High Times: Is Cannabis the New Secret Ingredient for Luxury Real Estate Sales?

Everyone needs a gimmick—including high-end real estate. In fact, the higher, the better in states that have legalized recreational marijuana.

Real estate agents and developers are just beginning to use cannabis to appeal to buyers of luxury properties. And the trend is expected to catch fire—instead of going up in smoke.

Last month, a luxury real estate agent in California threw a cannabis-themed open house, complete with cannabidiol oil massages, edibles, and a seminar on how to harvest cannabis plants. There was even a marijuana plant included in the home’s listing photos.

Rodeo Realty agent Ben Quibrera reportedly received an offer on the $3,495,000, six-bedroom home with an indoor theater, cabana area, and waterfall into the outdoor pool three days after the open house. The home is located in the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks.

Meanwhile, a 200-unit luxury tower in Hollywood recently threw a CBD-themed rooftop pool party, where guests learned how to infuse the oils into edibles and pain medicines. One- to three-bedroom apartments in the Columbia Square Living building range from $3,380 to $5,295 a month.

And luxury developer Ramtin Ray Nosratiis putting up five “marijuana mansions” in Los Angeles’ pricey Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and Bel Air communities. The homes will come with a cannabis conservatory featuring a ventilated, hydroponic cultivation gallery with a secret entrance. They will cost between $30 million and $40 million. The first is slated to be finished this year.

“This cannabis and CBD open house is the tip of the iceberg for luxury real estate in Los Angeles,” Quibrera said in a statement.

But not everyone is lining up to get on board. Puff, puff, fail?

Most of luxury real estate broker Dolly Lenz’s high net worth clients are very health-conscious and, therefore, anti-smoking. They don’t want to even be inside of homes where the previous owners have smoked.

She’s also not sold on using cannabis-themed events and open houses to sell multimillion-dollar residences. She compared it with other flash-in-the-pan fads, like jewelry-themed open houses where expensive pieces are sold at a discount at open houses.

“They’re useful in the short term to promote a property as something different,” she says. “Long term, it’s really about the properties, their attributes and desirability, and what makes them unique. It’s not if you have edibles.”