Flip this House - on A&E

[Bearcata]

The second show of the new season is from Atlanta. No longer starring Sam, but Angie and her husband Harris. Anige has established her own company called Avenue Properties and is using her husband as her project manager. A&E or the producers of FTH have changed the tune and editing of the show and for the better. It is tighter and seems to move much better. It is not as corny as it was for the the original season (which made sense as if sorta seemed slow and southernly in reference to Trademark). The music also seems faster and frantic indicating that this is a very fast paced business.

Anyway, I was not that impressed with Harris last season cause according to Angie he had absolutely no building experience, but I guess she wants to keep the business in the family. Angie did get an investor to go in to the project with her. Good idea use an investor's money, no bank fees. Unfortunately the investor had one of his employees on site alot and who needs to be micromanaged.

The house was built in 1948, had 4 bedrooms and 2 baths and is 1,880 sf, cost $156,000. You know all the electric, possibly the plumbing and roof has to be replaced. What surprised me is that they showed the city inspectors out at the house telling them what needed to be done. The faces they made when told to get a new furnance and new duct work. Please the house is 59 yrs old. Oh, Angie wanted $80,000 from the investor he gave her $70,000.

The plan is to open up the kitchen and dining room and make one huge kitchen and move the dining room to the living room, Vault the ceiling in the den and combine the 2 downstairs bedrooms and create a master suite. Also add a front stoop and walkway, and add curb appeal. All will be done in 21 days.

Angie in also interviewing for an assistant and we see 3 potential prospects. But we already know who she will hire because the producers of the show have already included Danielle in the opening credits. That was dumb.

The new front stoop steps are put in. This is why you need a good project manager and a city inspector. The steps are all different. 7.5in, 8in and 8.5 ins all the steps and risers vary between these measurements. It all has to be torn out and redone and signed out by a city engineer now. The city inspector also found the contrators were using white (untreated wood) on concrete and because of moisture issues you only use PT (pressure treated) wood on concrete. All the framing needs to be redone. Also the crew was planning to reuse some of the old electrical wiring. Ha, Ha, out it comes. The City inspector simply says that the contractor was trying to cut corners and he was caught. At this point the investor is not happy especially hearing about the overages, and about the new roof, electrical and insulation. But there are always overages in a project like this. But the house has to be bought up to code and has to look good because it is competing with brand new developement.

Angie does have a process in place to sell the house as quickly as possible and has a professional staging crew come in and stage th house. It looks great. The main living area is open. The new kitchen is fabulous with light maple cabinents, marble counters and of course stainless steel appliances and a nice big island. The vaulted den look amazing. Angie gets an offer the first day of the open house. The house is listed at $325,000 and the buyer offers $305,000. Angie counters that the investors want at least $320,000 can they meet in the middle. They agree to $315,000.

Final figures:
cost of house: $156,000
budget: $70,000
overages: $25,000
total: $251,000
Sold for: $315,000
Profit: $64,000 in 21 days.

[Google]

 

[Bearcata]

They're back!

Yeah, its the team we all love to hate the Montelongos of San Antonio. If you have never watched this show las season you would wonder why so many previous posters did not like this crew especially Armondo. The editors have done a marvelous job of making Armondo come across as a serious real estate investor instead of the arrogant SOB we all love to hate.

Armondo gets a call from another real estate investor. Eugene bought the property about a week ago and gave a large check to his foundation contractor and the contractor promtly ran off with the check and left 25 big holes and some tools behind. Eugene feels he can't handle having so much money in this place so asks Armondo to take it off his hands for $52,000. Now Armondo ask how much did Eugene really have invested in the property and Eugene says that he bought the house for $30,000 and that the foundation needed $13,000 worth of work and that he gave the contractor $10,000 and so Eugene has $40,000 invested in the property. This is where even I raise my eyebrows and say you have a mess but have only been dealing with it for 1 week and yet you want Armondot to give you a profit of $12,000. Are you crazy. That's outrageous. Armondo conters with an offer of $40,000 and paying the closing costs to take the property off Eugenes hands. They have a deal.

Armondo contacts Kino, his foundation guy and get a quote for $8,000. He thought there was a broken sewer pipe but someone left a mess in one of the toilets.

The nice thing about this episode is that Armondo is bringing his son Mondoman to the job site and teaching him about real estate investing and how to deal with contractors and build relationships but also how not get cheated. This is touching but also scares me as there will be another Armondo clone by age 18.

