All language subtitles for Backed.by.the.Bros.S01E01.720p.WEB.H264-JFF_[English] (SUBRIP)

[Drew] This season
on Backed by the Bros.

They've done some
investment properties before,

so they should know
a little something.

If they don't know
a little something,

they're about to learn
a little something.

[Jonathan]
Massive undertaking.

Potentially, massive profit.

It smells like money.

We just want to help people

get into good investments
or to help save them

from what's turning
into a bad investment.

I don't know what I'm doing.

I've never flipped
a house before.

[Jonathan] Had you fixed
this up and rented it out

from the beginning,

you would've made
over $400,000.

Oh.

-Hello. Hi.
-Nice to meet you.

[man] Welcome to my nightmare.

[Drew]
So we wanna back to you, guys.

-[cheering]
-[laughs]

Thank you so much.

$100,000?
You're fricking nuts.

What you're looking
at doing with this house
seems impossible.

If we don't think
our services would be enough,

then we're not gonna back it.

You're starting
to get desperate

and you'll make decisions
that are not good decisions.

-It's gonna be
an uphill battle.
-[Jonathan] Yikes.

This is gonna look beautiful.

Tied in with the warmer tones.

Obviously this needs
some work.

What's the new cost
for all this?

-It's six to seven grand.
-[Drew grunts]

This is the kind of thing
you hate to see.

What the heck? Oh, no.

No, you didn't.
We talked about that.

They're already
200 grand in the hole.

[woman] It's do or die for us.

If it goes south,
it could ruin us.

[Jonathan]
These are real investors.

They're not all
gonna be successful.

He did not take our advice.

He framed for five bedrooms.
He didn't go for four.

On paper,
some things can look great.

In person,
whole different story.

We got a problem.
You got to tell these guys

to stop everything
right now.

If they don't get this right,
I think they're done.

I wanna put a second-story.

Is that something
you've run by the brothers?

[Jonathan] I'm starting
to actually have
second thoughts

about whether or not we should
have backed this project.

[woman] This is life-changing.

This is gonna turn
the page to my career.

All right.
Who wants to make some money?

[dramatic music playing]

-Howdy.
-So this is it?

-This is it.
-[Jonathan] It looks
like industrial.

-[Drew] Yeah.
-[Jonathan] What is it?

Oh, this is
the utility right away.

They probably got this

as the cheapest house
in the entire area.

We're meeting up with some
pretty seasoned flippers,

James and Isabel.

But they have
found themselves
in over their heads

with their latest property
in NoHo.

NoHo or North Hollywood,
for those who don't know,

is actually a pretty
great area.

Very close to restaurants,
theme parks,

all kinds of great stuff.

[Drew] Also,
it's a great rental market.

We've been flipping houses
for the past...

[Isabel] Oh, seven years.

[James] And we've
always been successful.

We bought this house
for $750,000.

Our goal with this property
was to build

an apartment building.

But, after spending
tons of money on the plans

and trying to get them
approved by the city,

they eventually said no.

Now our goal is to flip
this house, make some money,

or, at least,
get our money back

and wash our hands
of this place.

If this investment fails...

Well, it can't fail.
It cannot fail.

They've done some
investment properties before,

so they should know
a little something.

If they don't know
a little something,

they're about to learn
a little something.

[Jonathan] To figure out
who we're gonna help,

and if we can help,

we're gonna kick those tires.

Then we wanna understand

if they know
what they're doing

and can get the project done.

It's kind like
a two-pronged approach.

We're looking
at the investment property

and we're looking
at the investor.

-Good. How are you?
-Hey, pleasure.

-[James] Come on in.
-[Drew] Nice to meet you.

-Isabel.
-Hi, I'm James.
Nice to meet you.

[Jonathan] What is the goal
for this place?

So our original goal
was to tear it down

and build
an apartment building

and then the city crushed
our plans for that, so.

Wait, this is just
single-family residential.

What made you think
you could do that?

In the '60s,
a Q condition was set.

It operated as a school
for a long time.

And we bought it
when the preschool closed.

And so, I bet you,
because you're not operating

a school off of it.

That's correct.
Zoning doesn't...

-Oh, my gosh. That is--
-...transfer like that.

[James] That's interest,

the architect, engineer...

-[Isabel] Insurance.
-...and then, insurance.

Only to learn, we can't build
an apartment building.

And it cost you
how much?

We've spent over $100,000.

-Oh, my God.
-[Isabel] Just waiting.

[Drew] I would never spend
that much money

that early on a project

when you don't even know
what you can do.

A bad thing happened.

That money's gone now.

We need to take
the emotion out of it

and think how can you get

the most back out
of this property?

So you're looking
at just to flip it?

-And we have to get going.
-And it has to happen fast.

[Drew] Okay. What do you need
to sell it for

and how much
is your rental budget?

$100,000, we could bring it up
to I think $1.2

and then we could at least
break even on the sale.

Okay. 'Cause I think one to $1
to $1.2 is a bit of a dream

because it looks
like there's a lot

more than $100,000
that has to happen.

I would assume
you're gonna have to redo

pretty much
all your electrical.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

[Drew] Oh.

There's so much that's
gonna have to be torn out.

Were you guys planning
to redo all lighting?

-[Isabel] Yes.
-[James] Yes.

This would become the kitchen.

-This'll be the kitchen.
-This is the kitchen.

Okay. What's this about?

[James]
That's an illegal addition

that the city says
we have to tear down.

This is also illegal.

This where we're
standing right here,

this shouldn't be enclosed
and covered up.

These should be
the exterior walls.

Normally when we flip a house,

we completely gut it
and fix everything,

but we don't have that
in the budget.

[Drew] Now, there's a lot.
I mean, honestly,

everywhere you look
there are issues.

You're stuck on $100,000
for this project.

Literally,
what you're looking
at doing with this house

is spreading it so thin
across the whole home

to make it appealing
to any buyer

that it seems impossible.

[James] It's what we have.

Our kids' college
savings is gone.

