Original subtitles

They've done investment properties before so they should know something.

If they don't know a little something,

they're about to learn a little something.

Massive undertaking, potentially massive profit.

It smells like money.

[Drew] We just wanna 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 rented it out from the beginning,

you would have made over $400,000.

Ah!

[Jonathan] So we wanna back you guys.

[yells] Thank you so much.

$100,000? You're freakin' nuts.

What you're looking to do with this house seems impossible.

We made so many mistakes early on,

I wish we had a mentor who could tell us,

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

They're already 200 grand in the hole.

Obviously, this is the worst.

On paper, some things can look great.

In person, whole different story.

We got a problem.

You gotta tell these guys

to stop everything right now.

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

[woman] This is life-changing. This is gonna turn

the page to my career.

Who wants to make some money?

[instrumental music playing]

[upbeat music playing]

[Jonathan] If you wanna be successful in business,

you have to just work

at finding solutions and finding them fast.

That couldn't be more true for the real estate realm.

There are 1,000 problems that get thrown at you

every single day and you just have to deal with them,

find a solution, and move on.

[Drew] We wanna help investors

make the best choice possible

and we wanna educate them along the way

on what we've learned over the years.

[Jonathan] We're taking a pitch from Frank.

He's got a big problem

because his North Hollywood fourplex caught fire.

We get a lot of investors reaching out from this area

because it's up-and-coming with galleries, clubs, cafes.

They're all drawing buyers and renters.

The income potential is definitely there

and that's what brought us back.

[Drew] Totally, yeah.

So he has owned this building

for like 20 plus years,

had a fire in the back building.

So the insurance company is gonna give him

-500 grand and... -[Jonathan] Oh, wow.

[Drew] he can rebuild.

-Frank? -Yes.

-How are you? -Oh, my gosh. Hello.

-Nice to meet you. -Hi. Welcome to my nightmare.

[Drew] Was the fire just the back unit or was--

-Fire was the back unit. -Oh, okay.

2:00 in the morning, I hear pounding on my door.

It's my tenant running up and down the driveway

with his dog, screaming, "Fire, fire, fire."

-[Drew] Oh, my God. -I look back and I see flames.

So is it... So it's gutted right now?

Yes. Yeah. Come on, I'll show you.

So how many units in the back, how many units in the front?

-Four units and two units. -Oh.

Right now, this is where I live.

A guesthouse and a fourplex.

[Jonathan] I thought the entire property

-was just four units. So... -[Frank] No.

[Jonathan] you have six here? Oh.

-[Frank] I have six, yeah. -Were there any injuries?

-Was there-- -[Frank] No, no.

There weren't any injuries.

And, originally, the fire started in the back.

He was like smoking on the couch

and the couch went up in flames.

-Yikes. -And then it burned up

the side of the building.

The fire department came, put it out,

and then I looked up, I saw glowing.

-Oh, no. -And I said,

"I think there's fire in the attic.

And giant flames. The whole attic was in flames.

-[Jonathan] Wow. -[Frank] Burned the roof off.

It was a four-alarm fire.

There must have been 25 firemen here.

It had caused so much smoke damage, so much water damage.

The roof had burned off. It was... It was devastating.

It was one of the worst days of my life.

They came in with engineers and everything

from the insurance company

and it was just the roof and the back area.

And, here, I can show you back here.

-Oh, yeah. So you see-- -[Frank] This... Yeah.

This is where the fire was.

So it just went up the wall there and...

It just went up the wall and the whole roof

was engulfed in flames.

My heart sank. Absolutely sank.

Of the four units, how many were rented?

-All of them. -[Drew] What was your rent at?

-Were you at market value? -[Frank] No, no, no, no, no.

They were paying like $1,000 a month, basically.

The downstairs studio unit was $1,100.

-The really large single, $975. -Oh, wow.

[Jonathan] The thing is, a unit that size

usually rents around $1,500.

So you were completely undervaluing them.

When did the fire happen? How long ago?

[Frank] A year... Over... A little over a year ago.

-You had no income for over a year? -For over a year.

-Okay. -I mean, I'm dipping into savings.

It's bad. It's a bad situation.

I have to pay the mortgage.

I have no income.

I literally have three months before I'm in big trouble.

Honestly, at market value,

one unit would pay the mortgage.

-What's the mortgage at? -$340,000.

$340,000. And what's the building worth?

[Frank] About $1.2, $1.3.

-$1.3 million. -Well, as is right now,

you're probably under a million.

Obviously, it's not worth as much right now

because you can't live in it.

I get calls every week from somebody

-wanting to buy the property. -Yeah.

I don't wanna sell the property

because this what I'm hoping

to be able to live on.

-[Drew] Your livelihood. -Yes.

[Drew] You've had this for how long?

[Frank] Twenty years. It's like a business for me.

My goal is to take what has been a nightmare

and sort of turn it into a dream

and get it to more of a market value.

[Jonathan] Well, since this is your livelihood,

you need to get it fixed up.

It would be great to get your tenants

back in here within a few months.

And permits are good now.

-You have-- -[Frank] Permits are good.

If I wanted to keep it a fourplex, I could do that,

but it would be another six months

-in the permitting process. -[Jonathan] Oh.

It's ready to go if I'm willing to make it a triplex.

[Drew] Yeah, permitting takes a long time.

[Jonathan] Let's jump inside. I wanna see...

-Okay. -what we're looking at.

Prior to the fire, it was a fourplex.

The upstairs were two one-bedroom,

one-bath apartments. A mirror image of each other.

The exact same floor plan.

The downstairs was a studio unit

and then a single apartment.

-So this is the single unit. -[Drew] Yeah.

Look at the termite damage.

A lot of termite damage.

-[Jonathan] Are they active? -[Frank] No.

[Jonathan] Have you ever tented in the last 20 years?

-[Frank] No. -[Drew] Yeah, that's the way

-to get rid of them. -Yes. There was...

Like that old alcove there... Over there pretty much

was where the bedroom was.

This was the kitchen

and then the bathroom over there.

-It's the biggest unit. -[Drew] Yeah.

I mean, there's a lot of room to work with.

This is not functional as a bedroom.

I mean, this is so narrow and skinny as a bedroom.

