Original subtitles

They've done some investment properties before,

so they should know a little something.

If they don't know a little something,

they're about to learn a little something.

Massive undertaking. Potentially massive profit.

It smells like money.

[Drew] We just want to help people get into good investments

or to help save them from what's turning into a bad investment.

I don't know what I'm doing.

I've never flipped a house before.

[Jonathan] Had you rented it out from the beginning,

-you would have made over $400,000. -[groans]

[Drew] So we want to back you guys.

-[excited squealing] -[laughs]

Thank you so much!

$100,000? You're freaking nuts.

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

We made so many mistakes early on.

I wish we had a mentor who could tell, "No, no guys, bad idea. Rookie mistake."

They're already 200 grand in the hole.

Obviously, this needs some work.

On paper, some things can look great.

In person, whole different story.

We got a problem. You got to tell these guys to stop everything right now.

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

[woman] This is life changing.

This is gonna turn the page to my career.

Who wants to make some money?

[Drew] When we first started flipping houses,

we were getting nice cheap houses

in cheap areas, but with potential.

And then eventually we couldn't find those deals

because everyone started flipping.

So we had to raise our purchase price, raise our purchase price.

Our next pitch comes from Jason.

He put his savings on the line to purchase a house

in the exclusive Hollywood Hills

that he thought was a steal,

but he's now in the position of having to flip it.

-You found it. -Yeah.

I mean, I stopped a few times to look at the gorgeous view.

-It's incredible. -An unobstructed view.

I mean, this is where all the celebrities, writers, producers,

they all live up in the hills here

because of the views and privacy, right?

I need the brothers [chuckles] I think more than most

because I don't know what I'm doing.

I've never flipped a house before.

For the past 20 plus years, I've been a writer and producer

for both film and television.

I wonder how long ago it was renovated because it looks--

Even some of the tile, everything looks very dated.

[Jason] I am seriously on a time crunch.

I need the brothers to help me get a contractor and a designer.

I know for certain that the brothers would not only give me

people to work with that were top notch,

but that would hold themselves to a time frame.

-Hey. -Hello.

Please come in.

I mean, I won't beat around the bush.

What's at stake for me is money and a lot of money.

I'm hoping to sell this house for about $6.5 million.

[Drew] I feel like this house was renovated years ago

and this is what they thought the future would look like.

I do love contemporary.

What is the plan? So you bought this house when?

I bought the house a couple of months ago.

Got a great price on it because I got it in an auction.

What did you buy it for?

-$4.2. -$4.2 million.

And then stupidly did not factor in

how much the interest rates had gone up

since I had started looking two years ago.

That, plus I didn't take into consideration

-all the taxes involved. -[Drew] Right.

So when I sat down and did the numbers,

I couldn't afford the house.

I went from hoping to own and live in my dream house

to owning it, but owning it to flip it

to be somebody else's dream house.

To be honest, I feel like this is a bit of a unicorn

because you've got the skyline views and it has the infinity pool.

There's not a lot of those type of properties out there.

Believe me, I've been looking and they are all over $10 million.

However, everyone who wants those $10 million homes,

they're looking at five bedroom homes.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Yeah, this is only 4,400 square feet, right?

-Yes. -Four bedroom houses in this area,

it ranges from $1.8 million up to $4.3 million.

So you are actually paid close to the top.

When you hear about people losing their shirt in real estate,

it's because they overextend.

They buy something that is far more expensive than they can afford.

Know your margins.

And if there is any kind of retraction in the market,

if your costs go over,

you have to have that buffer in place.

Otherwise you lose it all.

I want to walk around and see the layout

because one thing that could help you

if there is an area that we can close into a fifth bedroom,

automatically you're moving into another bracket

with all the five bedroom homes.

Well, let's-- Let's jump in and walk around a little bit.

-What's this? -This is the primary bedroom.

-[Drew] Okay. Nice big bedroom. -[Jason] Right as you walk in.

Yeah. It's one of the things I loved when I first saw the home

was, "Wow. To wake up every morning

with the sun rising."

[Jonathan] This is pretty incredible. This is a dream suite.

[Jason] It's got two walk-in closets,

but there's no door to the primary bathroom.

This is the first room that needs help.

The 90s impression of the future just threw up in this room.

From the chrome edging on the tile on the floor to these fixtures.

[Jason] Honestly, this is where I will need

a lot of input help from you guys,

because I would like to make this bathroom into a killer bathroom.

I feel like part of the budget should be spent here.

[Drew] I would create separation from the bedroom

and rethink all the flooring, the vanity.

[Jonathan] You're looking at a huge reno budget in here.

[Drew] Let's see more of the house.

This is the biggest feature of the whole main suite.

I wonder if this person was a golfer.

My guess is they were either a golfer or they had pets.

-They had pets, yeah. -[Jason] Maybe.

What is this over there? Is this the neighbor's property or...

No, no, this is all my property.

-Oh wow. That is amazing. -Wow.

-I know there's nothing done down there. -[Jason] Yes.

