TVSquad

I love the episodes of Flip This House that show the Trademark Properties people in South Carolina. The problems that they face, the way that they work around them, and the entire process is very interesting. The same series featuring the San Antonio people, though, is just horrible. The one brother with the dog is a jerk, and the women don't seem to have too much going on upstairs. I won't waste my time if it's got them on. I also like Flip That House. However, I prefer flip this house with the SC crew.

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I prefer "Property Ladder" on TLC to both of these. Property Ladder is about first time flippers and they get a little advice from a professional who is also the host of the show. This weekend they had this holistic healer try to flip a house that "spoke" to her. I told my husband near the end of the episode if she made a ton of money off of that house I would be pissed because she didn't listen to anyone but the house. (It talked to her!)

It's hard to say if I like This or That better. That does have more variety on their shows and you get different perspectives on house flipping. But I like the hour format of This so I can see more of the details. I watch to see what they are doing and to learn from the shows so glossing over it isn't helping me much. I do agree that the group from San Antonio are hard to watch.

When it comes to selling houses, Design to Sell on HGTV and Sell this House on A&E are the two shows to watch. A friend recommend that I tape them when my husband got transferred and they really helped. Our realtor was very impressed with what I had done.

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I love Property Ladder because it's not a how-to show. If anything, it's a cautionary tale against flipping. The first-timers they get for the show are absolutely clueless, but yet so confident, and it's so much fun to watch them make every rookie mistake in the book as their dream slowly turns into a nightmare.

My favorite part is when they start out the show with an estimate of how much profit they expect to make on the house, and then all through the episode the counter keeps coming back to show you the hidden costs and budget overruns, and the profit line gets smaller and smaller. By the end of the episode they've invariably gone way over budget, way past their deadline, and can't seem to sell the house to anyone. Most of the episodes end with a title card saying, "After 12 weeks on the market, they recieved one offer which they rejected because it was too low." And it leaves you with one clear message ringing in your head: Dont get into the flipping business!

On the other shows everyone knows what they're doing, and the projects come in on time and on budget. So boring.

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All of the flipping shows on TV (A&E, Discovery, TLC) are deceptive. I'll address my problems with these shows one at a time:

1. Exaggerating the return from fixing up the property.

Investing capital in home improvement might be a good idea, especially if you're planning to live there afer the improvements have been made. But to insinuate that one can make, say, 5K in improvements and immediately flip and consistently get more than 5K back goes against all of the data (see Remodeling magazine and other periodicals).

A&E is notorious for this. I always get a kick out of the (cost of 4K for landscaping/new floors/etc; get a return of 10K).

No wonder LOW and HD advertise on these shows. Ah, the power of suggestion. Spend 20K on a kitchen, get 40K back. Let's go buy ourselves some appliances. Easy money!

If one could earn 50% or 100% on home improvements in a few weeks, Home Depot and Lowes would be able (and would) charge more for the products they sell.

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I really enjoy Flip This House w/ Trademark Properties.
Has it been cancelled?

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My fiance and I both like Flip this house with the SC crew. Now i see Atlanta and Texas. My opinion...They are just wanna-be's. But what I guess thats why I'm not in television. So my question is WHERE IS Richard Ginger and Dawn. Why can't I find the new season. Please get those "chest out, make up on, attitude for TV wanna-be's out of here and find me the SC crew.

Thank you for listening to me rant :)

Rob

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My complaint about Flip this House is that they don't actually show the final results. They only show select realtors quoting optimistic listing prices they could/should/might get for their house. Maybe in CA they get asking price but not throughout most of the U.S.

Another pet peeve is that the show never ever includes the sales commission on the "final profit". That sometimes the most expensive cost of some of these flips. Commission on a $500,000 house is $30,000 (or more in some areas of CA).

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I was also very upset with the treatment of the cats on Sundays show. This was extreme cruelty to animals. Those two little cats were terrified. I think that the ASPCA should get involved with this. Those people are not animal lovers, just animal collectors. I shall never watch this show again.

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I am really upset with A&E for not renewing with Trademark properties! The San Antonio and Atlanta , I know are to show us from different parts of the US. But I really learned more and was more entertained with Trademark Properties. Please bring them back!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Was anyone else upset with the San Antonio show regarding the cats they got especially to kill the rattlesnakes? The exterminator suggested it saying they needed to make sure they didn't care about the cats too much!

Then, to get the one reluctant cat out of it's carrier, he husband tips the container upside down and bangs on the back of it like it was a bottle of ketchup! They were such adorable cats and I was afraid for their safety. I wonder if the people they got the cats from knew what their purpose was. It's HGTV for me from now on...I'm getting sick just thinking about those poor cats. Stupid people!

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Cats = kill rats. Oh wait, thats abuse to rats too ! If they kill the rattlesnakes, should we imprison them too? Banging on the car door is how my wife gets me to get out of teh car. Anyways, what is criminal are the shows deceptive claims, and the false hopes they give to people in the name of reality tv. This should be under deceptive advertising, and illegal.

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