This looks like a bedroom.

-[Frank] Right. -[Drew] And I actually think

it's kind of interesting having the access

to the backyard off the bedroom too, potentially.

Do you keep these areas just private for these suites?

[Frank] This area is for this apartment

and then that area was for the other apartment.

[Jonathan] Personally, you know, one bigger unit

could work out better than two.

In North Hollywood, I can get more money for one

two-bedroom two-bath than I would for two studios.

And spending the right amount

on this space back here because in LA,

if you have an amazing outdoor space,

you are getting an amazing rent.

-Yeah. -This is your business...

-Yes. -over here. Your business is failing,

so we need to revamp this so you can actually

-open your doors to a customer again. -[Frank] Yes.

What are the top things

that will get you better renters,

that will get you better rent?

-[Drew] Outdoor spaces. -Outdoor space is huge.

[Drew] A huge thing.

Any time you can give someone a little extra square footage

or a little extra space.

An outdoor area that feels

like comfortable indoor living

-is considered extra square footage. -Yeah.

If I was pricing the work that had to happen here,

500 grand to complete all of this,

I can already tell right now, we will not be able to do

the entire structure,

inside and outside,

plus the yard.

We're not gonna have enough money for that.

-Wow. -[Drew] That backyard

is critical in order

to get the best market value

out of that downstairs unit.

-We wanna be realistic... -Right.

and if we don't think what needs to be done here

can be done within the $500,000 or...

-Right. -$550,000, I don't know

if this is the right project for us.

As you know too, we have other properties

-that we're looking at. -Right, right, right.

There are only so many people we can... We can back.

If you guys don't do this,

I'm gonna have to go, probably,

with the insurance company's contractor

and it's certainly not gonna be

what you guys would be doing.

The insurance company is only focused

-on getting it livable. -[Frank] Right.

We know that the actual focus

should be what is going to get you the best rent.

And I don't know how much longer I can do it

out of my pocket to pay the rent.

I can imagine if this is your only source of income

and you haven't had that for a year,

that only compiles the stress.

Yeah. And I'm really desperate.

I hope that you pick me

because without you, I'm lost.

We'll put some thought into it and we'll touch base with you, okay?

-All right. -[Drew] Thanks, man.

-Thank you so much. -Thank you.

-Thank you so much. -We'll be going.

[Jonathan] I feel for him because he really has no idea.

He couldn't do this on his own.

I can understand not having any income

for over a year is stressful.

We also need to take emotion out of it

and we need to make the decision

based on where we can actually make the most...

-[Drew] Impact. -[Jonathan] impact.

I appreciate the way that the brothers

were honest with me.

It might have been a little bit of tough love.

I get that.

[Jonathan] He's in a great situation

for the fact that insurance is paying.

[Drew] If we don't do this and a contractor

from the insurance company comes over and does it,

he's not gonna be able to max out

-what the value of those are. -[Jonathan] No.

They're just going to get it livable.

-All right. -[Drew] Okay.

I'll see you in the next one.

[upbeat music playing]

[Drew] Some of these investors have a dream

of where they wanna live, the kind of house they want

for their family, and so they're getting

into these investments as a way

to increase their annual income.

I want that for families.

[Jonathan] We are willing to offer our resources.

We're just not willing to waste our time.

[Drew] So we weigh risk and reward

to see if the project is worth our contribution.

If somebody can take advantage of this

and they're willing to work, we'll make it a success.

-All right. -[Drew] So...

-[Jonathan] Hey. -[Drew] It's been a minute

-since we've been over here. -I know, eh?

[Drew] We're in picturesque View Heights,

which has both upscale homes

and smaller, less pricey ones

that really appeal to both buyers and renters.

Rental vacancy rates are just 1%.

[Jonathan] We just came from Frank's.

We're at Gil and Jessika's house.

They have a very different project.

Theirs is a garage that they wanna convert to an ADU.

[Drew] They've done a bunch of projects in the past

but it sounds like they've sort of just learned

a little something and they just continued to do that.

[Gil] Over the last 15 years,

Jessika and I have purchased

and sold about 10 properties.

Hi. I'm Jessika.

The brothers can absolutely help us

with their expertise.

[Gil] They have a Midas' touch

-and we want to touch that. -[chuckles]

[Drew] Tell us a bit about the place.

I mean, how long have you had this house?

[Gil] We've had this since October

the previous year.

And our plan is essentially

to turn this into an accessory dwelling unit.

Our budget is $150,000.

We have our plans that are going through.

Maybe in the next three or four weeks,

-we'll get the permits. -Wow.

[Jessika] We were married 23 years ago.

We started with a fourplex unit

'cause we couldn't really afford a house.

So you lived in one of the units,

-rented out the other three? -Yeah.

We first thought, "Let's remodel the house."

But Jessika said, "No.

We're gonna take our money and we're gonna create

some additional passive income

that's gonna allow us to remodel the interior."

-[Jessika] The interior. -[Jonathan] That's actually pretty smart.

It's an asset that's gonna continue to generate for you.

Yes. It adds instant value to the home.

-[Gil] Yeah. -[Jonathan] Oh, yeah.

[Drew] Do you plan on staying in this house?

-[Gil] Three to five years. -[Drew] Okay.

Three to five years?

Do you have any rentals right now?

[Jessika] Yes. Two homes.

All of your properties are rented right now?

-[Jessika] Yes. -[Jonathan] This is like the perfect area.

Any pushback from the city at all?

'Cause it is getting a little bit low toward the back...

-[Gil] Yeah. -[Jonathan] of the unit.

Our plan is to...

-Raise the ceiling. -raise the roof.

-Okay. -[Jessika] Yeah.

And then the bedroom, which would be off of this

side is 140 square feet.

-So we're pushing out. -Oh, you're doing an addition?

-We're doing an addition. -Oh, okay.

-[Gil] So--Yeah. -[Jonathan] And you're okay

with what it'll do to the yard?

-Like-- -[Gil] Yeah. So--

Can we go see on the side here?

[Gil] So we think that it'll generate

$2,500 to $2,800.

This will be where the bed is.

Off of this area will be a sliding glass door

to this garden area.

