Original subtitles

Kevin: Babe, I see you looking already.

I know there's no gutter or nothing here.

Dena: John, it looks a little old. That's easy to fix.

This looks like it's going to take more than 2 weeks to fix.

Narrator: New jersey couple kevin and dena agree they need more space,

but that's where the agreement ends.

Kevin: Babe, no way.

There's absolutely too much grass out here.

Look how much grass is out here. I love it.

We have different visions on what we're looking for.

I think it looks old.

Give it a chance. Mm.

Narrator: Kevin wants a fixer, but dena doesn't want to be

trapped in a construction zone forever.

We're done. Look at the kitchen.

Look at these walls, though. They could come right out.

What is that smell? It is horrible.

The bathroom looks really old.

I think we have to gut that, too.

Kevin: That should only take about 2 weeks.

You're a liar. [ laughter ]

you're lying to me now.

[ doorbell rings ]

♪♪

♪♪

all right. Do your split thing and your leg in the air.

Show us your dance.

All right. Ready?

Oh!

♪♪

yay!

Good job, monkey. Good job, baby.

I'm an operating engineer.

I work in heavy construction running machines.

And I'm a lead it project manager.

What kind of bedroom do you want in our new house

when we buy a new house, me and yaya?

Princess. A princess room?

Yeah?

We met on social media.

I almost didn't meet him. [ laughs ]

she didn't want to meet up with me.

She thought I was obnoxious in the beginning on the phone.

Yeah, I almost blew him off.

He was a little aggressive and...

And then by the first night hanging out,

by the end of the night, she stuck her tongue down my throat.

Kevin! [ laughs ]

me and dena have been together for a year now.

A long year. [ both laugh ]

we live in central new jersey,

20 minutes from the beach, 20 minutes from manhattan,

half-hour from the mountains and 2 hours from atlantic city.

Currently, I have an apartment with my brother,

but I stay with dena. It's a high rise.

It only has one bedroom, but we have isabella,

kevin's daughter, every other weekend.

Stuff is getting tight, so we need a house.

You need help with anything?

Yeah, can you grab me a plate out of the corner?

So, babe, have you found any more houses?

I been looking. [ sighs ]

I'm willing to spend up to $400,000.

Yeah, that's way too much money.

We could buy a house for $250,000,

put $50,000 into it,

be into it totally for 300 and have a beautiful house.

Listen, it's got to be quick, kev.

I really would rather have a house that's ready to go.

I'd rather spend a little more money

and be able to just walk in.

It's not going to happen. I want to get a fixer-upper.

I'd like a fixer-upper because I like to do the work myself.

I enjoy it more.

You accomplish something, and it's yours,

not somebody else's creation.

Kevin has a vision of what he wants to do,

and that's where he's going.

He's got tunnel vision, and he's a little bit bossy,

a little high-strung.

It gets a little stressful sometimes.

I really don't want to spend too long fixing a house,

like, two weeks max.

Two weeks max we know is not going to happen, but...

You can do it in two weeks.

As far as dena, she's a project manager,

so all day, she needs to understand the process

and everything have time lines and get done.

When you buy a house, there's no given thing.

You open a wall. It opens a can of worms,

so she wants exact time lines,

and I can't give it to her, so it frustrates me.

He wants to have a house that needs construction,

which is fine. I need to understand

how long that's going to take.

Modern is what you want. Oh.

You want gray and white, the modern.

I want my yellows, my tans and my browns. What is that called?

Is that called -- yours is modern.

Mine is called antique look.

Are we going to have, like, the pillars when you drive

into the driveway with the lions and the gargoyles?

With the lions, you mean? Yes.

Yes, we're going to have that. [ laughs ]

we're going to have the lions on top of the --

I don't know that I'm putting that.

I definitely want to have at least three bedrooms,

two baths, open kitchen and a big backyard.

It's a lot of work to have a big backyard.

I know, but you'll buy one of those ride-on lawnmowers.

You'll be fine. And then I'll give you the key,

and then you could go do the work.

Kevin: You want this huge park-like backyard,

and that's just work for me.

Dena: Make it happen, kevin.

♪♪

oh, john just text me a new place.

It looks like it might be a split.

[ groans ]

the inside is very, very, very old-looking.

What's the listing price?

$279,900.

