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Go behind the scenes with Inman’s Dani Vanderboegh to get the answers to all your burning questions on the newest releases. Stay tuned to Real Tea, the intersection of real estate and reality TV.
This post was updated on Sept. 16, 2024, to reflect the Emmy win.
You might recognize Mercedes “MJ” Javid from Bravo’s 2012-2021 series Shahs of Sunset. The long-running reality series followed the lives of an all-Persian cast for nine seasons, which Javid said came to an organic close during the pandemic and at the same time she had her child Shams, who’s now 5 years old.
Though there was no real estate element to the show, several cast members had real estate ties, including Reza Farahan and Javid, who “grew up in real estate” and has had her license for 20 years. In December, she’ll celebrate her two-year anniversary at The Agency, where her sales sit at over $15 million, according to the company, and prior to that, she was with Keller Williams.
Most recently, she was on Season 2 of The Traitors. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, it’s essentially a murder mystery game in a lushly furnished castle in Scottland, hosted by Alan Cumming.
For 12 episodes, 22 reality TV stars (think Bravo, Survivor, Big Brother, MTV competition stars) duke it out in competitions, while at least one cast member is “murdered” by unknown “traitors” or voted out by the group, which is mostly composed of “faithfuls” (non-murderers), all while the faithfuls try to figure out who the traitors are and vote them out to walk away with over $250,000, or a split pot, depending on how the game goes.
Javid made it to the final three but did not win a portion of the pot on the uber-popular show that received a 2024 Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Reality Competition Program.”
The 76th Emmy Awards were on Sunday, and The Traitors won its category. Ahead of the ceremony, Inman sat down with Javid to get the Real Tea on real estate, raising kids and reality TV.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Traitors
What was it like to be on The Traitors?
The Traitors is a murder mystery elimination show competition where every single day, you wake up, and you go to sleep not knowing if you’re ever going to see these beautiful people that you’ve just met ever again.
You will wake up, go in full hair and makeup and be waiting for hours to be maybe called to breakfast, or maybe not. If you get called to breakfast, they could also be calling you into the room where you’re going to get the letter, where you open it and find out you were murdered. And then you have to sit down and give your exit interview and say how you felt about that.
Or they’ll say, “OK, MJ, let’s go to breakfast,” and you’re going to the breakfast room. Once you get into the breakfast room, all those big reactions.
The biggest question I got on Traitors ever was, “How come everybody looks so surprised in the morning at breakfast?” Because we didn’t know if we were going to be in that room or not until the last second.
And we’re all looking at each other’s reactions so that we can find out if someone looks like they knew who was coming or not so that we can find out who the traitors might be.
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What was filming like?
So you’re completely fish out of water. You’re stepping into a new culture. It’s a beautiful culture. On the set, [the quality looked like] Dances with Wolves. It was so intricate.
The cameras, the dollies, shooting these beautiful scenes with Alan Cumming, emerging from — really out of nowhere. And they would light up the torches, and we’d have these old fashioned Land Rovers that are carrying us over to the grounds … and we’re competing in a murder mystery.
How long were you gone?
A month.
And you’re completely disconnected from the outside world the entire time?
You get off the airplane, and a producer will greet you and say, “Hello. MJ, how was your journey to get here? Can I have your phone? We’re going to confiscate it, and we’re also going to search our bags and make sure you don’t have a backup or any form of communication whatsoever to reach out to anybody.
Was that hard?
It was very difficult, and I quickly learned what disassociation really looks like and how it feels.
How did you handle your clients when you were gone?
I actually had to tell my clients, “Listen, I’ve had this really unique opportunity. Can we put it on hold for about two weeks or so?”
And I also have a lot of [other agents who] could step in … if need be.
How does it feel to be nominated for an Emmy?
It feels incredible. And I knew while we were there that we were creating something that was really special. And I knew because the cast is such a beautiful ensemble of incredible people.
Real estate
How did you get into real estate?
I grew up in real estate. My dad flipped condos and houses, and he is the person who I would shadow, not only in real estate but my whole life. And [at 17 years old], I would stand and watch him negotiate, and then I would sometimes find him to be too generous. And that was my pocketbook he was reaching into.
Doing really quick math, I’d be like, I think he’s leaving money on the table. I would jump in. I would negotiate. No one kicked me out of the conversation. And next thing you know, I just saved him, like, $20,000.
And then [years later], he looked at me after I graduated from college, and he was like, “Why don’t you get your real estate license so that I can give you the listing instead of another real estate agent, since you’re genuinely and organically getting yourself involved. And you’re negotiating, and you’re doing a better job than me.”
I [was] like, “Hell, yeah.”
So that’s how I started. And by the way, [when I first got my driver’s license], I used to drive around … Sunset Boulevard from Beverly Hills to Malibu, and if I saw an open house sign, I would stop.
What 16-year-old would want to see houses instead of going to the mall or whatever a normal kid would do at that age? I prided myself on knowing the streets by heart in Beverly Hills from a young age.
In the past year or two, there’s been the millionaire’s tax, the National Association of Realtors settlement, and interest rates and home prices have been high. How are you managing the changing market? How are you talking to clients about it?
[I tell clients] you have to stay within your budget. You don’t want to alienate yourself from the real estate market, and the best way to alienate yourself is to not own something. So just be modest. Buy something, but don’t think it’s your last house.
My first property was a house that I did not want to live in. I was almost mad. I was like, “I’m not gonna have a house that doesn’t have a powder room.” But now I have a million dollars in equity in that property without even noticing that I’m paying a mortgage because I’ve owned it for a really long time … So the phrase is, you buy the house, not the rate.
