How realistic is Flip or Flop (plumber, 2013, countertop, foreclosure)
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you'd be surprised how cheap granite and cabinets are here in cali. There are warehouses full of them, and they're cheaply imported from china.
You don't believe the pricing because you are used to seeing Home Depot's ripoff prices on both granite and cabs.
Yeah, a few years ago I went to some little "mom and pop" furniture store in Orange County and bought a really nice bedroom set. Dovetail joints and very solid. But I had to wait for delivery from China. I picked it up myself from the port in Long Beach, fresh off the boat. There was even Chinese newspaper in the packing lol! But I got the bed, dresser and two night stands for about $750. Maybe the fact that things coming from Asia don't have to factor in trucking across the country makes them cheaper in SoCal?
Yeah, a few years ago I went to some little "mom and pop" furniture store in Orange County and bought a really nice bedroom set. Dovetail joints and very solid. But I had to wait for delivery from China. I picked it up myself from the port in Long Beach, fresh off the boat. There was even Chinese newspaper in the packing lol! But I got the bed, dresser and two night stands for about $750. Maybe the fact that things coming from Asia don't have to factor in trucking across the country makes them cheaper in SoCal?
that's probably it. Getting imports is cheap in california.
You should see how many cabinet warehouses we have here. 2 sides of a 10x10 kitchen for under $3000, maple, cherry, and other kinds of wood, with plywood box. no particle board crap.
ready to assemble.
Granite is cheap as hell too. None of your home depot exorbitant rip off prices.
The reno prices on that and most of the HGTV shows are incredibly low. Maybe we always used the wrong contractors on our home. $10K for a kitchen remodel? On what planet?
I've redid a complete kitchen for under $4000 when I did the work myself. It is doable. The prices they pay are not what you pay for one off jobs. Their contractors likely give them a big break for basically doing bulk jobs and constant stream of work. They also likely have deals with all of their suppliers. It is no different than buying a car. If you went to the dealer and bought all of the parts separately a Kia Soul would probably cost you $200,000. Buy one from completely built : $15,000.
I watched a Flipping Vegas episode yesterday, and Scott went over budget by almost 600%. The really don't do their due diligence. Another one, he bought 11 homes in Lake Las Vegas for 380K. Some weren't completed. He failed to check on sewer and water; they weren't connected, and he was still responsible for stuff the developer didn't do. As far as Flip or Flop.....she's hot, hot, hot. Maybe the best looking lady out of all those programs. No way she is standard fare in "Man Diego."
The wife actually bugs me. Yes, she is pretty but I have a thing about mannerisms. She doesn't really do a lot of talking. Does the thoughtful nod and does the side ways look. The movement of her jaw is very controlled like someone that has had a lot of work done. Fake eyelashes, tan, veneers etc.
Yes, I totally agree with this one. She does look pretty, but it seems like she only wants to be filmed at certain angles, and there's just too much side eye, as if she doesn't want to turn her head to talk.
3) how are they paying so little for repairs and renovations? Is LA just cheaper for this sort of thing than Boston, do they get better rates because they generate a lot of business, or is it just low to make more compelling television?
This is a big one. I find the cost of repairs on two other shows I sometimes watch, Rehab Addict and Fixer Upper, to be unrealistically low. I live in a foreclosure/fixer upper I purchased a little over a year ago. I had a lot of help from some wonderful people I know with the repairs, but still the costs were nowhere near as cheap as they are portrayed on those two shows. I have wondered if they are figuring in the labor costs on those shows or just the materials because although I like the finished product, I just don't buy their "cost" figures.
I do exactly what they do, with my husband, except in Florida, and we are the contractors too, so we don't have to hire a contractor. The thing that I would say is unrealistic are the prices that they pay to get some of the work done. It seems pretty low to me. It costs us that much some times and we are doing the work ourselves...I mean we have our people doing it.
Location: Formerly NYC by week; ATL by weekend...now Rio bi annually and ATL bi annually
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the miracle saves and multiple offers on homes that they seem to be about to lose their shirts on is one of the fakest parts of the show; along with budgets for reno. I but and fix blighted properties and with negotiations for labor and shopping around I can and have rehabbed homes with full upgrades like them for less. If they have a large company that would mean economies of scale when purchasing goods and labor. meaning their costs would be lower. But its reality TV, which is really not that real.
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