And we pulled out
my retirement

that I had, like, a $401K.

You said kids' college fund.
How many kids do you have?

[James] We have five kids.
We have a six-year-old,

a three-year-old,
a two-year-old,

-and five-week-old twins.
-[Isabel] Twins.

-Wait. You have
five-week-old twins?
-Five-week-old twins?

-Yeah.
-How are you doing?

-Wow.
-She's a hero.

[Isabel]
We got into real estate
exactly for this reason,

to be with our kids,
to be able to raise them.

And it's a dream
that's being crushed

by the situation.

It's a really hard thing

because you have made
a couple of the mistakes

that a lot of people
make that think,

"Oh, I can get
this money back.

I'll just pull out
of my savings.

I'll pull out
of the kids' college fund."

And then, all of a sudden,
you're in this bind.

This is how
a lot of people go under.

There are gonna be
some very tough decisions

that you're gonna have
to make on this.

I'll tell you,
if I was walking into this,

looking at this saying,
"I'm gonna renovate it,"

I would probably say,

"I could do this
for 175 grand."

$100,000?

-You're fricking nuts.
-I mean--

[Isabel] So you don't think
it's gonna happen?

[Jonathan]
I don't think you can do it.

You are going to have
to roll up your sleeves

-and do some work.
-That's what we have.

And your contractor's
gonna have to do some favors.

Every square inch needs
to be touched.

We haven't even
looked outside yet.

I see a lot of debris
and it goes back so far.

For someone who wants
a relaxing backyard,

the airplane, the buzzing
of the power lines.

That sort of crackling sound.

Oh, you'd be surprised.

We sold one of these
right under the power lines.

[Jonathan]
You guys are in a really
disadvantaged situation here

because you literally have
a stack of $100,000.

That's all
you're willing to spend.

Number one thing
I would say,

don't even consider a flip.

If you were looking
to do this as a pure flip,

you're not gonna make
your money back.

I would say short-term rental.

You know, vacation rentals.

You could charge $300 a night,

two grand per week.

I don't think we can back this

if it's just a fix-and-flip.

I don't know that
they'll get their money back.

But if they make this
a short-term rental,

they will definitely make
their money back

over time and then some.

It's airport-friendly,
close to Hollywood.

This lot isn't great,
but NoHo is sought after,

especially
for vacation rentals.

[James] It was a bit
of a smack in the face,

'cause I'd been leaning
toward flip

rather than rental.

[Isabel] This has put
a dent in my confidence.

-We're worried.
-[James] I think... I think

we need them more
than we realize.

Well, I would hope
to prove them wrong.

I think it's a good investment

'cause it's
in a great neighborhood.

It is no longer
a good investment.

Now, you're just trying
to save your investment.

If you spend really smart,

there's still an opportunity

to make money
on this property.

If we're gonna back you,
we need confidence

that you know
what you're doing

and you're being realistic.

Backing onto
the utility corridor

is not a good spot.

[Isabel] It's not a good spot.

But it's not the worst either.

It doesn't mean
we cannot squeeze it in.

Even after the tough love
from the brothers,

I still hope they back us

because they do still have
the expertise.

They do still have the ideas,
the supplies, the experience.

And, I just feel
like just their touch,

their touch on things
is the miraculous one.

Let us think about this

and then
we'll touch base, okay?

All right.
Thank you for coming.

-[Jonathan] Yeah.
-Thank you.

See you. Hope they help.

[James] If the brothers
don't back us,

then our dream
of continuing to flip houses

and spend so much time
with our kids is in jeopardy.

Yikes. It's a mess.

This is the problem.
They're starting in a hole.

They're 100 grand
out-of-pocket,

and they haven't
even done anything yet.

I mean, there's a path
to a profitable rental,

but there is no way on earth

that this renovation
is $100,000.

-[Drew] I don't see it.
-[Jonathan] Period.

All right. I'll meet you
at the other house.

-Oh, yeah.
-This is...

This is a head-shaker.

[Drew] Yeah.

[upbeat music playing]

[Drew]
We are on our way to Burbank

to meet Leanne and Renato,

and they're
a divorced couple,

but they still own
the house together,

and they wanna turn
their garage into an ADU.

We're specifically
looking for investors

who need help
to reach their full potential.

We just wanna use
the full weight

of our resources
and our mentorship

to help people get
into good investments

or to help save them
from what's turning

into a bad investment.

And after analyzing
each investor,

if we don't think
our services would be enough,

then we're not
gonna back them.

What's happening?

-We know this area.
-Yeah. I love it.

I mean, this is one of
the areas we were looking at

when we were first
moving to the city.

Streets are just gorgeous

and it's easy
to get everywhere.

Vacancy is around 4% here.

I think it's great
in California

how they're encouraging
everyone to have an ADU.

The one thing that's kind
of nice too with these houses,

you have the garages set back,

still accessible
from the front.

So, from a rental perspective,

it does feel
like your own little home,

your own little entrance.

[Renato]
When we purchased the house,

what was so unique about it
was this big garage.

And for us,
it's, like, this is great,

someday, to convert it
into a usable space.

[Leanne]
It's taken over 20 years

for us to consider
even doing this.

Our ultimate goal
is to actually bring in

some extra income
for the family.

[Renato]
It would help definitely

with the month-to-month
for us.

-Here we go.
-Uh-huh.

-Hey.
-Hello.

-Hi. Hello.
-[Drew] How are you?

-[Renato] How you doing?
-So great to see you, guys.

-Yay. Hello.
-[Jonathan] Pleasure.

-Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you too.

-Well--
-Nice place you got here.

[Leanne] Yes. Thank you.

Used to be married,
now just friends.

We're divorced.
We're divorced.

We were married for 24 years

and then, the last 11 years
has been divorced,

but have always
remained best of friends.

[Leanne] We do have
three daughters together

and we own
the house together.

I live in the house
with the girls.

[Renato] Yeah.
And I live not too far.

-And how old are the kids?
-Twenty-four,

-twenty, and eighteen.
-[Drew] Okay.

