Reality TV shows based on real estate are ‘horrible’ for the industry, says brokerage CEO

A customer looks at listings on display outside a Brown Harris Stevens offices in New York.

The rise of reality TV shows featuring real estate has been bad for the industry, according to a top brokerage CEO.

Bess Freedman, CEO of Brown Harris Stevens, spoke at the The Real Deal's NYC showcase on Thursday.

The shows likeSelling Sunset andMillion Dollar Listing highlight personal dramas and battles behind high-end real estate. The stars of several shows have used social media to amplify their following and reach with clients.

All of this stuff, like Selling Sunset, is terrible. We want to keep the quality of what we do.

Ryan Serhant, one of the stars of "Million Dollar Listing New York" and the founder of Serhant brokerage, shot back at Freedman on stage, saying traditional real estate brokers need to embrace the future of technology and media.

The old way of selling real estate has changed completely.

25 million viewers around the world watched the first season of the show.

Ryan Serhant visits Build Brunch to discuss “Sell It Like Serhant: How to Sell More, Earn More, and Become the Ultimate Sales Machine” at Build Studio on Sept. 20, 2018, in New York City.

Serhant said that many of the early viewers were younger and couldn't afford the multimillion-dollar apartments on the show.

Serhant launched his own agency in 2020 to train agents to produce videos, boost their social media followers and grow their personal brands. Last year, the firm saw a growth in sales and agents.

I want our agents to be able to do deals all over the place, on any platform.

Experience with negotiating deals, relationships developed over time, and deep knowledge of neighborhoods and buildings are the cornerstones of selling real estate.

We sell real estate, not technology.

NBCUniversal is the parent of CNBC.