[Jonathan] That is extremely tiny.

[Drew] There is a chance that that could feel

like a prison cell block,

like 10 by 10 almost.

Okay, this is something we didn't think about.

[Drew] Your bedroom idea is great

because that's an extra 140 square feet.

-Yes, yes. -That's amazing.

That's what people are gonna pay for.

-Just having [indistinct] -[Jonathan] I'm gonna disagree

with the bedroom sticking out into the yard.

You want this property to appeal

to as many buyers as possible.

By doing that bump-out, you're sacrificing the yard.

I agree with eating into the yard,

but I think if you dress it properly

and you have the right kind of buildup

for a garden back there, it can still be very appealing.

That's gonna affect resale though.

And if you're gonna resell in three to five years...

-You have to make a decision. -[Jessika] Mmm-hmm.

Is it more important that you have better rent revenue

or is it more important that you have a better resale?

You're not gonna always get both, so--

-Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm. -We can't back everyone.

We only have so many resources and time.

-Yes. -What do you really, really,

-really need from us? -Jessika and I personally feel

like we've sort of plateaued...

-[Jessika] Yes. -[Gil] with our experience.

We're looking to get to the next level.

At the end of the day, it will be your decision

as to whether or not you would listen to us.

-[Gil] Yes. -But you're open

and you also feel like you're realistic.

-Absolutely. Yeah. -Absolutely, yeah.

-100%. -Well, I appreciate your time.

-Oh, my gosh. Yeah, you guys, this is great. -Yeah, thank you so very much.

We're really desperate to get the brothers to help us.

These guys, you can tell that they just wanna learn.

I have a little hesitation.

I kind of get the feeling

that they need less of our help

when it comes to this actual specific project

and they're just more interested in taking a class

from the Jonathan and Drew school of real estate

as opposed to us specifically

getting them through his project.

[Drew] So this project here,

it's $150,000 in.

Potentially, they'd be able to take that

rental unit up to about $2,500, I think.

Maybe $2,800 if they really get lucky.

The value after we're done will probably be

about $250,000 or more, so--

[Jonathan] Looking at Frank's numbers,

he wants to put $500,000 in.

I mean, that will add $600,000 to $1 million

of value to the property.

The insurance money is paying for the work.

However, I think the cost is gonna be over $500,000,

depending on what he wants to do in that outdoor space.

If he goes another year or two without any income,

that could completely cripple Frank.

This could turn into a much longer project.

You know, we don't have the resources to help both.

I would say...

[dramatic music playing]

We don't have the resources to help both.

Right. So we should back whoever needs our crew

and our guidance the most.

-I think Frank. -[Jonathan] Yeah.

I think Frank needs it.

Thinking of the business decision,

I still think Frank's property

is the best opportunity.

I mean, that fourplex, even making it a triplex,

that's gonna bring in 7,500 bucks a month.

We already gave Jessika and Gil our advice,

and I don't think they'll need us

to finish their project successfully.

-Okay. -[Drew] It's Frank.

-Let's give him a ring. Yeah. -Let's give him a call.

[line trilling]

-Hello. -[both] Hey.

Hello.

How you doing?

I'm very stressed. [chuckles]

We've got one crew coming available right away.

And we did look at another project.

We've weighed a lot of the pros and cons back and forth.

We wanna back you because we think

it can really help you get this project done.

[Frank] Oh, my God.

Are you serious?

Thank you so much.

[Drew] We just wanna be realistic from the get-go.

Knowing we'll be going to the backyard,

this will probably go over $500,000.

We're gonna do everything we can to keep it down.

[Frank] Whatever I have to do, I'll make it happen.

I'm so grateful. Thank you, guys.

This is gonna change my life.

And I won't let you down, I promise.

All right. So let's try and get you some renters in there

as soon as possible.

I'm looking forward to it.

-This is gonna be good. -[Drew] All right.

[dramatic music playing]

[Drew] What we wanna do in this property is not what Frank wants.

We wanna do what renters wanna see in this area.

We wanna get premium rent.

We need to do what appeals to them.

Make sure we stick to budget

'cause he's working off insurance money.

[Jonathan] Sometimes when insurance is paying,

you don't think as critically

as when it is your own money.

-Hey, guys. Hi. -Come on down.

[Jonathan] That's why we're providing Frank

with project manager and contractor, Adam,

as well as designer, Gianna,

who can stay on top of the budget.

This is a value of about $50,000

that Drew and I are footing the bill for.

They're both super talented.

Adam is awesome

at keeping the esthetic that he want,

adding the function that you want,

-but not paying that premium. -Right.

[Drew] Gianna is really good at designing on a dime.

What she'll do is lay out all the options,

-picking the best one. -Yeah. This definitely needs

an update to kind of bring to the comparable rentals

that are going on in the neighborhood,

which is the Spanish bungalow

or bone-colored stucco,

black windows,

very modern to elevate the space.

-Right, right. -Comparable to the newer,

higher end finishes that are being seen around.

Yeah. And I think that's a selling point.

We're not gonna have Spanish shingles to save on cost...

but I think doing like a nice black composition shingle,

-get this insulated, get all the windows in. -[Frank] Right.

[Jonathan] Since Frank already has permits for a triplex

and he agrees that that's a better use for this property,

we've tweaked the plans to really make this fourplex

the best triplex it can be.

The fact that we now have three instead of four kitchens,

that's saving us a ton of money.

-[Frank] Right. -[Jonathan] The main floor

is now a two bedroom, two bath

and we've moved the kitchen into the middle.

We're thinking like this needs to be opened up

a little bit 'cause the space is feeling a little tight

-in here for the kitchen. -Yeah.

[Jonathan] Yeah. So we'll push back the walls

and open up the kitchen area to the living and dining space.

We only have so much room to put like a dining table

and a couch, so people wanna have little areas

and not feel like they're stuck.

And then this is where it could open up potentially

-to a peninsula. -Oh, wow.

[Jonathan] It'll be a modern space.

And we'll continue that look in the two units upstairs,

keeping it consistent.

[Drew] There are a lot of things any renter wants.

They like an open flow

from their living room into the kitchen.

If you can make your rental unit look better

than every other one that a tenant is gonna look at,

-you're gonna win. -There is something to be said

for strategic design.

