Flipping The Block - General Discussion

[NeenerNeener]

Txvoodoo:

Look down at the bottom of this page; it has the sales history of all 4 units.

 

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Glendale/1119-Sonora-Ave-91201/unit-D/home/7148824

 

It doesn't identify the unit letters in the table, but now that we've seen the auction it's obvious which ones in the table are the sisters and the Big Hairs. All of the closing amounts are $17,000 higher than what we actually saw on tv. Are there extra sales costs reflected in that 17k?

Edited September 9, 2014 by NeenerNeener

[Wings]

Txvoodoo:

Look down at the bottom of this page; it has the sales history of all 4 units.

 

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Glendale/1119-Sonora-Ave-91201/unit-D/home/7148824

 

It doesn't identify the unit letters in the table, but now that we've seen the auction it's obvious which ones in the table are the sisters and the Big Hairs. All of the closing amounts are $17,000 higher than what we actually saw on tv. Are there extra sales costs reflected in that 17k?

 

 

Yes, closing costs.  I am not sure what they all are but they can be that much. 

[Peanutbuttercup]

Wow, if HGTV paid 1.5 million for the entire complex back in September and then sold the units for collectively less than 1.4 million -- can't say I'm impressed with either HGTV's negotiating skills at the outset or the contestants' ability to upgrade/add value to the units. It's the rare person who can't make even a little money flipping LA real estate, but this group managed to lose money.

[mecmimi05]

Yes, if HGTV lost money on this show I am surprised they are planning a second season. Maybe they made enough in advertising to make it profitable.....I am still in shock that Big Hair and Daisy Duke won. They were nice and tried hard, but their design choices were IMHO poor. I agree with previous posters that the order the condos were auctioned played a part in the pricing.

[auntjess]

 

Wow, if HGTV paid 1.5 million for the entire complex back in September and then sold the units for collectively less than 1.4 million -- can't say I'm impressed with either HGTV's negotiating skills at the outset or the contestants' ability to upgrade/add value to the units.

Yeah.  Did the market tank, or was this zoned commercial, hence the price, and then resold as residential.

 

[DownTheShore]

I'm surprised how low the taxes are on the units.

[bjm]

Did the "losing" contestants get paid anything for all their work???

[Wings]

Did the "losing" contestants get paid anything for all their work???

 

 

Yes, reality contestants are paid. 

 

I don't think HGTV bought that complex.  The owner somehow got connected with them and this show was born.  Same with Rowhouse Showdown.  

[mojito]

 

Wow, if HGTV paid 1.5 million for the entire complex back in September and then sold the units for collectively less than 1.4 million

...and put in all that money for the contestants and driveway and other supplies....I guess that means they've ordered up 5 more seasons of House Hunters and Love It Or List It to break even.

[BearCat49]

Yes, closing costs.  I am not sure what they all are but they can be that much. 

Auctions typically add a 5% buyers' premium to the bid amount so the sale price amounts make sense to me.

I'm surprised how low the taxes are on the units.

The property taxes?  The state typically assesses at the previous value (typically lower) but then forwards a supplemental bill to new owners subsequent to a sale.  The supplemental reassesses back to the closing date at the new/revised market value.

Yeah.  Did the market tank, or was this zoned commercial, hence the price, and then resold as residential.

 

Given the condition of the units, I believed someone bought them out of foreclosure.  Don't know what the average price/sq. ft for Glendale townhouses is currently.  If Zillow's accurate, it sounds reasonable, IMHO.

Edited September 10, 2014 by BearCat49

[BearCat49]

Yes, reality contestants are paid. 

 

I don't think HGTV bought that complex.  The owner somehow got connected with them and this show was born.  Same with Rowhouse Showdown.  

Don't watch DWTS and those type reality programs but have heard the D-lister "celebrities" receive payment.  Except for minor stipends, e.g. $500/couple for HH, haven't ever heard, however, that average Joes/Janes receive payment.  Sure about that?

 

Agree, HGTV could have rented the block as a set.  Unless someone checks county records, who knows?

Wow, if HGTV paid 1.5 million for the entire complex back in September and then sold the units for collectively less than 1.4 million -- can't say I'm impressed with either HGTV's negotiating skills at the outset or the contestants' ability to upgrade/add value to the units. It's the rare person who can't make even a little money flipping LA real estate, but this group managed to lose money.

