When Hamptons real estate agent Peggy Zabakolas pulled as much as her $20 million Watermill listing — Eagle’s Point, a hidden gem situated at the highest elevation in the area — last summer, she caught one other broker red-handed.
Fellow Nest Seekers agent JB Andreassi, 33, was attempting to steal the listing for the seven-acres compound by sweet talking Zabakolas’s co-listing agent.
But with the potential to get $1.25 million in commission on the property — which was once rented by Mariah Carey and features nine bedrooms, a chef’s kitchen and a wine cellar — she wasn’t taking place with out a fight. She rolled up in her white BMW and heels scoffing, “What are you doing here?”
Such drama is all too common in the world of Hamptons real estate. Zabakolas and Andreassi are two of the seven Nest Seekers starring on the “Selling The Hamptons” reality show, whose second season premiered on Max on March 1.
The series portrays the cutthroat agents going head-to-head to sell luxury homes in a world where the stakes are high, the inventory is low and the Whispering Angel rosé is free-flowing.
“Everyone tries to go after everyone’s listings since it’s such a small, close-knit community – there’s more brokers than there are sellers,” Zabakolas, 37, told The Post.
“Everyone aggressively tries to get what they’ll.”
Nest Seeker Bianca D’Alessio told The Post that she spends big on marketing and other expenses — between $20,000 and $50,000 for residences and $200,000 for developments — to do her job effectively. A few of of it is roofed by the agency, but some comes out of her own pocket.
“I spend extra money on marketing than some other broker in the market,” she boasted.
Expenses might include luxury accommodations, transportation from the city and personal chef dinners — all for prospective buyers that are heavily courted.
D’Alessio, 31, is understood for her self-described “white glove” service. She’ll arrange to choose up potential buyers from their homes in the city in a personal automobile service to shuttle them out East, letting them spend the night in the property or arranging for a stay at five-star hotels similar to Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton.
She even goes so far as putting together an itinerary of restaurants — favorites include Jean-Georges at Topping Rose House and Le Bilboquet on the waterfront in Sag Harbor — for clients to examine out.
“[I want] to present them the full experience of what it appears like to purchase a house in the Hamptons,” she told The Post.
D’Alessio, who manages a $10 billion real estate portfolio of properties and developments for Nest Seekers International, told The Post that she is currently gearing as much as host a filtered water tasting in her latest listing. The $7.5 million energy efficient seven bedroom, seven bath home in East Hampton encompasses a sauna, hammam, home theater, wine cellar and infinity-edge pool.
“It’s interested by how do you create that momentum and excitement leveraging the current property and the popularity of this developer to construct a mystique,” she told The Post.
Like D’Alessio, Zabakolas can be in the technique of moving mountains for her clients, who this season are searching for “amenities galore” including movie theaters, golf simulators, indoor/outdoor pools, tennis and basketball courts.
It’s not about marketing a Hamptons property as only for summer fun. Clients want living quarters for each month of the 12 months. She recently sold a house with an out of doors tennis court that was an ice skating ring.
“They [clients] all want year-round homes and true smart homes to access the blinds, music and temperature from their phones,” Zabakolas said.
On the new season, there are two new agents in the mix and inventory is tighter than ever. There’s aspiring pop-star turned real estate agent Ashley Allen, the daughter of developer Jeff Allen, and Dylan Eckardt, a Montauk born-and-bred party boy and former pro-surfer.
Eckardt has sold Hamptons homes to the likes of Rihanna and Post Malone, and likewise worked in Malibu, California, for years,
The 45-year-old – who Nest Seekers boss Eddie Shapiro once told Vanity Fair Eckardt was “an acquired taste” – keeps the brokers on their toes, making his grand entrance on the show in a matte black Mercedes Benz G Wagon boasting: “Every part I touch turns to sold.”
He brags about his $253 million in sales for the 12 months, outpacing the other agents.
“Nobody knew I used to be coming. They were a bit scared. After I watched the show I used to be a bit shocked at their remarks about ‘why is he here?’ To start with, bitch, I’m the Hamptons,” Eckardt told The Post.
“Before me, real estate in the Hamptons was housewives, white wine spritzers and Capri cigarettes. I saw a chance where I can merge the gap between the money and the locals.”
Eckardt said he makes waves with the remainder of the solid, even taking on Allen’s listing from her own father.
“I actually did take Ashley’s father’s Jeff Allen’s listing because I deliver what people can’t deliver. I get s—t done,” Eckardt said.
Zabakolas is having to resort to desperate measures in the current market.
“I all the time attempt to be in the know by networking. I’ve literally placed on my running sneakers and ran down Meadow Lane and hand-wrote letters to see if owners can be willing to sell because numerous the Hamptons is off-market,” she said, noting that her hustle resulted in landing an off-market property that went for north of $20 million.
“It’s that constant ‘going after it’ attitude that you might have to construct,” she added, noting that her last big sale in Southampton was an off-market deal for $17 million last 12 months. She’d worked with the seller for 3 years.
D’Alessio, meanwhile, says she’s staying out of the drama this season.
“There’s various ways to win over business. Some take the high approach, others take the low approach,” she said.
“There’s definitely ruffled feathers. Agents pondering other people are coming after their business. It’s interesting to see what agents get distracted by that.”