The Top 5 Estate Agent Movies of All Time

There are plenty of great films about lawyers, doctors, gangsters, spies and people inexplicably able to diffuse a bomb with three seconds left on the clock.

But what about estate agents?

Hollywood has never quite given our profession the recognition it deserves. So, in the interests of fairness, we’ve decided to put together our completely unbiased, highly scientific and definitely not made-up list of the Top 5 Estate Agent Movies of All Time.

Some are actually about property. Some are only vaguely connected to it. And, in one case, we’ve included a TV show because frankly, there aren’t enough estate-agent films to work with.

5. Stath Lets Flats

Technically, not a movie at all, but we’re starting as we mean to go on.

Stath Lets Flats is the brilliantly awkward Channel 4 sitcom created by and starring Jamie Demetriou. It first aired in 2018 and follows Stath, an exceptionally incompetent lettings agent working at his father’s London agency. The series ran until 2021.

It is packed with familiar industry situations: difficult landlords, difficult tenants, difficult colleagues and, of course, the occasional property that looks considerably better in the photograph.

The problem is that Stath is so spectacularly bad at his job that we’re not sure it should really count as industry representation.

Still, there is clearly some serious property knowledge behind the show.

Which probably explains why its no longer running.

4. Glengarry Glen Ross

Released in 1992, Glengarry Glen Ross is the heavyweight entry on the list. Based on David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, it stars Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris and Kevin Spacey as a group of increasingly desperate salesmen battling it out over leads, commissions and sales targets.

It’s essentially two hours of people shouting about sales.

So, naturally, estate agents have watched it and thought: “Finally. A documentary.”

The only slight issue is that it works almost entirely in an American context.

The idea of someone arriving in the office and screaming about “leads”, “commissions” and closing deals is familiar enough.

But if an Irish estate agent started shouting “Coffee is for closers!” in the office, they’d probably be handed a cup of tea and told to calm down.

3. The Break-Up

Released in 2006 and starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston, The Break-Up is, unsurprisingly, about a couple who break up. (I know! struggling here)

The slightly more relevant part for us is that Gary and Brooke own a condominium together, and the question of what happens to the property becomes a central part of their increasingly messy separation.

And this is where estate agents everywhere can relate.

There is a particularly memorable moment involving Gary’s character discussing the fact that, if they sell, somebody is going to have to pay the commission.

Because apparently even Hollywood break-ups eventually end up with the same question:

“Yeah, but who’s paying the estate agent?”

Romance may be dead, but commission is forever.

2. The Open House

Now, this one sounds like it was made specifically for us.

The Open House is a 2018 psychological horror film starring Dylan Minnette and Piercey Dalton. A mother and son move into a house that is being sold, and things become increasingly unsettling while the property is being shown to potential buyers. Netflix released it in January 2018.

And yes, there actually are open houses in the film.

But if you’re expecting a two-hour insight into the fascinating world of property viewings, buyer feedback and negotiating offers, you’re going to be disappointed.

Instead, it’s horror.

Which, depending on the buyer, the asking price and the condition of the house, isn’t always that far removed from a Saturday afternoon viewing.

1. The Money Pit

Our undisputed number one.

The Money Pit was released in 1986 and stars Tom Hanks and Shelley Long as a couple who buy what appears to be their dream home at a suspiciously attractive price.

There is, naturally, a catch.

The house begins falling apart almost immediately. Floors collapse, the plumbing fails, the staircase gives way and the renovation costs spiral completely out of control.

In other words:

Every estate agent’s favourite sentence — “It has a lot of potential.”

The brilliance of The Money Pit is that anyone who has ever bought a house, sold a house or had a client say “Sure, that’s an easy fix” will recognise at least some of it.

And the famous two-week renovation optimism?

We’ve all heard it.

“How long will the works take?”

“Two weeks.”

Six months later, they’re still waiting for the kitchen.