How did this idea
to get the rental in come up,

the ADU come up?

[Renato] I mean,
when we had bought the house

back in the day,
it's like a double, right?

-The gentleman that was here--
-To four--

Oh, it goes all the way.

Oh, yeah. That's why
we wanna do it in the back.

[Renato] The front here was,

obviously,
primarily to park cars,

but the back, it was a shop.

[Leanne] This is all storage.

[Drew] This is a dream
to have though.

Like in the city,
in this area,
you don't find this.

Between the back area
and the front area,

what's your total
square footage?

I think it's about
800 square feet.

[Jonathan] I mean that
would be a pretty massive--

Well, that's why
we would just do this.

Oh, you only wanna do
the back?

Yeah. We wanna keep this
as a garage

since the kids
still live here.

[Jonathan]
How much would the rent be

if you were renting out
just this back?

We'd like to do,
like, $2,800 to $3,000.

Where did you get
your stats on for that?

My cousin has a ADU

and they built a two bedroom,

two bath,
and she's paying $3,100, so--

They had two bedroom
is 800 square feet.

But you wanna get about
the same as what she's getting

for just less than
500 square foot, one bedroom.

[Jonathan] It's not realistic.

And for a one bedroom
in an area like this,

-I mean--
-$1,800 to $2,200

depending on what you have,
how new it is.

[Jonathan]
Is there a shared yard space?

Well, there's a little patio.

-I can show you.
-Behind the garage.

-Which way?
-Yeah. We can go...

-We can go--
-[Jonathan] This way?

-Yup.
-[Leanne] Yeah. Yeah.

So I wanted
to do French doors

to come out
to the little patio area.

[Drew] So you want
a private garden here,

you wanna cut open
a hole here for a door?

[Renato] It offers that quiet,
which is really good.

[Drew]
Well, the nice thing too is,

if they have this,
you could gate this off

so they don't even need
to walk around the side
of the house.

-That's all yours.
-Yeah. Exactly.

This is their own
little private Idaho.

We have had
some contractors come out

and give us some prices,

like $40,000 or something.
But that was--

-[Drew] Wait,
$40,000 to do what?
-To finish this into an ADU?

Yeah. I don't think
it was once--

Not a chance in hell.

-No.
-[Leanne] Yeah.

[Jonathan]
You have a unique situation.

Most people's garage
is just like 400 square feet.

-[Leanne] Exactly.
-[Jonathan] That's it.

Keep using the garage,

convert the back
into a rental space,

probably cost you
about 150 grand.

Somewhere $130,000,
$150,000 to get done.

Be realistic with
what the numbers are gonna be.

If you're only able to get
$1,800 to $2,100 in rent,

would you still be okay
with that or is that
not enough?

[Leanne] Because we have
to get a loan for $150,000,

I guess it just depends

on what the monthly cost
would be.

Oh, so you're gonna get a loan
to do this work here?

Yes. Yeah.
We have to get a loan.

So, have you calculated

how much interest
you'll pay on the loan

versus what you would bring in
for rental?

-No, that's a... That's a...
-No, that's a--

[Renato] That's a great point.

What's the motivation
to do this?

Why go through
all this headache

and heartache
at the end of the day?

I am the one
that lives in the house

with the three girls

and it would take a little bit

of the burden off of me.

Ah. I'd like
to make extra money,

because I work two jobs.

And, I have this space
and it's like...

It would be great
to be able to use that

to bring the income in.

So, it's just all the numbers

is just overwhelming.

If you were able to rent
the entire thing out

to get $3,000
or close to that,

would you do that
over just the backend?

Because that would be
a better investment.

It's gonna up the price

of actually doing
the construction.

Exactly.
It would not be $150,000

-to do 800 square feet.
-The loan would go up

and up and up, and... Yeah.

-But your income then goes up.
-[Leanne] Yeah.

That's why the math
is so important.

Oh, the numbers. Yeah.

What was it
you would need from us?

I just feel
like I could trust you guys

to make sure that
it's the best it can be.

-We have a bit to think about
and to talk through.
-[Leanne] Yeah.

I want you to really be honest
with yourselves, talk through.

Would you wanna do the back,

would you wanna do
the whole thing?

-It's a tough conversation.
-[Leanne] I know.

We waited so long.

It definitely
will be a letdown

if we do not get
to do this ADU.

-[Renato] All right.
-Thank you, guys.

-Take care, guys.
-Thank you so much.

It's all on the line.
We're going for it.

But we need them to help us.

[Jonathan] Now that
I've seen that property,

I think I know
who I wanna back.

[Drew] Yeah. I've seen enough.

They need us
for these projects,

and we have a lot
on the line, too.

This is our time,

our reputation, our resources.

That's not unlimited.

That's what we have
to try and figure out.

Who can we benefit the most,

what can we bring
to the table,

what can they bring
to the table.

They are the ones
doing the work,

they're leading the charge.

We are here to support.

So if somebody's
expecting us to come over

and take the reins, no.
This isn't for us.

[Jonathan]
We need to pick smart

because time is
our most precious commodity

and we cannot waste it.

Leanne and Renato
are investment rookies.

They have a dream and need
to bring in extra income.

They have nothing ventured
but possibly a lot

to gain with their ADU.

I'd like to make extra money.

[Jonathan]
James and Isabel are
full-time property investors

with a dream of building well

so that they can have time
to raise their huge family.

But they're at a jam,

and that dream is at risk.

There's a lot of emotion here

and a lot at stake
for both investors.

Okay. So comparing
to James and Isabel's house.

I mean, James and Isabel's
house is ready to go.

[Drew] I like that James
is willing to get in there

and get handy
and do the work himself.

I think they would probably do
some of the work themselves,
too.

Yeah. If you think about
the actual construction,

James and Isabel's place
is a lot more complicated.

This is an ADU conversion,

this would be a lot easier.

They'd still have to submit
permits and everything

whereas Isabel
and James are ready to go.

And they're
also ready to sink.

They're so in debt,
they need something done now.

Leanne was about
to burst into tears.

