Original subtitles

You step out on the sand...

a morning swim...

afternoon fishing...

sunsets and cocktails by the surf.

Beachfront living doesn't have to cost you a fortune,

especially if you find that diamond in the rough

to make your very own dream home.

How much is it?

\TIM: That's the best part -- it's only $299,000.

Say what?

This is amazing.

That is unbelievable!

-I love it! -This is incredible.

Oh, my God. What a difference.

Looks like a completely different house.

Today we're hunting for a beachfront bargain to renovate

in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

With famous Fort Lauderdale just down the beach,

homes on the water here sell for well into the millions.

But we're looking for a beachfront fixer for $350,000,

including renovations.

-Oh, wow. Amazing! -There it is! Yeah!

Get ready for a beachfront bargain hunt renovation.

\ ♪♪

Coming out of the gate hot.

I'm excited.

CORY: My name's Cory. This my beautiful wife, Cortney.

\We've been together for seven years, married for two.

\We met through mutual friends.

I feel like we really hit it off right away.

I don't know if Cortney would agree with that.

It took a little persistence from me

to, you now, kind of wear her down.

-Take a load off. -Yeah.

This year has been an amazing year for us so far.

Two-year wedding anniversary, buying our first home,

and biggest news of all is we are expecting our first child.

Enjoy the view, bud.

We currently live in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Right now, we're 30 minutes from the beach,

our condo doesn't even have a balcony,

and we're outdoorsy --

we want to be outside as much as possible.

One of the main draws of South Florida

is just this beautiful weather

all the time,

and we're really not taking advantage of that at all.

I want to get in that water.

Get in.

I'm a firefighter/paramedic for the city of Lighthouse Point.

And I work in an office and I teach yoga.

\ ♪♪

\Ideally, what's your wish list?

\CORTNEY: I think first and foremost is location.

We really want to be near the beach.

Okay. Bedrooms, baths?

What we're looking for is like a 3-bedroom, 2-bath.

We definitely need some space to grow.

I mean, we have a baby on the way.

Definitely a nice backyard.

A pool area, a place where we can have people over --

barbecue, kids jumping in and out of the pool.

It's going to be a lot less going out,

so we're kind of wanting to bring the party to our house.

Nice ocean breeze, and then you just relax

and barbecue and hang out.

-Yeah. -Exactly.

And have you guys set a budget,

or do you have an idea

what kind of price range you'd like to be in?

The top of our budget would probably be about $350,000.

That's the top-top of our budget.

And I say that and I kind of cringed a little bit

because, I mean, we're talking -- that's all-in.

So that's with renovation and the house.

We do realize with what our budget is

and where we're looking,

we're probably not going to find the perfect home right away.

I mean, we're going to need to do some work.

Well, in Deerfield, in that price range,

it's going to be a house that is going to need some updating.

You're probably looking at redoing a kitchen,

knocking down some walls

in order to get the feel that you want.

Are you okay with that?

Starting to wish I was a little more handy right now, but...

we realize, with our budget and where we want to be --

being near the beach --

we're not going to find something

that's just perfect from Day One.

Which is good, 'cause then once you do the work,

you'll have a house that's worth quite a bit more.

-Exciting. -Sounds good.

\ ♪♪

NARRATOR: First stop for Cory and Cortney is Tropical Cove,

located on the Atlantic Coast of South Florida.

This house is a three-minute bike-ride to the beach.

\This 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom is listed at $329,000.

\That would leave $21,000 for renovations.

-I like this. -Yeah.

I like all the natural light that's coming in.

-Kind of open. -Yeah, it's pretty cool.

I can see the pool right there.

So nice.

Kitchen needs a little work.

Definitely. Kitchen's a little small.

I think this wall would need to come out.

Tear this down, make it like an island, keep it wide open.

Yeah. So that it flows through

when you walk through the front door.

I think that's, like, the sell point, that it's so open.

\And then this kitchen feels just kind of --

- \-Cramped. - Yeah, definitely has potential.

\So, you think this could be a Florida room or like a dining area?

\What do you think we would make this?

I don't know.

I think I'd probably defer to my decorator on that one.

This room sells, though. It's just all open.

You can see the backyard. -Yeah, it's really nice.

And we're home.

Love this backyard. This is amazing.

Look! A yoga area!

I could have my yoga area right here.

I could watch you right from the little dining room area.

I love this.

Feel like we left the beach and we're back at the beach.

Look at the mango tree.

CORY: Yeah. Morning fruit smoothies.

And, I mean, you can't even tell when you walk out,

there's a lot more space back here that you think.

There is actually a lot of space back here.

There's really not that much we have to change.

I think we'd be spending most of our time out here.

-I think so. -Yeah.

This room does have, like, a lot of natural light to it.

Just kind of feels open, breezy.

And this would be the master?

CORTNEY: A little bit on the small side for a master.

-Well, it has the bathroom. -Oh, yeah.

No, it definitely is a little cramped in here,

but I think we've got to look at it as like a blank slate.

We'd definitely change the walls,

change the colors, beach it up.

That's easy.

