Who would have ever guessed that my mom and I would bond over Flip This House and Salvage Dawgs. It’s one of our favorite times when I visit and we talk on the phone about these shows constantly. Granted, her (favorite) son is a house flipper but……..
Anyway, people are always asking me about these shows and what I do. I’m here to tell you, you can’t flip a house in 60 minutes, minus commercial time. Yes, a fair amount of what you see is quasi-scripted but the issues and the problems that happen are quite real.
“What do you mean I have to replace the furnace for $8,000.00?!?!?!?!?”
“Holy S&*^%$! Where did that termite damage come from????”
“Permit? What do you mean I have to have a permit for that?”
“What does FEMA stand for?”
I could go on of course but why should I ruin your next episode of Flip this/that/those/any House.
The reality of all this is that you never will see the real thing or hear the entire story on these shows. It seems like a fun filled way to make millions but the only people making huge amounts of money are the ones selling everyone their systems on how to do this. Hmmmmmm…….
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Folks, it’s all hard work. It doesn’t matter if you are swinging the hammer, looking for properties, looking for investors or all of the above. You still have to roll up your shirt sleeves and get your hands dirty and be ready for challenges. The administrative part takes time and expertise, the logistical part takes time and expertise and the marketing part takes time and expertise.
So my question to you is, which part do you want to do. What are your strengths and weaknesses (I love framing and suck at bookkeeping)? I can attest that trying to do all of it will put you in the hospital or on the funny farm.
Actually, if you only want to do 1 house a year, you can do every bit of the job. If you want to do 3-300 houses a year, you better look for a better system and support team.
As far as TV goes, our latest house will be on a reality TV show. Once it airs and the producers tell me what I’m allowed to say/do, I’ll tell you all about it. I can tell you it isn’t all glamour!