That's right up my alley.

It sounds cheap and old to me.

That's what I like.

I walk in a house. I see the shell.

I see the potential, and I see what it can be.

I can fix it up myself, and we'll be at the $350,000 range.

John said he'll meet us there.

Okay, perfect.

My cousin, john, he's a real-estate agent,

and he's in construction, so he's helping us out a lot

through this process.

It's a lot easier to have somebody who knows

what they're doing, that's in this field to walk you through.

Dena: There's a fire hydrant right in front of the house.

That's great. That'll make our insurance go down.

But we can't park there.

Hey, we could save money, though.

I don't know. It looks really old.

Morning, john. John: What's up, guys?

What's going on?

Babe, I see you looking already.

I know there's no gutter or nothing here.

John, it looks a little old. It's easy to fix.

This looks like it's going to take more than two weeks to fix.

Kevin and dena can be a little tough sometimes.

This house has a great compromise for both of them.

It has the park-like backyard for her.

It has the fixer-upper for kevin.

Dena just has to bear with me a little bit.

Come on inside.

Wow. What do you think?

[ laughing ] what do you think, babe?

I think it looks old.

It's just the carpet, babe. We could pull this up.

There's probably hardwood floors underneath it,

but it does have an open floor plan that you like

when you walk into the house.

The great thing about working with kevin is,

we're both in construction, and we can see the vision

of what this house's true potential is.

We just have to get dena on board.

This place is a dump.

I mean, the carpet is gross.

It smells a little bit.

This house does not look modern at all.

I do like that we walked right into the living room here,

and there's a deck.

The backyard is actually pretty big.

Kevin: Babe, no way.

There's absolutely too much grass out here.

Look how much grass is out here. I love it.

It's huge. No way.

I'll be out here for hours cutting this.

I love it. This is ridiculous.

All right. It's cold.

I saw all that I need to see.

Oh, we're done.

Look at the kitchen.

Babe -- it's way too small.

Look at these walls, though. They could come right out.

Are you sure? This is not a load-bearing wall.

It could come right out.

Kev, we're going to have to gut the whole kitchen.

This is really old.

Well, it should only take about 2 weeks.

You're a liar. [ laughter ]

you're lying to me now.

At this price, I think this house has a lot of potential.

This kitchen, I know I can make everything dena wants it to be,

make it just drop-dead gorgeous for her.

Blow out that wall, blow out this wall,

you could take the sliding door, move it over here.

Then we could build a wall over here for you, babe.

I'm not sure if I could see myself living in

a construction zone for more than two weeks,

and it looks like it's going to take

two years to finish this house.

John. Cabinets all...

You knew this was going to be a lot of construction.

[ laughter ]

you knew! John: Let's give it a chance.

Let's take a look at the rest of the house.

Give it a chance. All right?

Sounds good? Mm.

Let's go upstairs.

So, this is the first bedroom here.

-Okay. -Okay.

This bedroom, I was thinking it could be for bella.

Kevin: Yeah, this is a perfect size for bella's, right?

Yeah, this is really great. It has lots of light.

Light coming in it.

We have one other bedroom here.

Mm-hmm. Okay.

You have your main bathroom there for your guests.

Wow. The bathroom looks really old.

I think we have to gut that, too.

Yeah, that's an easy fix. Don't worry, two weeks.

Two weeks. More like two years.

John: Let's take a look upstairs.

This is the master bedroom. Dena: Wow.

Kevin: Wow. Look at the ceilings.

I definitely like the height in this room.

Isn't it amazing? Look at that.

Kevin, where are you going to put your stuff?

You guys have your own master bath.

There's a hot tub.

Do you think it works?

Probably not. Oh.

Lots of work, kevin.

Come on, guys. Let's go see the family room.

Oh, this has a lot of nice light. It does.

It's a nice extra bonus room, though.

This is nice down here.

We could watch football games down here, the guys.

You could cook upstairs, bring us down food.

Mm, we'll see.

♪♪

the house doesn't really have the modern feel or look

that I was hoping to get.

Well, yes, it's definitely an older house

that needs updating,

but over time, we could make it

something that's acceptable for both of us.

I mean, we have to blow out the whole wall in the kitchen,

and you need to redo both of the bathrooms.

All of the carpeting needs to be redone.