-And the yellow room. -It's a good size.

I like the light that comes in. That's really nice.

Could be an office, could be a nursery.

-Could be a nursery. -What do you think, buddy?

You want to live in the yellow room?

\Needs some paint, some new window treatments, but --

\I think if we put our personal touch --

your personal touch on all these rooms,

I think it'll look good.

-Our personal touch. -Yeah, our personal touch.

Tropical Cove.

Does it live up to its name?

Yes, sir. It's got the pool,

it's got a little bar area, got a yoga area for Cort,

entertaining party.

I mean, this is pretty much what we wanted.

You guys like the outside,

so what's your thought about the inside?

CORTNEY: It's a little bit on the smaller side.

And with the little one on the way,

we're just worried about would we outgrow the space too soon?

We have to redo the kitchen...

It's going to start pushing our budget.

-Yeah. -At $329,000,

we're not going to have as much to work with on the inside.

We'll take all that feedback,

and we'll go take a look at some more.

\Oh, wow. This is amazing.

\ ♪♪

CORTNEY: Let's stand at attention for our practice.

Taking a deep inhale...

...And exhale.

Good. We'll open our eyes.

Let's take a big stretch overhead.

CORTNEY: I couldn't think of a better place to teach yoga.

\I love teaching in the studio, as well,

\but when you bring that practice outdoors,

\it's totally different.

\It's just a completely different experience.

\Head to me, so let's straighten the knee.

And forward fold.

\CORY: I like getting out there. I'm outdoorsy as it is.

You know, I'm not quite a yogi.

If you watch me do it,

it's probably what not to do

in beach yoga.

But, you know, just getting out there.

He tries.

Just getting out there is fun.

Just being in the fresh air,

and you have these beautiful beaches,

the sunshine, the warmth...

It's one of my favorite things

to do, really.

Good. Feeling the prana flowing through the fingertips.

\ ♪♪

TIM: This house is called Driftwood Den.

We're still in Deerfield. Deerfield has a very young vibe.

There's a lot going on at the beach.

It's easy to bike to the beach.

It's really an up-and-coming area.

The beach is 1.7 miles, so...

That's nothing for her.

That's awesome. You could still bike there.

\The nice thing about this house

is that it has a lot of square footage.

This is over 2,000 square feet.

Okay, so room to spread out.

There's some give and some take.

There was an addition done in the back to make that big,

so the yard is a little bit small, but it does have a pool.

3-bedrooms, 2-baths --

everything that you're looking for.

Yeah, so far.

Best part, ready?

\$320,000.

\Wow. Working our way down the ladder a little bit.

\Some wiggle room.

\But you'll have half-million-dollar houses

\just across the street.

- \-Sounds pretty great. - Yeah, we like that.

\

CORY: Kind of a funky layout in here, right?

-A little bit, yeah. -Feels different.

It is different.

I do like the big bay window in the front, though.

That's nice.

What do you think about this kitchen?

What would you want to do in here?

Just feels so dark in here, you know?

And the other home we looked at was so bright and --

Yeah, they had those huge windows.

Feels like an '80s ski lodge in here.

I think it's the wood. We might be able to tear this thing out, though.

Maybe we could just kind of blow it all out.

We would have to completely redo this, though --

new cabinets, new countertops,

new appliances.

If we could open this up, we'd have one huge kitchen.

I like what you're saying.

\I don't know if we would have enough left in the budget

\to do all that.

Okay. I like this.

Yeah, this is definitely bigger than the pool at our condo.

For sure. And I really like that this has a hot tub here.

The other pool that we looked at didn't have the hot tub.

Yeah, the hot tub is a nice touch.

But everything's just so overgrown back here.

Where would we really even entertain?

Maybe we could tear all those out

\and maybe put a little deck area here.

- \-Could work. - Yeah, I can see it.

Wow. Babe, this bedroom's huge.

Look at all the light that comes in, too.

Look at this, it kind of just flows right through in here.

This bathroom needs to be completely redone, though.

\Look at the tile, the tub...

\Yeah, definitely new tile.

\The tub...I'm kind of digging the pink tub.

No pink tub.

-No? -No.

It's definitely a good-sized bathroom.

And we got a lot of room out here in this bedroom

\and we could actually expand

\if we had to.

\If we fixed the kitchen, though,

\I don't think we would have money left over

\to do the bathroom.

We'd have to see how much this would actually cost.

This is a nice-sized guest bedroom.

Yeah, definitely.

It has a lot of good light coming in through here.

Beautiful view out the front.

It does. This could be the nursery.

Yeah, make it like a little beach nursery.

-I like that. -It would need baseboards.

I think I'm definitely seeing that.

NARRATOR: Just across the street is a canal

which leads directly into Florida's Intracoastal Waterway.

TIM: This is the great thing -- Deerfield Beach, all the canals,

out on the water, close to the ocean.

We love it. We love this area.

We love that we can ride our bikes or run down to the beach.

The inside, space-wise, is great.

That's what we're looking for. We've outgrown our condo.

Kitchen needs some work. Bathrooms do, as well.

