[ad_1]
Tarek and Heather El Moussa come to terms with the current market.
On their new show, “The Flipping El Moussas,” Tarek and Heather El Moussa have had some successful flips, as well as some flops. But their latest renovation truly has them worried—as it should, since it hasn’t sold yet.
In the episode “Family Style Flip,” Tarek has decided to take a leap of faith on a house in Los Angeles’ Cheviot Hills, an area Heather describes as a “super, super cute family neighborhood.”
Super cute though it may be, it’s also very upscale—aka expensive. They spend $1,828,000 to buy the four-bedroom, three-bath, 2,166-square-foot property, built in the 1950s.
They estimate that bringing this house up to snuff for the neighborhood will cost at least $270,000. After that, they hope to sell it quickly for $2,400,000.
As they desperately work to make a profit on the project, they come up with some interesting ideas on how to make this house appeal to well-heeled buyers. But does it work? So far at least, the answer seems to be hanging in the balance.
See what they do and judge for yourself: Would you buy it?
Solar panels add value House with solar paneling
(HGTV)
The house has a big asset that Heather and Tarek (and homebuyers) can all see as soon as they drive up.
“Oooh! Look at the solar,” says Heather. “That’s a great selling point.”
Tarek agrees. Solar paneling is very popular in California and other sunny parts of the U.S. And in this case, it’s already installed, so Heather and Tarek will not have to pay for it.
Market a house to the kids A pplay set in the backyard
(HGTV)
Make a house in a family neighborhood appealing to the kids, and the parents will have a hard time resisting it.
Tarek and Heather realize the value of this strategy, and Heather suggests they put a jungle gym in the back and stage the bedrooms for children.
Tarek validates her suggestion with a personal story.
“Kids are a big part of someone buying a house,” he says. “And actually that’s a true story, because when my family moved to Buena Park when I was 5, we looked at all these houses, and the house that my parents ended up buying was the house that me and my sister loved.”
___
Watch: Jeff Lewis of ‘Flipping Out’ Fame Buys $5.9M Spanish-Style Chateau
___
You can also market a house to pets Dog bath
(HGTV)
“A lot of times, families have dogs, so what if we built a dog bath in this huge laundry room?” asks Tarek. “Then we can stage it for the dogs. I want buyers, when they walk in, to feel like they’re at home. … If they’re animal people, they love it.”
Since it costs only $1,200 to install, they decide to go for it.
But a word to the wise: If you’re going to do a dog bath, go all in and make it big enough to accommodate any size dog. This one is relatively small and isn’t big enough to accommodate a standard-size dog.
Also, it’s a big laundry room, and since they staged only one corner of it and didn’t put a washer and dryer in, the dog bath and accessories look lonely and unimpressive.
Check out the listing photo:
A dog bath in the laundry room
(Realtor.com)
Not everyone loves rain showers Luxe shower sans rain shower head
(Realtor.com)
Contractor Jeff suggests they add a rain shower head in the primary bath, but both Heather and Tarek balk.
“Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of rain showers,” says Tarek. “I just start drowning, glug, glug.”
“I don’t like them either because they mess up my hair, like if I have my shower cap on,” agrees Heather.
This time, we totally agree with them. Is an unadjustable spigot directly overhead really a good idea?
If you can’t knock a wall down, accent it Dramatic accent wall
(HGTV)
There’s a support wall going right through the middle of the house and down the staircase. Although the space would look much better opened up without the wall, there is absolutely no way it can be removed.
So Heather and her designer decide to make the most of that wall and accent it with wainscoting and beautiful sconces. It really looks dramatic and beautiful.
Is Tarek and Heather El Moussa’s latest flip a flop?
This is a tough one to price, because there are no comps—meaning comparable houses that have sold recently nearby.
“There’s nothing that’s sold and literally nothing for sale,” says Tarek.
They go over their numbers: They paid $1,828,000 for the house. The renovation came in over budget (as usual) at $280,000. Because of construction and permit issues, it took longer than expected to finish, and with their carrying costs at a whopping $12,000 per month, that amounted to an extra $83,000 by the time they finish. Then they must add an additional $80,000 in closing costs and commission.
Their break-even price (at the time) is $2,271,000, so they decide to put it on the market for $2,499,000.
“I like that because it’s under $2.5 million, and I feel it’s a pretty aggressive listing price,” says Tarek. “Hopefully we can sell it fast, maybe even get multiple offers.”
But that was then. Now, Tarek and Heather’s worst fear seems to be coming true.
The listing reveals that this house is still languishing on the market, as of publication—at 78 days and counting. The price has been reduced to $2,399,900.
Tarek confesses that the problem with the real estate market today is that no one knows what it’s going to do in the next six months. You decide to spend a certain amount on a flip one month, and several months later, the market has dropped, leaving you holding (in this case) one very expensive bag.
If it sells soon, they could possibly still make a nice profit. But until then, the clock (and costs) keep ticking up.
[ad_2]
This article was originally published by a www.realtor.com . Read the Original article here. .