There are overages as a rain storm shows that there is a leak in the roof and that the entire roof needs to be replaced. Good thing it rained would they have checked otherwise. Thanks Mother Nature. Armondo's wife wants new kitchen cabinets and Armondo's brother wants a new bathroom. There are 2 bathrooms in this house and yet I get the impression only one was redone. That was a little weird. Armondo compromises and brother gets the bathroom.
Also the enclosed garage and living room have the common wall knocked out to create one large living room. Melina has an artist paint a mural on one of the walls in one onf the smaller bedrooms. Armondo and his brother are not sure about this but the mural is a big hit with all the kids visiting during the open house. There is a termite scare and the house is sprayed. Nice to know that termites can get into the house through foundation cracks. Were those sealed???

On day 15 the original foundation contractor from the original investor shows up demanding his money and tools and stating that if he does not get them he will put a lien on the house. Sounds more like a con artist. Looks like he tried to get into the house that night and vandalize the place but some kids saw him and he ran off. The next night Armondo leaves his rottweiler in the house and nothing happens except that his crew have a surprise when they try to get into the house.

I think this was an exceptional episode for showing Armondo teaching his son the trade, for showing the pitfalls of giving a contractor too much money and they take off, for giving the helpfull advice of always having a backup plan and have a list of reliable contractors and if the first one does not work out go to the next one on the list. The only thing I did not like is that the stats for the house were not listed in the beginning as they normally are; you had to listen to entire show.

Stats:
House: $40,000
Budget: $17,500
Overage: $3,800
Total: $61,300
Sold: $95,000
Profit: $33,700

3 Bedroom 2 bath ranch house, built in the 70's had a one car garage that was converted into a spare bedroom/family room.

[helpmeturnitoff]

Finally! New episodes And this Saturday we get to see Richard & crew return, except on TLC with their own show.

Anyway, Armando still continues to give new meaning to arrogance. Personally I would never ever purchase any house they 'remodel' because of his insistance to cut every possible corner in order to maximize his profit. I'm still shuddering over the decision to keep the kitchen cabinets in this house. Even repainted... ew.

And what is up with the staging? This show is interesting enough without adding obvious fake scenarios. Like the 2 kids running down the street to let them know someone was trying to break in. Like the contractors showing up to find a rottweiler in the house. Like the original contractor freaking out at the new contractor - that could have been totally believable if not for the over the top performance and closeup camera work.

[Bearcata]

Back in Atlanta with Angie and her investor. After the first Atlanta episode I thought that the investor would never work with Angie again. Anyway they find a nice old house in an established neighborhood and get to work. Plus side to the new shows is that they show floorplans, I just wish visually they were bigger and stayed a second or two more on the floorplan so I could figure out what was where. Minus, I don't believe I heard the age of the house this time or the square footage. I want to know how big it is.

Angie is still using Judd as a general contractor and he brought along another guy named Eldridge Washington to help. The interesing thing about this episode is it really shows the problems a general contractor can cause when he does not show up for work. I also don't know if I like Angie's attitude about Eldridge and his finding problems that need to be fixed and that will cause overages. Yes the house has got to be 50 yrs old. The wiring is shot, all the outdoor lighting is using indoor rated wiring. There are at least two roof leaks that have cause some of the roof joists to rot. Angie is acting as if Eldridge is deliberately causing these problems to gouge money out of the budget for himself. That I do have problems with. But on the other hand Angie needs to do what Armondo does and that is have a long list of contractors and if one does not show up for work go to the next. Judd and Eldridge dissappear for a 3 day period around day 15. They miss a scheduled meeting at least once and then are late for the next one. Half the problem is about cost overruns of redoing the solarium. There was an understanding that demo and buying new windows would cost $8,000. The initial demo of the entire house was $3,000. Yet for the solarium the demo was to be $8,000without replacing the windows according to Eldridge. I don't think so. Trouble was looks as if the guys were paid for it already so Angie and her crew had to keep these contractors until they got their money out of them, but both parties agree to part ways after the project is completed. The problem was partially solved by nixing replacing the glass roof with a regular roof and using another crew to put in the windows.