And those are two expensive

items, right?

They absolutely are. Yeah, for sure.

What did you think of the yard?

CORY: As soon as you walk in, you see the pool, the hot tub --

that's definitely a nice space.

It didn't blow me away like the first house,

but it's checked a lot of boxes off our list.

It was a little high in the price range for us,

so if you could show us something maybe a little lower.

All right. That sounds good.

We'll go take a look at a few more then.

\ ♪♪

The next home I'm going to show Cory and Cortney is Palm Grove.

NARRATOR: Palm Grove is located in Fort Lauderdale,

20 miles South of Deerfield.

With more inventory in this area,

Cory and Cortney will be able to find better deals

in their price range, all while staying close to the beach.

TIM: I wanted them to see another city

because it's going to give them more wiggle room

in terms of the updates that they want to do.

That was a concern that they said about some of the homes

that we saw in Deerfield,

that it was pushing the budget a little bit.

We call this house Palm Grove,

You're still less than three miles from the ocean.

So, the nice thing about this house

is that it is 3-bedrooms, 2-baths,

does have a pool, very open floor plan.

\And it's $299,000.

\Oh, I like that. This gives us more room to work with.

Feel a little bit more comfort level?

Yeah, absolutely.

Another thing I notice is that the house

doesn't really have that beachy feel to it.

The brick kind of makes it

a little more traditional, not-so-beachy.

Well, that's why it's at $299,000,

and so that gives you a little bit more room to do some fun stuff.

I was wrong.

The inside feels much more like what we're looking for.

Can you say that one more time?

What'd you say? "I was wrong"?

-Stop. -I don't hear that a lot.

It looks completely different on the inside

than I thought it would.

Much more open and light.

Could definitely entertain in here, and I like that the --

This dining area just overlooks the pool.

It's kind of the first thing that you see when you walk in.

CORY: This kitchen looks in pretty good shape.

CORTNEY: Yeah, it is in pretty good shape.

\Maybe change out the cabinets and the countertops,

\but it doesn't need a ton of work.

Check out this view. Doing dishes, watching the pool.

All right.

I think the first thing that we'd do back here, babe,

is this screen would have to go.

- \-Definitely. - Feels kind of confining to me.

- \-It's too closed-in. - Yeah.

\Yeah, definitely with this screen out,

\we can expand out that way.

\Absolutely. Put a little deck down, maybe some sails.

\I really do like this space.

-Yeah. -This is nice.

Oh. I like this room.

I like that it's bright.

All the light's coming in from the windows.

It's a nice master.

I like that it opens up to the pool.

-Oh, yeah. -That's awesome.

Roll out of bed, go for a little swim.

The bathroom's nice, babe. Got a bidet.

That's different. -That is different.

Seems like mostly in here is all cosmetic.

It's going to need paint, baseboards.

I really like the floors.

Yeah, this is a good space. I like this room.

NARRATOR: With Palm Grove just a five-minute bike ride

to the ocean, Cory and Cortney

could still get their dream beach home

with more than $50,000 left over for renovations.

TIM: I wanted to just kind of run you over here

and just show you, you know, how close it is to the beach.

CORY: That wasn't bad.

You're definitely making it

tougher on us,

bringing us out to the beach

like that.

Unfair sales tactic.

So, what did you think of Palm Grove?

When we first pulled up,

the brick, it kind of threw us off a little bit.

It doesn't really have that beachy feel.

But once you get inside, it was really nice.

It's open, doesn't need a ton of renovations.

I think the bulk of the work would have to go to the outside.

We definitely would have the room in our budget

to make some changes that we're looking for.

Yeah, sure, at that price.

All right. Good feedback.

I've got one more that I want to show you. Let's go.

Okay, so this is what I was telling you.

It's beautiful.

The good thing about it is the price is way under budget.

- \-Oh, wow. - Okay. Go on.

\So, it's like way...

\ ♪♪

\-You lead, I'll follow.

\I think what we love about the Deerfield Beach area

\and just South Florida in general

\is there's not really a beach season.

This is it. We're in beach season year-round.

It's a beautiful day for it.

Yeah, it's gorgeous out today.

Are you good?

-Yeah. -We good?

\ ♪♪

\I'm taking Cory and Cortney

\to see one more home in Fort Lauderdale.

\It's called Banyan Bungalow.

Banyan Bungalow is also located

along Florida's sandy Atlantic coastline.

It's the furthest south of all the houses being shown

and just a few miles

from Fort Lauderdale's Pompano Beach,

one of the top vacation-home markets in South Florida.

This gorgeous little hideaway

is tucked away on an otherwise busy street.

The road is a little noisy. It's a little worrisome.

TIM: It is, and that's a fair point.

And that's why really, most of the house,

the living area, is all in the back.

Okay, so this is what I was telling you.

It's beautiful.

\And this is why they call it Banyan Bungalow,

\because this is a banyan tree.

- \It's very rare. - Awesome.

But this is really, you know, the entertainment area.

Amazing! This is amazing.

It's nice and secluded back here.