-Right. -[Jonathan] We're all here to mentor you

over the next 12 weeks until you get this project done.

You're gonna make the final decisions.

-Yeah. -And hopefully it's something

that will pay off in that higher rent.

Well, my incentive is to get this rentable

as soon as possible because I'm losing money.

We're not gonna push you to any decisions...

-[Frank] Right. -but those decisions need to be made.

But there is one decision

that's gonna be a little bit trickier for you to make.

If you can follow me.

We have our massively

-underwhelming backyard space. -Oh, jeez.

[Jonathan] This is one of the biggest assets

-you have on the property. -[Frank] Right.

The downside is this is not covered by insurance.

-Right. -This would be out of your pocket.

I mean, you can tell me how much, how little you wanna do.

Even if we have a little deck over here,

10 by 10 or something like that,

put in an irrigation system for your plants. What else?

-[Drew] Better privacy wall. -[Jonathan] This screen across

the back I think would be key.

Give you that full height privacy

and something that looks good.

I mean, the screening alone

would be like $5,000.

I mean, bare minimum cost back here

that would have to come out of your pocket

-would be like 20 grand. -Wow.

[Jonathan] And you'd have to commit to that amount

by 10 weeks into this job or Adam can't oversee it

'cause he is on to the next one, so--

I'm scrambling already, you know,

to pay the mortgage and everything

without any income coming in.

[Drew] If you can't come up with the extra money,

he's gonna have to skip the yard.

Which I think is a huge mistake.

This small investment now,

$20,000, maybe $30,000,

would get him hundreds more

every single month in perpetuity.

So it's kind of short-term thinking

if he doesn't tackle that now.

I would have to scramble to get it.

-I would see what I could do. -[Drew] See what you can do.

We're leaving you in very capable hands.

They take over from here.

But the quicker we can get decisions made,

the quicker we can have this transformed to get tenants in.

I'm gonna need life preserver.

-That's what these guys are. -[Gianna] Yeah.

[Jonathan] They're gonna be watching your back.

They're gonna be watching your bottom line.

-[Frank] Right. -Keep this ship going right.

-Thank you so much. -Get that momentum moving.

-Absolutely. I'm excited. -[Adam] Thank you.

-[Gianna] Yes. Bye. -Bye, guys. Thank you so much.

-[Gianna] See you. -[Frank] Thanks.

[machine whirring]

[Drew] The first thing that has to happen with this place

is we have to finish gutting it.

Make everything safe, get everything prepared,

and then start framing out for the new floor plan.

[Jonathan] Yeah, from there, Frank can start making decisions

about the layout and design for these new apartments.

[Frank] Having Drew and Jonathan back me,

it's making it a little easier,

but it's way more than I ever thought it would be.

Oh, man.

This is not good.

[machine whirring]

[Drew] Of course, it hasn't even been a week

and I already have a text from Adam saying

something is worse than we originally expected.

Frank's stairs to the second floor apartments

have termite damage.

The pictures look nasty.

-So... -[Adam] Yup.

we had budgeted to do some replacement, right?

Yeah. We budgeted to do what we saw.

All the rotten wood, termite damage, that was included.

This was covered with stucco still.

I was hoping for the best but--

[Drew] Well, it looks terrible.

I don't feel safe

-standing under this. -[Adam] I know.

[dramatic music playing]

[Frank] Hmm.

I don't feel safe standing under this.

-[Adam] I know. -[Drew] Yeah, these stairs are a nightmare.

That's the thing, when you start to pull everything back,

you find the surprises.

[Adam] I wasn't planning on reframing

the upper deck area and obviously this...

-[Drew] Yeah, yeah. -[Adam] needs some work.

What's the new cost for all this?

It's six to seven grand to reframe it.

Ugh. This is the kind of thing you hate to see.

You budget for what you think you have to replace

and then you see there's a lot more termite damage

than we thought there was.

It's missing structural integrity,

so we have to rip out the stairs and build new.

That's over $6,000.

The more we find stuff like this... Watch your step.

We have to find savings elsewhere...

-[Adam] Right. -[Drew] in order to pay

for things like this that creep up.

-Okay. Making some progress. -Yes.

[Drew] These are the two one-bedroom units.

[Gianna] So the enclosed kitchen is an issue.

So we're gonna have to open this up.

And I would like to bring

-another peninsula here. -[Drew] Perfect.

We'll do that for the kitchen in both spaces.

It's so small that you can't have cabinets

-on both sides. -[Frank] No, no, you can't.

[Drew] I'm with you if there was a way for us to be able

-to add a bit more counter space or something. -Just a little more, yeah.

Nobody wants to have a tiny, closed-in kitchen.

Opening up that one wall,

adding some lower cabinets and countertop,

it's gonna just make everything feel bigger.

Of course, it'll cost more to add these peninsulas

because it's more material and more structural changes.

I think we're gonna have to get another slab of countertop.

-So we have our two feet per cabinets. -[Gianna] Two feet. Mmm-hmm.

-Three-foot walkway. -Way to go.

Three foot to the walkway. Okay.

We are absolutely fine to put another

-bank of cabinets here. -[Gianna] Correct. Uh-huh.

[Drew] So I like that idea, 'cause what felt like

a tiny kitchen, you now have almost five feet of cabinets.

-[Gianna] Yeah. -[Frank] Wow.

There'll be a little bit of added cost

because of the peninsula here

as well as beam work up top,

but it's gonna make these suites more valuable.

[Frank] Well, it sounds good.

I just wanna make sure that I can afford it.

[Gianna] I did find some flooring options...

-[Frank] Oh, good. -that might save some costs

that we can take a look at.

[Drew] We can add and subtract costs

as long as we stay within the $500K

for the insurance payout.

Here's three options.

LVP flooring is 70% stone composite.

It has grading for heat, so it doesn't warp.

[Drew] Oh, really? You mean if the building burns down

-the floor will stay intact? -I wouldn't...

-Don't say that. -[Gianna] Listen.

-[Drew] Too soon? Too soon? -[laughs]

[Frank] I like these.

Is there a big price difference?

[Gianna] It's negligible.

