- [Narrator] House
flipping can be a great way
to make some fast cash, but
it’s not for the faint of heart.
Repairs can end up costing
thousands more than expected,
and sale prices can quickly
change for the worse.
Even under the best
of circumstances,
flipping homes is a big gamble.
Today on Ready Set
Renovate! we meet
a young couple who puts
their luck to the test.
When Florida real estate
appraiser Zach Mitchell
decided to join his
friends for a fun weekend
in Las Vegas, he didn’t expect
to meet Jenny Cunningham.
- I’m from a tiny little town
called Mullingar in Ireland,
and I was in college for
finance, which I despised,
but I was doing it because,
you know, you have to
pick something in college,
and then for my 21st birthday,
I was like, let’s go to Vegas,
and then I met Zach,
and here we are.
- [Interviewer]
Did you think you’d
be together five years later?
- [Both] No, definitely not.
(laughing)
- [Narrator] A year
after she met Zach,
Jenny moved to the US.
It seems she and her horse,
Bingo might have brought
the luck of the Irish with them.
When the couple
launched their business
a few years ago, they
began flipping houses
and have made a
profit on every one.
- I know what makes this work.
It’s ’cause we’re
totally different.
He’s so reserved and doesn’t
wanna make quick decisions,
and sometimes in real
estate you have to make
these quick decisions,
whereas I’m more like,
let’s go, go, go and he’s
more like, no, no, no,
so we meet in the middle,
and it actually works great.
I like that.
- I have to reign her in a lot.
- Yeah, and I have to push you.
- Yeah.
- Like go, buy the house,
and that’s really it.
- It’s very true.
- [Narrator] Their next project
is this 1,200 square
foot home built in 1980.
They purchased it for
$90,000, and have comparable
sale prices in the
$150,000 range.
- This one actually came
as a lead on our website.
He’s an out-of-state seller.
It was actually the
son of the owner.
I think his dad ended
up retiring to be closer
to the family, so he
needed an easy exit.
He couldn’t be down here
worrying about selling
the property, so he called
us, asked, you know,
if we could pay the number
that he was looking for.
We came out and looked it,
said, you know, we can do that.
- [Narrator] If they’re
able to stay within
their $10,000-$15,000
renovation budget,
this flip could be a huge win.
One of the bigger expenses
will be all new flooring.
- This is one of
those mystery floors.
I’ve never seen one like this.
- Yeah, yep.
- What is this?
- It’s tile.
- Yeah.
- Again, I wanted
to keep it, but...
(laughter)
- He literally walked in
here and was like, perfect.
- This is great!
- Nice tile floor!
And I was like,
no, no, no, no, no.
We’re in the completely
wrong direction here.
(laughing)
- You’re actually gonna lay
flooring on top of this,
which, for viewers at home,
it can save a lot of money
if it’s okay to do that.
- Saves a lot of money
on demo and, you know,
a lot of the floors, you
gotta get the concrete perfect
so that you don’t have any
bumps or anything like that.
- Right.
- With this, you just
do an underlayment,
and then right on top of that,
and it’s a thinner product,
so you don’t worry
about transitions
into the bedrooms where the
carpet is and everything.
It’s a vinyl plank, so
it can go in wet areas,
and it looks like brand
new wood flooring.
- It’s really good.
- [Narrator] As usual,
there was a bit of debate
over how to handle the kitchen.
- [Zach] I thought,
ooh, let’s keep this.
(laughter)
- Yeah, I was not
happy about keeping it.
Honestly, when you
do the kitchen,
it makes the biggest
difference in a house.
- Yeah.
- You walk in
and everyone just
get so excited,
and then when you
do a proper design,
it just makes people
happy, so I like to do it.
We’re doing the nice
shaker white cabinets,
keep it bright, and then I
wanna do the quartz countertops.
That’s the marble look.
It’s actually not
that expensive.
And then I wanna do the
hexagon back splash.
- I didn’t realize we
were doing a back splash.
- Well...
(laughter)
We are.
And it’s not even a big
space, so it’s not even
gonna be that expensive, and
it’s gonna look really good.
We’re gonna replace
the dishwasher.
I don’t wanna keep
the stove, obviously.