Yeah, definitely makes you forget

that there's a road out front.

CORTNEY: Yeah.

Pool's a little bit on the small side,

but think how laps you could get in it, though.

Yes, I like it back here. It's quiet, it's private.

It's a good space.

How close are we to the beach from here?

Two miles or less.

So we could even ride our bikes.

Oh, yeah. I mean, it's really close.

But the reason I'm showing you this

is I know your criteria was 3-bedroom.

Okay, this is only a 2-bedroom,

but the main attraction is it's only $239,000.

- \-Oh, wow. - Okay.

\So it's like way, way under your budget.

\CORY: Yes, it is.

After you.

Thank you.

Okay. It's a cool entryway.

Yeah, I like that you can come in right through the backyard.

Yeah. A lot of light coming through.

It's a little bit on the small side for a master.

Yeah, definitely going to need to do something to make it feel bigger,

but I think we'd have a lot more money left over with this one.

We could even expand it.

Oh, I like that idea.

All right. Room 2. I like it.

A lot of light in here.

I really love this ceiling. It's really cool.

It feels a little cramped,

but I think it might be this gigantic thing right here.

If we move that out, we'll have a lot more room.

We could redo the whole thing.

This room definitely has potential.

I definitely like this room better than the bedroom.

These ceilings are pretty awesome

with the beach-bungalow feel,

but this kitchen feels too small.

I mean, we could knock that out.

Blow this wall out, expand it.

Just kind of keep the whole open feel.

Yeah, if we have people over,

we can't really entertain in this space.

Yeah, babe, I think we definitely need

to change this whole kitchen out.

\We really would. New cabinets, new countertops,

\new stainless appliances, nice backsplash.

\And I think the nice thing about this house

\is we'd have the money in our budget left over to do it.

We can make this happen.

We liked it.

-We do like it. -Yeah?

The budget for sure.

First and foremost, the price.

If we have a lot of money, we can make this our own vision.

Everything can get redone.

We can redo the kitchen. We can do the bathrooms.

And we really loved the backyard.

The backyard's amazing.

And it kind of makes the whole house.

Yeah, it has that tropical feel.

So, the 2-2 is our concern here.

We were really looking for at least a 3-2,

and we're just worried.

We're definitely kind of struggling with that.

So...we'll kind of go discuss some things,

figure out, you know?

I think we can get this worked out.

All right.

\ ♪♪

\Let's go through them. Tropical Cove.

\All right. Amazing backyard.

Amazing.

We can entertain, yoga area,

tons of space.

Everything that we were thinking of in the backyard,

it has it.

Absolutely. It's so close to the beach.

Bike ride, get there.

1.5 miles, I think he said. Closest of all of them.

But the inside needs a lot of work.

\It's kind of small.

\Budget doesn't really allow us to get where --

\It's pushing the very edge of our budget.

\It really is.

\I don't know if there's enough.

\All right. Driftwood Den.

\Driftwood Den.

\Still in Deerfield Beach, which we like.

\It's still close.

\Biggest space

\of all the houses that we saw.

\The inside was huge.

\We don't have to worry about outgrowing that.

\I feel like that's a really good size house for us.

It kind of had a funky layout,

but backyard had the pool and the hot tub.

It didn't impress like the first house,

but it did have -- it had a lot of potential.

It did.

Still at the upper end of our budget,

and it needed a whole new kitchen renovation.

That's true.

\So, Palm Grove.

\We'd be in Fort Lauderdale, which is not a bad thing.

\I just hadn't really planned on being down that way.

\But the inside didn't need a ton of work.

\The inside was pretty much all cosmetic.

\A little bit in the kitchen, some baseboards, some paint.

\The backyard was like a blank slate for us though.

We'd have to tear out that screen, build a deck.

It'd need work, but I think it would come together nicely.

And it's a lot under budget.

It would give us about $50,000 to work with back there.

It is under budget.

\And then Banyan Bungalow.

\It's just fun to say, isn't it?

- \-It is fun to say. - Kind of rolls off the tongue.

It's two miles from the beach.

Also had a great backyard.

Yeah, it's just tucked away.

As soon as you stepped in there,

you kind of forgot that the front yard was busy,

which was kind of a drawback whenever we first pulled up.

But it's just a really chill area.

Tiny on the inside.

\Really small on the inside.

\It would need a lot of work.

\Which we would have, because of the budget.

\This is going to be tough.

\It is going to be tough.

\ ♪♪

\Okay, so I heard you made a decision.

\What is it?

- \-We have. - Yes, we have.

\We're going with...

\ ♪♪

CORTNEY: So, we're taking a much-needed break.

We're at a local baby store.

What do you think of this set?

I like this.

CORY: Yeah.

We've been waiting to look at furniture

to find out what we were having,

and we've just found out that we're having a boy.

And we couldn't be more excited.

I like the gray with the blue.

I feel like everyone has white.

I feel like with the gray, it would kind of stand out.

CORTNEY: It's a little bit different.

We pretty much need everything for the nursery,

so we're going to be looking at cribs

and, you know, chairs, dressers.