[dramatic music playing]

-You know, we can't do both.
-[Drew] No.

We only have one crew
coming available right now.

We have some extra materials
and things too

that could help one of them.

We're on the same
page, right?

I think
we're on the same page.

I think
we're on the same page.

I think
there's only one choice.

-James and Isabel.
-[Drew] Yeah.

[Jonathan] Boom. All right.

Let's give them a call.

[line ringing]

-Hey.
-[James] Hello.

All right.
We really like you guys

and we think your heart's
in the right place

with what you wanna do,

I think there are
some learnings.

Yes. But you're also busy

with six-week-old babies,

so we would like
to back you

and take some pressure
off your plate.

-Thank you. We're so excited.
-Amazing.

You really got dealt
a bad hand,

not being able to build
the apartment building.

So we're gonna
get over there.

We're gonna bring
some of our crew

who I think will be
the perfect fit.

[Drew] We know
your budget's tight,

you've already spent
way more than you wanted to,

and you've been
in this project

for way longer
than you wanted to,

so we wanna get you
over the finish line.

-Thank you so much.
-Thank you so much.

And I'll get my hands dirty.

I'll do anything I can
do to get it done.

-All right.
We'll see you soon.
-All right. Thanks y'all.

-Thank you.
-[Jonathan] Bye, guys.

We're not gonna back
Leanne and Renato right now.

We have
the resources available,

but they're still not
at the point

where they can benefit
from them.

They're just not ready.

So we'll give them advice

on how to get
their ADU up and running,

how to crunch some numbers,

and they'll definitely
benefit from that.

[Drew] Yeah. And we asked them
to reach out to us

when they have their plans

and their permits in place.

And who knows, down the road,
maybe it might work out

that we can help them
in the future.

[Jonathan] Hey, hey.

Hey. What's happening?

First red flag
for James and Isabel.

Even though using
our own contractor

is always the best choice,

they have
their existing contractor

that they've been
working with.

-Warning, warning.
-Yeah.

Well, that's what
I'm trying to figure out is,

is it a good thing

that they've
already worked with him

or is it a bad thing

because we know
our trades we can trust.

Have they sunk
a lot of money in

with this contractor?

[Jonathan] I mean, he said
that he's used this guy

on other projects
and he trusts them.

I think the city
will be flexible about it.

Okay. Sounds good.

I like it
when we have our dream team

of our contractors

and our design team.

We can put
our contractor on it

but the trouble is,

our contractor's
only available

for four to five weeks
which isn't enough.

And I don't wanna risk
losing him for even longer.

That'll mess up
other projects.

But, if we can have
somebody on our team

working with him...

[Drew] Gianna's available.

I think we can give her
six weeks on this.

[Jonathan] The one thing
actually with Gianna

that would be a good fit
with this project

is she's always
laser-focused on budgets.

I mean, that's a good idea,
sort of design mentorship
from her,

overall project mentorship
from us.

And we're gonna have
to help bump up

their budget
with some materials.

It will get James
and Isabel back on track.

If they really wanna go
with their contractor

and they trust him

because they've used him
in the past,

I think that's fine,

as long as Gianna
can keep an eye on things.

We just need
to keep them reined in.

[Jonathan] Yeah.
I think you're right.

We're not walking away with
anything from these projects

other than we wanna maintain
our reputation.

We don't wanna have
our resources or our time

or our money drawn
into a project

that is just a black hole.

We are headed
to North Hollywood

to introduce James
and Isabel to Gianna

who's a designer
we've worked with
for a long time.

She's already put a lot
of work into the design plans

and I think
we have a solid path

to help James and Isabel

turn this money pit
into a money maker.

They are providing
100 grand towards the reno

plus their sweat equity
and their contractor.

In addition to Gianna,
we're backing them

with some free construction
and design materials,

and the mentorship
we think they need

to fight through this.

We wanna get this place
rented in six weeks.

Seems like a quick turnaround

but we're both bringing
a lot to the table

so we think
we can pull it off.

-Hello.
-[James] Hello.

[Jonathan] What's happenin'?

-This is Gianna.
-[Gianna] Okay. Hi.

Hi. Nice to meet you.

If we keep the space open
as much as we can,

we'll make it very light
and lovely

with some light LVP flooring

and light and bright colors.

We have
the living room in here.

We'd make that
a singular window

and then put cabinets
on either side.

The kitchen
would have open shelves near

where the stove would be.

[Drew] All things renters
are looking for

and should be advertised
in your listing.

[Isabel] Okay.

[Jonathan] So Gianna,
tells us you're thinking
of splitting this space

into two bedrooms
to turn this house

from a three-bedroom
into a five-bedroom?

-[Isabel] Yes. Correct.
-[James] Yeah.

[Jonathan]
But these two bedrooms

wouldn't have a bathroom
on this wing?

[James] There wouldn't be, no.

[Isabel]
No, there would be nothing.

[Drew] That's not functional.
It's a better investment

to make this
a four-bedroom house

and turn this area
into a great primary suite

by adding a bathroom.

-[Isabel] Oh.
-[James] I don't know.

You know, you have
the bathroom right here

and a nice closet.

This is really...
It's a nice appeal

to people to have
a nice primary suite.

[Drew]
So many people just think

for a short-term rental

about the number of bedrooms.

But if you have
these tiny little bedrooms

that feel like
you're in a prison cell,

do you actually expect
to get top dollar rent? No.

[Gianna] Out here is
where we have to kind

of pinch the pennies.

We just have to put
some ground cover,

maybe some mulch.

Just something
to make everything

look clean and fresh.
Different areas

for the amount
of people you want

just to have out here,

just extra living space.

You'll have different zones,

so we'll have a dining area,

have, like,
a nice sitting area.

They can have
a nice little playground

because it fits families
who are traveling.

[Drew] Yeah.
Families love this stuff

and they will pay
more for it.

[Jonathan]
You mentioned raising
the height of the wall

-for privacy--
-[Isabel] I would like that.

[Jonathan] That would be nice.

