It’s one of the rare shows to manage to appeal to the public on subjects like real estate: L‘Agencyin line with the American reality TV show Selling Sunsetis a real success on TMC. Broadcast since September 24, 2020 on the channel, and available in full on the Netflix platform, the series follows the adventures of the Kretz familyspecialized in the sale of luxury real estate. Over the course of four seasons, viewers were able to discover and see the different members of the family evolve, whether Martin, Valentin, Louis and Raphaël, or parents Olivier and Sandrine Kretz. Everyone, over time, was able to live incredible experiences, such as manage the sale of the Hallyday houseor even meet personalities like Yannick Noah. And if this life seems perfect on the surface, everything is not always rosy in the Kretz’s daily life.
Such a good deal
As explained in the biography to be published on March 27, 2024 and entitled Welcome to the Agency, Olivier Kretz himself, in the past, faced a well-established scam which caused him to lose a huge sum of money. The story takes place well before the creation of his agency, but still marks him forever. He says in the book: “I am contacted by a Swiss company. Specializing in luxury real estate, this agency offers me the opportunity to develop its brand in France (…) After several telephone conversations, I finally meet the two partners (…) I just need to buy their brand license to benefit from their tools and especially the property advertisements (…) I sign , feverish, a check for 30,000 euros.”
50,000 euros in damages to be paid
Quickly, however, this beautiful affair turns sour: the goods that Olivier Kretz shows his clients are in fact already sold. “It was at this moment that I received a letter from a real estate agency in Boulogne: ‘Dear Mr. Kretz, we ask you to no longer use our name which is a registered trademark and to kindly withdraw, as soon as possible under penalty of prosecution, the advertisements on your site because it concerns our property for which you do not have the mandates’ (…) The Swiss not only usurped their identity but also posted advertisements for goods that had already been sold for a long time.”, he also explains in the chapter dedicated to him.
Despite this scam, the courts still ordered the father to pay 50,000 euros in damages. The reason ? No trace of the Swiss company was found, and the two crooks disappeared after liquidating it. A real blow for those who have not always had a good relationship with his sonbecause he finds himself, with his wife, relieved of 80,000 euros. “From one day to the next, I find myself with nothing, I am at the bottom of the hole”, thus reveals Olivier Kretz who nevertheless admits that this slump gave him the idea of creating his own company “that we can never take away from him”.