We need to get one of these for the living room, too.

Yeah.

We've got to get back into house mode,

but this was a really needed break, and it was amazing.

It's so little.

Yeah, we need that.

Oh, yeah. He needs this for the beach, for sure.

\ ♪♪

Okay, so decision time.

\I heard you made a decision.

\What is it?

- \-It wasn't easy. - It was not easy.

\A lot of good homes.

\A lot of good homes.

\A lot of back and forth, a lot of pros and cons.

But, in the end, we went with Driftwood Den.

\Awesome. I really thought you'd like that house,

\but what was it that tipped it over the top for you?

I think for us, it came down to location.

Those two Deerfield houses, they were the final two.

They were neck and neck.

And Driftwood Den just felt more like a home to us.

As soon as we walked in,

we could kind of picture ourselves there.

It was the biggest of all the houses that we saw,

and we didn't feel cramped

or we were going to outgrow it anytime soon.

And the fireplace is a really cool feature.

And just being so close to the beach,

and that's the whole idea.

It still had that vacation feel,

but it still kind of had that homey feel, you know?

So it's somewhere where we could start a family

and, you know, do all that.

It's kind of like the best of both worlds.

Are going to be able to work with that kitchen, though?

We do realize it's higher on our budget,

and there are some things we want to do,

so we're probably going to have to pick which projects

are the most important to us and start with those.

We might be in the pink tub

a little longer than what she wanted.

We're going to make it work. We're excited.

Now, as far as the $320,000 goes,

that could help us get out of that pink tub a lot faster

if we could add

a little bit of wiggle room.

If we could go in like, maybe, $10,000, $15,000

under the asking price,

I think that would really go

a long way

in us getting those renovations done.

Sure. And I think that's reasonable

because that is about what it would cost for a kitchen.

So let me write it up that way,

and we'll submit it and let's see if we can get it done.

-Awesome. -Sounds great.

-Thank you so much. -It's so exciting.

-Thank you. -All right. Awesome.

\ ♪♪

\CORTNEY: The house was listed

\at $320,000,

\and we put an offer in for $306,000, and it was accepted.

\For the renovations, we have about $45,000 left over,

\so it's going to be really tight with what we want to get done

\and thank God we were able to come in under the asking price.

So, right now we really want to focus on the kitchen,

the backyard, and the bathroom,

so we're going to do a walk-through

\with the contractor that we hired.

\We have a bunch of ideas, but we have no idea

\how much that's actually all going to cost.

So, I really just want to open this kitchen up.

Maybe we can turn it,

make it an L-shaped kitchen so it goes this way.

Just kind of integrate these separate areas.

We could remove this.

This would be a big walk-through.

You could have plenty of people in here.

CORTNEY: Yeah, I definitely want to get rid of all of this wood.

We just want to make it more beachy and lighten it up.

I'd also love to push this wall to the right back

and make it more open in here.

And then we want to rearrange the layout, also.

Maybe we can move the sink to the back wall

and the stove and the fridge along the new wall.

Definitely all new cabinets, some granite countertops,

and a wood-plank floor, that would be really nice.

We also want to put an island in the middle,

so that way we have a space

to entertain.

What is the deal with this beam?

Well, that beam there is a structural beam

which supports this whole roof structure.

So to remove that beam would be a little costly.

It would probably cost another $4,000.

But we could try to minimize

the beam size

because there's a steel column

in there.

So I'll incorporate this into the island

that we had talked about earlier

where we'll have some seating to overlook the pool.

Yeah, I like that.

I'm starting to like the beam more and more.

So, we really like this back yard.

We just feel like there's so much wasted space.

DON: There is a lot of wasted space back here.

We'd love to just tear all this stuff out, deck this area here.

I'm thinking full tiki bar, outdoor kitchen, running water,

electricity, fridge, flat-screens.

I mean, just really deck it out,

like a place where we can come back from the beach

to watch some games, have people over,

and just relax and unwind.

I'd really love to make a yoga area over there.

Maybe we can we just deck it off,

maybe add a small fountain, some new plants.

Just have a nice Zen area where I can come out,

I can practice yoga and relax.

-That'd be nice. -Yeah.

CORY: And finally, we'd really like to just refinish the pool

just to give it a clean, fresh look.

Love to get a tiki bar back there.

The more we talk about the kitchen --

the more we talk about the kitchen and the other stuff,

I feel like I'm going to get squeezed out of the budget somehow.

But that is the idea.

If we can't get down to the beach,

I'd like there to be a beach in the backyard.

All right, Don.

So there's one more thing that we'd like to show you.

It's the master bath.

We have some ideas already for in here.

CORTNEY: I would love to just expand the bathroom out

to make better use of the space.

Tear everything out, start from scratch.

I want a big, over-sized tub, a free-standing rain shower,

double vanities -- we'd have his-and-hers sinks --

all new tile,

definitely some better lighting.

Make it very spa-like,

so I just step in, and I just immediately feel relaxed.

All right, great.

Well, how about if I write something up for you guys?

You can make a decision.

-CORY: All right. -Then we'll move forward on it.