Everything doesn't have to be done at one time

in this house, either.

We can do -- oh, yes, it does.

[ laughs ] you have to talk to her, john. All in two weeks.

I want to see a house that I can just move in

and not have to do any work.

♪♪

narrator: John is happy to oblige, but it won't come cheap.

-Yeah. -This is a big bathroom.

Kevin: Yeah, this is a nice bathroom. John: Yes, it is.

You would keep this?

I mean, for $420,000, we're going to keep everything.

[ laughter ]

♪♪

all right. Kev, I think it's a colonial.

Oh, nice. Well, I kind of like a more modern style,

but we'll take a look.

The other thing is, it's $420,000.

Wow.

New appliances, so that's really good.

I mean, at that price range, everything better be done.

It better be fully renovated.

Narrator: Kevin and dena are at loggerheads

over potential renovation in their home search.

Kevin is gunning for a cheap fixer,

but dena would rather pay more for something move-in ready.

Oh, wow, babe.

It looks like it has a new roof, vinyl siding.

I like all of the shrubbery. Very nice.

-Good morning, john. -Hey, kevin.

-How you doing? -How's everything?

-Good? -What's up, brother?

John: The reason I'm showing kevin and dena this house today

is because it's the closest to move-in ready

that I can find on the market today.

Oh, wow. It looks pretty big in here, huh?

I guess this is the dining room, john.

Yes. Okay.

Very good. I don't know.

It's open. It's not completely open.

What's not open about this?

This is very open, john. It's pretty open, right?

Well, this is partially open.

This is an extra-large doorway.

She likes a house with no walls, john. I want open.

I like the appliances, new appliances, so that's good.

Well, the house was done about 10 years ago.

Well, I would take this side out

and somehow put that over there,

and then this would be able to be open into the other room.

Well, at this price range, I don't want to move anything.

Kevin: Like I said, we're better off purchasing

a house at a cheaper price

than purchasing at this price and do renovations.

It's totally out of our range.

Oh, there's a pool.

It's freezing. I'm not going outside,

but we can look from here.

John: And we got some yard, just enough

for kevin to cut, right... [ laughs ]

and not too much. Not too much grass. Alright.

Dena: So...

Walls, walls, and more walls.

Do you realize it's, like, painted something

it is painted.

That's called wallpaper.

Look, they sprayed the light switch.

What is this?

Kevin: Walls. For real, what is this?

The texture? [ laughs ] john: The texture.

They put sand in the paint.

Can you paint over it?

It'll still have the sandy finish, babe.

It looks like john on the wall.

Keep it up. Wait. Please stand --

stand against the wall! Please! I'm going to blend in.

Can you guys get john next to the wall?

See that?

Of course, my cousin and his girl are giving me crap

about matching the walls in the house.

What can I say? I got a stylish dress.

It has carpets.

Carpet is easily changeable.

Well, it depends what's under the carpet, right?

It would be wood.

So, this is the master.

It's okay. It's not that big.

My furniture probably won't even fit in here, john.

Here is your closet.

Oh, I like it. Kevin: Oh, wow.

Whoa. This is a big closet.

Look at that now, huh?

Now, this is nice.

This is a closet.

This is very nice.

John: Changing your mind a little bit, huh?

I mean, it does have five bedrooms.

It does. So that's nice.

There are four up here and one downstairs.

I think this would be good for bell's room.

Feel the light and the warmth coming in.

Now, john, are the curtains included at this price?

Hey, I might be able to get them negotiated in. [ laughs ]

dena: This is a big bathroom. Yes, it is.

Yeah, this is a nice bathroom.

You would keep this?

I mean, at $420,000, we're going to keep everything.

[ laughter ]

double sinks are nice.

The space in this room is great.

We don't have a bathroom, our own bathroom off the master.

Well, not your own, but this one is close to the master.

Okay. Or you could knock down the wall

and build one right in the closet, babe.

There you go.

Check out this basement.

I think you're going to love it.

But it has carpet.

Kevin: It is nice, but $420,000 is a little high

for this property, I think.

It's good to have a finished basement, though.

We got a playroom for bella here.

Oh! That's nice.

Cute. Mm-hmm.

♪♪

well, I think it's a little too big, babe.

You don't think so?

No, I love the size of the house.

