Movie stars seek comfy Detroit homes, turn to real estate agents

Demi Moore wanted a place to walk her dog. Hugh Jackman summered in the suburbs with his family. Richard Gere wanted a downtown condo. And John Cho was in the market for a penthouse.

All were in town this summer to make movies, and they turned to local real estate agents to help them find a place to call home.

“Realtors are especially helpful when you are looking for houses because they already have a rapport with homeowners,” said Robert Foulkes, a location manager in Los Angeles who was in Michigan this year working on the third installment of “Harold & Kumar,” starring John Cho and Kal Penn. “They can tell you who seems like the kind of people who would be OK with moving out of their homes.”

Directors, producers and some top actors usually are the ones who seek private lodging. most people working in film production stay in local hotels.

Foulkes said if Michigan’s generous film incentives continue, it could be wise to specialize in location services that can connect production crews with homeowners who are really interested.

“If Detroit is going to be Hollywood East, it would probably be a good opportunity.”

Broker to the stars

Finding housing for Hollywood actors and directors isn’t lucrative, but at least it’s exciting.

One local broker enjoys it so much he said he wants to brand himself as Realtor to the stars.

Andrew Teitel, 54, associate broker at SKBK Sotheby’s International Realty in Birmingham, got his start this summer with some big names.

He worked with the “Real Steel” production, finding Hugh Jackman a 7,100-square-foot home in Franklin Village. He showed Demi Moore lakefront homes and worked with Miley Cyrus’ mother when the stars were in town to film “LOL.” He also found a Birmingham penthouse for John Cho of “Harold & Kumar” fame.

“You can’t do it for the money,” he said. “It has to be for the fun of it.”

Agents who broker these deals earn smaller commissions than a typical one-year lease would net. The commission is typically one month’s rent. But Hollywood types stay in homes for shorter periods of time, such as 60-90 days, so the commission is a fraction of that.

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In addition to finding the right address for directors, producers and actors, Teitel said he offered concierge services — matching them up with his network of friends in wealthy Oakland County for things such as Pilates classes or country club access.

“I wanted whomever I worked with to find being in Detroit effortless,” he said.

After college, Teitel moved to Los Angeles and worked in an accounting firm that catered to entertainment clients. He did tax returns and other tasks for celebrities. Teitel moved back to Detroit in 1988 and joined his father’s sales agency. After his father died in 1993, Teitel went into real estate.

Filming in Michigan has picked up substantially: 117 film projects have been shot in Michigan since generous incentives passed in 2008. The incentives give a 40% tax credit for all production expenditures in Michigan. Producers get an extra 2% for expenses in core communities such as Detroit. Thirty-six productions wrapped up so far this year. The Michigan Film Office estimates that productions will spend more than $300 million in 2010.

While other industries such as food catering have made a Hollywood connection, much of the business Realtors get from movie production is the result of word-of-mouth, said Michelle Begnoche, spokesperson for the Michigan Film Office in Lansing.

Chris Baum, who heads Film Detroit and is a senior vice president of the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau, agrees.

“Well over 95% of the film crew is going to be staying in one of our local hotels,” Baum said. “When it comes to private accommodation, it happens a lot of different ways. no one has risen as the go-to guy in that area. it isn’t a really formalized part of the business.”

Jeff Glover, a Realtor who handles condo listings at the Westin Book Cadillac in Detroit, said he thinks few real estate agents would want to specialize in finding housing for Hollywood unless the state’s film incentives stick around for another three to five years.

“If they believe, long-term, this is going to be a movie capital of the United States, then creating those contacts would make sense,” he said.

Movie stars seek comfy Detroit homes, turn to real estate agents

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