I wanna put in--
- I do.
- A nice stainless steel stove,
and then obviously
the refrigerator.
Everything’s literally going,
it’s gonna be brand new
and it’s gonna look really good.
- Yeah, the wall’s pretty
much all that’s staying.
It’ll look completely different.
- [Narrator] They’ll
spend about $6,000
giving the kitchen
a complete overhaul,
and use the remaining
budget on upgrades
throughout the
rest of the house.
- [Zach] Floors are gonna
be the next biggest expense,
and then probably
paint, and then--
- [Jenny] Doors.
- [Zach] Yeah, the doors, and--
- [Jenny] The light fixtures.
- Vanities.
It’s everything cosmetic, so
pretty much everything visual.
The plumbing was done
just a couple years ago,
but all the major
components, AC’s good,
I think the roof is eight to
10 years old, so that’s good
as well, so it’s really just
everything you see visually.
- [Narrator] In the
home’s two bathrooms,
they’ll update the
main components,
but save money by
glazing the old tile.
- We’ll do a new vanity.
- Yeah.
- New faucet, and probably
replacing the mirror.
- Yeah, let’s do a new
mirror, quartz countertops,
- New light fixture.
Same floors will come in.
- Yup, vinyl.
- And then I think we have
some caulking and a little bit
of grout work, and then
get it re glazed and--
- New fixture.
- New fixture?
Alright, everything.
- Everything’s new.
- Perfect, it is.
- [Narrator] Outside,
they’ll remove
the hurricane shutters to let
more light into the house.
- Hurricane shutters, they’ve
become just wasp’s nests.
- They’ve been up
there for a while.
Looks like
- [All] Yeah.
- [Narrator] They’ve decided
to leave the lawn as is,
since it’s large and re sodding
would push them way over budget.
They’ll fertilize and trim
what’s here, and hopefully
have a little money left to
add some colorful flowers.
(whirring)
With a goal of
completing the renovation
in just 10 days, there’s
no time to waste.
(whirring)
Zach and his construction team
dig into the kitchen demo,
removing the cabinets and
countertops with no trouble.
But when all the
appliances are out,
they realize their
progress is on hold.
Coming up next on
Ready Set Renovate!
- You got a nasty surprise
behind that dishwasher.
- Yeah, to be expected, but
there was some mold back there,
there must have been
a leak in the past
and obviously behind
the cabinets wasn’t
really vle until
we took those ou
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I was sworn into the United
States Senate in a hospital.
My wife and daughter had been
killed in an automobile crash,
and lying in the bed
were my two little boys.
I couldn’t have imagined
what it would’ve been like
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Forty years later,
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The fact of the matter is
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Obamacare is personal to me.
When I see the President
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that‘s personal to me too.
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because every American
deserves
affordable health care.
I’m Joe Biden and I approve
this message.
- [Narrator] When our
house flippers bought this
outdated single family home,
they decided to renovate
it and get it back on the
market as quickly as possible.
- [Zach] It was like a full
house when we bought it,
so we had all that donated
to different charities
and now we have a clean slate.
We bought it for around
$90,000, and we’re gonna
be putting in, let’s say
$15,000 ish, and originally
we thought we were
gonna be in the mid 100s
based on the comparable
properties around,
one a couple doors down
just went up for sale
after we closed, I think for
$178,000, and I think they got
a couple of over ask offers,
so that was good news for us.
- [Narrator] With
hopes of capitalizing
on those soaring sale prices,
the team makes fast work
of the kitchen demo.
Unfortunately, they have to hit
the brakes early in the day.
- Basically, you
exposed it and your guys
started fixing it immediately.
- Yeah, the moment they say
it, they just cut it out,
within five minutes after
they saw it it was gone,
and a new piece was
up the same day.
- [Narrator] The drywall
fix added a couple
hundred dollars to an
already tight budget
and made the next
decision even tougher.
The original plan was
to leave the soffits
and install cabinets that would
fit in the existing space.
But general contractor
Ruben Gutierrez thinks
that’s the wrong move,
and encourages Zach
to spend a bit more
to raise the ceiling.
- More.
- More modern
with the taller cabinets.