I mean, for 6,000 square feet,

I mean, it has a lot of rooms that we won't even use.

It's just me, you, and bella.

Yeah, but maybe one day we'll have a baby.

Uh-huh.

Ah, do I hear baby on the way?

Uh-oh. Never know. Maybe.

It has two nice decks.

I won't have to cut that much lawn.

I think aside from redoing carpet to floors and paint,

overall, it is move-in ready.

My thing is, though, I mean,

it's at the top of our price range, you know.

There's really not that much money in our budget

for me to make it our home, you know?

Like, I would like to put our touch on it.

Narrator: Careful what you wish for.

John has found them another option.

Ugh, what is that smell?

It's probably a cross between

cat pee and a funeral home.

♪♪

morning. We've got a beautiful cape cod.

Is that the yard, john?

That is the yard. It's this big.

Well, kevin doesn't have much grass to cut that way. [ laughs ]

I love it.

Asking price is just under $284,000.

So that leaves us some room to do renovations.

That's where you could put your personal touch on it.

That's exactly what I'm looking to do.

It looks like it has new steps.

Oh, look at this mudroom, john. Yeah, let's see.

You don't see these mudrooms anymore.

I tell you that.

John: There is hardwood floors under here.

Dena: Okay, that's good. Lots of carpet, right? Okay?

Yeah, but it's keeping it protected,

probably just have to sand and finish it,

and it should be in good condition.

Exactly. Okay.

So easy to restore.

We put a little recessed lighting here, you know,

make it look a little wide open,

give it a little light, make it brighter, look bigger.

And we have money in our budget

because this house is pretty cheap.

And you have central air.

Oh, that's good. That's perfect,

exactly what we're looking for.

Take a walk around to the bedroom to the right.

There's two bedrooms downstairs.

Again, not bad. Needs just a little spackle and paint,

maybe rip up the carpet, do the hardwood floors.

Windows are newer.

Listen, if this house has a little bit of paint on it,

a little bit of kevin's touches,

it's going to be perfect. Perfect.

A little bit of cleaning supplies.

The first bathroom is on your right.

Well, I think you have your work cut out for you in here.

Toilet is stained, shower, so I would want to gut it,

you know, probably rip it all out and start from scratch.

And what is this considered here, john?

This is the second bedroom downstairs.

Kevin: It looks like it has a dining room fixture in here, huh?

They used it as a dining room, correct.

With carpet? With carpet.

But what I was thinking of

because of the size of the kitchen

that we just take out those walls there

and make this a big kitchen all the way through.

Exactly what you love to do, babe --

take down walls. We will have the money

to make the changes to the house,

but we're going to be living in a construction zone

for quite some time.

Hey, it's worth it at the end, hon.

Oh, I see what you're saying, john.

Yeah, you definitely have to blow this out.

It's kind of small in here.

It is a small kitchen.

Dena: And very dated.

I'd prefer this one big room.

John: That's what I was saying because once this is open,

you have a very large open kitchen

that you want to have, and it's your custom to you.

Kevin: Absolutely.

I can see myself living in this house.

It's not too big, not too small.

It'll fit just me, bells, and dena all right.

This think this is definitely a contender.

Dena: I'm really concerned with having a construction zone.

I know kevin said he can do a lot of the projects

and we can do it ourself, save a lot of money,

but this looks like it's going to take

a really long time to complete.

John: Through that door is a three-seasons porch.

Kevin: Wow. This is a nice bonus here, john.

I bet in the summertime, it's beautiful.

You can open these windows here. Mm-hmm.

Bella could come out here and play since the backyard

is not that huge, so that's awesome.

I know you love this beautiful carpet again, babe.

It's everywhere.

Oh, it gets even fuzzier upstairs.

Wow.

Look at this luscious carpet.

Ugh, what is that smell?

It smells horrible.

It's only carpet. Oh!

We can rip it up.

It's probably a cross between

cat pee and a funeral home.

It is horrible. It is a stench. It is really bad.

Is this the master?

This is your master.

Oh, that's great.

Are you willing to take on -- I mean, this is pretty bad.

I would subcontract this part out,

or they could do this removal,

and I'll take everything else from there.

And there's your full bathroom, master bath.

Oh, I got to get out of here with the smell.

I'm sorry.

Perfect room for bella, right?

Yeah. Right off your bedroom.