That sounds great.

-Thank you. -Thank you.

\ ♪♪

We're just out of our comfort zone a little bit.

We've never owned a home,

we've never gone through any renovations, so...

Kind of have a vision

and hopefully there's enough left in the budget

that we can get there, see how much we can get done.

With a budget of $45,000,

Cortney and Cory have big renovation plans

for their new house.

But the plans might be beyond their means.

\The estimate came in at a whopping $65,000.

\$65,000 to renovate is just out of our budget.

\We have to cut something.

\And the kitchen's the most important thing

\for us to renovate, and the backyard, also.

\we want to be able to have friends over, family, entertain.

\So, for now, the bathroom is just going to have to wait.

\ ♪♪

CORY: Yeah.

Remind me not to make you mad.

This is fun.

Day 1 -- demo.

Renovations are finally going to begin.

I'm excited, a little anxious, but ready to get started.

I want to smash it all.

Take it easy in there.

We're going to have to pull you back a little bit.

MAN: Get the front of this right here.

Uh-oh.

This is it. We've passed the point of no return.

There's no going back to that kitchen,

We're hoping we can stay on budget.

Yeah, hopefully not too many bumps along the way.

NARRATOR: After only two hours into the job,

Don gets a look at what's behind the wall and finds trouble.

You know, you might have a problem here, Cory.

This is hollow. This should have a steel column.

If you remember, we talked about earlier

that if there's a steel column in there,

we could minimize the size.

There's no steel column in here.

This is structural. This is supporting your roof.

NARRATOR: A steel beam should be inside this column.

Without it, the ceiling could collapse.

So the question isn't whether to fix it, but at what cost?

Well, we're not going to touch this

because this could collapse.

CORTNEY: I'm stressed. I'm worried.

I mean, we knew that something

would arise,

\but something structurally is really concerning, yeah.

\ ♪♪

\NARRATOR: It's only day 1, and Cory and Cortney

\have already been hit up with a surprise.

You know, you might have a problem here, Cory.

The kitchen column is hollow

and will need to be replaced with a support beam.

Budget-wise, what does this mean?

\Well, budget-wise, another $2,000.

\It is what it is.

\It is what it is. We need to do it.

NARRATOR: It's a bumpy start, but there's no turning back now.

Watch, you guys.

The demolition continues.

The crew is knocking out walls...

removing old wiring...

and, with a a temporary support post in place,

Cory is knocking down the hollow column

that will be later replaced by the permanent steel beam.

Work has also begun in the backyard.

First, the outdated pool needs to be resurfaced

to give it a fresh look.

\This is our first home.

\This is our first big renovation project.

But after the unexpected expense of the kitchen support column,

Cory and Cortney are worried

about the rest of their backyard plans.

The backyard might not be able to happen

the way we envision it, you know?

We have all these great ideas, but --

It's painful.

The kitchen is really -- that's our main focus,

so we'll see what we have left for the backyard.

Do you see a dip in the ceiling?

MAN: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I do.

We walked in, and we saw both the workers

staring at the ceiling, and, apparently, the ceiling sags.

\Check this out.

\I got 95 1/2 over here.

And 94.

It's an inch and a half difference.

I mean, we're not talking a quarter-inch,

which would be okay.

It's huge.

And it's a problem for the cabinets.

NARRATOR: The kitchen ceiling has a gradual slope

that begins along the last two feet

of the new wall being built.

The cabinets being hung on this wall will not be level,

resulting in a 1 1/2 inch gap at one end.

The contractor's solution is a drastic one --

to rebuild a brand-new ceiling.

All this gets demo'd and we gradually fix the ceilings.

So we go from nothing to an inch and a half

and give you a flat ceiling.

\We had to figure things like this were going to pop up.

Okay, so...

I was hoping there wouldn't be so many pop-ups.

Thinking quickly,

Cory comes up with an idea that won't cost any money.

CORY: So what if we just have the wall come around it

and start it with the stove?

What are we losing? We're losing a --

-21-inch cabinet. -21-inch cabinet.

So we have stove right next to the fridge.

Nope, nope. Stove, cabinet, fridge, corner cabinet.

NARRATOR: Losing the end cabinet to shorten the wall

fixes the ceiling issue, but leaves the range too exposed.

A quick reshuffle of appliances improves the design.

In the end, it's going to work out, you know?

We're going to look back, we're going to laugh,

we're going to say, "It was easy."

We're going to laugh?

I don't think we're going to laugh.

\ ♪♪

\CORY: Things are really starting to move along.

We have to put up the steel beam to reinforce the roof.

Can you hold it?

The sliding doors went in.

They look beautiful, so we're really happy about that.

We'll start the tile work on this side here,

and work in towards the cabinetry.

Okay.

Flooring's all laid.

\We ended up going with wood tile instead of real wood floors.

\We kind of get the same look, and we save on the budget.

\Cory and Cortney renovation update -- a big day today.

\We're seeing the wood floor for the first time.

\So I have Cortney here. We're going to take a look.

\She hasn't seen it in a few days.

