Zombie House Flipping - General Discussion

[CruiseDiva]

LOL! I thought the pool area was nice, but that mural was tacky at best.

[lh25]

On 1/7/2023 at 9:38 AM, Pepper the Cat said:

I find this business about making the house “sexy” off putting

Me too.  That got old fast.  And they all three seemed to be trying too hard to be cool .

[Cobb Salad]

They also seem to be poor at estimating the renovation costs.  At the start the guy (can’t remember his name) said he wants to buy properties in very bad shape.  That costs lots of $$$ to fix.  

I could be wrong but for termite infested properties don’t you want to bring the exterminator in at the beginning before you bring the new stuff in?  I think that’s the way they did it with the Orlando team.  

Edited January 16, 2023 by Cobb Salad
Wording

[Pepper the Cat]

7 hours ago, Cobb Salad said:

They also seem to be poor at estimating the renovation costs.  At the start the guy (can’t remember his name) said he wants to buy properties in very bad shape.  That costs lots of $$$ to fix.  

I could be wrong but for termite infested properties don’t you want to bring the exterminator in at the beginning before you bring the new stuff in?  I think that’s the way they did it with the Orlando team.  

I thought it was strange to do the extermination last too. I would think do that first to protect the new build. 
$30,000 over budget is pretty bad.

[Mr. Sparkle]

10 hours ago, Cobb Salad said:

I could be wrong but for termite infested properties don’t you want to bring the exterminator in at the beginning before you bring the new stuff in?

They gave some kind of explanation, but I don't remember what it was. Makes sense to me to exterminate first. 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Keith & those guys had a certain goofy charm that this team is lacking. The Tampa version could be any of the dozens of flipping/fixer-upper shows out there. 

[Cobb Salad]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Keith & those guys had a certain goofy charm that this team is lacking. This could be any of the dozens of flipping/fixer-upper shows out there. 

I was thinking the same thing.  We’ve had several seasons of the same team and now they decide to feature other people.    With all of the other shows of this type out there they should have started a new series with this crew.  I even wonder how long these 3 will even last, using the money part as an example.  I’d rather watch Keith, Justin, etc but if they didn’t do the show anymore I’d rather watch this Tampa crew over the one in Dallas.  

[Mr. Sparkle]

54 minutes ago, Cobb Salad said:

I’d rather watch this Tampa crew over the one in Dallas.  

I agree. The Tampa crew is personable (and I don't mind looking at the ladies!) whereas the Dallas/Ft. Worth team had a "look how tough we are" vibe that I personally find unappealing. That's based on a single episode, so I could change my mind. 

[Pepper the Cat]

Enough with the make it sexy talk. Ugh.

The Tampa team must be very new at house flipping. Last week they went way over budget. This week they went way over time. Also they don’t seem to be checking on their workers ensuring that the work,is being done.

 

I thought the towel bars in the bathroom looked very high. 
 

[Mr. Sparkle]

14 minutes ago, Pepper the Cat said:

I thought the towel bars in the bathroom looked very high. 

I've never used a towel warmer, but that seems like something you'd use twice and then never again. 

I'm looking forward to the return to Orlando next week. 

[Cobb Salad]

1 hour ago, Pepper the Cat said:

Enough with the make it sexy talk. Ugh.

The Tampa team must be very new at house flipping. Last week they went way over budget. This week they went way over time. Also they don’t seem to be checking on their workers ensuring that the work,is being done.

I can’t take the ‘sexy’ talk either.  Although we’ve seen them only a few times I agree they must be new at this and can’t possibly have multiple flips going on at the same time like the Orlando team does.  So what else are they doing instead of checking on the contractors progress, especially when they’ve set such a tight deadline due to mortgage payments, etc.? None of them have probably never managed people before.   People aren’t always reliable enough to get things done on time or stay on schedule but I guess they know that by now 😊

[Mr. Sparkle]

On 1/21/2023 at 3:40 PM, Superclam said:

I'm looking forward to the return to Orlando next week. 

I was wrong, tv listing says Dallas for the next 2 weeks. It's like they're trying to lose the 19 viewers they have left. 

