George Hamilton... love that Fanta glow

If you need any more evidence that it’s a buyer’s market in the United States as well as Britain, put on some sunglasses and cast your eyes towards perma-tanned American actor George Hamilton. George closed a (literally) sweet property deal this week on a luxury condo in Los Angeles, but only after insisting his estate agent throw a year’s supply of cookies into the mix.

That’s right – cookies. A dozen a month.

We’d LOVE to pretend that what shall herein be referred to as ‘The Cookie Clause’ was merely the casual whim of an ageing orange soap opera star – you know, in the same way that J-Lo might demand twenty-seven thousand fresh gardenias on her backstage rider, or Jim Carrey might insist on a vegetarian chef for his pet iguana (this one from the ‘ridiculous but apparently true’ files). But actually it seems the unusual purchase condition stemmed from George’s discovery that his estate agent’s wife owns a local bakery.

This strange turn of events has got us thinking, though. If American estate agents will crumble under a demand for cookies (if you’ll forgive that horrendous pun), what else would they give in to?

So in the spirit of pushing boundaries and making childish demands, we’ve compiled a list of Other Freebies That Desperate Californian Estate Agents Might Be Willing to Throw Into the Deal:

• A year’s supply of Botox injections
• A walk-on role in Desperate Housewives
• Surfing lessons
• A shopping spree on Rodeo Drive
• An invitation to one of Hef’s infamous shindigs at the Playboy Mansion
• An apparently rare-as-hen’s-teeth place in a good LA school for your child (you never know, they might even surrender their own child’s place at Beverly Hills High or similar, forcing the poor kid into home-schooling and a wretched life of minimal social interaction. Hey, desperate times…)

Are there any opportunities for estate agent exploitation we’ve missed? Let us know.

Los Angeles, United States

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Los Angeles, North America, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.