LVP has improved so much.

You're gonna have a bit better sound barrier I think with this.

Far more durable than a hardwood.

[Frank] I like it. I like it a lot.

[Drew] One thing to keep in mind as well,

we have a lot of these materials we're using

on multiple projects, which means we can get

-better pricing. -Oh, great.

So anything we can get that can bring your cost down,

we absolutely will do because there

are areas that Gianna and Adam were telling me

that we're gonna have to spend a bit more on.

[Frank] Oh, no. Not the backyard.

[Gianna] I'll see you guys later.

[Drew] Yeah. See you later. Thanks, Gianna.

Okay. I know what you had allotted

-for budget was the building. -Right.

[Drew] That's your insurance money.

So we crunched the numbers for out here and...

-[Frank] Right. -it's 20 grand.

There's no way we can get this down under that,

otherwise we'll finish and it's gonna look like this.

[Frank] No, no. This is ridiculous.

I believe that doing it is going to be able

to make it up on the backend

because when somebody comes out and sees

that they have a really nice backyard...

-[Drew] Yeah. -[Frank] I can up the rent.

And, you know, I'm looking to, you know,

raise a little bit more money. Absolutely.

I mean, you know, my sister owes me money,

so I'm gonna hit her up and pay back the bank of Frank.

[Drew] It's time to call on those loans.

You've been sitting here with no tenant

income for 15 months.

It's time to change all that.

My job is to find off-cut material,

leftovers that we have that we can give you.

Your job is to find more money.

-All right. All right. -Yes.

[Frank] I got a lot of things to consider.

I've got some, uh, math to do.

[Drew] Anywhere we can help Frank, we will,

stretching that budget with appliances

that we have or other materials for his backyard.

The one thing that's a little weird for me

is I wanna make sure we have enough money

to get the project done and I'm not sure if Frank's

gonna have the money he needs. At the end of the day,

we'll try to bring as much as we can to support Frank,

but this is his project. He's the one

that has to come up with the money,

so we'll see.

[machine whirring]

[upbeat music playing]

[Gianna] You know, we can take a look at that,

but I think that will be good.

Okay. That's exciting.

I have some other samples.

What is great about the brothers

being able to back Frank

is that I have access to their warehouse.

-Here we are... -Oh, wow.

in the warehouse.

This is where they store everything

-for all their projects. -Wow.

There's a great inventory we are able to pull from,

which will help offset Frank's budget.

If something is not already tagged

then we can tag it for ourselves.

-Oh, my gosh. -[Gianna] This is provided.

So we can really work with it here.

-This is so cool. -Yes.

[Frank] I like this. I like the hexagons.

Yeah. This is good for like the main floor

-of the bathroom. -I like that.

This would be good for the shower, you know?

[indistinct] little bit of penny

-and then for walking on that-- -Oh, yeah.

I like the penny tile.

What kind of grout are we doing?

So we have like a charcoal

that will kind of like set it out.

It has that designer touch,

which makes the difference between $1,500 a month

and getting $2,000 a month.

Oh, microwave drawer.

[Frank] Oh, yes. I like that.

[Gianna] First floor kitchen.

[Frank] Where the people are sitting in the...

-On the kitchen side. -[Gianna] Like the peninsula.

-Yeah. -[Frank] I like that a lot.

-Let's tag it. -Yeah. Tag that.

[Frank] Boom. Oh, my gosh.

This is exciting.

I have some countertop samples to show you.

-[Frank] Oh, good. Okay. -[Gianna] When you design

for a rental, you have to think

of choices that are not a fad.

So this looks like marble, right?

-[Frank] Right. It does. -It's engineered stone.

So you have a look of marble...

[Frank] Okay. I like that a lot.

-But without the cost. -Got you.

And they're gonna last and stand the test of time.

I would like to do wood, but I don't know

if that's gonna be possible

with money and time.

Okay. I think I'm leaning towards that one.

-[Gianna] Okay. -Yeah.

Like the veining detail.

A traditional marble like black and white.

-[Gianna] Yeah, yeah. Okay. -[Frank] It's classic.

-[Gianna] Yes. -Yes, the rent just went up $200.

-[Gianna] Yes, it did. -[Frank] Okay.

[Gianna] I like that. All right.

So we got cabinets, counters, microwave,

tile, and it's not gonna cost me an arm and a leg.

-We're making progress. -Yes.

[upbeat music playing]

[machine whirring]

[Frank] There's always something to figure out

with the contractors. From in the morning

when they get here at 7:00 until they leave in the evening,

I'm watching everything that's going on.

[machine whirring]

So were you able to pick the stucco color?

[Frank] I did. I think we're gonna go

with sort of the bone white, so it'll kind of pick up

that Spanish modern bungalow style.

-[Adam] Love it. -[Frank] And with the black trim,

-I think it's gonna look great. -[Adam] Yeah.

It's been amazing, the progress.

I mean, remember I sat for over a year

with nothing being done.

You know, I had no roof.

I had no walls.

[Adam] Got your interior doors.

-Nice. I like it. -Yup.

[Frank] And now it's all happen--

[Adam] I wanna talk to you about this backyard.

[Frank] Oh, my God. What a mess.

I don't know if you can pull the trigger yet...

-Right. -or you can or can't...

-Right. -I don't know, but I do wanna clean this up.

Anything that you can do

-to help me save money... -Yeah, man.

I'm trying. You know,

we've had other expenses

come up that I've had to put money to.

-Yeah. Yeah. -But this has always

been something that's been my priority.

My goal is to be able to have

the money to be able to do this.

-All right, man. -The backyard, it's really

a great benefit to have that.

I mean, if you weigh the pros and the cons,

there really are no cons at all other than the price.

If we can follow through with Drew and see

if he can get us a deal on bricks or something.

You know, my units before were very

well-priced, under budget.

If we can afford it, a nice brick walkway.

[Adam] I would recommend decomposed granite.

Okay. It might be more of a champagne budget

-with my beer dollars. -[laughs]

[upbeat music playing]

-Hey, Jonathan. -[Jonathan] Hello.

How are you?

You caught me on a lunch break.

Oh, okay. Well, I wish I was on a lunch break,

-so-- -Is everything good or...