[Isabel] I think
that's essential,
I'm just saying.

Let's make sure
we know exactly

where our spend
is in the other areas

before we go to a header

because that's a nicety.

We have necessity
and then we have nicety.

You're saying this is...

-[Isabel] There you go.
-So that's
what you want?

-It makes a difference
because you see the sun--
-[Gianna] Yeah.

Because it all...
It blocks out

some of the power lines,
you know?

[Jonathan]
Oh, give me a break. Look up.

-[Isabel] It's aesthetics.
-Look up.

What are you blocking out?

[Drew] Well,
we will be smart with spend.

You have Gianna here
who knows how to save money

and still make it
look great.

You guys get
going on demo,

Gianna will lock in plans

that'll be great for rent,
and then we'll be back.

-Sounds good.
-All right. Excellent.

-Thank you.
-I'm excited.

For short-term rental
in this area,

they can get
at least $60,000

or $70,000 in revenue
a year,

which would get them back
on their feet.

If they convert this
to a four bedroom,

three and a half bath,

that'll be better
for resell value.

[James] Oh,
it'll be so much fun.

Give me a hug.
Give me a big hug.

-Listen to Mommy.
-[girl] Mommy.

[Isabel] Yes.

The way how it look,

-in the back.
-Yeah, it looks terrible.

[James] Work has finally
started at this house.

It's been about 18 months
waiting for plans,

anything to get moving
on this house,

and it feels so good
to have finally, you know,

broken ground, as they say.

Demoed, knocked down walls,

getting rid of things that
aren't supposed to be here.

-[James] It's a new
door now, right?
-[Adolpho] Yeah, right.

[James] You can come
right through it.

And I feel like...

It smells like money.

I think we can
knock these down.

One of the ways we're
keeping this budget low

is by rolling up
my sleeves and getting

as much work down
as I can myself.

I'm gonna be tackling
the landscaping,

the exterior painting,
and anything else

that comes up that I think
I can get done without

having to shell out
money to someone else.

Isabel and I split
the work pretty well.

So we are very busy at home
and then very busy at work.

We have twin newborns
at home

and three other kids.
It's...

She's there just taking
care of all of them.

[Adolpho grunts]

[James] What else
do we have left here?

Yeah. We gotta
totally remove the drywall

and then we're gonna remove
the ceiling joists one by one,

and after that,
we're removing the wall.

[James] Okay. And then
we'll have this opened up,

we can have
a nice exterior patio.

[Adolpho] That's right.
It will be totally nice.

-Can we knock
some drywall down?
-That's right.

You can knock some drywall,
right, James.

Follow you. Oh, my God.

[upbeat music playing]

[notification ping]

[Jonathan] Oh.

Oh, my gosh, these guys.

[line ringing]

Hey, hey. We got a problem.

You gotta tell these guys
to stop everything right now.

Got the photos.

Thanks for sending.

We got a problem.
You gotta tell these guys

to stop everything right now.

They're not wearing
any safety gear of any kind.

There are no harnesses
on anybody on the roof.

You gotta be on top
of your guys 'cause

there's no standards of any
kind being practiced there.

And you're still liable
at the end of the day.

I'll go talk to them.
I'll make sure that they

get all their
PPE and harnesses,

everything they're
supposed to have.

Yeah. It's really important.

It just takes one accident
to ruin your business.

[James] I think Jonathan
was totally right.

It's dangerous and you don't
want your guys getting hurt.

So moving forward,
if I ever have someone up

on the roof,
I'm gonna make sure that

they're harnessed and
anchored and they can't fall.

We made so many
mistakes early on.

I wish we had a mentor
who could tell us,

"Oh, no, guys, bad idea.
Rookie mistake."

[James] Demo's complete,
plumbing is done,

and electric is...

-[Isabel] Almost done.
-...almost done, too.

And now we're basically
reworking the floor

plan of the home
to fit what we want.

And we put
new windows in, huh?

-Okay. Let me see.
-[James] All right.

Perfect.

-All good.
-How do they look?

[Isabel] I... Yeah.

-It looks fine.
-[James] Yeah.

It's really good. I mean,

windows make
a big difference.

Can I ask you why did
we need to do this?

The windows were
completely coated

in lead-based paint
and they were all crackling.

Nine windows
we had to replace.

How much do these
add to our budget?

Uh, about $2,000.

-That's 2% of our budget.
-[Isabel] Where is this
coming from...

Yeah. I mean, where
is this all coming out from?

-Like...
-I don't know.

What else can we save on?

I don't know, we have to pinch
pennies somewhere else.

[Isabel] The brothers
did tell us that this is

absolutely impossible
to do within 100K.

And I disagree with them
and I wanna prove them wrong

because I think
it's possible, but...

I can't wait
to prove them wrong.

This is... Uh, well, they're
starting to be right, so.

[laughs]

Keep your fingers crossed.

Check out all this
framing we got done.

[Isabel] Oh, wow.

Hey, this place looks good.

It doesn't seem as
small as I thought.

[James] I like it, too.

And we took that,
what was formally the garage,

did not follow
the brothers' advice,

and we made two
great bedrooms.

Jonathan and Drew making
out there was gonna be

these two tiny
bedrooms, but...

-But they're not that bad.
-...these are big bedrooms.

-I mean, they may be--
-They're not the widest

but they're, like...

This one's like 18-feet long,

I think this one's
14 and a half.

I mean, I'm sad
that we couldn't do

what they said because I would
have liked the big bedroom

with the bathroom
and a closet but--

I'm not sad.

I really like
what we got here.

I like what we got, too.

They weren't paying for it,
we are.

-[Isabel] Okay.
-So we get to make
the choices.

Adolpho's quote of $30,000
to put in a bathroom,

that would've been a 30%
increase in our budget.

30% is not okay.

Knowing we're already
over budget just brings up

so many pains of this house.

But our challenge right
now is to just make it

happen within our budget.

[soft upbeat music playing]

[Jonathan] I'm on my way
to James and Isabel's place

to see it in person.

