Cable Show Could Hold Key To Homeownership In DFW
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FORT WORTH (CBS11) - The four walls and a roof in a west side Fort Worth neighborhood aren't really in a condition where you could call the sum of the parts, a house. The walls have holes. Trash is stacked up inside. A tree was growing through the roof. In other words, for a reality TV show in production near Azle, it's perfect.
Texas Flip and Move has become a ratings hit for DIY Network, taking old Texas eyesores and rebuilding them. In the process, it's offering an increasingly rare affordable option to home-buyers finding themselves priced out of the local real estate market.
In production on its sixth season, the unmarked production lot is full of houses. Construction crews filter in and out, trying to turn homes around in four to five weeks. They only stop when the stars arrive to shoot a scene, usually an entertaining version of something they've been doing in real life as long as they can remember.
"A lot of the houses we grew up in that's exactly how they got built, with lumber that was good, worth saving," said Donna Snow. "For crying in a bucket, don't send it to a landfill. Save that money."
The Snow family has been moving buildings since the 1940's. The show follows them and other groups as they buy old structures, move them, fix them and resell them.
It's more than just entertaining TV for couples like Stan and Lindsy Ray.
"Owning a house is something we honestly didn't see ourselves doing for probably the next 10 years or so," Lindsy Ray said.
They had all but given up on a housing market Trulia ranked in February as the worst in the nation for buyers looking for starter homes or the next step up. The median home price now sits around $230,000, which is $54,000 higher than just three years ago.
The Rays however, were on the production lot on a Monday morning looking at a house from the 1920's, in the middle of a redesign. If they can buy it and move it to their own land, they expect they can save as much as $100,000 off a traditional home purchase.
This year the show is also partnering with Housing Channel, a Fort Worth non-profit that helps families find and afford their own homes. Donna VanNess, the organization's president says homes from the show, will be among the potential options for their clients.
"It would be a great opportunity for them to have an affordable designer home at a price point they can afford," she said.
Housing Channel sees as many as 2,000 clients every year. Finding them homes is becoming increasingly difficult, with just 39 percent of homes sold in 2016 going for less than $200,000.
The option comes with some extra work. Not only do you have to find a house, but also land to put it on. Then you have to move it, meet city codes and hook up utilities before you can consider moving in.
But at least those homes rebuilt on the show are selling.
Texas Flip and Move will renovate its 100th home during its sixth season.
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