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NARRATOR: In Northern California,
there's a new Gold Rush.
I'm gonna battle every single day.
NARRATOR: Millions made and lost buying houses at auctions.
Sold for $475,000.
Right on.
We'll think about it.
Huge risk.
You're gonna spend half a million bucks
and you haven't even gotten to see what's inside.
I mean, it's crazy. It's stupid.
Once you buy it, you open the door and you see what's there.
MAN: The inside of the house is thrashed.
WOMAN: This is a total redo.
MICHAEL: You build it out like you're gonna live there.
That's why they sell.
NARRATOR: With money on the line
and renovations costing more and more...
We take a diamond in the rough and make it shine, baby.
MAN: We definitely have champagne-taste
on a beer-budget, right?
WOMAN: You're gonna pick it up,
you're gonna put lots of love into it,
somebody's gonna come by, see it,
and they're gonna want to move their family in there.
Ah.
NARRATOR: Who will come out ahead
in the ultimate house war?
I have to buy something every day,
otherwise I'm not gonna get paid.
Every week, we spend about $1 million.
We're like ninjas in real estate.
[ Laughs ]
DOM: Krista's my work wife,
we talk more to each other than anybody else.
Greg is a genius when it comes to construction.
Thank you.
I don't want to go broke.
[ Laughs ]
You know it's inevitable, but just not for a while.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
All right, we've got to hurry up.
I really want to see this house, though.
NARRATOR: 8:30 a.m., each team has just received
their list of homes that are going to be
on the auction block later this morning.
Time is of the essence.
Not seeing a home
can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost opportunity.
Very short on time...
So, we have to hustle.
We have about five properties to see
in less than two hours, before the auction start-time.
Three more to go and an hour to get there.
90 minutes to the auction.
Up for bid, this four-bedroom, one-bathroom
in desirable Los Gatos, California,
adjacent to Silicon Valley.
Minimum required bid -- $500,000.
I really want this, this is...
Million dollar homes.
This is where you can make big money.
I have a friend who recently purchased a home
in Los Gatos, in this particular neighborhood,
did a small renovation and doubled her money.
Beautiful.
A $1 million home without a front yard?
Well, we may be able to get it for less than a million.
Oh, boy.
I can only assume what it looks like inside.
Oh. Oh, basement.
We find this little crawl-space,
which is great because now we can check for --
if there are any foundation issues.
Earthquakes are very common out here.
If you're able to avoid having to do
any foundation repairs, it's a huge money-saver.
I never go in basements.
I have a basement, I've been in it three times.
I always think of possums...
Raccoons, rats.
I won't go in there, no.
Oh, my God. Okay, I'll do it.
It actually looks pretty clean.
I see an old boiler.
Looks like they've redone the foundation.
That's good.
This place has recently been retrofitted,
so it's a huge score.
Let's lock this up.
ALISHA: Awesome. All right.
Perfect.
We'll be the only ones privy to this wonderful information.
Absolutely, let's go.
This is our home.
[ Laughs ]
MICHAEL: I'm a single parent.
My daughter, Sarah, is 17 years old,
so we're looking at schools, and she's told me
that she really wants to go to a private school,
Seriously?
Yeah, yeah, isn't that great?
Better buy some houses, man.
[ Laughs ]
Dude, this thing's like five doors from your house.
It's ridiculous.
This is our hometown,
there's tremendous upside on this property.
Oh, my God.
JOSH: You're wasting your time.
You don't want it. Huge foundation problem.
Yeah right.
Its sloped.
If it has a foundation problem,
you're not gonna be able to afford to fix it.
JOSH: Good luck.
We're buying this. We're buying this.
See you at the auction!
Look at this garage, man. What's up with that?
It's frigging crooked.
The tree's pulling the thing out.
Look at that palm tree.
We can't rip that palm tree down.
We'll blow that out, put a two-car garage.
What's going on back here?
Look at all this garbage, what's going on?
Dude, there's like bedding back here.
Should we go to check out the foundation?
MICHAEL: Oh, this isn't gonna help.
How are we gonna look at that?
I thought this was a single family.
It is, on county records.
There's two meters back there.
Right, it's great.
That'd be ridiculous.
If this is a duplex, it's a home run.
Let's get it on, we've got to get to the auction.
All right.
Everyone knows that we're gonna be at the auction.
We're Los Gatos locals.
If we don't buy this, we look like chumps,
we look weak.
NARRATOR: Just six miles north in a suburb of San Jose,
a four-bedroom home with a minimum required bid
of $300,000.
We get -- We can't leave the auction empty-handed.
I've got to come up with a deposit for the wedding venue.