(banging)
- [Narrator] After some
deliberating, budget-conscious
Zach gives Jenny some
news she isn’t expecting.
- We’re gonna go ahead
and raise the ceilings
so we get the 36 inch
height with the crown.
Surprise.
- [Narrator] Thankfully,
the bedrooms don’t
serve up any tough choices.
(whirring)
Each of the three
bedrooms will get
new carpet and a
fresh coat of paint.
The entire house
will get new doors,
including the front door,
which has some damage
around the framing and
won’t close properly.
The bathrooms are
bit more involved.
While the tile surround
is in great shape,
it will require a
refresh to match
the new vanities,
flooring, and countertops.
After Jenny and Zach had
already decided they would
save money by re glazing
the tiles instead
of replacing them, Zach
pushes his luck by trying
to talk Jenny into
salvaging the toilets.
- So we can’t keep
the toilet, right?
- No, we’re definitely
replacing the toilet.
It’s $100, I think
it’s a good idea.
- I do like the countertops,
but they’re gonna have to go.
- We can’t keep
cheap in this Zach,
we have to do a good job here.
- I think we have a
vanity just this size
from another house
they we just put in.
- Right, that’s a good idea.
- [Narrator] One
budget-friendly plan
they easily agree
on is laying the new
vinyl flooring on top
of the existing tile.
That will eliminate the cost
of demo, and without the added
mess and time, the install
will only take half a day.
- Well these are looking good.
- Yeah, especially going
into that direction
like you wanted it,
give it more of a
look to it.
- Yeah, I thought
with the longer run
it might look better.
And then in the kitchen too--
- It’s gonna run
into the kitchen.
- Coming this way, and
also, I was even thinking
in the bathroom that’ll run
parallel to the bathtub.
- To the bathtub, so this
way, it’s a nice, clean look.
It’s gonna look nice.
- First time we’ve
used this product.
- Yup.
- [Narrator] The team
starts with an underlayment
that will help prevent the
grout lines and imperfections
from showing through
the wood-look planks.
At just two bucks a
square foot, the materials
will cost them less than $1,000.
(drilling)
Back in the kitchen, the
soffits are out, the drywall
is finished, and it’s time
to finalize the layout.
- I’m glad we raised it up.
- Yeah, it gives more
space for the cabinetry
because it’s a small kitchen.
We also gave it that
corner cabinet up on top,
this way they can have some
space and store more food.
I’ll put the crown moldings
up there, give it a nice--
- It’ll go flush to the ceiling?
- Yes, so basically,
everything will be set up,
fridge, range, and microwave.
- Perfect, and
dishwasher, right--
- Will be on the right
side of the sink, yes.
- I like it, gonna look good!
- [Narrator] With the vinyl
flooring and cabinet install
expected to wrap by
the end of the day,
the rest of the work
won’t take much longer.
- We’re basically just
finishing up, quarter rounds
around the floors,
touching up whatever needs
to be touched up, it’s just
basically pressure washing
the exterior of it,
fixing some of the screens
that was broken, so
today will be pretty much
a finished project on my
part, and then tomorrow
we’ll have some
carpeting and hopefully
the quartz will be put
on in the bathroom.
- [Narrator] It’s
music to Zach’s ears,
as he knows finishing up and
getting a property listed
before there’s a change
in the real estate climate
is important to the bottom line.
- Do you think you’re hitting
the market at the right time?
You’re talking a couple weeks
here with the renovation?
- Yeah, late-spring,
early-summer is supposed
to be the best time
to sell a house
’cause kids are starting to
go into the summer breaks,
and parents are looking
at houses and know
they have time to move before
the school year starts.
You get into August,
September, and it’s not
a big shift, but you
definitely have a lot
of buyers that will
slow down looking.
- [Narrator] Coming up
next on Ready Set Renovate!
- I gotta tell you though,
if I’m perfectly honest here,
when you guys said you
were gonna have this done
in 10 days, I was
thinking to myself,
I don’t think so.
- We were too
(laughing)
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y to get
this house going?
- Yes, very excited.
- Demo’s almost done.
- I know, it’s so fast, and
it’s gonna look so good.
- [Narrator] With 20
successful house flips
under their belts, Zach
and Jenny are racing
to get their current
project renovated and listed
before a revved-up real estate
market takes a wrong turn.