Flipping isn't necessarily a gold mine.  I believe HGTV was probably more interested in their advertising, marketing and promotional returns.  JMHO 

[BearCat49]

Txvoodoo:

Look down at the bottom of this page; it has the sales history of all 4 units.

 

https://www.redfin.com/CA/Glendale/1119-Sonora-Ave-91201/unit-D/home/7148824

 

It doesn't identify the unit letters in the table, but now that we've seen the auction it's obvious which ones in the table are the sisters and the Big Hairs. All of the closing amounts are $17,000 higher than what we actually saw on tv. Are there extra sales costs reflected in that 17k?

We had the following:  Unit A - sisters, Unit B - dating couple, Unit C - twins, Unit D - married couple.

 

Anyone else notice how lousy some of the Zillow photo spreads were?  Those appear to be the photo arrays used for the auction.  So much for that great RE assistance Josh promised, ???

 

The sisters' photos look nice and make sense from a RE perspective, IMHO.  They guide you thru the unit, starting in the lr.  Curtis and Amanda's photos looked awful, IMHO.  They only included 3 photos of their unit specifically - the other photos were the common area.  The 3 photos started at the "Boardwalk" with the first one featuring their hose reel, hahaha.  Sorry but is that what those 2 selected for their flyer??  The backyard looks like an unfinished, dirty sand pit, IMHO.

 

Thought the sisters' unit staging looked terrific.  Can tell they're designers.  Perhaps that's where Annicka's (Sp?) attention to detail really helped.  John/Whitney's photos were o.k. and the twins' - meh, whatever - again, IMHO.

 

To us, John seemed to get progressively more pompous as they won challenges during the competition.  Interesting that the auction determined the winner.  We assumed they drew straws (or something) to randomly determine the auction's order, b/c they didn't proceed consecutively from Unit A thru Unit D.  

 

Too bad that the sales order determined the winner.  (Otherwise, we couldn't see Amanda and Curtis taking it.)  We weren't surprised that the buyers held back, allowing the market to set the price.

 

These units all had various pluses and minuses, e.g. the tankless unit vs. the laundry upstairs, pool location v. street location and so on.  Personally, I don't believe those differences mattered at the end of the day.  The first unit (the sisters') sold for a lower price as bidders were feeling out the price.  By the time they reached the last unit, the market/auction had set the price.  No bidder was going to go higher than that $5K premium (IIRC) on the last unit, IMHO.  From a RE perspective, the 4 units may have sold lower (on an overall basis) at auction but it was basically size (sq. ft.) and location (Glendale, great freeway access) that determined the price, IMHO. 

 

Saw the auction flyer online.  They did require pre-approval but that doesn't guarantee that 100% of the bidders would definitely close.  Out of 4 units, I'm not surprised that someone possibly dropped out on 1 unit, i.e. the twins'. Didn't see a listing on realtor.com but when I opened the FTB page on HGTV, their unit was featured, lol!

 

Now that the show aired, I won't be surprised if someone lists within a month or two and tries to score the 500K Zillow estimate or the fair market value, i.e. the Glendale townhouse price/sq. ft average. 

 

ETA:  From what I noticed on the various RE websites, their price/sq. ft at auction appears reasonable for Glendale condos.  Anybody research a townhouse premium?  

Edited September 10, 2014 by BearCat49

[needschocolate]

Don't watch DWTS and those type reality programs but have heard the D-lister "celebrities" receive payment.  Except for minor stipends, e.g. $500/couple for HH, haven't ever heard, however, that average Joes/Janes receive payment.  Sure about that?

 

I don't know about all reality shows, but saw an interview  a few years ago with someone who was on Survivor who said that they get paid and it works out to about $1,000 a day (so the first voted off gets about $3k, the second, $6k) unless you make it to the end. 

[auntjess]

I know Biggest Loser was said to pay contestants so much a week, I think $500 but it could have gone up, because they were away from their jobs.
So I'd guess that if they're staying the whole time, or most of it, they get some stipend.

I know Biggest Loser was said to pay contestants so much a week, I think $500 but it could have gone up, because they were away from their jobs.
So I'd guess that if they're staying the whole time, or most of it, they get some stipend.

[Wings]

 

Don't watch DWTS and those type reality programs but have heard the D-lister "celebrities" receive payment.  Except for minor stipends, e.g. $500/couple for HH, haven't ever heard, however, that average Joes/Janes receive payment.  Sure about that?