Oh, okay.
So, desperate mode again, huh?
Yes.
Manly proposed to his girlfriend of eight years,
and their wedding is literally two months away,
so I know the heat's on.
I am.
I'm not leaving the auction today empty-handed,
it's a must that we get a home at auction.
Check it out.
There's a crack in the window.
Front façade needs to be changed,
a lot of landscaping, but it could have potential.
It's a fig tree.
Yeah, look at this.
And it's hideous.
We've got to get rid of this thing.
And who the heck leaves a freaking trailer?
I see the trailer and I see treasure, you know.
Hey, watch it.
Don't rip your skinny pants right now, all right?
Whoa, whoa.
Watch it.
Do it.
Oh wait, wait, wait, there's someone coming.
There's someone coming.
We're up on this trailer and this neighbor stops by.
Yeah.
Yeah, I just live right across the street,
Oh, okay.
MANLY: So, are there good schools in this neighborhood.
That's why nice houses sell for $800,000-plus.
So, if we can get this for $440,000,
we'll make some good money, which I need right now.
Who told you to get married in Paris?
Hey, I have to do what the wife wants.
This is a winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Looks like a lot of work, though.
Okay.
We're almost done with two of our projects,
so if we don't get a house today at auction,
my guys, which is our construction crew,
they're gonna have to take a one or a two week break,
and I don't want that for them,
because it's not fair to them.
There's nobody that cares about their crew
more than Dom does.
That's an expensive trailer. It's like almost 3,500 bucks!
[ Laughing ] That better come with the house,
that'd be awesome.
Oh, it's a paint-sprayer.
You -- whatever, there's a paint-sprayer?
Oh, there is a paint-sprayer.
What's that worth?
Uh, the paint sprayer is about 400 bucks.
Right now, I'm actually more excited
about the trailer than I am about the house.
KRISTA: I'll bet somebody already started
renovating this property.
Oh, yeah, they ran out of money.
With a starting bid just around $300,000,
I think we can probably flip it for just over $500,000.
Look at the size of the yard, it's good stuff.
I like it.
We've got to go.
If we get this house, we have just scored big.
NARRATOR: Just a few miles away in San Jose,
a two-bedroom home with a minimum required bid
of $205,000.
We are definitely not in Los Gatos anymore.
I love these neighborhoods.
Super mixed bag.
No, no, no, no. It's perfect.
Commercial, industrial, planes, trains.
Seriously?
High margins.
All right, well, we've got to hurry, though.
We've got to hurry.
What do you love about it?
The fact that it has no windows?
The boarded windows,
normally, that kind of stuff doesn't scare me.
I love this home.
Look at this.
It's perfect?
It's a concrete nightmare.
Usually Alisha's the optimist and I am the pessimist,
so this is a little weird for me.
If, you know, you're buying a high-end home,
then you have to do high-end repairs.
The lower-end product, it's an easier fix.
Freeway's right behind you, listen to how noisy.
Just turn on the water over at the sink there
and you won't hear the freeway.
Because I'm a Realtor.
He's thinking margins, which is his job.
I'm thinking we have to sell this thing when we're done.
What is this?
[ Bleating ]
Is that a -- It sounds like a goat to me.
Oh, my God.
Oh, look, look through the fence boards.
Oh, wow.
Hi, little goats.
Be careful, they bite.
Would a buyer want to live next door to a goat
that's making that baa-baa constantly?
Probably not.
Beautiful. You want goats.
No, no, you don't want goats.
You can milk a goat.
You can milk a goat.
Free milk.
We've got to hustle, we've got to go.
I don't -- I don't like the neighborhood...
Okay, okay, okay, okay, I heard ya.
I'm not feeling the house, there's too many issues.
No, no.
BEAU: I don't know about this neighborhood, Greg.
Greg is the construction guy.
Beau pretty much has the money and it stops there.
[ Laughter ]
Busier street than I would've thought.
See, that's what I was talking about.
You can hear that.
Great, we have a train right in our backyard.
Oh, public transportation right to the property.
I mean I could -- I could throw a rock
and hit the train when it passes.
There's the basement access.
Perfect.
GREG: Take those steps a little slower
because we're not in a hurry to get to the auction.
Okay. Thanks, buddy.
Oh, wow. 700 square feet down there.
It's perfect.
Well, if we get it for next to nothing, we can bid on it.
All right.
NARRATOR: It's 10:00 a.m., auction time.
Bidding is about to begin.
Lot 304932 is 12 Broadville Lane in Los Gatos, California.
TODD: I want this house bad, it's in our 'hood.
Let's go get it, brother.
I want that property.
