"The View" host Joy Behar is enlisting a unique new tactic to try to sell her longtime Hamptons home—by jacking up her latest asking price by more than $1 million, despite the property having been on the market for more than a year.
Behar, 83, has been trying to find a buyer for the historic Sag Harbor dwelling since November 2024, when she originally listed the property for $10.95 million, a price that her listing agents, Ed Gaetjens and John Wines with Saunders & Associates, now concede was likely too ambitious.
After less than a month, the four-bedroom home was delisted, only to return to the market in March 2025 for $8.99 million, a price that was steadily decreased in the following months, eventually dropping to $5.95 million in December.
Still, no buyer came forward. So it was somewhat surprising to see that figure suddenly shoot back up to $6.99 million on March 21, a move that her listing agents tell Realtor.com® was very carefully considered—and one that they believe will actually help the property's performance on the market, rather than hinder it.
"We had started much higher, at an aspirational price, then came down to a realistic number," Wines explains.
But the decision to increase the asking price was motivated by more than just a desire to reach a "realistic" number, with Wines noting that it came down to a combination of factors—not least the sale of a nearby home, which changed hands for $11.25 million.
According to Wines and Gaetjens, while the neighboring property had undergone many more modern upgrades than Behar's own dwelling, its sale proved to them just how much demand there is for homes in that area, and how much potential their client's house has.
"The comp next door, no one would have thought that price was possible," Gaetjens says. "That house went for a lot of money, a lot more than any of us thought it would go for."
In essence, the neighboring sale upped the ante as far as Behar's listing is concerned—and also encouraged her agents to start thinking about other ways they could prove the home's potential to prospective buyers.
"We told Joy that, we’re not just taking [her listing] to take it again, we want to think outside the box on this," Gaetjens adds. "We just need to be a little more proactive, a little more visual, a little more telling about how things could be."
To create a narrative around the home, Gaetjens and Wines are now working with multiple architects to draw up plans for potential renovations that would help to give the property a much more modern feel. They are also pricing out those potential updates and are in the process of securing the necessary planning permissions.
Essentially, they are carrying out every necessary step to prepare for a renovation, without actually requiring Behar to start any construction.
"A lot of people don’t have vision, they don’t see what the house could be," Wines says. "What we’re trying to do is make it more palatable. We’re all but doing [the renovation] for them is really what it comes down to."
The real estate pros also hope that by pointing interested parties to the recently sold home in Behar's neighborhood, they can help them see how lucrative an investment their client's property could be, provided a buyer is willing to put in a little bit of work.
"At $6.99 million it’s still a steal because there’s so much room in there," Wines notes. "We have a legitimate comp next door that allows us to say, 'Here's what a turnkey house is worth.'
"We know that this house will give a buyer great equity, we're just trying to find the easiest path for someone to accomplish that."
That being said, the agents note that, if their latest tactic doesn't work to secure a buyer, Behar is not opposed to doing the work herself, then putting the property back on the market at a much higher price, one that they say would be closer to the $11.25 million mark, almost double what it is currently listed for.
"We probably would have had 20 buyers, easily, if the house was renovated, regardless of price," Wines adds. "The price is not the problem, the issue is they don’t have the vision of what the house could be.
"What we’re trying to do is resolve that, and say, 'For X number of dollars you could have the house look like this.' But if we were to move forward and actually do the renovations, the price wouldn’t be $6.99 million, it would be $12 million.
"If there isn’t a buyer at this price, I think we will probably find an avenue to have it renovated and sell it at the higher price."
Both Gaetjens and Wines concede that their vision for the home might not appeal to every buyer, noting that they are well aware some interested parties who have already viewed the home will see the price increase and "say we're crazy."
However, they are both confident that they can craft a vision for a home that perfectly suits someone's dream, adding that, by encouraging prospective buyers to do the work themselves, they can help them to design a dwelling that perfectly suits their individual needs.
"We engaged Joy with this and we know there’s value there," Gaetjens explains. "We know someone is going to put money into this house and have the same property that exists next door. We know in our hearts that the person who buys Joy’s house is going to have equity like they couldn’t believe.
"That’s why we’re so passionate about it. We’re so pumped about this."
While the agents are still working with architects to price out a potential renovation plan for Behar's home, the property is already back on the market—and they are busy speaking to interested parties about it.
In its current form, the dwelling, which was built in 1903, spreads across 4,500 square feet, including four bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, with the listing noting that it is "situated on an idyllic 0.63-acre corner lot."
The description also calls attention to the home's very unique bones—and its existing amenities, including the gunite pool in the backyard.
"This meticulously restored Victorian delivers the ultimate Hamptons lifestyle: a luxuriously appointed main residence, a lofted studio, and resort-like grounds with a heated gunite pool."
Behar purchased the dwelling back in 2016, paying $4.75 million for the picturesque abode, having previously transferred the deed for her other Hamptons property into the name of her daughter, Eve.
Inside, the main residence blends timeless comfort with elevated modern amenities, which start in the chef's kitchen with top-of-the-line appliances, dual dishwashers, an enormous pantry, and a fireplace.
Communal living spaces abound, including a formal dining room (no doubt where Behar hosts her fellow panelists for dinner and debate), living room, den, and office.
The primary bedroom also comes with a fireplace, as well as an expansive walk-in closet and a spa bathroom, perfect for relaxation after a long day of duking it out on air.
There is another en-suite bedroom, and two bedrooms share a communal bathroom.
A guesthouse comes with a living room with a fireplace, as well as a full kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and loft space. It could well be used to bring in rental income on Airbnb or Vrbo, should the buyer desire it.
Although the home is located on a popular street in Sag Harbor, it afforded Brooklyn-born Behar total privacy courtesy of the lush trees that surround the grounds. Certainly, no prying eyes could see through to the pool area, which is bordered by a bluestone patio.
Behar has made no secret of her love of her Hamptons escape, telling Hedges in a 2021 interview that she first visited the upscale area in the 1960s, when she rented a home in Hampton Bays with her sorority sisters.
However, since then she has greatly upgraded her property picks, forming a deep bond with the area.
"I love the Hamptons. There is no better place. To me, it resembles Provence more than any other place I’ve been, and I like it more than Provence," she said.
But Behar had something of a battle on her hands when it came to securing her latest Hamptons house—revealing to Hedges that the property was not even on the market when she began looking for a new dwelling.
"I was looking at the one next door, a brand-new big house, that was too much money," she said. "I asked the broker, 'Can you find out if he wants to sell this house?' The owner said, 'Only at top dollar and as is.' I took it."
According to Behar, it was the home's history and "bones" that won her over: "This house is over 100 years old—I’m almost as old as this house! But it’s a beautiful house, it has bones, and it has history."