You look a little bit stressed.

You know, I'm a little bit stressed out.

Just... You can see all of the cabinets

that haven't been put together yet, stuff like that.

-Got a problem... -[Jonathan] Yup.

with our electric. It's a mess.

I'm living in a construction zone.

So I'm trying to deal with all of that.

Hold on one sec. Hold on one sec.

You are not living in the construction zone.

You have a house right next door there,

so I deal with this day in and day out.

Hundreds of projects. This is normal.

This is not normal for you...

No, it's not.

so it probably feels more stressful.

It is okay.

Cabinets don't fit sometimes.

Sometimes you have to swap fixtures.

Things... You know you have to pass

electrical inspections, so be ready.

I'm actually gonna be in the area

tomorrow late morning, so why don't I pop by

and I'll take a look.

All right. Bye. [groans]

[machine whirring]

[Frank] The city came out and we have old wiring

from the pole to my house

back to the back, and they don't allow that anymore.

So we had to trench to the back property.

Totally an unexpected, huge expense.

But I didn't have a choice. The city made us do that.

[upbeat music playing]

[Jonathan] There had been a couple of projects

that almost ruined our business.

I mean, you're not sleeping at night.

It is stressful.

All of your money is on the line.

[Drew] You have so many things that can happen,

a fire on your property

or we had a property

where somebody came in in the middle of the night

and they stole all of our appliances.

This is definitely not for the faint of heart.

[machine whirring]

Okay. So they started putting the cabinets in.

Yes, sir. Now is the time to make any changes.

[Frank] Okay. I'd rather lose this.

If we switch this over there, it gives us more space here.

And then underneath, do a couple...

Maybe two shelves, two open shelves.

-That's gone. -Okay.

[Jonathan] We're down to the wire,

and cabinetry is going in in Frank's building,

so I'm gonna swing by, check out what's going on.

Yeah. But you're...

-Knock, knock. -Oh, hey, hey. Hi.

What is happening?

We have a few issues, which we're

dealing with right now.

I'm just noticing the cabinets and I don't like...

Oh, like this? Is this a problem?

Well, yeah, the fact that we can

open it like that much...

-Yeah. -yeah, it's a little...

Yeah, you're not gonna get much in that drawer.

I don't think we need this.

This cabinet, I'd rather see over there

and maybe an open shelf further down.

But I think if you have a counter

that leans off a little bit, now you have a place.

You can put a trashcan underneath.

Well, the only thing is, I wouldn't have it

overhang on this side.

That's just gonna make it feel even more squeezed.

I would just do, like, a separate piece here

for your breakfast bar seating and call it a day.

We need to make sure that these aren't just beautiful kitchens.

They also have to be functional.

-You got that? -[groans] I work out.

But this is Frank's building.

-He has the final say. -Oh, look it.

See? It's the perfect fit.

It does look pretty good.

[Frank] See, I like that.

I love the corner unit.

I think that's amazing.

[Jonathan] A little thing here

and a little thing here to change is fine.

But if he's doing this constantly,

it slows everything down.

So, on the phone, you had mentioned

that some stuff popped up that was pretty expensive.

Yes. The electrical is a huge ticket item.

The overhead wires are no longer allowed.

So now, they had to be relocated

to the front with a trench dug down

the driveway to the back units here.

[Jonathan] Oh, my gosh. Was it 20 grand or...

-[Frank] $18,000. -Yeah.

Are you still thinking about the back area?

Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.

I really, really, really wanna do that.

[Jonathan] We're at a point, he's either gonna

be dipping into savings to do that backyard

or we've gotta just nix it.

We're losing Adam in three weeks.

It's a mistake for Frank not to take full

advantage of what we're offering.

He'd be leaving money on the table,

but we're running out of time.

[rock music playing]

[dramatic music playing]

Let's talk about these cabinets, Frank.

Yes, let's, please.

Um, all right.

We can't do what we did upstairs.

We're gonna still do the peninsula.

-Right. -Okay.

-Hey. What's going on? -[Gianna] Oh, hey.

We're not done everything?

[Frank] I know. I... This is ridiculous.

[Jonathan] It actually looks almost livable.

Once your tenants bring in their furniture, then...

-Yeah. -all of a sudden...

Well, I'm thinking of furnishing the units.

-[Jonathan] oh. -[Frank] I did that before.

Before the fire, I had one of the units furnished.

I get a little bit more money if they're furnished

and I don't necessarily need long term.

I can do a six-month tenant, 'cause we're really

close to the studios.

If you have an actor or a producer,

somebody coming in that needs a place to stay,

instead of putting them up at a hotel,

put 'em up at one of my units...

-[Jonathan] Yeah. -[Frank] for six months.

[Jonathan] You're right. You are actually in a pretty

-strategically advantaged spot. -[Frank] Yes.

Short-term rentals

-can get you about 50% more. -[Gianna] Oh, yeah.

However, you've had more downtime.

-Right. -[Jonathan] Uh, the vacancy for short-terms

is higher and it just costs more upfront.

-[Gianna] Yeah. -But I also have some furniture and storage.

-[Jonathan] Okay. -So... But, you know,

helping augment it,

you know, with the stuff you have would be great.

If you have a storage locker,

-you're just burning cash on. -[Frank] Absolutely.

-Get rid of that. -[Frank] Yeah.

Put that furniture in. I agree with you.

Yeah. Perfect.

Now, we've gotta figure out a furniture plan.

-Mmm-hmm. -That's gonna take...

-Yeah. -some extra thought.

-Right. -Okay.

Yeah.

[dramatic music playing]

[Jonathan] This is gonna be a race to the finish line.

And since Frank hasn't committed funds yet

for fixing up the backyard,

the focus is on the apartments for now.

[hip-hop music playing]

[Adam] How do you like the railings? Everything okay?

[Frank] Love the railings.

Although it needs to be touched up.

-[Adam] Yeah. -[Frank] You can see in a...

-Yeah, absolutely. -couple different places.

[Adam] Yeah. We're doing, like, 360 paint touchups,

stucco touchups, cleaning up of the windows.

[Jonathan] 'Cause we're at crunch time, and...

-[Adam] I know. -[Jonathan] I'm nervous.

