“Selling the OC” star Kaylee Ricciardi has opened up about her unique experience securing luxury rental homes for VIP Coachella guests, revealing the most absurd and extravagant requests that her celebrity clients have made for their potential properties.
Ricciardi, 36, regularly deals with major celebrities and other big-time clients as a luxury real estate agent based out of The Oppenheim Group’s Newport Beach, CA, office. However, she admits to Realtor.com that when it comes to extreme demands, her Coachella clients take the cake.
Coachella 2026—which kicks off on April 10 and will feature performances by everyone from Justin Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter to Karol G—will mark Ricciardi’s 14th year helping high-profile clients find the perfect base for the festival, held annually at the Empire Polo Club near Palm Springs, CA.
So she has more experience than most in what it takes to meet the demands of the rich and famous, telling Realtor.com that almost every rental she’s arranged for those VIPs has come with some very intensive paperwork.
“I signed NDAs for almost all of my clientele, [but] I work with the biggest talent in the world,” she explains.
While those nondisclosure agreements prevent her from sharing details about the clients’ identities, Ricciardi teases that her roster includes some of Hollywood’s biggest names.
“Everyone who’s headlining and every major company or brand that is going to be present there … whoever was there or headlining is my client for the most [part],” she reveals.
The Netflix star may not be able to disclose the names of the people she works with; however, she is able to share details of some of the craziest requests they’ve made, noting that she’s had to go above and beyond to ensure that every detail of the home is exactly as the client demands.
“Selling the OC” star Kaylee Ricciardi works in concert with VIP clients to find them the perfect short-term rentals to call home during the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.Instagram/Kaylee RicciardiRicciardi reveals her gig often goes well beyond booking venues for her collaborators, who frequently come with their own lineup of difficult demands.Instagram/Kaylee Ricciardi
“I’m going to speak very carefully,” she shares, before divulging: “I had a celebrity client want a specific piece of workout equipment very badly.
“It was hard to source inside the home, and it was a bit labor-intensive to make this happen, and I happened to see this celebrity out every single night until the wee hours, not equipped to be working out at all the entire weekend, which was just funny and ironic.
“I was like, ‘I don’t think they’re going to be using this equipment.’ But we sourced it, we got it for them. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe they did get it together.”
Another time, a famous rapper and his family were staying at a short-term rental Ricciardi had arranged when she received a call at “an obscene hour of the night” to investigate “something in the vent” that they thought was asbestos.
“I had to wake up, get out of bed, and get a ladder,” she remembers. “No one helped me. I wasn’t even tall enough—I was about to fall on my tippy toes. I just bare-hand grabbed whatever it was. It was just a dust bunny.”
Ricciardi recognizes that being at the beck and call of high-end clients is “just kind of part of it” all. Still, she tries to “avoid issues like that,” sometimes by avoiding potentially troublesome clients altogether.
“I had to turn away my first celebrity client,” she admits. “I’m not going to say too much, but I operate on transparency, and I was just like, ‘Hey, you throw crazy parties. I’m aware of them. I know how they go.’
“They were kind of quizzing me like I didn’t know what I was talking about. It was a very strange dynamic, and then later on in the conversation, they were basically like, ‘We do not give a s–t what the homeowners want or request. We will operate illegally and throw our party inside of one of your properties and forfeit our security deposit and not care about any homeowner’s desire because we’re going to do whatever the f–k we want,’ so I had to let go of that client,” she continues.
“It’s the first client I’ve ever had to say ‘No’ to, and it was a celebrity client, but it was his team that was essentially speaking like that. It was actually disgusting. … I can’t give a homeowner business like that. That’s crazy.”
Coachella 2026 will feature performances by Justin Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter—but Ricciardi is not allowed to reveal if they’ve ever been her clients. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy
Unauthorized parties that violate rental agreements are obviously a deal breaker, but Ricciardi explains over-the-top celebrations are not completely off the table if homeowners and renters come to agreeable terms ahead of time.
“Homeowners know what’s up. Some are just much more uptight than others, and some have a really great setup, so they’re like, ‘You could do whatever the f–k you want.’ It just totally depends, and I just encourage my clients to tell me exactly what they’re looking for, and I will make it happen.
“If you want to throw a party, you have to tell me how many people are coming and you have to tell me how late you really want to go,” she adds. “I have properties and homeowners who are inclined to accept that versus ones that are not. I just operate on complete transparency. You just have to be honest with me.”
Speaking candidly about the 2026 short-term rental market in the Coachella Valley, Ricciardi reveals the usual “price inflation for the month of April” is higher than in the past due to the stellar musical acts hitting the stage this year.
“Rates are actually about 10%, 15% higher than they were last year and the year prior,” she reports. “That is partially due to inflation and our economy, but also demand. This is deemed the strongest lineup in many years. The demand is there. Inventory is flying, and I can’t even keep up with demand, with how many people are asking me for options. So, strong year. Good year for money.”
While short-term rental owners prepare to rake in higher profits, it goes without saying that festivalgoers are set to reach deeper into their pockets to cover the nightly rate for a place to stay.
“As far as budget for Thursday through Monday, weekend one rentals, four nights, I’d say $35,000 to $40,000 is a comfortable place to sleep 10ish people,” states Ricciardi. “A lot of people think that $8,000 is a healthy budget for a five-bedroom place, and that is quite literally not.”
Ricciardi prides herself on meeting the needs of her clientele, whether they’re looking for a place to stay or have one to offer, and she’s parlayed that experience into being an adviser for local homeowners who want to optimize their short-term rental properties for festival season.
Renters “just want as many beds and sleeping spaces as physically possible as close to [the] grounds as possible, with privacy and a nice backyard,” she says of her typical clients.
She also shares advice for homeowners who hope to land large events.
Due to the strong lineup of headliners, Ricciardi reveals rates for short-term rental properties near the festival are “10%, 15% higher” in 2026 compared to recent years.Kaylee RicciardiRicciardi advises homeowners on how to optimize their short-term rental properties for festival season.Kaylee Ricciardi
“If you have an event estate, the more land, the cleaner, blank space for other people to decorate is ideal,” she says.
“Either a big-ass ADU, a hangar, or some type of open-layout casita where you could have an additional event or gathering that can be moved indoors is hugely of advantage to homeowners,” she adds.
“I advise homeowners who are building to get something like that if they really do want to operate on an event level … essentially a plug-and-play, sound-insulated venue so you can operate as a wedding venue or have nighttime parties and not have to worry about external noise leaking out.”
Of course, hosting large events during festival weekends requires compliance with local laws.
“The permit process is something that is always changing depending on what area you’re in,” she explains. “Indio is regulated much differently than a location in Bermuda Dunes, versus Thermal, so I do my best to just stay in touch with people at the City Council and my colleagues, my fellow agents, homeowners, because everyone wants to make money during that time.”
Ricciardi also keeps close ties in housing markets beyond the desert, so that when the curtain closes at Coachella, the “Selling the OC” star is ready for her next act to begin in any real estate hot spot.
“I know I love to talk about Coachella because that is my field of expertise and where I got my start. That’s not the end line for me,” she states.
“I have access to rentals all over the world,” she continues. “I have access to rentals in Los Angeles, in Orange County, in Miami, New York City, every single hub. Even in Europe, I have access to villas in Greece, in Saint-Tropez—all the hot spots.
“So if anyone has rental needs or would like to buy or sell, I also do that. I would love to do more sales as I love selling houses. It’s why I went on the show.”
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