LA?

JASON OPPENHEIM: That’s difficult. I left my law firm not knowing what I wanted to do and not having anything lined up. I went and traveled the world for 3 years after I quit my law firm. So I really wasn’t working for years after that. Even when I got back into the United States, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to get into real estate. I knew that it was a passion of mine and I gave it a shot. But I definitely wouldn’t say that I knew before I left law that I wanted to do real estate.

AM: Why did you decide to ultimately launch your own firm that you’re president and founder of?

JO: I was at Coldwell Banker for many years and getting experience and I was working on a team of two women. They taught me a lot and I actually really liked that team, but I didn’t enjoy working at such a large brokerage at Coldwell Banker. So that was kind of the impetuous of me leaving and just starting my own firm. I think that I had just developed enough of a client base that I felt comfortable and I had always wanted to be an entrepreneur and had always wanted to do my own thing. But I had to create that confidence and make sure that I had enough of a book of business to be able to do that.

AM: We have had a number of people that we have interviewed who began as lawyers and have transitioned into other careers, as well as our co-founder that has done the same. What skills from practicing law have also carried over to what you do within your industry now?

JO: Yeah I think that being a lawyer is probably one of the most applicable professions so I think that there are a lot of things that helped me as a lawyer that have been applied to me being in real estate. I think that creative thinking and critical thinking have been two of the most important things that I took. Being an advocate for your client is something that I understood and of course, just your legal acumen. So much of practicing real estate requires that the more understanding that you have of the law, documents, contracts etc. – I think that the better you will be as a real estate agent. I don’t think that there is probably more of a relevant profession for a real estate agent than as a lawyer!

AM: In terms of location and your territory, what areas do you guys cover?

JO: Oh all over Los Angeles really. Certainly, we are the most prolific agents in the Sunset Strip and Hollywood Hills. We also do a ton in Beverly Hills and we’re opening up a new office in Orange County and we’re getting a lot of new listings down there. I would really say all of Southern California.

AM: In terms of you opening another location, what is the process and/or criteria that you look for when it comes to making that commitment? I know in watching the show, there was talk and hope from some of the agents in terms of opening up in Miami?

JO: Well, it’s a very slow process. I mean I’ve been thinking for many years about opening a second office and I was very reticent to do so until I was certain about a lot of different factors. One of them is that there is a healthy luxury market, another one is great office space, another is that I am able to recruit top agents, another is that it’s a place that I love and enjoy – you know I have to be passionate about it and I’m not going to open up an office in an area that I wouldn’t want to live in myself! I’m probably going to buy a second home in Newport Beach. And also location! It needs to be far enough from LA where it makes sense. You want to expand when you’re doing this. Orange County by far, I thought was an important area that I wasn’t in. I think that there are others like The Valley, Miami, New York, but I thought that hands down, this was the best place for a second office.

AM: Before getting into the show, what is a typical day like for you and how involved are you with the agents that work with you?

JO: I mean a typical day. I’m up – usually, my dogs wake me up because they want to be fed maybe around 7am. I take my dogs to coffee every morning so I take them to a coffee shop, usually a different coffee shop for about half an hour. I go through emails and take things slow on my own. Then I come into the office and basically just work and catch up with my staff and go through emails. I go through showings that I have, meet with clients and a lot of it is on the phone. Sometimes I have interviews but a ton of phone calls – I mean dozens and dozens of phone calls. I don’t even know how many, but it is a lot.

AM: When it comes to onboarding your agents, what are you looking for to represent The Oppenheim Group?

JO: You know, an intelligent, thoughtful, sophisticated person. Experience is preferred but it is less important to me then I think raw intelligence and general ambition. Someone that I get along with.

These are people that I will be out with for lunch or at a listing appointment and it’s important to me that I get along with them and that they get along with everyone else! You know, it’s just about being with good people! I mean I really wouldn’t take an agent, no matter how successful they are, that he or she just wasn’t a good person!

AM: On the show we see some serious open houses that have had some fun themes that your team has put together that remind me of editor events that we can’t wait to get back to – what have been some of the favorite ones that your firm has been part of?

JO: I think that I always like a first open house because I think that is very exciting! So the first open house for a new great listing is pretty exciting. I do have to say that generally, my favorite open houses tend to be my favorite listings. Obviously, my favorite open houses tend to be those that I would want to stay at even if it wasn’t an open house - sexy view, tall ceilings, open floor plan and all the stuff that just kind of makes it more fun. More importantly, I would say, it’s the first one because for me it’s about meeting clients, meeting buyers and it’s also about price point. I like open houses at an attainable price point in the area. Sure it’s fun to sit at a $10 million dollar open house, but I would prefer to sit at a $3 or $4 million open house because I am going to meet more people.

AM: This past year has definitely made a lot of our workflows change in many ways, what did you do to navigate these times and how do you feel the market has been for you?

JO: You know, we’ve done all right. We had a decent year despite the pandemic. The luxury market is not only fine even thoughout the pandemic, but it is extremely well right now. I think that we were extremely fortunate and I think that our clients were extremely fortunate and that they have recovered from this. I wouldn’t say that there is any long-term impact at all.

AM: How did the concept of the show, Selling Sunset come about and ultimately, what are the takeaways that you want to know about this show when they are watching it?