The foundation has been redone,
it's a huge money-saver.
Like to open the bidding at $500,000.
There's no reason to even jump in right away.
We know that it's gonna go probably
in the $800,000 to $900,000 range,
and we're prepared to go there.
$500,000 here.
$575,000?
$600,000 is here already.
You get it at $625,000, $650,000.
MAN: $750,000.
MAN #2: $800,000.
Right here.
Five.
We haven't wanted to drive the price up,
but now is the time to get into the game.
$890,000. I've got $890,000 here.
$891,000?
$892,000?
$893,000?
Yes.
You're at $896,000, outbid.
And he starts getting annoyed when he's not winning.
I don't think he'd be a very good poker player.
MICHAEL: Josh and Alisha want this property.
You know what, this is major leagues,
and those guys are minor league players.
JOSH: $898,000.
MANLY: This is absurd.
There is no money to be made on this property
after it goes north of $850,000.
$900,000. $905,000?
$905,000?
CASATICO: 12 Broadville Lane in Los Gatos, California.
I love this property. It's perfect.
$900,000.
$900,000. $905,000?
$905,000, anybody else?
Todd looks very frustrated.
Starting to sweat.
Yes.
We need to get this
so that they don't screw up our neighborhood.
$905,000?
It's time to quit playing games and get it done.
$1 million. $1 million.
$1 million!
We get to $900,000 and then Todd blows everything up
by bidding $100,000 more.
Yeah, it's stupid.
He's over-bidding. He's getting too emotional.
You have never increased a bid 100K.
We had to put them out of their misery.
Anybody else at $1 million?
You can have it, sucker!
Anybody else at $1,010,000?
Anybody else at $1,010,000?
I got $1 million, right here, in the front row.
Hey, a million bucks for that property is too much money.
Congratulations, $1 million.
[ Laughs ]
We're thrilled that we got Broadville.
And we know the numbers,
we're gonna make it work, we're gonna make some money.
Second lot, Garden State in San Jose.
It's Lot 312932.
Manly is super determined to get this property.
I need to pay for the wedding in Paris.
I want to make sure that I keep our construction crew busy.
We can't walk away empty-handed.
I'd like to open the bidding here at $300,000.
Oh, I'm sorry. Pardon me.
$300,000 here. I'll take $310,000.
$320,000.
MAN: Yeah!
$340,000.
KRISTA: That is a great property,
but it's only gonna make sense
if we can get it at the right price.
DOM: And they had that bonus trailer in there,
which is really exciting, with all the tools.
$370,000.
$390,000 is behind, too.
$395,000.
$400,000.
More people are going after this property
than I expected, but we're not deterred.
$420,000.
$420,000 is here. Are you gonna bid $425,000?
$425,000.
Yeah.
$435,000? Anyone bid $435,000? $435,000.
$440,000's here. $445,000?
Anyone bid $445,000? Five?
Mike and Manly are super focused
on the Garden State property.
You know that they're already both emotionally tied to it.
They'll just keep bidding without realizing
that they're missing their mark.
$460,000!
I got $460,000 bid.
That's crazy.
DOM: If they're going that high and they're bidding that much,
I'm just gonna let them have it.
KRISTA: Dom was really excited about the trailer and the tools.
He can probably just go buy those tools somewhere else.
$460,000, going twice!
Sell it to them.
Sold it your way, $460,000.
I am stoked. I can't wait to get inside.
Can't wait to open that trailer
and see if there's anything good in there.
And just flip this bad boy.
1021 Piping Street. This is a San Jose property.
He loves it, I'm not super in love with the location.
JOSH: I need to buy something today
because I need to put a crew to work.
GREG: The boarded up windows and the sketchy neighborhood,
um, it's really giving us a bad feeling.
So...
So, we're gonna start our bidding low.
Let's open it up at $205,000.
$205,000.
I have $205,000.
$206,000.
206,000?
I thought this speech was worth more than that.
[ Laughter ]
Piping comes up for auction
and the entire feeling on the steps changes.
Nobody's really throwing in anything at Piping.
That makes me a little nervous.
...the beauty.
They don't see the beauty behind the veil.
I do.
$207,000.
$209,100.
All right. We've got one of those.
$210,000!
$210,000.
Anybody else at $211,000?
$211,000?
$210,000 is a little bit out of our comfort-zone
for this property.
$210,000. Somebody bid $211,000.
$211,000.
Sold, $210,000. Congratulations, $210,000.
I don't care what anyone else thinks about it,
I love this property.
ALISHA: I'm super excited to get on the inside
and see what the heck it looks like.