The interest rate is something that’s going to come down. Buy that house, you’re going to get it at a lower price; then when the interest rates go down … you’re just competing against more buyers. The market becomes a frenzy, and you are ultimately going to borrow more for that same house.
If that house at this higher interest rate was a million dollars, when the interest rates go down, it’s going to be $1.3 million, so you’re better off buying a slice of the pie. Get yourself out of the rental market.
And has your client strategy changed at all?
My strategy has not changed. I love working with couples … I don’t take on a lot of clients at once.
I’m very 24/7 about my approach. I have directors that have needed to call me at 1 a.m. because that’s the only time [due to] shooting abroad, and they want to go over an inspection report that they were not even present for.
I am their eyes, their ears, and the person that’s guiding them. So I love that I can be someone that they can let out a sigh and know, “MJ’s got my back. I know that she cares. I know that she’s not a salesman, she’s not pushy, she’s not trying to upsell me.”
I know there are a lot of NDAs with high-profile clients, but can you tell us about some of your celebrity clients?
Yes, when we listed [Christina Ricci’s] house, I was allowed to say that it’s her house. And it became a PR strategy that worked. But the attention that the house got was because of me, The Agency, Christina Ricci — how great she is in her career — and Jeff Lewis, creating a beautiful collaboration with her … Every single person who walked into that house was blown away … nobody felt like they were walking into a cookie-cutter house.
Because these days, with a modern farmhouse, every single house looks exactly the same, having this open floor concept with the same shade of cabinets, the same shade of paint and the same flooring — every house looks the same.
But you want individuality. You want your house to feel special, especially when you have the budget that you can own something that you want to be excited about. People don’t want their houses to feel like the same thing that they just came from. And Christina Ricci’s backyard is this oasis zen Buddhist paradise, and it just had such mature landscaping. It reminded me of White Lotus — Italy and Hawaii.
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[Jeff Lewis] did a really great job, and so did Christina. They selected everything together, every fixture, every wallpaper; the house was totally custom. There was nothing cookie-cutter about it, and there was a theme that was very congruent. They really thoughtfully reimagined the space to be more functionally modernized so that they still had an old-world charm, but reconfiguring spaces and maximizing closet and storage.
In January, you and Jeff Lewis (of Hollywood Houselift and Flipping Out fame) did Watch What Happens Live and teased an upcoming project. Tell us more about that.
There are a couple of other things in the works, and it’s very exciting because he’s probably one of the easiest, most generous people who make such smart decisions in real estate and design, and anyone who works with him is lucky to buy a house that he’s worked on because it is going to be the most thoroughly and wonderfully cared for house.
He’s very much the extra mile guy, and that’s great because he’s not really thinking about his profit. He’s thinking about the product. When you get to stand behind that and present that and sell that — it’s a really great thing.
Reality TV
Let’s talk about more reality TV. What’s it like being a mom versus being on camera?
I was raised as an only child, where the world was whatever I wanted. So, for me to be able to center my world around my child is not something people would have [thought], that MJ is going to be a good mom.
A lot of people are like, well, she’s a real estate shark. She’s a party girl, but we can’t see her in any other way.
The biggest compliment that someone could give me back then [was], “She’s hungry. I want her to be my agent.”
And today, that is still one of the best compliments you could give me. But I also know that I’m much more compassionate because I’m a mom. I’m probably a better friend … what I would have done to keep [Shahs of Sunset] going would have been totally different … it was a show that was built around friendships that, unfortunately, took a turn for that time being. And, we all had to grow up a little bit — a lot.
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Writer’s note: Javid did say that she is on good terms with longtime friends Reza Farahan and Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi, despite ending Shahs of Sunset on uncertain terms and even saying earlier this year that she’s not friends with Gharachedaghi on Andy Cohen’s late-night Bravo talkshow Watch What Happens Live.
How do you feel about Netflix’s Buying Beverly Hills, which stars colleagues and your CEO, going away?
Sad. That’s ridiculous. First of all, I binged Season 2 in one weekend … It was so good. And I did become really invested in the stories … I watched it in complete awe and admiration. I’m a fan.
Would you consider doing a real estate reality TV show?
Yes … Josh Altman and I shared an EP [executive producer] when we were both starting on Bravo. We were both starting our shows. And we got a lot more real estate coverage on Shahs of Sunset in the first few years. So I often think that my trajectory in my real career … was incredible.
Do you have a favorite reality TV real estate agent?
I like Tracy Tutor … I love Mauricio [Umansky and Ryan Serhant].
What’s your hot take on real estate reality TV?
It’s very disrespectful to what we do to show it in these broad strokes … it’s really a disservice to show real estate in an inauthentic way. So when I see it on shows that are trying to put too much Hermès bandage dress on the career of it, then I say, “You know what? I love watching it for the outfits,” and I am eternally inspired by how beautiful the outfits are on certain shows.
Whereas if it’s a show with Ryan Serhant, I am going to take out my notebook, and I’m going to say, “I’m going to use that. This is great.” Because he really cares, and that comes through … He tells a story about real grit that you should have in what you do … that man is the chef’s kiss.
What was the best part about being on reality TV shows like Shahs and Traitors?
My proudest reality TV career moments are those when I represented self-confidence and was in the position to spearhead women feeling great about themselves and in their skin. There were not many representations of body positivity and self-confidence [for women] when I was on TV, so it was a very important opportunity that I got to encourage women to step into their power.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that The Traitors won a 2024 Emmy Award.
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