JO: You know, we had been approached by different producers and agents for quite some time and both my brother and I were rather reticent to move forward on a show. But when Adam DiVello (Editor’s Note: Adam is formerly a Senior Production and Development Executive at MTV where he developed Laguna Beach. He left the network and launched Done and Done Productions and created as well as executive produced its successful spinoff, The Hills and The City. He is producing Selling Sunset.) reached out to us, we thought about it a bit more and we took a team meeting and I think he had a bit more influence with us and we started to slowly come around. We wanted Netflix, but we weren’t sure if we would get Netflix so we were excited about that!

In terms of what they would take away from it, you know what I would say? I would simply say, that they should just enjoy and watch the show! There’s so much about television now more than ever, just being able to sit down – for me, I like to sit down with my dogs and just sit down for a couple of hours and just destress and have fun! In many ways, I hope that that would be enough for me! I would hope that when people come up to me that they just say that they enjoyed the show, it makes them happy, it’s fun to watch, they enjoy looking at the real estate and that’s enough for me! If they come out of it with more of an understanding for real estate or a passion for it that would be great. I always think that real estate is such a great opportunity for investors and people generally. So if I can get people to be excited about that whether that means they join the profession and become real estate agents or they want to do it as an investment, I think that either one of those would be great simply for the show.

AM: How did you decide who would be on the show?

JO: I didn’t really decide. Obviously, it would be people at my brokerage but it was more of a production decision than anything else.

AM: As a fan of the show, when you and your team are in the office, we’re always thinking about how close you are together. Is it ever distracting when you’re all in there together between doing calls, maintaining business etc?

JO: Well I do step out sometimes to make phone calls from time to time as everyone will! I do like the idea of an open office, but there are certainly negative effects to having such an open office.

AM: Recently, you were greenlit for a 4th and 5th season. How long do you film each season and how are you able to juggle the demands of your business while integrating the show into it?

JO: It’s not terrible for me. The filming requirements aren’t as demanding for me as they are for some of the other women so I manage ok. But you know, it’s certainly a balancing act and we just work really hard. So we end up just having to work more hours in the day to be honest. That’s ok because we all love what we do and we are all capable of doing that.

AM: You’re getting ready to film the next season and for avid viewers, there was a lot going on! Can you share what a general idea of when this will air?

JO: Well we haven’t started filming yet so there isn’t anything that I can tell you about that!

AM: Alright then. We’ll just have to stay tuned!

What have you learned about yourself in filming this show?

JO: You know, one of my biggest concerns was since I’m a private person, I was concerned about people coming up to me. But I think that what may be a surprise to most is how much I enjoy kind of just having the ability to make people be happy and to smile. Just to enjoy watching people smile is really enjoyable for me. I love when a young person comes up to the window and takes a photo of me and they’re just happy! You can kind of tell that you made their day happier and that feels great! That was one of the things that I wasn’t expecting as much.

AM: Clearly you’re very fit, what are your workout routines that you like to do to stay in shape?

JO: Just the gym and that’s it. I wish that I had something more exciting to say. I mean, I workout less than what people think. I workout for less than 30 minutes and I get teased sometimes on how little I workout, but I don’t do it for so long. I go to Monarch Athletic Club or Equinox.

AM: Do you have certain routines that you like to do?

JO: I like to do everything.

AM: How do you take time for yourself?

JO: Oftentimes, ironically enough, I sit down and watch Netflix you know? Because I really enjoy it. Most days, I’m at home watching TV with my dogs and it makes me pretty happy. I like to go out to dinner with my friends, but most of the time, I like to sit, watch a game, sit down with my dogs with some frozen yogurt and watch Netflix.

AM: One of the things we enjoyed watching in the show was how much philanthropy is very important to you and you get your office involved as well. What organizations do you like to give of your time and/or donate to?

JO: Yeah that episode that you saw on Selling Sunset is the one that I love giving to – Food on Foot. I like to not only spend my time when I can, but more importantly, I like to be charitable with some of the income that I have as I think that they do a really, really good job. I think that we’re going to be on Celebrity Family Feud soon and we have chosen that charity so hopefully we’ll win some money on Celebrity Family Feud.

AM: For #TRIBEGOALS, we like to ask those that are trailblazers in their industry, who are 3 people that you are inspired by that got you to where you are today whether you know them in person or follow them from afar.

JO: I like Albert Einstein definitely as someone that I look up to. I’d say that I was very lucky to have in both of my professions in real estate and in law – I was able to work with very successful people that earned my respect and were able to teach me about leadership, experience and professionalism. The woman that I worked under when I was at Coldwell Banker, her name is Joyce Rey. She is still an icon in real estate and she taught me a lot. Then when I was a lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli is one of the leading attorneys in the country as well, just as Joyce is one of the leading women in real estate. So I guess, I was just really lucky in my professions in law and in real estate to work with someone like Joyce Rey and Dan Petrocelli. I think that they had such an influence on me in terms of my professional life.

IG @JasonOppenheim

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS

| PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS | FRONT COVER, PG 22 + 23 Benjo Arwas | BACK COVER, PG 16, 18, 21, 24, 27 - 32 Rochelle Brodin |

Hear luxury real estate owner/broker, contractor, developer at The Oppenheim Group and Netflix's Selling Sunset star, Jason Oppenheim on an upcoming episode of our show, #TRIBEGOALS - which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multimedia companion podcast network! Subscribe to be notified when the episode drops. Listen on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.