NARRATOR: Back in Los Gatos, Michael and Todd
are about to enter their $1 million purchase
for the first time.
Look at that!
Look at how crooked the garage is.
That is ridiculous.
I'm freaking out right now.
Let's go check this out.
Wow.
NARRATOR: In Los Gatos, Michael and Todd
are about to enter their big score for the first time.
MICHAEL: We just paid $1 million for a house,
and we haven't even seen the inside yet.
This is a neighborhood where houses bring
up to 2 million bucks,
and that's what we hope to get for this house.
Wow.
I see this open floor-plan, very pleasantly surprised.
It's gonna save us a lot of money,
we won't have to do as much demo.
TODD: It's radiant heat, not forced air.
So, we're looking at what -- right out of the gates,
Nah, probably 20,
to put central air in the entire house.
Todd is one of the hardest working guys
that I've ever known.
Very bright, very savvy, as it relates to real estate.
Nothing else?
Not savvy to anything else?
All right, yeah.
Real estate is about where it ends, yeah.
This has got to be the kitchen right here.
This thing is nasty.
Michael, look!
Nasty!
What a freaking mess.
It's small! Look how small it is.
We got to, like, rip all of this out.
Todd tends to, uh, get very aggressive.
And he spends a ton of money.
We need to be very conscious of our renovation budget, for sure.
Before we talk about blowing everything up,
Right!
...standard operating procedure...
...let's keep the budget in mind.
Do you want -- here, do you want to keep this?
Is this not in the deal?
No, I don't -- I don't need that, thank you.
Thank you.
All I can think is,
"How are we gonna get 2 million bucks?"
That's what I'm focused on.
Being cheap isn't gonna get us there.
We got to get rid of that.
So, why don't we come here and rip out this entire wall,
from here all the way over to the wall in the bathroom...
MICHAEL: You want to lose the fireplace?
Forget that fire -- that's a fake fireplace.
Rip out this bathroom,
so we're gonna have a giant slab
countertop peninsula, here.
That'd be nice.
Opened up with a giant kitchen.
Stainless-steel appliances, brand new Shaker cabinets,
glass doors in the cabinets.
Yeah, sounds great.
How's it look?
TODD: Dude! Home run! Brand-new foundation!
That could've cost 50 grand, taken a month.
It would cost more than 50 grand.
Let's go check out upstairs.
I'm hoping it's two units.
Be able to renovate it and get twice the money.
These carpets are nasty.
Got to be a kitchen down here for the duplex.
Dude.
Here's your duplex.
Look, Michael. A million bucks, brother.
Where's the sink? What the hell?
Is this the closet or something?
There's you -- there's your sink.
The sink, literally, inside a closet.
I've never seen anything like it.
This thing's a wreck, not gonna work.
Forget the duplex!
I thought there'd be a nice kitchen in here.
If we have a four-bedroom, two-bath,
2,000-square-foot home, downtown Los Gatos,
1,000 buck a foot, no brainer.
I'm a little disappointed
that it's not a viable duplex,
given how much money Todd has spent,
once again, on this property.
Yeah.
Yeah.
NARRATOR: In San Jose, Mike and Manly are about to see
what they got for $460,000.
MIKE: It's more than what we wanted to spend,
but we know this area.
And the homes in this area sell for twice as much.
So, as long as the changes are cosmetic,
we walked away with a great deal.
I mean, the trailer alone is worth $3,000.
Let's see what's in this.
Check it out.
Oh, there's a paint-sprayer.
Oh, nice.
Brand-new water heater.
Yeah, baby!
Check this out!
Oh, it has a whole hydraulic system in here.
Yeah, it works, too.
MANLY: There's about $3,000 worth of stuff in this trailer.
Let's see what's inside.
Not too shabby.
I'm sick of this fireplace, though.
What is this thing?
What the heck is this?
Looks like gas pipes or something.
The fireplace looks weird.
It looks like someone just stuck a microwave in there.
MANLY: We got to get rid of this, though.
This will be the center-place.
When people walk in, this has to be the wow-factor.
Whoa.
My gosh.
This thing is hideous.
Flipping Homes 101 -- Pink does not sell.
Yeah. Gut it!
This is just too small of a space.
Opening up this kitchen is definitely gonna sell the home.
Then, we can knock this wall all out.
And island would be perfect right here.
Brand new uppers, lowers, granite counters.
Yeah.
Anytime we go light cabinets, we go dark floors.
Get some stainless-steel appliances in here.
That's gonna be a lot of money.
I think it would sell.
This kitchen is going to cost at least $25,000.
Seems like a lot, but it's actually really reasonable.
Yeah, and in this neighborhood,
you need a nice kitchen to get a good return.