[Cobb Salad]

At least we’ll get a break from making whatever house they’re working on “sexy”. 😆

[Cobb Salad]

Re: Dallas Runningbrook episode, I thought this Dallas team was okay but again the initial renovation budget is too low - when they first said what they were budgeting my thought as an armchair flipper was “that’s too low”.  Then they go over by 15k - that’s around 35%!  With the experience  they said they have they should have done better on that.  When they found the surprise with the mold and admitted there was no inspection before buying the house they should have been factoring in a surprise or two in their budget amount.  

Since this is a different team than the Fort Worth-Dallas episode from weeks back I guess we can make a good guess that those other people really won’t be back.  The A&E website about the show doesn’t have those other people listed at all.  

[Mr. Sparkle]

21 minutes ago, Cobb Salad said:

Since this is a different team than the Fort Worth-Dallas episode from weeks back I guess we can make a good guess that those other people really won’t be back.  The A&E website about the show doesn’t have those other people listed at all.  

You're correct, and I find that so weird! They were on once, scheduled to come back, and then that 2nd episode was cancelled and they were never heard from again. I wonder what happened behind the scenes. 

Anyway, I was surprised that I like this Dallas team, and definitely more than Tampa. I was rolling my eyes at the tattoo on his neck, but the team seemed to have some common sense and the design choices were a little better than the typical subway tile. I see that green glass tile will be seen in showers for the next few years. 

[Cobb Salad]

1 hour ago, Superclam said:

You're correct, and I find that so weird! They were on once, scheduled to come back, and then that 2nd episode was cancelled and they were never heard from again. I wonder what happened behind the scenes. 

I think whatever episodes they filmed with that Fort Worth team are in some far away mystery vault at A&E along with those unaired episodes of ‘Adults Adopting Adults’ from last year, filed under ‘don’t ever do this again’. 😆😆

[Mr. Sparkle]

Lol, I have only a vague recollection of that. Luckily, I didn't have to watch it. 

[Pepper the Cat]

Not a fan of the green tile.

going so far over budget is not good. 
 

I am just glad they weren’t making everything “sexy”

[hottesthw]

Watching this new Dallas team has me convinced they learned all they know by watching Million Dollar Listing on Bravo. They throw around a lot of nice words, but don’t seem to know much. You sat for 5 weeks doing nothing not realizing you didn’t need permits? And even that whole things sounded odd, no permits for any construction because your not changing structural stuff? Is that a TX thing? Miss Imma Boss shoulda stepped in around week 2 asking questions. 

[Pepper the Cat]

Not really liking the Dallas crew. Chauncey’s voice is a little like nails on the chalk board.

11,000 over budget is a lot! 
the house itself was nice, I knew when they said the paint colour was darker than all the neighbours that the Heritage people would come after them.

The permit stuff was a hot mess. If time is so important you don’t just sit around waiting for 5 weeks. After a week you make calls, go in person etc.

It seems she wants to be in charge but doesn’t want to do the work of being in charge.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I like their design aesthetic more than the other teams, but mostly it's more boring when it's the Dallas team on. I know all the teams read from scripts, but it's more obvious when Chauncey's doing it. 

And second to all the permit stuff already called out here. If there's a Landmark/Heritage Commission and you know about it, you don't change the exterior until you get an ok. That's Construction 101. 

[Cobb Salad]

7 hours ago, Pepper the Cat said:

11,000 over budget is a lot! 

The permit stuff was a hot mess. If time is so important you don’t just sit around waiting for 5 weeks. After a week you make calls, go in person etc.

It seems she wants to be in charge but doesn’t want to do the work of being in charge.

How many episodes has it been with this team - 3?  Every single time they’re over budget but it seems like they’re still making a profit.  You’d think they’d learn but I guess not.  

That permit part - yeah, if you’re in charge and you’re required to jump through more hoops than usual perhaps it’s a good idea to put in a bit more work to make your self imposed deadline.  Those people you’re relying on don’t have the skin in the game that you do.  

[Cobb Salad]

Glad to see the Orlando team back this week. 

it was interesting Keith tried to sell some of the furniture left in the house.  No surprise it didn’t go although that globe looked kind of nice. 

At least this time we were spared budget overages and silly drama due to improper planning or does that kitchen layout issue between Keith and Alynne count?  Instead we got Duke telling Keith we need to get this done sooner than planned because the market is showing signs of going south which is out of their control.  

[Pepper the Cat]

Never thought I’d be happy to have Duke back but I am.