- [Elizabeth] And the
market’s good right now?
- Market’s amazing,
we try to get
as many in as possible
before the next crash.
- Don’t say that (laughs)
- Well, I don’t anticipate
a crash, an adjustment
of some sort has to come,
because things have just
been going up so fast, but
how much is the question.
- Right, just ride the wave--
- Riding the wave,
and then adjust
and ride the downward
wave, and then
adjust again and
ride the upward wave.
- [Narrator] To maximize
their profit while the market
is up, Zach and
Jenny decided to add
a nice design detail
in the kitchen.
They were originally going to
leave the soffits and install
smaller cabinets, but they
ended up leveling the ceiling
and taking the white shaker
style all the way up.
It adds storage and makes
the room feel larger,
something buyers will
pay a premium for.
But with the added
cost in the kitchen,
there isn’t much left in
the budget for landscaping.
- Jenny, we both loved
this cactus, what happened?
- [Jenny] I know, I actually
really loved the cactus,
but the shutters over here,
when they took them off,
fell straight to the ground.
- [Elizabeth] Oh no!
- [Jenny] It was like
tied into it and then...
Now it’s in a million pieces.
- That’s too bad, ’cause
it was a very full grown,
I mean it was taller than
the house, and it had
the nice red blossoms on
it, it was really pretty!
- It was the only thing
that was looking good
at the front of
this house. (laughs)
- Geez, alright,
ll that cactus
is out of the picture I guess.
What are you gonna
do, ’cause this
is pretty stark here in front.
- It’s very dead, so we’re
gonna do a little flower bed
across the front with
some color, some plants,
over here a little
tree, a bit of mulch.
- It’s a great yard,
it’s a huge front yard,
the house is set back
quite a ways from the road,
and then there’s a big backyard.
- Huge backyard, yup.
- So whoever buys
this home can kinda
come in and personalize it.
- [Narrator] As the team
finishes up the texturizing
in the garage, Zach checks
out the interior paint,
making sure everything will
look its best on open house day.
With just some touch ups
before the photographer takes
the listing pictures, this flip
is nearing the finish line.
- I gotta tell you though,
if I’m perfectly honest here,
when you guys said you
were gonna have this done
in 10 days, I was thinking
to myself, I don’t think so.
- We were too.
(laughing)
It was just over, I think
it was about two weeks,
and we had some things
that kind of flowed past,
the cleaning, and
photographs, and all that.
- So it really was right
around 10 days though
for the bulk of the work.
- The bulk of it, yeah.
- That’s incredible!
So it was a very tight timeline
and a tight budget too.
It was crucial that you
didn’t sort of out-renovate
yourself on this
house, so you could
get the kind of profit
that you wanted.
So what did you guys
end up spending?
- I think we were
right at $20,000,
but it was mostly cosmetic here,
there was actually
no major components.
We didn’t do a roof, AC,
plumbing was already redone,
no electrical work, so we had
a really good house
to start with.
- [Narrator] Coming up next
on Ready Set Renovate!,
it’s open house day and Zach
and Jenny’s makeover
gets great reviews!
- Put your dresser and
television on this wall,
and then you’ve got
access to the porch
and the backyard
from the bedroom.
- Beautiful.
- [Narrator] But could
a money-saving measure
freeze them out of a
top dollar sale price?
- Pretty much all new in here.
You’ve got new cabinets--
- Whoa, no refrigerator?
- Ah
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flippers Zach and Jenny
started renovating this
run-down ranch style home,
they gave themselves
a 10 day timeline
and a budget of $10,000-15,000.
They’ve just wrapped up
the last of the work,
and it’s time to see if they’ve
played their cards right.
- It’s just been a couple
of weeks, and are you
a little nervous, I mean,
it’s done, you did it quickly,
but now it’s time to put
it on the market, right?
- Yeah, there was a house
on this street actually
that went pending
right away, and then
I saw it come back
on the market,
so now we are gonna be
competing with them for buyers,
right at the same price point,
so that wasn’t the best thing
to see, but it went
so quickly, we feel
that there’s a lot of
potential out there.
We’re gonna be listing
it for $179,000.