I just wanna make
sure we're on track.

And especially with Gianna,
she's costing Drew and me

about three grand a week
to be here on this project.

I need to make sure she's
not gonna be there forever.

But I left the call with
James a little bit anxious.

We have to do things
right and I wanna make sure

this investment
is a win for them.

But, uh, I don't know.

I'm kind of getting
the feeling that

maybe they're not
as coachable as I'm hoping.

The two of them, are they
actually listening to you?

I mean, I...

They know what they want.

[Isabel] I think I have
some ideas about

the colors in the kitchen.

I chose, like,
cabinets that are green,

they match with
the beautiful countertop.

I like the cabinet color.

A little concern that
maybe there's a little

too much of a choice...

-Okay.
-...for renters.

I like it so...

The thing is, it doesn't
matter what you want,

it's what will
the end user want

and that's what's gonna
get you a better price,

get you more renters.

Real important question
'cause it just started...

-Oh, yes.
-...storming outside.

Do we have a roof
on everything?

That is a great question.

I was just gonna call
my husband to make sure.

Let me check in on them.
Are they over here?

-[Isabel] Yes.
-Okay.

-Hey... Oh, hey.
-Hello.

You're the man
I'm looking for here.

I was actually just
asking if you've got

roof everywhere
that you need roofing?

We do. Yeah, we do.

I was wondering that
earlier today actually.

You're mudding,
which is a good sign,

means you're coming around
the corner, final stretch.

I see two doors.

There are two doors
that are over there.

[Jonathan] Wait.
You went against our advice.

We said to make this a bigger
primary suite instead.

[James] So we
thought about it a lot.

And it just wasn't
gonna be in the budget.

We were just weren't gonna
be able to make it work.

So yeah, we decided,
for short term rentals,

the number of bedrooms
was gonna be more important

than a large primary suite.

I thought we had
talked through this.

I thought they knew
the benefits, and now,

because they're trying
to save $30,000,

I think they're actually
costing themselves double

or triple that when they
eventually go to sell.

They're not listening
to our advice

and they've lost
an opportunity

to make more money.

It's disappointing.

Are you having the mudders
clean this up?

[James] Yes, I just realized
that when we were here now.

[Jonathan] How long do you
think it's gonna be

before you get all
the mudding done and...

The rain is gonna
slow the drying down,

the tile guy is ready to go,
and then...

And, you know, then, we gotta
get kitchen cabinets and...

-Yeah, floors.
-[Jonathan] Wait. Sorry.
Hold on. You said tile guy?

In the bathrooms, yeah.

[Isabel] I mean,
he's ready to go now.

I don't see how
we can be ready for tilers

to starts when
we still have so much stuff

and some of it's even still
demo, like that's when you

start to get people
tripping over each other

and the damage happens,
and then, who pays for it?

-You do.
-We do, yeah.

-[James] Yeah.
-Yeah.

[Jonathan] You guys
are rushing and
you're gonna make

mistakes that will cost us
all time and money.

Oh, those illegal
additions are gone.

This is gonna look
1,000 times better.

Oh, your roofing
isn't fully done here.

You actually
have a negative grade

-underneath
your vent over there.
-[James] I know.

[Jonathan] So that needs to
be fixed, too, or you're gonna

have all your new mud
drywall inside get damaged.

This is your job
as the owners of this project

is to walk around
and make sure that your

subs are doing what
you want them to do.

And that they're also
putting your money

where it's best spent.

Between the unsafe roofing
and now this, I don't think

you have as good a handle on
your subs as you think you do.

I'm a little nervous
for you guys.

-[upbeat music playing]
-[Jonathan] Hello.

[Drew] Hi.

[Jonathan] I'm just leaving
James and Isabel's place,

and it is definitely
chaotic over there.

[Drew] As chaotic as
it is here right now?

[Jonathan] Way more so.

He's jumped into
some decisions,

like he framed
for five bedrooms,

he did not take our advice,
so he didn't go for four.

[Drew] Really?

If that was a really beautiful
main bedroom suite

over there instead of being
two smaller bedrooms,

I think they would've
had better resale value.

But how's the quality of the
work with what they're doing?

[Jonathan] I'm just worried
that the project as a whole

may not represent itself
the best if there are certain

places where the work
isn't up to my standards.

[Drew] Yeah, that's too bad.

I know Gianna
is keeping an eye on them,

but it wouldn't hurt
for us to pop in every now

and then just make sure
everything's on track.

-[Drew] Okay.
-[Jonathan] Your place
is a totally

different type of chaos.

-An adorable chaos.
-[Drew] Yeah.

Hey, Parker, say,
"Bye-bye, Uncle Jonathan."

[Parker] Bye-bye, Uncle.

[upbeat music playing]

Hey, how you doing?

-[James] Hello.
-[Drew] All right.

So what's happening
with the fence back there?

I see you're doing the topper.

[James] All right.
Well, I'm putting up
the privacy fence,

which I think is making
a really big difference.

I got a really good deal
on the material

and it's really easy.
It was quick secure.

It took, like, half a day.

I think it made
a really big difference.

[Drew] I'm not denying
that a privacy fence

is gonna look better.

My only concern is there
are so many things

within the house
and even the yard

that area really
important to get to, so...

[James] You know,
we got the windows up,

the drywall is in, so I...

It's time to start
painting the exteriors.

Okay. I'm gonna swing
by in the next few days

just to check in
on a few things.

-I wanna make sure...
-Okay.

...that we're making
the right progress.

-Thank you.
-[Drew] There's only
so much I can see

or do over the phone.

I really need to be there
in person to see James

and Isabel's place,
so I'm gonna hop over there.

[upbeat music playing]

Oh, wow. Yeah,
when you said you're painting,

I thought you meant
you're gonna have the painters

come in, so you're
literally doing everything.

Yeah, yeah,
I have the sprayer.

I just had to buy the paint
and put the muscle to it.

As long as at the end
of the day stuff looks like

it's done by a professional,
good, save the money.

What is your
landscaping budget?