That was a good episode. Stayed in budget. No mention of sexy. 
And best of all no green tile!

[Mr. Sparkle]

I guess it's familiarity, but I do enjoy the Orlando team the most. I'm glad Duke is back and I miss Justin. The new woman is a good designer, but is bad at reading her lines. I can't believe Keith is a better actor than someone. 

I see Duke is listed as "investor" now. Wasn't he the designer before? 

[Cobb Salad]

@Superclamyes, I believe so.

[sadtvjunkie]

1604 Campbell Ave. Orlando. So glad they left the terrazzo floors they are wonderful at cooling down FL homes. The colors were not over the top and no weird art going on. I would want a better carport or garage instead of parking in the backyard or at the curb. The curved shower tower was too small for that shower but a nice upgrade. I liked there was no real stupid drama and they just got the job done. Love seeing Conway represented again. The prices were real they did buy for $350,000 and sell for 499,000 on 12/23/22. Glad they replaced the roof. When I was young our family had the same roofing with pebbles and every time it rained pebbles would fall off the roof.

[sadtvjunkie]

446 Briercliff Dr Orlando Sold to Parhelion Homes on 8/19/2022 for $340,000 then resold as a 2/1 (not a 2/1.5) on 12/23/2022 for $455,000. I noticed on the end of the show that they didn't say they sold it. So it did sell later, but for less than $500,000 they wanted.  The market is definitely cooling and it is back to a buyers market in Orlando. 

I like that they aren't doing crazy colors and weird stuff to the houses. Leave them a little vanilla. People can see themselves living there and not having to redo weird tile and design choices. (I'm looking at you Ashley!!). Also liked they repurposed the cabinetry instead of trashing it. New homeowner's need to see that not everything needs to go, you CAN live with something and change it later.

[sadtvjunkie]

618 Sweetbriar Rd Orlando-Sold 10/22/2022 for $375000 and has not resold as of 3/10/2023 (said sold on show for $600,00). I mostly liked what they did. I thought they said they would do breeze block on carport  but put up wood slats instead. The backyard looked much nicer with all the tropical crap removed. It looked like they changed the fireplace to gas? The corner cabinets in the kitchen would be a no go for me. They also must have found a back of truck sale on those shower towers. They seem to install them in every house now. The floors ended up looking very nice. 

[sadtvjunkie]

714 E Church St Orlando. Bought by Larry for $460,000 on 6/22/2022. Not sold yet as of 3/19/2023. Maybe Larry paid them out for Reno services, who knows. Another Tower shower. How many did they get?  Location is on Lake Olive but it really looks no bigger than a pond.  2 doors down is an apartment complex. Parking on street is a nightmare there. 

Design choices look fine to me, starting to design for anyone to be able to move in. I think the downstairs bath would drive me crazy if I used that back room for a bedroom. There was no tub/shower there. Have to go upstairs to take care of that. Better as a den or office.  Sad they covered up the wood floors but they were probably in bad shape since the house is from 1955. It was a very chopped up multi level house.

[Mr. Sparkle]

They really fixed that terrible layout. 

[sadtvjunkie]

On 3/11/2023 at 8:20 PM, sadtvjunkie said:

618 Sweetbriar Rd Orlando-Sold 10/22/2022 for $375000 and has not resold as of 3/10/2023 (said sold on show for $600,00). I mostly liked what they did. I thought they said they would do breeze block on carport  but put up wood slats instead. The backyard looked much nicer with all the tropical crap removed. It looked like they changed the fireplace to gas? The corner cabinets in the kitchen would be a no go for me. They also must have found a back of truck sale on those shower towers. They seem to install them in every house now. The floors ended up looking very nice. 

Now listed as sold for $600,000 on 3/6/23

[Bethany]

I haven't watched any of the new shows but will probably catch them in re-runs.  I'm curious - do we ever find out why Justin and Ashlee are no longer on the show?  I am hoping it's by their own choice.  I definitely prefer them to Duke.  He drove me crazy so not exactly thrilled to watch the new episodes with him.

[Mr. Sparkle]

43 minutes ago, Elizabeth Anne said:

I'm curious - do we ever find out why Justin and Ashlee are no longer on the show? 

Not on the show. Unless I missed it, they haven't even been mentioned on the show. 

[sadtvjunkie]

Glad Ashley is gone. Duke has some good one liners. Much prefer him to her.

