Netflix 'Buying Beverly Hills': It's 'Succession' meets 'Selling Sunset' with Real Housewives stars

Netflix’s new luxury real estate reality show Buying Beverly Hills is like Succession meets Selling Sunset, following agents at The Agency brokerage, founded by Mauricio Umansky (husband of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards), and most importantly his daughters Alexia and Farrah.

While the real estate reality show Selling Sunset is heavily focused on personal drama, and Million Dollar Listing (the New York version in particular) plays more to the beautiful properties and the hoops the cast has to go through to get a deal done, Buying Beverly Hills starts with the question of, which of Mauricio’s daughters could possibly take the reins from their dad?

Farrah, now 34, has established herself as a force in real estate, with most people on the show saying no one works harder than her. On the flip side Alexia, 26, is at the beginning of her career, trying to find her footing while also battling people thinking she just gets opportunities because she’s the boss’s daughter.

While The Agency says it notably has a “no a—holes” policy, there are a few people in brokerage that might lean into that category anyway.

Other agents on Buying Beverly Hills include Ben Belack and Jon Grauman, who both run their own teams at The Agency. Joey Ben-Zvi is a high school friend of Alexia, now working on Mauricio's team at The Agency, and maybe had (or kind of still has) a little fling with the boss's daughter.

Brandon Graves and Sonika Vaid are newer to The Agency. Brandon is focused, dedicated, but very aware that he won't be getting the same opportunities as Alexia. Sonika, a former American Idol contestant, is putting her singing career aside for real estate.

Melissa Platt is a friend of Farrah's, but gets into some hot water when she's caught talking about Alexia's lack of real estate skills behind her back.

Who is Mauricio Umansky?

Mauricio Umansky quickly became popular to the general public through his appearances on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, but his real estate portfolio is also impressive.

He sold Hugh Hefner's house, the Walt Disney Estate, and homes owned by Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan and Prince. Mauricio boasts almost US$4 billion in real estate sales to his name, including selling the most homes in the U.S. priced above US$20 million.

He founded The Agency in 2011, which now operates all over the world, including offices in Canada.

Mauricio used to work at his brother-in-law Rick Hilton’s firm, Hilton & Hyland (yes, Paris Hilton's father), but it's been documented that Mauricio leaving that firm caused tension in the family, though they reportedly are now on better terms.

'Buying Beverly Hills' taps into 'Real Housewives' fandom

For all the Real Housewives fans, a core part of the Buying Beverly Hills story was crafted for us.

One of the main listings for the first season is Mauricio and Kyle’s home when Alexia was a teen, also the house that was rented by fellow housewife Sutton Stracke. Fans of the Bravo reality show will recognize the home from the iconic black and white tiles alone.

This house becomes Alexia’s first listing, where she has all the control, but Buying Beverly Hills doesn’t hold back on Alexia’s growing pains. Even her sister Farrah has some reservations about Alexia taking on the listing.

We'll see where that ends up by the end of the season, but another highlight for anyone who has watched this family on TV for years is that Buying Beverly Hills shows the moment Alex Manos proposed to Farrah, and her subsequently showing her parents the ring for the first time.

While there's a lot of competition in the real estate TV space, Mauricio, Alexia and Farrah are known commodities in the reality TV world. It may not pack as much of a dramatic punch as some of its competitors, but there is no denying this family is reality TV royalty.