Former Real Housewives of New York castmember Kelly Bensimon is now making a killing in New York real estate. <em>The New York Post reported that Kelly sold $50 million in properties in three months in early 2021, and she has now married reality television with her new career by appearing on Discovery +’s Selling the Hamptons.
Kelly (530 shows up in episode 2 of Season 1. She’s not a regular cast member of the show but instead appears as a friend and connection of Miami transplant Kenny Arias, who is going to the Hamptons to sell property in the Miami off-season. There are a number of wealthy people known as “Snowbirds” who spend winters in Miami and summers in The Hamptons to make the most of the United States climate. Kelly shows Kenny a tremendous $36 million dollar mansion called “Sandcastle.”
Kelly brings Kenny to the home to give him the feel of a “traditional” but exclusive New England-style home. Very few people ever get to set foot in its door. Although the sprawling mansion was built in 2009 it features shingles on the outside that give it that old-school style. It’s a truly jaw-dropping house.
Sandcastle is a bit of a legend in Bridgehampton, apparently. It has a 10 car garage, 25 ft. ceilings, 17,5000 sq. ft. on 11 acres. It has 11 bedrooms and 13.5 baths. Amenities include a baseball diamond on the property, a tennis court, a spa, gym, indoor skate park, game room, wine cellar, movie theatre, and a bowling alley. The kitchen is a chef’s kitchen full of professional appliances, and there are customs fireplaces throughout the house. All of these incredible rooms have real style and attention to detail. The primary bathroom (part of 2000 sq ft primary suite) in particular is stunning with the clawfoot bathtub centered with a stunning window view.
The developer of Sandcastle refused to give any agent exclusive rights to sell the home, Kenny says, so it could be career-changing for him if he found a buyer for it.
At the end of the tour, both Kelly and Kenny change into bathing suits for a dip in the pool. Kenny says that in Miami bringing a bathing suit to look at houses is always a must.
Kelly ends by imparting Kenny with some wisdom about selling real estate in the Hamptons. She describes each Hamptons house as having its own personality. She also says there are two types of buyers: those who are price-conscious, and those who are love-conscious. She advises Kenny to gravitate to the “love” buyers who are looking for a home to fall in love with.
Kenny’s access to Sandcastle turned out to be a source of drama on the show, however, as J.B. Andreassi says he is their company’s representative for the property. J.B. is fine with Kenny bringing him a buyer, but he wanted him to go to him first before he visited the property with someone else.
When J.B. confronted Kenny about touring the listing without him, Kenny said he had no idea that J.B. had the listing for their company, Nest Seekers. Even though the listing was open, and not exclusive, J.B. still was the one with dibs on the property for their group. There is certain etiquette about the job concerning respect for who is in charge of each listing.
