Flipping Vegas - believe it or not?

[David T.]

Since I came to Atlanta, people keep asking me about this show and I watched a few episodes for the first time last night.

My question is based on my experience of flipping houses for a few years in Vegas... is there anyone on BP who thinks this show is anything other than a cartoon?

[Phillip Dwyer]

Cartoon is a nice description...

[Mary B.]

I've watched flipping Vegas, Boston, Than Merrill in CT, Armondo's version which is in TX and another in Los Angeles, oh and in San Diego too. All have the general senario going with purchasing SFR up to 3 unit houses at a discount. Under bidding on the rehab cost (for drama purposes of course) and having their other half so call over spend on amenities. The contractor finds missing beams or some other drastically expensive must do to meet code. The project manager is mia for a few days and materials get stolen at the 11th hour. Its all real if you rehab in anytown usa one or all of those things can happen at any given project. Its part reality and lots of drama for the purpose of securing interest of the viewers. RATINGS rule tv...

Kudos,

Mary

[Mike Hurney]

@Mary B. When will you be on a Show?

Mike

PS as they say: There's nothing Real on Reality shows!

[Mary B.]

@Mike Hurney

I'm more of a behind the scenes type... maybe I can make a cameo appearance on your radio or tv show. :-)

Kudos,

Mary

[Phil Z.]

A&E got busted with their staged 'reality' on Flip This House .. I'm sure it's just another false reality.

[Karin Crompton]

This thread is hilarious! @Mary B. is right on! I've only watched a few of these shows, but that's totally the formula.

Here's a thought: maybe the exaggerated drama scares a lot of people out of getting into the business, meaning there's more for the rest of us! haha

[Rob K.]

The hardest thing to believe about that show is that those two are married. Even if it were believable that he's into women, I don't know how he landed her. She's "old lady hot".

[Mary B.]

LMAO@Rob K

''Even if it were believable that he's into women"

My sister and I have said the same thing. Its too far fetched that they are married or even dating! There is no way that they are involved with one another. They just brung on a set of twins as partners. She's probably actually involved with one of them.... I'd believe both of them over the main guy... :-)

Kudos,

Mary

[Troy Sheets]

Originally posted by Rob K:

The hardest thing to believe about that show is that those two are married. Even if it were believable that he's into women, I don't know how he landed her. She's "old lady hot".

Too funny, the first thing I said to my wife is there's no way these two are together and, if they are, they have an arrangement and they aren't sleeping together in ANY capacity...

[Scott W.]

she is "old lady" hot and uses michael jackson's facial surgery doctor.

these shows are so stupid it's laughable. you can learn a thing or two.

the closest thing to reality were those "property ladder" shows where regular joe's would try flipping a house.

i find it laughable that none of these guys ever lose $ on a deal.

[Michael Seeker]

Originally posted by Karin DiMauro:

Here's a thought: maybe the exaggerated drama scares a lot of people out of getting into the business, meaning there's more for the rest of us! haha

I think these shows attract way more people than they deter. You cram several months of headaches into a 30 minute (20 mins w/ commercials) spot and then throw up a $50K profit at the end of every show, even with all of the unforeseen setbacks. What's not to love? It's clearly a piece of cake to get rich flipping houses :)

[Patrick L.]

It's slightly more real than Property Wars but slightly less real than the average cartoon. The only real thing is the house gets rehabbed.....I wouldn't believe anything else in there. They add some fake props to make an empty house seem exciting to give the show some drama and then add in their scripted personal drama and make up some numbers and poof you have a TV show.

[Brian Davis]

Originally posted by Scott W.:

she is "old lady" hot and uses michael jackson's facial surgery doctor.

Haha..I thought something looked familiar about her face

[Rob K.]

Originally posted by Scott W.:

she is "old lady" hot and uses michael jackson's facial surgery doctor.

Her nose does look like Jacko's nose. I wonder where she got that accent from. It sounds made up.

[Brian Ortins]

Her accent is supposedly Canadian, as mentioned in one of the episodes.

[Michael Heisterkamp]

I have family that works in the "unscripted tv" industry. What I can tell you is that these types of things are almost always filmed in retrospect. The property often already purchased and extras are brought in to re create an auction. Deadlines are intentionally and artificially compressed to create tension and drama. Budgets are almost 100% facetious and what is actually spent on the renovations are always inflated to make them appear to be of a much higher quality than what is actually used. This isn't to say that good quality items aren't used however you have to remember that reality tv is about as "real" as a blockbuster movie.

[Scott Steffek]

I laugh when I watch this show. Scott's guys ALWAYS find some major problem that will cost big bucks to fix and throw their time line and budget off. Never fails. He goes into a tailspin and his wife spends money like there's no tomorrow. Listen at the start of the show when they talk about their budget. I rehab houses and I laugh when I hear how little they're going to spend AND they're always using high end products. You can pretty much double that "fake" number they throw out at the start of the show. Scott's been doing this for a long time. He knows what to expect. The drama he throws out on every episode is so scripted it makes me laugh. I guess they have to add that in or it wouldn't be worth watching! But, he makes some bucks.

[Tom Pritchett]

And all this time I thought it was real!  I feel so abused, lied to!