heatherraeyoung / Instagram
Heather Rae Young is quickly becoming a household name.
Her rise to fame first began as a star of “Selling Sunset,” the Netflix reality show focusing on elite Los Angeles real estate agents. (It will return for Season 3 in early August.) But interest in her life shot up a year ago, when she began dating “Flip or Flop” star Tarek El Moussa.
Much about this 32-year-old is still a mystery, however. To help shed some light, we dug up some surprising facts about her life, real estate career, and what she loves to do in her downtime with El Moussa. (Hint: It involves more real estate—clearly, these two are a match made in heaven).
1. She was once an actress, model, and Playboy pinup
Young is no stranger to the limelight. Before she began working as a real estate agent for The Oppenheim Group and starring on “Selling Sunset,” Young had a successful modeling and acting career.
She began modeling professionally when she was just 18, and has appeared in a handful of TV shows and movies. She even appeared in Playboy magazine as Miss February 2010.
2. She was a natural at selling homes
“After modeling and appearing in Playboy, real estate felt like a good transition for me, because I’d met so many people, and I’m really good at building relationships and making contacts,” she explained in an interview with the magazine in May 2020.
“A couple of my friends actually suggested it, and originally I said no. But you know what? I did it! I studied my ass off, I passed the [real estate licensing] test.”
Young turned out to be a natural. Within the first three months of working in real estate, she sold a $7.2 million house and a $1.5 million condo. Today, she works primarily with high-profile clients, including musicians, athletes, and celebrities.
3. She met El Moussa on a boat on the Fourth of July
Think Young and El Moussa first met crossing paths via their shared love of real estate? On the contrary, they bumped into each other on boats!
Last Fourth of July, they were both out boating with friends in Newport Beach, CA, and met while their two boats were docked side by side.
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Watch: Exclusive: HGTV’s Orlando Soria Gives Us a Tour of His Home
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El Moussa honked his horn as a greeting. Young reflected on their chance encounter in an Instagram post, writing that she was grateful that El Moussa took the initiative to say hello.
4. Young helped El Moussa sell his bachelor pad
Young and El Moussa moved in together just a week after they started dating. But their quick timeline doesn’t stop there: The fast-moving relationship prompted El Moussa to sell the Costa Mesa, CA, “dadchelor pad” he bought shortly after splitting with his ex-wife, Christina Anstead.
Young actually represented El Moussa in the sale of his house, which sold quickly, after receiving multiple offers. That meant that the couple needed to find a new place to live, and had to move in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic (more on that next).
5. They rent a house rather than own (at least for now)
After the quick sale of El Moussa’s house, the couple initially put in an offer on a home together, but decided to back out of the deal, because of flaws with the house.
Instead, they moved into a beach house rental in Newport Beach, CA, and got to work making it feel like their own.
6. She takes her role as ‘bonus mom’ seriously
Although she hasn’t had her own kids (at least not yet), Young has embraced her role as “bonus mom,” and her house reflects that.
For one, she was put in charge of redecorating the bedrooms for El Moussa’s kids, Brayden James and Taylor Reese. She’s also designed other areas of their beach house for family-friendly living.
The kitchen, for example, features huge floor-to-ceiling glass doors that the couple likes to open while the kids are swimming in the pool, so everyone can spend time together.
Family photos are on display throughout the home, and coffee tables in the living room can be rolled to the side to make room for El Moussa’s wrestling matches with the kids.
The dining room table is the site of all their family dinners, which regularly feature El Moussa’s father and other family members.
“When I was growing up as a kid, we had dinner together at the table every single night, and it was homemade meals,” El Moussa reported, during a video tour of the home with People magazine.
7. They got engaged just a year after they met
The future Mrs. Heather Rae El Moussa!!! 💍This was the best day of my life!This moment when @therealtarekelmoussa got down on one knee & asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. SO much to tell you guys! I want you to hear the inside scoop. Go to my insa for more details pic.twitter.com/kmj4gCgcsr
— Heather Rae Young (@HeatherRaeYoung) July 30, 2020
Talk about a whirlwind romance: Just a year after they met, El Moussa got down on one knee and proposed. And while they haven’t set a wedding date quite yet, “We’re expecting it to be less than a year,” El Moussa said in one interview with E! News.
“With the coronavirus going on, it’s really important to us that we have a proper wedding. So whenever we get back to normal, we will be getting married.”
8. She filmed an episode of ‘Flipping 101’ with Tarek, but he can’t appear on her show
If you’re craving a guest appearance from El Moussa on “Selling Sunset,” we’ve got some bad news for you.
Because of his HGTV contract, El Moussa can’t appear on the show. But that doesn’t mean Young can’t spend a lot of time talking about her burgeoning relationship with El Moussa on camera.
Yet you can catch the real estate-savvy couple together in “Flipping 101 With Tarek.”
El Moussa gushed about filming the episode with Young, writing on Instagram: “She as so cute on camera I couldn’t stop smiling!”
9. She’s a biker!
Young doesn’t shy away from a challenge. Case in point: She used to ride a Harley Davidson motorcycle, and she still has her motorcycle license.
10. One of their shared hobbies is window-shopping real estate
Since Young and El Moussa are both obsessed with real estate, one of their favorite hobbies is looking at listings of available homes, then driving around to scope out the properties in person.
It’s not clear exactly what the future holds for this power couple, but we already have visions of these two buying, selling, renovating, and flipping homes together.
Hello, new reality show!
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