[Adam] I know.

[Frank] Well, the TV's going up on...

-[Gianna] Yeah. Mmm-hmm. -[Frank] that wall there.

So, I want furniture to face that.

Okay. We should do a little different

-layout for each unit. -[Frank] Right. Absolutely.

We also have to think about walking distance.

This is really great 'cause they're modular.

-Right. -So, if you decide you wanna chance the layout,

you could make them face each other...

-Yeah. -or face the other way.

[Frank] We got the, stools going in there.

Well, let me get a couple more things.

Hey, Chris, can you help me out?

I just wanna get some of the furniture outs

from the brothers.

-Make it look homey. -Yeah.

Let's see. Let's do this.

Oh, yeah, the sideboard.

That was my mom's.

Let's put that under the TV.

[Gianna] Yeah, that'd be good for the TV.

It's nice and slim, doesn't take up too much space.

We are using stuff from his storage

and stuff from the brothers' warehouse.

-[Frank] Love it. -[Gianna] Okay.

We wanna make these look as high-end as possible

so we can get the most money renting these out.

You wanna have each unit to have its own personality.

It's dusk to dawn.

-Is this the theme in here? -[Frank] Yes.

Okay. You're ready to go. Okay.

[Frank] Between what I had, it's in good condition.

-The brothers'... -[Gianna] Okay.

[Frank] stuff is gorgeous.

This is gonna be nice.

[groans]

I'm sorry, what are you doing right now?

-I'm resting. -[Gianna] No, no.

No time for rest today.

[Frank] I think it elevates these units

to a status of people that wanna rent,

that wanna come in, that want a completely furnished unit.

-[Gianna] Perfect. -I think I'm gonna get top dollar.

All you need to do is bring your toothbrush.

This is from my old department.

Oh.

These tenants will be there

for three to six months,

maybe even a year or so.

They just need to make sure

they have everything they need.

Bigger paintings are always great as well.

It makes the wall space seemed bigger.

[Frank] Yeah.

We wanna get those furnished as fast as possible

so we can rent these out.

Ah, that's great.

-Very nice. -[Adam] It's perfect.

[rock music playing]

-[Jonathan] Hello. -[Drew] Hello.

-Hello. -[Drew] Hello.

What's this high-end property behind you?

Hey.

I love that you have a roof.

[laughs]

Thanks. Thanks for saying that.

Why don't we head over there?

I'm waiting and anticipating your arrival.

-All right. I'll-- -[Frank] I'll see you guys soon.

[upbeat music playing]

[Jonathan] I get excited backing someone

like Frank because he's a truly good person.

He's got a big heart.

He had this place sitting empty for over a year

and it was costing him a lot of money.

He now has a huge opportunity.

[Drew] We have high expectations,

and now it's time to see if Frank has these places

looking and feeling like they're in line

with the nicest apartments in this neighborhood or, not.

I am excited.

I am excited.

[Frank] I'm very nervous to show the brothers

what the projects turned out to look like.

I think it looks fantastic.

To me, it's beyond my expectations.

I hope it exceeds theirs.

Oh, wow.

[whistles]

Hey, guys.

-Stop zhuzhing. -What do you think? Yeah.

[Jonathan] Yeah. This is amazing.

[Drew] It's so nice.

[Jonathan] It looks incredible.

[Frank] Better than I even imagined.

I mean, just the outside alone is gorgeous.

[Jonathan] It is. I mean, how long ago was it?

We were standing right here.

You didn't have a roof.

It smelled like soot.

-[Frank] I had no walls. -[Jonathan] No tenants.

-You were hemorrhaging money. -[Frank] Yup.

[Jonathan] So that's stressful.

[Frank] Very stressful.

-Let's get in here. -Come on in.

-[Drew] Let's get started. -[Frank] Check it out.

Wipe your feet.

[Drew] Yes.

[chuckles]

Oh, my gosh.

-This is awesome. -Isn't this great?

[upbeat music playing]

[Jonathan] Holy smoke.

[Frank] Well, I'm gonna let you guys

tell me what you think.

[Drew] This is so nice.

I love how functional this is.

Look at the size of the table.

That's a great sized table for a unit this big.

[Frank] No, the space is great.

Remember before, this was a single unit.

[Drew] Yeah, right.

[Jonathan] This looks so much better

than what would've been here before.

[Frank] This is where Gianna and Adam

come into the picture, giving me them

to use night and day.

There's no way that I would've done this.

[Jonathan] You look around and you can tell.

[Frank] Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

It boggles my mind that this is mine.

Well, I think it's gonna boggle some tenant's minds,

and, a beautiful stone going all the way up the backsplash.

[Frank] Oh, that's luxurious.

This is Beverly Hills.

[Jonathan] It is. Statement appliances.

And, oh, my gosh, a dishwasher.

-[Jonathan] Yeah. -[Frank] Are you kidding?

A built-in microwave. I mean, how many people

are expecting under the counter microwave?

[Frank] No. I mean, this is beyond high-end.

It really is. Look at this bathroom.

-[Drew] Wow. -[Frank] It's gorgeous.

And it was my idea to put the pocket door

-in off the bedroom. -[Drew] Smart. Yeah.

[Frank] It becomes almost like an en suite.

-[Drew] Yeah -And before, there was, like,

a telephone booth-sized shower here.

[Drew] Shower. Yeah.

[Frank] By switching it and putting the shower

over there, we doubled the size of the shower.

[Jonathan] Yeah. Exactly.

And these came from your warehouse.

[Jonathan] Yeah. From Zooey and my shower.

-[Drew] Wow. -[Jonathan] This...

So every time I ma-sudsing it up,

I'm gonna be thinking about you...

-[Frank] Oh, please. -and your rental situation.

Are you kidding?

My rent just went up 100 bucks a month for this place.

-[laughs] Yeah. -Is it signed?

[Frank] It's got celebrity tiles.

[Drew] Have Jonathan sign it for you.

[Frank] I know. Look at this.

[Jonathan] This is a good bedroom.

-I mean-- -[Frank] Isn't this great?

[Jonathan] And the fact that both your

bedrooms have their own bathroom.

-[Frank] Yes. -[Jonathan] That's awesome as well.

