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HGTV’s “Fix My Flip” has returned for Season 2, starring Page Turner as she helps house flippers turn a profit—which has become harder than ever in today’s high-interest-rate market.
In the episode “A Beachside Rescue,” Turner meets an experienced flipping pair: Juan, a contractor, and his daughter, Allison. They’ve done six flips already, but haven’t been able to make more than $50,000 on each house–a low return for their Southern California market.
They know they need to make changes to their business, but aren’t sure if they should tighten their renovation budget in hopes of saving money or invest in more high-end fixes in hopes of attracting a buyer who’s willing to pay more.
“We’re at this standstill of, do we continue to put quality into these flips or do we get in, get out, and move on?” Allison tells Turner.
The HGTV star agrees to help Juan and Allison with their latest project: a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Huntington Beach, CA, they’d bought for $865,000 and had planned to spend $55,000 renovating. But Turner argues that they’ll need to put more money into this place if they’re going to make a bigger profit.
Read on to find out if Turner can help this duo get to the next level of flipping—and get ideas for improvements that will make any home more valuable and sell quickly, even in today’s market.
1. Paint the trim for a more eye-catching exterior Before: From the outside, this house looks old and tired.
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When Turner first walks up to this house, she notices some glaring problems. While Allison and Juan recently had the house painted a nice, clean white, the garage door still needs to be replaced and the unkempt front yard needs work.
She invests in some new landscaping to help this home look inviting and replaces the old garage door with an elegant dark one. To finish the exterior update, she invests in a little more paint.
“The trim has been painted a nice dark charcoal for that modern pop we so desperately need,” she explains.
After: Dark trim helps this house stand out.
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While Allison and Juan would have likely replaced the garage and updated the lawn, Turner’s idea to paint the trim gives this home dimension. Sometimes just a little extra work, and a little more paint, can make all the difference.
2. An open layout is still what buyers want today Before: Allison wanted to keep this wall because of the wood paneling.
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Inside this house, the living room is divided by a wall covered with wood paneling. Allison loves the wood look and wants to keep the wall—but Turner knows buyers won’t be impressed by the layout as is.
“Somebody probably added this wall in the ’80s or ’90s, when small spaces were more on trend,” she explains. “But now it’s all about being bright and open and having a great flow.”
Because this wall isn’t load-bearing, removing it is easy. When the demo is done, Turner is happy to see how light and open the living room looks. While the wood paneling was nice, removing it was a small price to pay for this open living space.
After: With the wall down, this living and dining room feels huge.
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When the renovation is finished, Turner welcomes Allison and Juan’s real estate agent, Megan, to tour the property.
“That’s what buyers in this market are looking for,” Megan says of the open floor plan.
This is an important lesson for flippers who aren’t sure if removing a wall is worth it, but it’s also a great example for homeowners looking to improve their space. With the wall gone, the living room and kitchen have more light, and the whole home feels bigger.
3. Add some color to the kitchen Page Turner knew this kitchen needed a colorful kitchen island.
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The flippers have just recently finished updating the kitchen and presumed their work here was done—but Turner insists on making changes. She wants to move the cabinetry, put up new backsplash tile, and add a new island.
These flippers seem frustrated by all the changes, but they eventually agree to get a new island. However, trouble returns when Turner isn’t happy with the gray color.
“Gray is the new beige,” the HGTV star says disapprovingly.
Instead, Turner wants to paint the feature light blue to give the kitchen a pop of color. She then paints the front door the same hue and matches it to the new backsplash tile. Using the same color helps connect the spaces and makes the home feel cohesive.
“It’s all purposefully planned,” Turner says.
4. Run bathroom tile to the ceiling Before: Allison and Juan stopped tiling under the window.
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Allison and Juan have already made progress in the guest bathroom, but, once again, Turner isn’t happy with their work. The shower tile stops below the showerhead, and Turner wants the tile to go to the ceiling.
“Just imagine if we have any type of leak here,” she says, pointing to the showerhead. “It’s going straight to the drywall. and now that’s a whole other problem.”
After: With shower tile that goes all the way up, this bathroom has a more luxurious feel.
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At first, Allison argues that she doesn’t want to spend any more time or money on this bathroom, but Turner insists.
“It’s only going to cost a few hundred dollars to continue the tile up to the ceiling, so I really don’t even know why this is an issue,” Turner explains.
She spends just $320 to extend the tile—and it really pays off. When Megan steps into the room, she’s impressed.
“It’s a smaller space, but it feels a lot bigger, and I think the tile really does that,” she says.
5. Turn a window into French doors The doors give this primary bedroom direct access to the backyard.
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While Turner makes a lot of improvements to this home, often changing or undoing what Juan and Allison did, there is at least one update the father-daughter team got right: switching out a window in the primary suite to a French door.
The new doors are a great addition, providing easy access to the backyard as well as lots of natural light and a nice breeze.
So, does this flip get fixed?
Allison and Juan had bought this house for $865,000 and end up putting $75,000 into the renovation. Turner helps them finish this flip in just two weeks. After 10 days on the market, the house gets an offer for $1.1 million, which they accept.
That means that after paying Turner her $15,000 fee, Allison and Juan make a profit of $145,000. That’s their biggest profit to date by far, and proof that sometimes it pays to bring in a pro like Turner for a second opinion.
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This article was originally published by a www.realtor.com . Read the Original article here. .