 

 

Yes, I am sure.  Reality contestants are in effect employees of the production company.  They are the "stars" and without them the show could not exist.  They leave their jobs to do this.  If these shows were only filled with the jobless and wealthy it would be pretty odd.  If you google "what are reality show contestants paid" many sites come up.  $1000 a week, is common from what I have read but that was several years ago.  On Survivor they get $1000 everyday they stay in the game and it goes down in the jury house.  

[BearCat49]

From  a legal / technical perspective, for tax purposes, the production company would definitely consider them independent contractors, i.e. not employees.  I don't disagree with you, however, that they s/b compensated.  I just doubt the amount's significant.

 

Survivor and DWTS are huge network productions.  I've heard the DWTS D-listers receive something like 500K - I suspect it varies according to their fame (infamy, in some cases?  lol) and the strength of their agents' negotiating skills - JMHO. 

 

HH, OTOH, requires approximately 40 hrs of filming and a 5 day commitment to produce 22 minutes of television.  Overall, it's probably 50 hours of the participants' time.  The stipend of $500/couple works out to a whopping $5 per hour.  BTW, it wouldn't surprise me if the $500 has increased but that amount was accurate as of only a few yrs ago.

 

They're currently holding casting calls and accepting applications for FTB, Season 2.  I quickly checked out their ad and went thru the application.  Didn't see anything about a stipend but it wouldn't surprise me if they receive one.  All it mentioned was a "minimum" of 50K to the winner.  Anybody else review it and find a $$$ amount?  The info's at jscasting.com, BTW.

 

IMHO, the largest part of these reality show participants' compensation, what they really want, is their 15 minutes of fame!

Edited September 10, 2014 by BearCat49

[BearCat49]

Fuck this!

Did the buyers think they got to keep the staging?

We know the staging items are removed within only a few days on Scott M's Income Property.  (Scott's been very honest about IP's production.  See his website, if you're interested.)  I realize many viewers believe participants retain the staging items on PB and LIOLI.  I don't.  For FTB, I believe Joss & Main loaned it for promotional purposes but them removed it.  JMHO, however.

 

Anybody else curious how long the outdoor paintings will remain in the pool area?  I hope they're nailed down!  If I'd bought Unit D, I would have resold it but retained the Bromstad paintings, even though overall, I wasn't impressed with David's work on the episode.  Same thing for Unit A.  In fact, I preferred Shawna's paintings over David's!  (IMHO, David's simply trying to be a personality / celebrity these days.) 

[KittyS]

Bummed that I didn't see this forum sooner. HGTV, if you're listening, I would love to see more shows like this with nice people, no personal drama, and no eliminated contestants. I also wouldn't mind better judges and more generous time frames.

That said, I can't believe Curtis and Amanda won, but it was almost worth it to see the blondes' disappointment. I think they thought they had it in the bag. I'm really surprised the sisters' unit didn't do better. Looking over the pictures, I liked it even more than I remembered. The brothers' unit - meh, but I wish they had at least won a challenge. I would have liked to have seen the units without the furniture and knick-knacks just to see the actual permanent details.

Overall, the type of show I would look forward to watching again. For HGTV, I'm sure it was all about the ad revenue, versus any profit on the units themselves, so I hope this show had enough viewers to merit a second season.

[jumper sage]

Genevieve Gorder

Wasn't she the one that, on HGTV where neighbors did each others houses, insisted on putting grass on the wall?  Every one of her houses were a horror.

 

I loved the upstairs washer/dryer.  Wish I had that.

[auntjess]

 

I loved the upstairs washer/dryer.  Wish I had that.

You wouldn't if it overflowed.  I've had that happen several times, and even in the basement, it's a mess.

Worse on the carpet.

[Wings]

Wasn't she the one that, on HGTV where neighbors did each others houses, insisted on putting grass on the wall?  Every one of her houses were a horror.

 

I loved the upstairs washer/dryer.  Wish I had that.

 

 

Trading Spaces.  Hildi was the horror but they all did some pretty weird designs.  Hey, they only had $1000!  Genevieve did put moss on a wall.  I used to love that show!  

[auntjess]

Genevieve had that town makeover show too.
When they showed some old TS last year, she dressed like a slut, in my opinion.