- Wow!
- So yeah, we didn’t think
we would get that initially
when we first looked at our
comps when we were buying it,
we were thinking like actually
just a little bit of rehab
and going on at
$130,000 or something.
We decided to do everything,
and then we looked
at the comps again, and this
one came up on the street
at a higher price point than
we thought we could get,
and they weren’t
remodel, so we were like,
we’ll ask that and
see what happens.
- Okay Jenny, what do you think?
You were kind of in charge of
the budget this time around.
Are you gonna be
happy with that?
- Yeah, I think we’ll
get close to list,
’cause it’s special, it’s
not like you’re normal,
average house out,
especially in this market,
and this price range, and I
think people will appreciate it.
- Okay, alright, so you
guys are ready to list it,
you just gotta take
the pictures, and
put it on the market.
- Yup, exactly.
- Alright, good luck!
(knocking)
- Hi there!
- Hello!
- Welcome to the
open house, I’m Zach.
- Thank you, hi, I’m Scott.
- Good to meet you.
- Thank you.
- So, we just finished
the full remodel here.
Got new floors, new kitchen,
new bathrooms, new paint,
fully cleaned and ready to go.
Let me show you around!
- Yes, please.
- Great!
- This is--
- Start in the back here,
we can work our way--
- Beautiful
- Up front.
We got new vinyl floors,
these are water proof
and so they’ve carried
through the bathrooms
and the kitchen and everything.
- It really looks like wood.
- It does, doesn’t it?
- Yeah!
- Show you the kitchen here.
- Oh, I love it, nice--
- Pretty much all new in
here, got new cabinets--
- Whoa, no refrigerator?
- Yeah, we were gonna leave
that one up to a buyer
like yourself to decide if
you wanna bring your own
or we could
potentially put one in
if that needed to
be part of the deal.
- Okay yeah, I think it’d be
pretty important for my wife.
- Okay, good to know, but new
cabinets, new countertops,
again, stainless
steel appliances.
- Oh, I like this back splash,
is that what you call it?
- Yeah, yup, yeah.
- So is this the master in here?
- This is the master, yup.
On the other side of the
house from the other bedrooms,
which is nice, and then you
got a full bath over there.
- [Scott] Yup.
- And then a walk-in closet,
and good size bedroom,
so, nice king bed in here, put
your dresser and television
on this wall, and then you
got access to the porch
in the backyard
from the bedroom.
- Beautiful yard, I
mean, huge yard, and--
- Great size.
- I like the landscape
coming up, nice and colorful
and very good curb
appeal, and good size,
I mean, this is just
right for my family.
- Great, well I’m
glad you like it.
- So, what are you asking?
- $179,000.
- And does the $179,000
include a refrigerator?
- We can make that work, yeah.
- Alright.
- Good deal.
- Good deal.
Alright, well I’ll
go talk to my wife
and see what we
can come up with.
- You have some good news.
- I do, yeah, we got a
contract pretty quickly.
We listed it on Friday,
had I think three showings
over the weekend,
and one of them
wrote a contract Sunday night.
- Are you kidding me?
- It was quick, over
asking price too.
I think they really liked
it, the realtor said
they looked at about four
or five houses that day
and this one stood out, so
they didn’t want to lose it,
and put on a strong offer,
they did ask for a fridge,
which we were glad to give them.
- If you’re getting over ask,
you can afford it, right?
- Absolutely, yeah.
- So, let’s break
down the financials.
You guys had $85,000-90,000
invested in it, you had some--
- [Zach] In the purchase, yup.
- Right, closing cost
when you bought it.
- [Zach] Exactly, and
then we put about $20,000,
just over $20,000
into the rehab,
which again, was
double our initial
budget, but we asked a lot
more than we anticipated
as well, so, we sold it for,
the contract’s for $185,000.
- Oh my goodness.
- [Zach] It’s a
great, great deal.
- And your profit with all
the expenses subtracted
out is gonna be...
- [Zach] I think
right around $65,000.
- Congratulations man.
- Appreciate it!
- That is awesome!
- [Zach] Our investors
are happy, we’re happy,
- I bet.
- so things are good.
- On to the next, huh?
- [Zach] On to the next.