Mike, check this out.
Oh, my gosh.
I can't believe this.
MANLY: Though we ended spending $460,000 on this house,
which is $20,000 more than what we wanted to spend.
And now we're gonna have to drop $25,000 on this kitchen.
Mike, check this out.
It's a basement.
We probably got...
Wow!
Maybe about 500 square feet.
That calculates...
maybe 30 grand.
$30,000 that we're gonna make extra on this house,
that we didn't even know about.
Felt like it's Christmas all over again.
What do you want to do?
Nursery? Family room?
You know what? I'm thinking party room, though.
Party room.
It's gonna be a huge selling-point for the property.
After seeing this basement,
I feel a lot better about my wedding.
I feel a lot better for you, too.
NARRATOR: Across town, Josh and Alisha
are about to find out what they've just bought.
We just won Piping for $210,000.
I think it is a good price.
So, the location no longer matters, right?
Not as much.
ALISHA: [ Sighs ] I'm a little nervous.
Okay.
It's beautiful. I love it.
It's not as bad as I thought it was gonna be.
It's not.
It's got some paint on the walls
that looks like neighbor kids probably came in there.
Does this...
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute!
We got windows!
Yeah, listen to me. I know everything.
You don't know everything!
That just saves me a bunch of money.
This is easy! Throw in some really cute paint.
That's easy stuff.
Ugh. Gross!
This is bad.
Well, hey! Easy there! That's good Tupperware!
You know what, though? There's a lot of cabinet space.
Yes.
There's a lot of cabinet space in this kitchen.
At least we didn't pay that much for it,
Yeah, yeah.
Thank God for small miracles.
Every house has a price at which it's a great deal.
I don't know what we're gonna do back here.
I love it.
Buyers do not want to sit in their backyard,
look at the freeway...
[Bells dinging] ...and a train!
I -- I -- That doesn't bother me.
[ Scoffs ]
It's perfect for commuters.
That's what we're gonna put on our flyer, "A Commuter's Dream."
You can take the airplane or you can take...
...the freeway!
So, let's take a look at this, uh, this shed here.
What do we have?
Don't break anything.
We wouldn't want to...
JOSH: Oh, wow! These are fishing poles.
How do you know?
Oh.
There's some value in these.
Seriously?
Oh yeah, this is all fly-fishing equipment.
Really?
...but especially this one. Yes.
[ Groaning ]
Believe me.
Trust me.
Trust me, please.
We're gonna make this into a nice, livable area.
We're gonna put a lattice here,
we're gonna put some nice shrubs over here.
With a beautiful fire pit, patio furniture.
It'll be beautiful.
You won't even know what's going on behind you
or on top of you.
[ Train whistle blows ]
[ Laughs ]
NARRATOR: In Los Gatos, it's Day 1 of demolition.
You got power off, water's off, gas off.
MAN: Everything's off!
MAN #2: Keep going! Whoo!
So... All that tile's gone.
Nice! Let's get these cabinets out of here.
[ Glass shattering ]
Let's move this stuff out of the way for these guys.
We're gonna have stainless steel-appliances,
gonna have Calacatta marble.
Mo' money.
Coming in hot!
There's -- there's -- those stairs back there
that are like a cave.
So, we got to rip out this wall,
since this isn't gonna be a duplex anymore.
And put some railings here, and have a nice open stairway.
MAN: Move!
TODD: Watch your eyes, you guys! Nice!
See how much bigger that makes this room feel already?
All right, bud.
So, we're gonna come through this wall, master bedroom...
The beautiful thing about what we're doing upstairs
is that we're gonna create a second master suite.
So, that's gonna be very appealing
to a lot of home-buyers here in Los Gatos.
Nice!
What's going on with Pepperdine?
Did you go down there?
My daughter, Sarah, just informed me
that she'd like to go to a private school.
Uh, I went down there, like, two weeks ago.
Is that awesome or what?
It's Malibu, Todd, it's really super expensive.
You know what?
There's times when I appreciate your input.
This is not one of those times. How about that?
I think -- I think you should go to Pepperdine.
I think I should, too.
I don't get why I would check it out if I can't go there.
Lots of good schools down there.
San Diego State, we looked at that.
I don't care.
Mm, yeah.
Bye, Sarah.
See ya!
Hmm?
The town is considering the garage historic.
TODD: The single-car garage is completely dysfunctional.
It needs to be bulldozed.
The town said the garage has to stay.
You got to be kidding me!
I'm absolutely not.
I get it...
Lifted in the air!
We're gonna have to jack it up,
raise up that side.
The palm tree roots have ruined the foundation.