Somewhere between
$3,000 and $5,000.

Just be careful. If you can
keep it more to $3,000,

then I would go for it
because you're gonna

find somewhere inside
that needs to be done.

And the...
Yeah, and the back is a lot

bigger than the front.

[Drew] What's your
budget for the back?

It's all included
in the same, front and back.

Oh, wait, that $3,000
to $5,000 is front and back?

-Yeah, it's front and back.
-Oh, gosh. Okay.

-Yeah, it's gonna be tight.
-I'll let you finish this.

Is Isabel inside or...

Yeah, she and Gianna
are inside talking

-about the kitchen.
-Okay.

-What's happening?
-Hello.

[Drew] What's the plan here?

[Gianna] The cabinetry
for the kitchen,

we're going
with the green color.

-Okay.
-I like that dark brown,

but it won't go
with the cabinets

because it's too dark,
the green is too dark,

so this is my favorite choice.

-What's your choice?
-This is the pyrite.

This one is the...
I think the better.

-[Drew] Okay. I'm with you.
-[Isabel] Yeah.

I'm glad you went
with this product, though,

because it's gonna be
so much more durable

-than a hardwood...
-Oh, yeah.

especially for the turnover
of short-term rental.

You wanna just walk me
around the space a little bit?

Yeah, let's look around.

[Drew] It's tough
for me to not be the one

in control of this process.

We are backing
these investors,

we're backing them and
let them take the reins.

We can offer them
some construction

and design materials
at no cost.

We're giving them
a designer free of charge,

huge value there.

And of course,
our mentorship.

But James and Isabel
are bringing sweat equity

and 100 grand of their
own money to this reno.

There's a lot on the line
for them but also for us.

I mean, this is our time,
our effort.

We also have our reputation.

So I wanna make sure that at
the end, it doesn't go south

because they will
financially lose everything.

But also, I wanna make sure

that we see a win
with this, too.

Win-win for everybody.

So the last thing
is just the fence?

-[Isabel] Yeah.
-You can't see over it.

I was wondering how
tall it is, but--

No, no, no. I mean, it's great
that you have the divide.

Leave it until you're
done everything else

to see where you're
at before you stain it.

-[James] I agree.
-[Drew] How are you
on budget right now?

We're... What are we over?

-I think we're like $6,500.
-Oh, there you go.

[Drew] We're gonna help
them every way we can,

we have a lot of materials
in the warehouse,

that could save them tens
of thousands of dollars,

but I feel they just need
to roll up their sleeves

and do more work themselves
to keep the budget in check.

[Isabel] A lot is going
on at the same time

so it's a big overwhelming.

It's also, you know,

have to balance everything
with the kids.

I must tell you,
I'm learning on the job.

I'm not an experienced
mother of five kids.

I'm learning to be
a mother of five kids

while doing this
renovation on our...

on our own.

Hey, guys, you have
to hurry because

we need to go to Gianna.

It's just... It's a lot,

but we're learning
and I think we're balancing.

[upbeat rock music playing]

[James] Our budget
is really tight

so I've started taking
on more and more projects

as we progressed
on this house.

On Gianna's recommendation,
we bought preassembled

cabinets to save money.

We thought if we paint
them a great color,

no one will question them.

I think the green
turned out great.

It's really gonna pop.

I don't think it's too bold.

I think it
goes great with the floor.

Measure twice, cut once.

[Gianna] One of the benefits
of working with the brothers

is having access to their
inventory at their warehouse.

Today is for you.

Welcome to the brothers'
warehouse.

[Isabel] Wow. Thank you.

[Gianna] Pretty much
anything you can think of,

this is where everything
is stored for projects

that are happening right now,

items that didn't get used,
stuff for the future.

So the good part is,

since we have
such a slim tight budget,

this will help us offset
some of these costs.

We can tag anything.

If it's available and not
used in another project,

it's fair game
for us to use.

Wow. I'm excited.
I can't wait to see...

-Yeah.
-...what you guys have.

-There's some
baseboards over there.
-Furniture.

-Baseboard.
-Oh, wow. I see a vanity.

[Gianna] This could be used
for the powder room.

-I love it.
-[Gianna] Yeah.

This is available.

This is quite a gift here.

Let's tag this.
I know I can get you a fridge,

a dishwasher, and a stove,
and it...

-In time.
-Wow.

Getting these, like,
designer finishing touches,

higher-end
looking appliances...

-Blue. This is a nice blue.
-[Isabel] I love this one.

The butterflies.

[Gianna] All these stuff
ultimately is going to get

them a higher return
on their investment.

[slow upbeat music playing]

[James] I have been
working a lot at this house.

I've been here
seven days a week

for about three
or four weeks.

It's been so worth it.

We've saved so much
money by me

doing a lot
of physical labor.

[man] Bedroom.

[Isabel] And we're furnishing
today, finally.

Everything is ready.

The house is ready,
the yard is 98% ready,

and we brought
in the furniture.

And, you know, we're setting
it up so we can rent it.

Start renting it
and make money.

Finally.

Wee.

[Gianna]
James and Isabel have chosen

to reveal the home
to Jonathan and Drew.

What the brothers
are gonna be looking for is

making sure we have
defined areas in the space.

It is five bedroom.

We're gonna have
stuff that's durable

for every guest
that could possibly be

filling this space up.

Things that, you know,

will hide stains here
in a rental.

[Isabel] Gianna helped
so much.

Not only did she have
very good advice,

but she also helped
us pick certain materials,

and taught me the value
of certain choices

versus how I felt.

I am very nervous about
them coming and seeing,

you know, what we worked
on because they...

You know, they pay
attention to details.

We did our best.

[slow upbeat music playing]

[Drew]
Everything is on the line
for James and Isabel.

They have lost their
retirement money,

they've lost
the kids' college,

they've put it all
into this property.

And if they don't
get this right,
I think they're done.

[tense music playing]

You can tell
you're nervous.

[James] I am nervous.

I mean, it's looking good
from the outside already.