[Mr. Sparkle]

I like Duke & I liked Justin. I don't miss Ashlee. The new woman is a good designer, but a little dry personality-wise. 

[basiltherat]

I've come to the conclusion that Zombie Orlando is a comedic take on flipping.  Chasing drones, falling into pools, falling through roofs, truck crashes, assorted wildlife (all of them stinky) -- perhaps all seen through the eyes of Marley, the only sane one in the bunch.

[SunnyBeBe]

I’m on my second episode.  I’m not that impressed yet.  We’ll see.  So far, the fake scene is overdone.  I’m just not sure why they think viewers like that.  Four person team.  One guy knocks down a wall on his own and the others rush in to stop him. This was after they had initially discussed opening up the floor plan.  Oh, the woman team member believes the house has a ghost.  …….omg, fake fall in the bathroom that breaks the grab bars and shower door!  Terrible.  Just ridiculous.  This will be my last episode with this team. 🙄

Edited June 4, 2023 by SunnyBeBe

[SunnyBeBe]

I find the accent colors and designs in these houses really bizarre. Ugh….not good.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

Good point about the accent colors and design features.   Like the dark green tile the original team had in multiple homes in the final season or so. 

[SunnyBeBe]

I think the episodes I saw were all in Florida with same type of concrete house with three very small bedrooms and one bath.  

[Pepper the Cat]

Well, the Dallas couple are growing on me.

but $23,000 over budget? Yikes!

[Mr. Sparkle]

The Orlando group is so much more entertaining. I know they're all scripted, but the other teams are just so ordinary, and can be any flipping show. 

[Cobb Salad]

5 hours ago, Superclam said:

The Orlando group is so much more entertaining. I know they're all scripted, but the other teams are just so ordinary, and can be any flipping show. 

They’re my favorite of the ones they’ve shown this year.  I don’t bother with watching when any of the other teams are on. The house they worked on for today’s show was such a disaster to start with - I liked how it turned out.  With this group since they don’t have an on camera realtor there’s no scenes with an open house.  I found I prefer the extra time being spent on the actual renovation and or reveal.  At the end who cares if they report an actual sale or not.  

[sadtvjunkie]

Neither the Montcalm or the Palmer house in Orlando has sold. The rental unit is going for about $2500 month. Not sure if it's the same for all 3 units. I would hope not. 

Alyne is much better at designing than Ashley ever was. I would probably move into any of the units she designs. I never would with Ashley's.

Don't watch any of the others. Sometimes I'll click on the Tampa group because they're very similar to Orlando and they're mostly drama free.

Edited July 31, 2023 by sadtvjunkie
spelling

[sadtvjunkie]

1259 Old Mill Road In Orlando located in the Fern Creek Area. House bought by Keith's company for $375K on 2/27/23 but hasn't sold yet. Been up for sale for 15 days right now. So it takes them a lot longer than 2 months to finish a house. 

I really wish they would run out of the shower towers. They are really ugly and when they break a PITA to fix. My brother just bought a house with one and had to put holes in his wall to fix it.

I can't believe the homeowner tiled over terrazzo floors. So easy to keep clean and smooth with no dirty grout. What were they thinking?

[Pepper the Cat]

The Dallas crew went over budget again! And this time it was nearly $40,000 over budget. They seem to still make a profit but dang people, you need to budget better.

[Mr. Sparkle]

That was a particularly gross episode. 

[chanel5]

They finally finished and put the Lake Mary flip on the market.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/561-N-Country-Club-Rd-Lake-Mary-FL-32746/47631602_zpid/

[Pepper the Cat]

New episodes starting Oct 28.

[sadtvjunkie]

On 7/30/2023 at 8:00 PM, sadtvjunkie said:

1259 Old Mill Road In Orlando located in the Fern Creek Area. House bought by Keith's company for $375K on 2/27/23 but hasn't sold yet. Been up for sale for 15 days right now. So it takes them a lot longer than 2 months to finish a house. 

I really wish they would run out of the shower towers. They are really ugly and when they break a PITA to fix. My brother just bought a house with one and had to put holes in his wall to fix it.

I can't believe the homeowner tiled over terrazzo floors. So easy to keep clean and smooth with no dirty grout. What were they thinking?

Finally sold 10/05/23 $678,000