And to fix it, the palm tree's got to go.
How much is this gonna cost?
PFAFF: It's gonna cost more than building a new garage,
that's for sure.
In between $4,000 and $5,000 taking the tree out.
TODD: You're kidding! This sucks.
We got to do what we got to do.
I'll make it happen.
NARRATOR: Back in San Jose, it's been nearly a week
since Mike and Manly started the renovation on their house.
MANLY: I promised my fiancée
she can have her dream wedding in Paris.
And, financially, it means we have to sell this house.
But, um, more than that, um, I earn more points --
husband points.
So, man points.
You did make her wait four years.
Yeah.
What is this?
It looks like Albert Einstein built this thing.
So, we figured out what those ugly pipes were,
that feed into the fireplace.
The fireplace unit upstairs is recirculating hot water,
is basically what it is.
And servicing -- helping service the system down here.
MANLY: Me, I'm just confused.
Why would anybody use a fireplace to heat water?
Basically, you know, kind of a unique energy-saving thing.
Okay.
NARRATOR: A few miles away, Josh and Alisha are headed
to see Josh's friend, who's an experienced fisherman.
Well, during our first walk-through at Piping,
we came across some fishing equipment
in one of the sheds in the backyard.
Josh seems to think
that we can finance a backyard with this.
I don't think it's worth anything myself.
I don't know.
That's because you don't go fishing.
You can spend up to $500, $600 on fishing poles.
Would you spend 500 bucks on a fishing pole?
I have spent $500 to $600.
Yes.
Hey, Jim!
I have something for you to look at!
Josh seems to think
we might be able to finance a new backyard with these.
GRIFFITH: This is a nice fly rod.
Yeah.
It's nine-foot, it's a good manufacturer,
it's worth about $900!
$900?
What did I tell ya?
I had no idea fishing equipment was worth a bunch of money,
but, apparently, it's pretty lucrative stuff.
That's why you always have to listen to me.
GRIFFITH: But this is a floating shooting head.
So, this is one where you would take and roll cast it.
At least $300.
Nice!
That's really a nice reel.
Lead, of course, shooting line on it.
About $600.
Oh, these things are really neat.
ALISHA: Wow!
You'd use that for trout and steelhead.
You even got a mouse in here.
This is for black bass and...
...fish of that nature.
What do you think for all of it?
How much would you be willing to give me for this?
$1,200.
No?
1,6000 bucks.
Ah, I'd go $1,500.
15-- $1,500 and a boat ride?
Awesome.
Not a bad score for a home that we only paid $210,000 for.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, there's no need to thank me.
Don't worry, I wasn't.
NARRATOR: It's Day 10 of Todd and Michael's renovation
in Los Gatos.
In order to keep this a big score,
they need to check up on the team to make sure
they're staying on-budget.
This is the new layout.
Remember, this used to be the bathroom, kitchen layout.
Yeah. This looks awesome.
Total budget in the kitchen, what are we looking at?
We're probably about 80 grand in the kitchen.
No! Our budget was 60 grand, we can't go 20 grand over.
80 grand is four times what we normally spend on a kitchen.
To get something this nice,
as high-end as this is gonna be,
I have no choice.
Man.
All right!
Look at this. Where's my bed go?
Wherever you want it.
Lay it right here, look at those foothills.
Bed there, flat-screen TV right here.
I'm feelin' it. I might move in.
Look at the size of that shower.
[ Laughs ] That's great!
NARRATOR: In San Jose, Mike and Manly's
ranch renovation is nearing completion.
They're aiming to put it on the market in one week.
MIKE: The kitchen is almost done.
The cabinets are in, the backsplash is coming in.
It's no longer The Pink Panther's lair.
Now, this looks great.
It looks like a real fireplace.
Gonna look something like that.
Come back with a tile face here and a tile hearth.
Let's not do the tile.
I don't -- I think it's not gonna look as good
if we were to just paint it and keep it, you know, classic.
This saves us, like, $800.
[ Scoffs ] Yeah!
And that nearly offsets the 1,000 bucks we had to dump
into fixing that crazy fireplace plumbing.
Yeah, quality and style is number one for us.
But we also want to make money.
Usually, if we're smart about it,
it always works out.
NARRATOR: Back in Los Gatos,
the massive palm tree is being taken down.
PFAFF: We changed the master floor-plan a little bit,
other than what's on this layout,
to make it a little bit bigger than what's on here.
Did you make that shower bigger?
We'll be going for inspections on Monday.
Perfect.
[ Glass shatters ]
MICHAEL: What was that?
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
TODD: The garage is historic,
which means we can't tear it down.
