A partner at Belle Property, the agency in charge of selling Kristy and Brett Beams‘ house on The Block 2023, has defended the couple’s agent after their auction result.
ICYMI: During the tense finale on November 5, Kristy and Brett blasted their agent Sam Inan after they walked away with a modest $65,000 profit.
Following the auction, Sam’s fellow auctioneer Costa Karabatsos took to Instagram to speak out about these results.
“I wasn’t originally going to write this, but seeing the sheer amount of stupidity and derogatory comments being made with reference to yesterday’s aired episode and the way it was portrayed, it would be unjust [not to],” he started.
He explained that The Block auctions weren’t an “indication” of “normal market circumstances”.
“The homes are some of the most widely marketed and exposed properties in the country during their campaigns,” Costa said.
“The properties themselves and the drama surrounding them all play into the entertainment value pitched to the public.”
He then remarked that there are always “two sides to a story”.
“Events that span across multiple hours [have been] condensed into minutes of emotion-driving entertainment.
“For those that ARE in the real estate space and have made negative comments, you should be ashamed,” he added.
“You all know that rules and regulations are in place that govern how business in the industry is to be conducted,” he continued, before stating that TV is fixated on producing “drama” and “negativity” to drive “attention”.
“TV personalities aren’t advisors. Contestants aren’t vendors. Instructions were given and laws were followed,” he added.
Belle Property’s Costa Karabatsos says Sam Inan was ‘POORLY treated’ on The Block
Costa then said that Sam was “poorly treated” on The Block.
“Unfortunate, undeserving and very disappointing to see how editing happened,” he wrote.
“An enormous effort by [Sam] and the team was made which still yielded significantly above market result.
“Anyone [who] knows [Sam] or has the privilege of working with [him], knows that [his] grit and determination that has gotten [him] this far is the exact reason why [he’ll] continue to grow and thrive in this industry.
“Congratulations to all successful contestants, purchasers and sellers of the properties,” he finished.
Sam Inan defends himself against claims he ‘sh*t the bed’ during The Block 2023 auctions
On November 5, Kristy told Yahoo! Lifestyle that Sam “sh*t the bed” when it came to her “game plan”.
“He pretty much said what our reserve price was to everyone at the auction, which not only crawled mine but also crawled the other two houses,” she said.
On November 6, Sam hit back at these claims, stating that he was pressured to reveal the reserve price after being asked many times.
“You can say, ‘I’m not ready to answer that.’ However, with Consumer Affairs in the room, it is difficult,” he told the outlet.
Yahoo! Lifestyle also reported that Consumer Affairs “followed” Sam around “between the auctions of House Five and House Three”.
“It is hard not to tell the honest truth and not say that it is on the market,” Sam clarified.
“I had come up with a different strategy with the contestants Kristy and Brett, but I was overruled by producers and I [could] see that House Three [was] visibly upset.”
Sam also addressed rumours that the most popular contestants were intentionally favoured on auction day.
“Who knows what the narratives are… the public who follow the show aren’t the people who buy the houses,” he said.
“Perhaps if the contestants were more popular, then it might have helped the auctioneers a little bit more.” Burn!
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