[Frank] It's gorgeous.

[Drew] Everything is so peaceful.

Even the tone of the floors it's luxury vinyl,

-so it's gonna last. -[Frank] Yes.

[Drew] It's also nice

just to have something this beautiful.

[Frank] Yeah, it's gorgeous.

-[Drew] Yeah. -[Jonathan] Yeah, yeah.

[Frank] And the one bedrooms upstairs,

-we made a few tweaks. -[Jonathan] Let's do it.

-Come upstairs. -[Frank] Let me show you.

-New handrails. -[Jonathan] Oh, yeah.

So this was one of the add-ons.

-[Frank] Yes, it was. -And the new stairs.

[Drew] The stairs feel solid.

The rail looks great. It's just nice and clean.

-It matches the windows. -Yes.

-[Drew] Oh, my gosh. -[Frank] Here we are.

This is so good.

[dramatic music playing]

[Jonathan] You nailed it.

It looks so fantastic.

So much natural light.

You have the breakfast bar.

Somebody could have a little table

-over here if they wanted. -[Frank] I think that's...

-I think it's the meal bar. -[Jonathan] Yeah.

[Frank] I love the extra counter that we did

so that it hugs the wall.

Put your keys in when you get home.

[Drew] Yup. Yeah.

[Frank] But also, we put up the wall-mounted TVs.

So this is an extra bonus.

Also, a little extra in rent,

'cause we're giving 'em a TV.

[Jonathan] That adds more value

and they're willing to pay more money.

No, absolutely. Absolutely.

The appliances are...

These are, like, extra luxurious appliances.

-[Drew] Yes. -[Jonathan] Oh, yeah.

-[Frank] Absolutely. -[Jonathan] Tenants are gonna come to look.

As soon as you list this,

the very first tenant is gonna want the place.

They're not gonna want you to show anybody else.

-[Frank] Right. -We wanna take it right now.

And you're gonna have to decide.

Well, I have an old tenant that wants to come back

who has three friends that want to rent.

So, I don't think I'm gonna have a problem at all

getting these rented, like you said, very quickly...

-[Drew] Oh. -and at a great price.

You think before you were getting 1,000 bucks?

-[Frank] Right. -[Drew] Can you imagine somebody

-renting this at 1,000? -[Frank] Oh, my God.

-Are you kidding? No. -[Drew] There's no way.

Well, what were you thinking?

Probably $2,200, $2,400, maybe.

But I don't have parking, so...

[Jonathan] That is a hit. Yeah.

-But you're still being generous. -[Frank] Right.

[Jonathan] If this was unfurnished,

you could get $2,700 a month.

-This is... -[Frank] Right.

-your business. -[Frank] Right.

[Jonathan] Make sure that you're putting

renters in, one, who are gonna take care of the place...

-Right. -[Jonathan] but two, who are paying you

what the market rent is for this, because--

Right. No, I definitely wanna bring it in

at a price that I'm happy with,

that is more toward the market value.

Can tell you right now, this will stand out

from all of the other inventory.

[Frank] Yeah. Yeah.

[Jonathan] I wanna see the other side.

-[Drew] Yeah. -Ah, yeah.

[light music playing]

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

[Drew] The moment you walk in, it's a no-brainer.

Someone will walk in and say, "I have to take this."

There's nothing else that compares.

[Frank] Yeah. This was the worst unit.

When the fire came, there was a huge

hole in the roof from the fire.

[Jonathan] Everything came together,

from the insurance, helping with the build.

It makes me cry. It really does.

It makes me really emotional because, you know, I...

Literally, that night of the fire,

I didn't know what I was gonna do.

And to stand here now and see everything,

it... It's emotional for me. [sobs]

I'm so grateful for the opportunity.

I'm so grateful that the brothers

decided to back me.

And thanks to you for giving me

the helm of the ship and said, "You're the captain.

Take this ship the port," and I did.

-We are in port now. -Thanks for not

-crashing the ship. -Yeah.

The brothers turned a nightmare into a dream.

[Jonathan] Frank had 500 grand in insurance money

to cover this renovation.

Our banking was valued at nearly $100,000

and all the work was completed in 12 weeks.

While we donated materials, there were costs

that weren't in our budget.

Plus, Frank made interior choices

that brought our budget up.

But all in all, he came in

right at the insured amount.

Originally, you were renting these units upstairs,

the two one bedrooms for 1,000 bucks.

-[Frank] Right. -[Drew] Now, you could get over $3,000

-a month for these furnished. -Wow.

Now downstairs. Downstairs, you can probably get

around $3,600, $3,700 a month furnished.

-Right. -But if you finished the backyard,

-you could get over $4,000. -Right.

[Drew] You really could. So, do you think

you can pull together the $20,000 you would need

for that backyard?

You know, I think it's a no-brainer

for me to try and do that.

Um, I think I can do that.

[Drew] You say a lot of, "I think".

-I needed something concrete. -[Frank] Okay.

So, I think I...

Gianna and Adam will have to get on other projects.

-[Frank] Right. -But we also have some great

landscape teams that work with us.

In the next week, let us know right away.

-That'll be the critical part. -Yeah.

But if you can pull that money together,

renting out these two units plus the downstairs,

you'll actually be able to pull in about $120,000 a year.

Huge difference.

You're set up for success.

Aw. Thank you.

Oh, I owe you a dinner.

-[Drew chuckles] -[Frank] The house is done.

It looks incredible.

And trying to get the right rent,

that's my biggest concern right now.

This is my livelihood

and I only have one shot at it

and I wanna make sure that I do it right.

[Jonathan] Next time on Backed by the Bros.

Hello.

[man] I need the brothers more than most.

I don't know what I'm doing.

I've never flipped a house before.

[Jonathan] This view could be the best view in the city.

[Drew] I wanna understand how much debt he has,

how much he realistically can afford to renovate.

That is a goldmine to have this view

with some flat space.

You could build probably a guest house.

That would easily get me my fifth bedroom.

You guys, that's building an entire house.

[Frank] I'm just measuring to see

how big a deck I would want.

I just got off the phone with Frank

and he has 10 grand.

[Drew] What? He has enough money

for half the project.