Which means we have to rip out this great palm tree.
PFAFF: We changed the master to make it a little bit bigger
than what's on here.
We'll be going for inspections on Monday.
Perfect.
[ Glass shatters ]
What was that?
Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?
MICHAEL: Oh, God.
It went through the furniture!
What happened up here?
Oh, man.
Man, what a nightmare.
Wow. Patio set's gone. Chainsaw is busted.
Good news is it didn't go through the deck.
Let's just get this cleaned up and get it out of here.
I'm gonna get it cleaned up, get it out of here,
I'll get -- send someone to get a new patio set.
It's unbelievable.
In a way, this is super lucky.
We dropped a running chainsaw,
and all we did is break some furniture.
So glad no one got hurt.
So, what do you think of my kitchen?
Oh! Cabinets came.
Mm-hmm.
I got them at -- at, I got a great price on them.
Why?
Don't -- don't get upset with me.
Yes?
They're nice, they're good quality cabinets...
I can tell.
The color.
What's wrong with the color?
It's 1995 anymore. Nobody wants this color.
I like my new cabinets.
I got a great deal on them because they were floor samples.
The reason they're getting rid of them,
off of the floor,
is cause they don't sell that color anymore.
That's why you got such a good deal.
Oh, man. That's a good one.
All we need to do with these is stain them.
Your guys can take the doors off and paint.
Oh, yeah, we can stain 'em.
The problem is that I'm gonna have to bring
everybody back out here.
It's gonna cost more money.
I'm telling you the God's honest truth, here.
The time it takes to stain these,
and the money it takes to buy the stain...
Ten-fold it's coming back
if you do something about these cabinets.
If you're ever going to go over budget,
I would always suggest you do it in the kitchen.
It's not as important if the bedroom's
a little bit bigger or...
The kitchen!
NARRATOR: It's been a week since Mike and Manly
have been to their house.
And they're about to see what they're putting on the market.
MIKE: We bought the home for $460,000,
put about $90,000 into it.
And now we're hoping to list and sell it for $850,000.
Whoa.
Wow.
Oh, my gosh.
Check this out.
It's like night and day.
It is!
MANLY: Home-buyers definitely look for
a focal point in a room,
and in this room, the fireplace is the focal point.
Especially cause we took all those pipes out of there.
This looks amazing.
I'm so glad we made that decision
to knock down this wall.
Look how open this whole house looks now.
Yeah.
I'm glad we chose to keep it white in here,
rather than a darker color.
We've renovated a lot of kitchens,
and by far, this is one of the best kitchens
that we've done.
It looks phenomenal.
Oh, man.
MIKE: Oh, wow.
My favorite part of the house has to be the party lounge.
We didn't even know that this basement existed.
Look at this!
You guys ready to party or what?
I'm ready!
Turn on, like, a football game or something!
You know what? That calls for a toast.
Let's sell this baby.
NARRATOR: Across town, construction is finished
at Josh and Alisha's Spanish bungalow.
The house needs to be ready to view by the end of the day.
Come on, hurry up, Alisha.
ALISHA: In order to make a good profit on this home,
we're gonna have to really play up the parts of the home
that everyone spends their time in --
the kitchen and the backyard.
If we can do that, it's not gonna be a problem.
The planes and the trains
and what-not won't matter so much.
Right?
That now -- now, you're making sense.
Yes, yes, yes.
ALISHA: It's beautiful. It's beautiful.
After 32 days, Josh and Alisha's house
is ready to be put on the market.
JOSH: We purchased this home for $210,000,
put $14,000 in renovations
and hopefully we can sell for $399,000.
Realtor's gonna be showing it this afternoon,
and I think the buyers are gonna come in
and they're gonna want to make an offer.
Let's hope.
Let's hope.
Wow.
Oh, wow. This is nice.
The house is awesome, hand-scraped hardwood floors,
all the detail in the ceilings.
We're both, um, really busy and we're looking for
property that's turnkey, so...
No work, just move-in ready.
REALTOR: Take a look at the kitchen.
Oh, wow.
WOMAN: Oh, it's so big!
Yeah. This is great.
I love the hardware and the dark cabinets.
A lot of the kitchens we've looked at
were the fixer-uppers, and this one's perfect.
I love it.
Cool!
California vibe!
Seriously.
[ Bell dinging ]
This property comes with a train, not too bad though.
Very convenient, head up to the city, not bad.
Shuts down at 8:00.
Okay.
We're from New York,
so the noise from the train isn't really that big of a deal.
Um, it kind of is loud.
[ Goat bleating ]
The neighbor has two goats, very nice.
There's a new fence though,
so you never have to see them if you don't want.