[knocking on door]

-[gasps] They're here.
-They're here.

Come on in.

-[Drew] Hey.
-[Jonathan] Hey.

-Come on here.
-Come on in.

How are you doing?
Good to see you.

-Hey. You, too.
-Oh, my gosh.

You guys.

-This is...
-[Drew] Whoa. Look at this.

[Jonathan] incredible.

[Drew] What a difference.

The appeal as soon as you
walk in the front door

is phenomenal.

In rentals,
first impressions

are everything
and this is a home run.

Before,
nothing was phenomenal.

-[James] No.
-[Drew] It looks amazing
to see it done.

I will say that the place
looks a little better

than I was expecting it
to look. I'm really happy.

It's like you had
a professional

designer working with you.

-[James] I know!
-[Drew] Yeah.

[James] We appreciate you
saving us money

with the preassembled
cabinets suggestion.

Gianna advised us
to go with the slab,

you know,
it goes all the way up

to the ceiling
with the open shelves.

It just...
It makes it feel more open.

You know, these
appliances are amazing.

You giving us those
saved us thousands.

[Jonathan] Well, no,
the appliances look great.

I think they look awesome.

The finish of the cabinets,
it doesn't have

a nice clean polished finish.

-It feels very rough.
-Was it a spray?

[James]
It has one coat of spray.

[Drew] Yeah,
so you would obviously

wanna do a couple of coats.

And the other thing
I mentioned,

typically when you're
designing your cabinets,

have your doors swing in
to where the countertops are.

It's kinda
useless to have to go

away from the counter
over here.

That's a good point. Yeah.

[Drew] It's just
always open and--

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Oh, no soft close?

[James] No,
they didn't come
with soft close.

[Drew] That's...
Especially for a rental,

you want that because they're
gonna thrash the place.

[James] The brothers pointing
out things that needed

improvement
or weren't done correctly

didn't hurt
my feelings at all,

like I took it as learning.

Nothing was given critically.

It was just given...

-To help. Yeah.
-...with a lesson
to be learned.

[Drew] The floors look
incredible and I love

that it's LVP so it's gonna be
really, really durable.

[James] Yeah, we ran it
right into this bathroom.

Oh, your wallpaper choice.

This wallpaper from
the warehouse will photograph

really well
for your rental listing.

-[Jonathan] So nice.
-[James] Mmm-hmm.

[Jonathan] I like that
you chose darker

to go moody in here.

[Isabel] You guys
have great materials.

I love it.

[Drew] This actually
turned out really great

for the dining room,
so good choice there

because you have
enough traffic and flow.

It's intimate.

[Jonathan] The one thing that,
you know,

we went back and forth
quite a bit about

was do we want to run plumbing
all the way over here?

And this is what
I'm very excited or nervous

to see how it turned out.

-You go first.
-What?

-These look great.
-[Drew] They look really good.

-[James] Oh, okay. Good.
-[Jonathan] Oh, my gosh.

Nice job.

[Drew] The occupancy rate
for a short-term

rental is about
75 which is really good.

So if you have this
place rented out 75%

of the time at $300 a night,
that's almost $7,000 a month.

If you can get those
kinda numbers,

hopefully you do well here.

Future resell value,
I still think this would've

been better as a main bedroom
suite with another bathroom.

Let's not dwell
on the past.

The bedroom looks great.

I wanna see
the other bedroom.

[Jonathan] Ooh-wee.

Nice. This is great.

[Drew] I like, though,
that with the staging

you've decided to put the
kids at the end of the house

because that is exactly
what every parent wants.

-[James] Yes. Yes.
-[Drew] You know. Right?

I'm excited
to see the backyard.

The yard, yes.

All right.

[upbeat music playing]

[Drew] Everything
is clean, it's safe.

And I love that there
are different zones.

[Drew] I like that
you've differentiated

between this play area.

You did a nice little bit
of mulch around the outside.

[James] Adults can sit here
on this beautiful furniture.

How do you feel in the end
now that it's all done?

-Amazing.
-Yeah.

-Come on in here and--
-Amazing.

And I feel fantastic.

I had a lot
of anxiety coming this way

but now, it just feels good.

All right.
Let's talk a little numbers.

We always calculate
worst-case scenario.

You know, we don't wanna
get too happy and too excited,

but the house
inside looks great.

Because of all the work
that you did,

-that saved you $20,000--
-$25,000 to $30,000.

At least. And then we had
almost $30,000 of product

and materials plus Gianna.

All these things that
saved you money.

[Jonathan] So your actual
spend on this renovation

was $112,000, but with your
sweat equity and our backing,

the true value of this reno

is about $190,000
and it shows.

This place looks amazing.

[Drew] In this area
for what the going rates are,

$70,000 a year
is a good price

-for this as a
short-term rental.
-Okay.

If you think about that,
this is what makes me excited.

-It's amazing.
-[Jonathan] With this amount

of revenue, you'll
not only be able to rebuild

your personal savings,

you'll be able to grow
your business

and build personal wealth.

It's incredible
what this has turned into

with your all's help,
so thank you.

-Thank you.
-You're very welcome.

-We can't say
thank you enough.
-[Isabel] Thank you.

-Oh, my gosh.
That's exciting.
-Congrats again.

-Thank you.
-I'm so excited.

[James] I feel great.
I think we impressed

the brothers.

For me,
I'm happy that they were

-happy with the work I did.
-[Isabel] You're proud.

-[James] Yeah, I'm proud.
-[Isabel] I know.

-[James] I'm proud
of the work I've done.
-[Isabel] It's amazing.

We did it.

And we could
not have stayed on

-budget without their backing.
-Honestly, I can't believe

how much they helped.

[upbeat music playing]

So we just heard
from James and Isabel.

And apparently,
they got an offer

on the property
for $1.17 million.

Which sounds great
but that's actually below

their break-even point,
so they said no

which is a good thing because
they're actually averaging

350 bucks a night
as a short-term rental.

They actually are so
excited because they're

recouping their lost savings

and they even wanna invest
in another property.

Way to go.