Another reason to have a general contractor on site or a project manager was that this house had mature azaleas and camelias on the front side of the house and the landscaper said they would save them and it would cut down on the landscaping costs. But the painters but into the bushes and unfortunately the majority of the planting were so hacked that they had to be removed and the cost of landscaping went up to make the house look presentable.

Costs:
The bank wanted to sell the house for $169,000 but the crew negotiated with them and got $145,850. The initial budget was to be $80,000 and the build was to take 21 days.

House: $145,850
Budget: $80,000
Overage: $20,000
Total Budget: $100,000
Total invested: $245,850
List: $330,000
Potential profit: $84,150

[yput]

What is her husbands job? I thought that he could have caught the mistake as well( cutting the shrubs). He just seems to be there but not really doing anything important but no one seems to care. I am sure he is being paid as well.

For her to be business savvy, I could not understand why they hired butch again when they were complaining about his work on the first house.

[Bearcata]

Originally Posted by yput

What is her husbands job? I thought that he could have caught the mistake as well( cutting the shrubs). He just seems to be there but not really doing anything important but no one seems to care. I am sure he is being paid as well.

Well, during the initial run of the Atlanta run under Sam, they had one episode where Angie was going to flip her first house and she brought on her husband; Harrison as the project manager. I did not get the impression he had that much bigging experience, but that he is her eyes and ears on the project. I think that Angie also wanted to start her own family run business and bring Harrison as her partner. Ideally they are flipping more than one project so I can see Harrison going from one site to another.

Originally Posted by yput

For her to be business savvy, I could not understand why they hired butch again when they were complaining about his work on the first house.

I think this is a duh moment. I do wonder if we will see Butch again??? I was surprised that the investor and his project manager continued to do work again with Angie after they complained so much about Angie and Harrison the first time either.

[Bearcata]

Originally Posted by Bearcata

Well, during the initial run of the Atlanta run under Sam, they had one episode where Angie was going to flip her first house and she brought on her husband; Harrison as the project manager. I did not get the impression he had that much building experience, but that he is her eyes and ears on the project. I think that Angie also wanted to start her own family run business and bring Harrison as her partner. Ideally they are flipping more than one project so I can see Harrison going from one site to another.



I think this is a duh moment. I do wonder if we will see Butch again??? I was surprised that the investor and his project manager continued to do work again with Angie after they complained so much about Angie and Harrison the first time either.

I corrected a spelling error from bigging to building.

[Bearcata]

Its Armondo time again.

This was interesting as they were showing how the company finds investment properties. Lots are just word of mouth and jumping at what looks like a good deal and hoping for the best. In this case a burned duplex that is 2,000 sf and only $31,900. Armondo and Dave do not get a chance to go inside because it is locked up and boarded over but they decide to purchase the property. Several days into the project they have an agreement with an investor to purchase the property for $120,000 so Armondo is a very happy man.

Stats:
Built: 1969 - a duplex, one unit below and one unit above. Both are identical with 3 bedrooms and 1 bath.
Budget: $30,000
Time: 21 days - think I finally get the timeline. Buy the house, redo within 3 wks and hopefully sell in the 4th wk and not have to pay any mortgage on it. Thereby reducing costs and increasing profits.

The fire was in the top unit. What was interesting to learn was that if the joists are only a quarter burned then they do not have to be replace and that the burned wood needs to be deordorized and sealed with a special deordorizing paint, else every time it rains the smoke smell returns. All the electrical needs to be redone as the house is 37 yrs old and the all the upstairs plumbing replaced because the pipes where melted during the fire. They need to put in new AC/heat ducts else everytime the AC or heat is used ashes maybe spewed into the units and there will probably be a burnt smell.

While the plumbers were able to get their work permits the electricians were not. The house is on a list of condemed houses that are to be pulled down in 30 or 60 days. Armondo is furious because none of this was disclosed to him by the seller or the bank. In this case I do side with the Montolongos cause this should have been disclosed, it is the law. Armondo and Dave meet with the Dangerous Premises Inspectors and they were shown the house and what they have done so far, the new roof is a big plus. The inspectors tell them to go ahead and finish that they will be able to get work permits but that they will have a court date and have to convince the judge to take the house of the condemned houses list.