Huh. Okay.
We love the house, we love the patio,
it's all really great.
And it's turn-key, so, that's what makes it nice.
I like it.
MAN: We're definitely interested
but we have to think about it.
ALISHA: You know, there's a home for everybody,
so it will sell.
I will admit that you were right on the risk on this...
Say that again.
I will admit that you were right.
Yeah, get used to saying that.
[ Both laugh ]
NARRATOR: Over in Los Gatos, Todd and Michael
get to see their finished renovation for the first time.
Really hoping that we get a good profit back on this house
because my daughter has her heart set on private school.
I want to be able to provide for her
and give her every opportunity in life.
Look at this place.
Look at the garage, man. Look how great that came out.
Oh, right on!
Oh, God. Are you kidding me?
Look at this place.
We spent $100,000 more than we wanted to on renovations.
The good news is
this is the right market to do that,
so I think that we're gonna do just fine.
Oh, right on!
Oh, God. Are you kidding me?
This house started off
as a dilapidated 100-year-old illegal duplex.
MICHAEL: And now it's an incredible single-family home.
In a really high-end neighborhood.
Living room feels so nice and open and relaxing.
Home-buyers in Los Gatos are gonna love
that the kitchen, dining room, and family room
are all wide-open.
I can't believe what was here before.
It was that old fireplace with that green granite.
Remember the old bathroom that was right here?
Now, it's kitchen, it's unbelievable.
Oh, I feel like I'm in a restaurant
in New York City right now.
Love this suite.
Having two master suites is the epitome of luxury.
It was a gloomy storage room when we bought it.
Now, it's a big selling feature, for sure.
Oh, this is so beautiful, you guys.
It's nice.
Seriously, Rick, this is amazing.
This looks great.
This is a master suite.
I mean, it feels so much bigger now.
How big is this bathroom?
RICK: Two hundred square feet.
MICHAEL: I can't believe this used to be a kitchen.
The master bath, it's like being in a five star spa.
We bought the home for $1 million,
we spent approximately $350,000.
Let's have an open house,
get it on the market for $2 million immediately.
Hi, there! How are you?
Welcome. Come on in!
The kitchen's nice.
TODD: Thank you.
I love how it opens up the open spaces,
and yet it's still separate
with a little bit of space over there.
Wow. This is such a bright and spacious room.
I love it!
We've been looking at houses for three months,
and this one is the first one with the open floor-plan.
It's bright...
Just screams, "Happy."
Yeah, this is, like, the nicest kitchen I've ever seen.
I live a few streets over and I'm really thinking
about maybe bidding on this house, really.
When we first saw this house,
I knew it had all the makings of a great deal.
We spent $210,000 in the purchase,
we spent $14,000 in renovations
and we made 1,500 bucks on the fishing equipment.
ALISHA: Yeah, yeah.
It only took us 32 days for the entire renovation,
and it came out absolutely gorgeous.
It's beautiful.
We didn't receive offers immediately.
If you're not seeing a lot of action on something,
you just have to stay firm
and stay confident in your product.
And, after three weekends, we received an offer.
The profit on this home, we did okay.
Yeah. [ Laughs ]
MIKE: We bought the home for $460,000.
We put $90,000 in renovation.
Three offers right away.
That party lounge was a huge selling point for this home.
Definitely.
I'm happy, but my fiancée is extra happy.
Yep.
MICHAEL: We bought the house for $1 million,
we spent $350,000 on the renovation,
which is 100,000 grand more than we expected to.
TODD:About two and a half weeks later,
got a great offer from a great family.
Total success.
I don't have to worry so much
about paying for my daughter's education.
Now, Sarah can go anywhere she wants, Malibu or bust.
No.
NARRATOR: Despite being in a questionable neighborhood,
Josh and Alisha were able to find a buyer.
They sold the house for $423,000
and locked in a profit of $200,500.
Their return on investment is 90%.
Mike and Manly scored big with an unexpected finished basement.
They sold the house for $850,000,
locking in a profit of $300,000.
The return on their investment is 55%.
Todd and Michael's high-end remodel
proved to appeal to the Los Gatos elite.
They sold the house for $1.8 million
and made a healthy profit of $450,000.
The return on their investment is 33%.
We're improving neighborhoods,
we're providing gorgeous homes for some nice families.
So, it's a very rewarding experience.
He's a huge risk-taker
but it always works out in the end, somehow.
That's right.
Alisha sees everything as puppy dogs and ice cream.
But, I do tend to be a super optimist.
Touchy-feely, I mean, that's the best way...
Which I don't really think is a bad thing.
No, it's not.