\So I just got off from work,

stopping by the house to check on the progress.

Looks like the drywall went up today.

We're live, let's go.

Okay, let's go.

I'm, like, dying to see how the floors look.

They look amazing. Amazing.

\Looks like real wood to me.

\Nice, kind of salvaged look,

\you know?

\It looks distressed like we wanted.

We're moving along, moving in the right direction --

not too many snags this week.

Last week, it just felt like it was one thing after another,

so this is good.

\It's been a good week.

\Still one more thing left to see.

\Oh! Wow!

\Oh, my God!

\Whoo-hoo!

\ ♪♪

The decking has arrived.

\We decided to go with composite decking --

\lasts a lot longer, it's not going to fade,

\it's not going to bow.

\It's going to look nice -- really nice.

\It does cost a little bit more, you know, up front,

\but we're not going to have to be changing is every five years,

\so it's really just the better value.

NARRATOR: The crew begins work on Cory's tiki hut.

They're tying together palm leaves,

which will make the structure waterproof.

And they're also busy framing out the deck

and securing the posts.

In the end, Cory and Cortney's design plans

include all-new decking around the tropical tiki hut,

featuring a fully functioning outdoor kitchen

and a flat-screen TV.

Across the yard will be a fully resurfaced pool,

as well as a decked-out yoga platform for Cortney.

CORY: Other than clearing out the backyard,

it's been all inside so far,

so it's nice to start seeing some stuff

happening in the back.

Cabinets are going in.

Hopefully, everything goes smoothly.

We seem like we're back on track now.

In order to save money,

Cory opted to choose prefab cabinets instead of custom.

But he made a miscalculation with their dimensions,

and now the cabinets are not lining up correctly.

In a perfect world,

I should have went 24 and 24 and 21 on the end?

MAN: Yep.

\Our wine cooler that we had planned for

\is kind of throwing everything off.

Um...

NARRATOR: Adding the wine cooler to the lower cabinet

extends it three inches longer than the upper cabinet --

a miscalculation that creates an unbalanced look.

CORY: Is there anything else that we can do?

\Maybe a smaller cooler.

\Do they make all sizes? They have 18, 17?

Yeah, they come from 16 to, you know, 21 inch,

so I think 17 would be perfect.

And then we could make all the cabinets line up.

We going to fit all your wine in that?

We'll be able to fit all the wine.

-I think it looks better. -I think so.

Yeah, 'cause if they don't line up,

it's going to drive me crazy.

They're going to line up.

That's pretty much the bottom line.

Yeah. Problem solved.

\ ♪♪

So this is the fun part of renovating --

we're picking out our granite today.

It's kind of pretty.

We've been doing a lot of demo and tearing things out,

so now we get to rebuild, so we're excited.

Our contractor said we'd probably need two slabs.

So how much is this slab here?

This aisle, everything starts between $1,300 and up.

$1,300. Okay.

See, we're not experienced slab-buyers, I guess,

so our budget was kind of around $800 a slab, so...

we're looking to add to it, what, $1,000 more?

Yeah, do you have anything similar to this around $800?

Not in that price range.

I really kind of love that one.

The countertop's kind of the first thing you see

when you walk in the kitchen to give it that "wow" factor.

It's beautiful. This is exactly the feel we're going for.

Okay.

If there's anywhere to splurge, it's on the granite.

I love this. -This is it?

This is the one.

\ ♪♪

Today we have the countertops going in and the backsplash,

starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel here.

It's definitely been a long process,

but I'm getting pretty excited that we are almost to the end.

-How's it fitting? Good? -Yeah.

Careful.

Beautiful.

You need help?

Just slide it in there.

Watch your fingers on the sides.

CORTNEY: I'm really excited to see the backsplash

and the countertops altogether.

Yeah, it's a nice piece.

I'm hoping what we picked out works.

CORY: Of course. It's nice to start feeling some progress.

You're going to go in there,

it's going to look like a totally different kitchen.

\Here it is.

\Here it is.

\Mm-hmm.

\Okay.

Um...

What do you think?

Well...

I really -- I love the backsplash,

I love countertops,

but I don't know if they work together.

Okay.

Here's our problem.

It's already on the wall.

-Yeah. -I don't know.

When we were picking them,

it didn't seem like there'd be this much of a difference.

This seems brighter and this seems duller,

you know what I mean? -Right.

It just seems like it's even more busy on this side

than it is on this side.

The backsplash is such a key part of the kitchen.

We really want to love it.

And, right now, I don't think we're loving it.

I love the way the granite came out -- The countertops came out.

The granite's beautiful. Yeah, absolutely.

And I feel like that should maybe be more our focal point.

And I feel like, right when you turn this corner,

you see this backsplash.

It's just like, backsplash!

You know what I mean? Like, "Hi, I'm here. Look at me."

It is. It's bold, for sure.

Yeah, so...

\So do we agree? Like, this is -- we're going to change this?

\CORY: I think so.

\So we are going to change the backsplash,

but that means that we're going to have to, you know,

make that money up somewhere else.

It's not like we can just keep

making changes

and it's not going to affect

other things.