Kevin: I mean, it's not bad up here, john.

We get rid of the smell, it wouldn't be bad at all.

John: It's an unfinished basement.

Dena: Okay.

So, you can make it your own.

I think this is the best space in the house.

Kevin: Yeah.

This could be kevin's little man space, right?

I might have to move down here.

[ laughs ] or a little woman space, right?

One of those things.

♪♪

well, now that I'm not upstairs smelling the room,

I like the size of the master room.

I like also that the bathroom is right on the master bedroom,

and bella will be right around the corner from us.

Downstairs seems to be really nice, wide-open space.

Kevin: Beautiful neighborhood.

But I think there's a lot of work that needs to be done.

I don't like the kitchen.

We can open walls, make that kitchen bigger.

I think we have to do a lot of construction.

The budget seems to be okay

for us to do those types of renovations.

We'll have to take a look at it.

♪♪

we got to talk about the houses.

I mean, this is a huge decision.

♪♪

kevin, we got to talk about the houses.

I mean, this is a huge decision.

Narrator: This jersey pair have seen several houses.

Now they have to pick one.

What about that split-level we seen?

You know, that house needed a lot of work.

Remember how small the kitchen was?

That was going to be a money pit.

It does need a lot of work, babe,

but that's what I'm looking to do,

to put our own touch and make it our home.

It had a giant yard.

Well, I think the yard was way too big.

That looks like nothing but work for me, a lot of maintenance.

It had a lot of trees.

I know the colonial, you really liked.

I liked the colonial a lot.

I know you were a big fan of that.

I don't have to be in construction

for a really long time.

It was, like, almost finished, move-in ready.

Yeah, it just needed paint and spackle,

but it was at the top of our price range.

Right, so we didn't have a lot to wiggle with

to do modifications.

We needed to kind of move in, keep it as-is mostly.

But it was kind of big, babe. It's just me, you and isabella.

That's a lot of space.

Well, it's just for now it's just me, you and isabella.

The cape cod that we seen, I really like it.

I could really put my touch on it.

It's on the lower end.

I put work into it, you will love that house.

It'll be gorgeous. I could knock down the one wall,

make your kitchen super big.

It had a full basement, which was nice.

I liked the master bedroom, but it didn't smell very good.

It had a lot of potential in that house.

I think we have three great prospects here.

Mm.

I don't know.

♪♪

I know you really want to be able to, like,

make modifications and make it...

Both: Our home.

Yes, babe. Then I guess that

I would lean more towards the split.

It had a big park-like yard, four bedrooms,

two bathrooms, as long as you promise

I won't be living in construction forever.

Promise? I promise.

[ doorbell rings ]

what are you doing, kev?

Well, I'm going to try to take these legs

off the top of the headboard so maybe we can get it upstairs.

You think it's going to fit?

I don't know, babe, but we're going to try.

We're going to figure it out one way or another.

We're going to get it up there.

We made our offer on the split-level.

Thank god they took it, and we've been living here

for two months now.

We ended up overbidding it,

so we secured the sale at $285,000.

You don't think it's just time to sell this?

Not at all. Would you look at this thing?

This thing makes me the king of the castle.

No, this is a beautiful piece.

You'll never find another bedroom set like it.

I definitely made the most compromises.

As you will see, we are living in construction.

I could say maybe she did just a little bit.

[ both laugh ]

we've ripped up the carpet in the bedroom,

found plywood floors, not hardwood.

I'd say isabella's room is about the only one

that's close to being done.

She still needs paint and other things,

but there's a bathroom that he's getting ready to remodel.

There's tons of equipment and doors

in one of the extra rooms.

There's nothing that's completely finished yet.

What else are we going to do if it doesn't fit?

Well, I'm going to have to cut that header right there

and resupport it and get it up there and then...

[ exhales deeply ] ...Reframe it out.

Ooh, it's more construction.

I didn't want construction,

but I know it's going to be worth it in the end.

I love the yard. It's huge.

Well, you have to compromise.

It's not always one person's way or the other.

Thank god she let me take down some trees, so, you know,

it's less yard work, less leaves in the springtime.

During this process, kevin and I got engaged,

and let's see what comes up next.

Maybe we'll make a baby.

[ laughs ] you never know.

Only time will tell.

♪♪