Kriti Mehrotra
If there’s one thing Netflix’s ‘Buying Beverly Hills’ makes evident, it’s that Mauricio Umansky is utterly dedicated to building an empire with his boutique real estate brokerage, The Agency. Season 2 honestly only reiterates this, especially as he reveals his expansion plans — the firm already has over 120 offices, but he wants 36 more while also adding to his Umansky team. He thus speaks to both Santiago Arana as well as Ben Belack regarding strategies, leading to the suggestion of maybe even combining two different groups altogether for better functionality.
The Ben Belack Group and the Umansky Team Are Still Individually Active
With everything Mauricio faced in his personal life from mid-2023 onward – his separation from wife Kyle Richards and the ensuing media storm – he’d been desperate for peace by late 2023. Therefore, of course, he thought of spending some time in his comfort place of Aspen, Colorado, yet he genuinely worried about it affecting their global growth since their base is in California. He knew for a fact he could rely heavily on his daughters Farrah Aldjufrie and Alexia Umansky as they’d been working hard right alongside him for a few years, but it just didn’t feel enough to him.
“I need the Umansky Team to increase in volume,” Mauricio candidly told his friend/fellow renowned agent Santiago. “I’m trying to figure out what the best path of action is for that. I’ve been thinking a lot about potentially having a conversation with Ben (aka the Principal of Agency-driven Ben Belack Group and self-proclaimed Super Realtor with over a decade of experience). Ben has a lot of skills that could complement Farrah, Alexia, and Sophia, that they don’t do. You know, the cold-calling, the lead generation. I need that rainmaker. I think Ben is somebody I can look at.”
Ben was actually at work at this time, so Maurcio didn’t hesitate to call him into his office and openly discuss his ambitious plans for 2024, just for the former to propose something better/unique. “I’ve seen now, since the company has grown, you’re definitely spread more thin,” he expressed. “There’s a chance you may be leaving money on the table. You only have so much time in a day. So I think we’d all benefit tremendously, tremendously from a collaboration. I mean, I think it makes sense that we merge. We can combine the best of what we all do, and everyone benefits.”
Ben then elaborated, “Our groups come together, and I’m on larger listings with you, which enables us to then market more to the neighbors, and in exchange, I’m there to help as a sales manager. You can kind of release the reins there a bit.” Mauricio obviously didn’t expect this, resulting in his response to Ben being that he’d discuss it with his daughters/the individuals behind the Umansky Team before getting back to him. Though the fact he added, “but I think on a high level, it definitely could fill that gap,” at the end was seemingly a clear indication of where exactly he was leaning.
Coming to if this merge actually took place, the answer appears to be no since there is still an evident classification of people in the Ben Belack Group and the Umansky Team on The Agency’s website. However, there has undoubtedly been some kind of shift as industry innovator Ben is no longer referred to as the Principal of his eponymous squad; instead, his official title is now Director of Residential Estates. Even Farrah is not the Director of Operations anymore but simply an Agent, whereas Alexia maintains her position as an Agent of the Umansky Team in Los Angeles, and Mauricio is obviously the Founder-CEO.
Read More: Buying Beverly Hills Season 2: Where Are They Now?