I know you're going to say "tiki" immediately.

I can see it in your eyes.

There's nowhere else really to scale back.

No, I think you're right.

NARRATOR: The unexpected expenses are piling up.

\The steel pipe...

\granite countertop...

\and backsplash redo put Cory and Cortney $4,600 over budget.

Cory can keep the tiki hut, but by losing the outdoor kitchen,

they save $4,800 -- putting them right back on track.

We could probably put that on hold,

if you promise that it's just on hold.

I'm a little bummed about it,

for sure.

I can see it, is the problem.

It's so close I can just taste it.

I can taste the drinks, I can see the games.

They're right there.

And we'll get there,

but, you know, things take precedent, you know?

The kitchen is the focal point,

and that's something we're going to use

a little more

than the tiki hut, you know?

Until football season, at least.

\ ♪♪

\CORY: In an effort to save some money, got some friends

\from the fire station to come by, help us paint today.

\Is this supposed to be green? Am I missing something?

Having that luxury of having some friends come by

to help you really helped with the budget.

-CORTNEY: You like the color? -Yeah.

NARRATOR: Cory and Cortney have spent their $45,000 budget

and now find themselves in DIY mode.

Because we were on a budget,

we helped out and chipped in wherever we could.

That looks good.

You know, it feels good

to put your own blood, sweat, and tears into it.

Right there.

-Like that? -Yeah.

There you go. I think that's better.

\ ♪♪

\Huge day today. I mean, huge day, you know?

The renovations are done,

we're finally having some people over,

get to show off our space.

We're so happy with how it turned out.

It took longer than we thought it would.

\When we first saw the kitchen,

\it was kind of the opposite of what we were going for.

\It kind of closed in.

\And just looking at it now, it's more than we ever hoped for.

\When we first saw this backyard, all I saw was potential.

\Had a lot of trees and overgrown,

\but we had this vision we saw.

\I was thinking we could do the tiki bar

\and the deck and the yoga deck.

\I didn't know if we'd get it all done.

\And now, it's like a perfect area to entertain.

\Welcome.

\Just really happy to get to show it off.

- \-Wow! - Oh, my God!

\CORY: Huge day today.

\Renovations are done. It doesn't seem real.

- \It hasn't sunk in yet. - No.

\This is our first house,

\but you can't really imagine that end, that final product.

And to have results like this,

I feel like we knocked it out of the park, you know?

-Wow! -Oh, my God!

We're ready to live here now.

-What? -Awesome.

WOMAN: I don't even recognize the place anymore.

CORTNEY: It looks so different, doesn't it?

It's awesome.

We dreamed about having this space to be able to entertain.

And just now to actually have it is amazing.

It looks so different, doesn't it?

\It was so dark in here with that wood, and it was closed in.

\So we just wanted to open it up

\and give it that beach feel and make it nice and light.

\We changed the layout of the whole kitchen.

\New floors, new countertops,

\new appliances.

\I absolutely love this backsplash.

\Whose idea?

\It was both of ours second idea.

\This was actually our second idea, I'd say.

\When we first saw the kitchen,

\it was kind of the opposite of what we were going for.

\It had that dark wood, kind of closed in.

\And just looking at it now, it's more than we ever hoped for.

\Now it's all open, you got the nice, beachy colors,

\kind of flows in and out.

\You can have people in there,

\and there's plenty of room to spread out.

- \-No more ski lodge. - No more ski lodge.

When we first saw this backyard,

it seemed like there was just so much wasted space back here.

-Wow! -Oh, my God!

Now it's like a perfect area

to entertain.

Oh, my goodness.

I love it, I love it, I love it.

It looks so great, it really does.

I love that area over there.

\I just remember before, it was just nothing back here.

\It was just overgrown and nothing really going on.

\It's like, I feel like I'm on vacation, really.

- \-Aw. - That's awesome.

\That's exactly what I wanted.

\This is your man cave, you picked this all out?

\Yeah, absolutely.

\This is Cory's vision, but I kind of love it.

\You can just, like, lounge and kick back, relax.

\I don't know if we need a bar and all those TVs.

\Yeah, bar's happening, so overruled.

\

\Backyard looks amazing. I could not be happier about it.

\I can already picture some kids in the pool.

\And, you know, we have that little yoga area for Cortney,

\all so she could have private lessons there and just kind of unwind.

\I love my yoga area. I mean, I have an area now.

\I can come home, I can practice.

That's a great little spot right there.

It is.

This is what we've been waiting for.

We've been waiting to have this space to entertain,

and we finally have it.

It's awesome.

We were stuck in the condo,

and we couldn't have our family and friends over.

And now, it's just amazing.

Who are all these people?

It turned out so much better than we even thought it could.

It really did.

You saved me work just to get something like this, you know?

So, we entered the process with about a $45,000 budget,

and, you know, some things cost a little more than we thought.

We ended up coming in about $1,000 over,

\but to look at the final product,

\I mean, we cannot be happier with the way that turned out.

\Go!

\

\All right, seriously. Everyone out of my pool.

\