There are problems with Sergio the general contractor and I felt that Armondao blew up at him needlessly. Later the house is vandalized by gangs coming in and stray painting the walls with their tags. That is all Sergio's fault because he did not lock the doors. Both Dave and Armondo are pissed off with Sergio for not keeping the building site clean and fire him. But I swear that is Sergio back on the site for the last day or so. In addition San Antonio had 4 days of 25 degree weather and ice storms and all the roads were shout down and so was the town. Then Armondo saids that no one could get out to the house to work because San Antonio has no snow plows and later he is yelling at the cameras cause no one in working on the interior of the house. That is a total contradiction. Make up your mind.

The investor visits in the middle of the build and it looks horrid and the deal is in jeopardy. The investor decides to hold off until the house is finished and if it gets off the condemned property list.

The house is finished in time. The house is taken off the condemned property list and the investor buys it.

Final stats:
overages: $1,200
Total invested: $63,100
Sold: $120,000
Profit: $56,900

[Bearcata]

San Antonio

This is the show to watch if you hate Armondo. He flips out so much it gets to the point I think he might have a stroke. Still, all flippers have the house from hell and this one was it for him. Yet he goes on and on about how in the last 5 yrs he has flipped a 1,000 houses and this one has given him the most problems. Well, then he was due. After watching quite a few of the flip shows on A&E and HGTV and TLC I say that Armondo was given the houses most amateurs get in over their heads on and I again I say good, his overwhelming ego needs a good set down.

This house was built in 1975. 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and 2,000 sf. But it has been abandoned and it looks as if a cat collector might have lived here. There are feral cats all over the house, rats and roaches. It looks as if someone started to clean out the house cause there is a dumpster on the property but they stopped. There is a sale by owner sign on the property and Armondo calls and gets the house for $55,000. He still has not been in it though. He gets through the door and it sinks. He calls Sergio. Now here is a big Duh moment. The last Montelongo episode with the duplex Armondo and Dave had a falling out with Sergio and fired him and now he is back. Sergio refuses the job. The next contractor refuses the job. The intern refuses the job. Finally a contractor says he will do the house but first Armondo needs to call in a Hazmat cleaning crew to clean the place. Armondo has $3,000 for the cleaning. The Hazmat crew wants $18,000. They settle on $13,000. Takes 3 days and over 5 dumpsters to clean out the junk from the house and the hazmat crew also bombed the house with spray to kill as many germs as possible. The roaches and rats survive it all. At this point Armondo brings over his family to look at the property to discuss the rehab and he basically wants to paint the walls to cover the smell, and paint spray over the kitchen cabinets and closets and they are all covered with roach poop. Everyone says no , you have to replace the dry wall and the kitchen cabinets that this is not a cosmetic job. David and his wife walk off the project. I can't blame them. Armondo also gets a citation from a police officer for having a house that has obnoxious smells and needs to clean it up. He has a $250 fine.

The budget for this house is $29,000 and just the Hazmat crew has blown that,

To be continued.....

[Bearcata]

I loved this episode just from the point of view that everything that can go wrong does.

The sewer pipe is broken in 5 places and needs to be replaced. The plumping is not what is expensive it is digging the tunnel. The plumber tells Armondo that he will be charged $500 to $600 a foot.

There are rats and they have attacked the Hazmat crew. Armondo needs to hire a pest exterminator. He says that there is an entire ecosystem in the house. The cats and and rats have been eating the roaches and the rats have nested inside the walls. Finally the drywall comes down and is replaced. Insulation full of rat feces is taken out and new stuff put in. Even with the worse of the drywall removed and the worst of the insulation the contractor spray paints the exposed studs with a special descent paint that covers all the stink. The pool needs to be drained and repainted. There are frogs and turtles living in the pool.
The front needs new sod. A fence in put in the back. All of this is done in 20 days. The stress is so bad for Armondo that his wife takes over and tells the contractor to call her and not Armondo. In fact she sents him to talk to a therapist and he does but afterward he thinks it was a waste of time and money.

Finally the house is done and all Armondo wants to do is sell the house in one day and get rid of it. I am a bit tired of him ranting how he has flipped a 1000 houses in the last 5 yrs and this is the worse one ever. As if he doesn't rant over every house that he does. Several folks come to the open house regardless that it is a cold and rainy day. A lady with 2 little girls puts in an offer and the house is sold.

Final stats:
house bought at: $55,000
budget: $29,000
overages: $56,050
total cost: $140,050
average cost of house in the neighborhood is: $130,000
house sold for: $165,000
profit: $24,950

Armondo's final words to the Cat House: "I beat you Cat House".