PAD MEN: Ryan Serhant (far left), Luis D. Ortiz, and Fredrik Eklund star this season on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing.” (FilmMagic)
Bravo’s slogan is “Watch What Happens.”
Maybe they should change it to “Watch Your Back” — since the network’s shows usually revolve around the rich and successful conspiring against each other for the sheer thrill of seeing other people betrayed.
But some of that changes in this week’s episode of “Million Dollar Listing: New York,” when the male realtors who usually conspire against each other get a dose of humility in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
The guys — Fredrik Eklund, Ryan Serhant and Luis D. Ortiz — usually crash each other’s open houses, try to steal clients and resort to ethnic slurs for the cheap thrill of frat-boy one upsmanship.
“The real estate game isn’t for the nice guy,” says Serhant, a 28-year-old former actor and success story whose career on daytime soap “As the World Turns” (he played Dr. Evan Walsh) was cut short by a writers’ strike.
“You work so hard and people will step all over you,” Serhant says. “The biggest brokers have to be morally and ethically comfortable to be pit bulls and act solely in their self-interest.”
Serhant is his own best friend — and perhaps his only friend. He’s all business, working 20 hours a day to sell luxury apartments that offset the overhead incurred at Nest Seekers International, the firm he manages with Nick Jabbour.
Monthly bills range from $40,000-$60,000 when you add up the $500 nightly dinners for clients and lavish open houses. There’s nothing Serhant won’t do to make a sale, even if that means showering naked on camera for “Million Dollar Listing.”
His colleague, Eklund, who first made a name for himself in gay porn films, infuses his sales pitch with amorous language. In trying to sign up a client, he asks him if the property “arouses” him.
You get the picture.
Then, just when they all think they’re such hot stuff, the brokers were upstaged — by Hurricane Sandy, which is shown on the “Million Dollar Listing” episode airing this Wednesday.
In a strange coincidence, the brokers all live below 30th Street, which was plunged into darkness for several days. In scenes from Wednesday’s episode, the arrogance disappears and unfamiliar feelings — namely, humility — begin to surface as the men wander into grocery stores in search of provisions.
Serhant was living at 20 Pine Street in the financial district. “We lost power for eight days,” he says. “It was tough. Every building had storm damage.”
Things were so bad that Serhant had no one to call in the city to find a place to crash until the lights came on. He couldn’t get into his office because the door is operated by an electronic keypad. He went home to his family’s place in New Hampshire.
Serhant has since left 20 Pine Street and is now living in West Chelsea — still working 20 hours a day, hunting down the next deal.
“Real estate is an international sport in New York City. All we do all day long is throw punches,” he says. “You’ve got take a kick in the balls or get out.”