[Drew] But somebody coming to move up here

that's willing to spend a bit of money to make this their perfect paradise,

that is a gold mine to have this view with some flat space.

[Jason] You could build probably a 1200-square-foot guesthouse.

That would easily get me my fifth bedroom.

Yes, but that's building an entire house.

This is the whole thing too. Some of the stuff you do not have to do.

Your buyer just has to see that there's potential to do it.

That lower flat area is a golden ticket.

That is something that not a lot of these houses have.

[Jason] This is two of the three guest rooms.

You could probably make that closet work.

-This is a shared bathroom? -[Jason] It's a shared bathroom.

[Drew] Within the house, it is tough

because there aren't ways to do things that we know could add value.

-There's no closet in this room. -No closet.

We will put a closet in here.

[Jonathan exhales] The list gets larger and larger.

-We have not even we talked about the stairs. -I know.

[Drew] I can understand wanting no risers, so you have the light.

But anybody who has small pets or babies,

they don't like the idea of that open gap.

So this is inverted living, right?

-So that the kitchen's downstairs. -[Jason] Correct.

[Drew] It has kind of an inverted layout.

Some buyers will probably think that's not ideal.

But in an area up in the hills here,

I think people are used to that

because a lot of the houses are like that.

A very mid-century looking floor.

I think you could actually save yourself a ton

-and I think these could be polished back to life. -All right.

I would love for their input

on where is the smart places to spend my money.

Left to my own devices, I may put money into the wrong things.

The bar looks hyper dated.

[Jason] When I saw the house, I loved that there was a bar here

because I thought again it was open and inviting to entertaining.

Especially this room.

Equally important is the design.

I want it to be a dream home, that has all the little bells and whistles

from the light fixtures to the furniture.

And I need their help for that.

We've already got the plumbing here.

-Yep. -We got a space for shelves.

I would basically give it a little bit of lipstick.

-Great. -Fix it up a little.

I want to look at the other bedroom

because I still don't like the idea that we have a four bedroom house

that you're trying to ask a five bedroom home price.

Okay. This is the fourth bedroom.

-[Jason] Correct. -[Drew] For you to get $6 million,

it would really make it a lot easier if you had five bedrooms.

This could become two bedrooms.

But then the problem is you don't want to access a bedroom through a bedroom.

[Jonathan] The big benefit that it does have

is you access right out back into the yard.

-Yes. -[Jonathan] And the yard was pretty great.

It is obviously a little rundown.

[Jason] We need a lot of maintenance out here.

[Drew] When you're getting a house that has a view,

a lot of times you lose a yard.

Well, you have a decent flat area with a pool.

And then you have a whole additional flat area

that you could even build a guest house on.

This excites me.

If this has to stay a four bedroom home,

the fact that you have a larger lot

than anyone else around here is a huge advantage.

How much money do you have to spend on a renovation?

Around $300,000.

-[Jonathan] Oh my gosh. -[Drew] That's unfortunate.

Impossible.

In this area, you need to at least do like, a mid-quality level

or a high end renovation.

So that would be about $350 to 450 per square foot.

-Okay. -If think about that, you're 4,400 square feet.

-So even if we spent 350... -Mmm-hmm.

-...that's a million and a half bucks on renovation. -Wow.

You're trying to do a barebones,

million and half renovation for $300,000.

I really can't go over $350,000.

[Jonathan] 350,000 sounds like a lot of money, but that with this project

and all the high end finishes, it wouldn't even scratch the surface.

He wants us to do his renovation for him

and to use our knowledge to spend his budget

as wisely as possible and get it done as fast as possible.

I want to turn this into someone's dream house

if it couldn't be my dream house.

But I don't want it to kill me.

You paid 4.2.

So how much would you say you're out of pocket

with your interest and everything on this place already?

Oh, like over $20,000 a month.

Your profit can be eaten up so fast

when your monthly carrying costs are so high.

-Okay, so are you over 100,000 already on this place? -Yeah.

You seem so calm for somebody who's burning that much cash.

Truthfully, I'm very desperate.

I'm hyperventilating on the inside.

I desperately need to start because I don't want

to be carrying this much longer.

I want to get going.

I would really love your help.

Otherwise, I worry that six months to a year from now,

I'll still be in the middle of renovating

-and my monthly costs will just keep going up. -Yeah.

I need help.

I want you to be really realistic as well, though.

You want to sell for $6.5 million.

So you're gonna be way over the average asking price for a four bedroom home.

In a market where prices are coming down.

This whole situation with Jason is so frustrating

because this house, with that view, could be out of this world.

So if he could find the additional renovation funds,

I would be super excited to be a part of this project.

The one thing that you may have as a saving grace.

This view could be the best view in the city.

People will pay a premium for that.

If we can polish everything up just enough

so that the view sells someone,

then you could potentially get closer to what you're asking for.

That means that this has to look top dollar.

The more times they go, [groans] "Green water in the pool?"

If you can clean up all the ick factor

and then selectively choose where you want to replace features,

well, all of a sudden, somebody will come in here

and absolutely fall in love with it.

If we back you every way possible,

we'll try and help you stretch that budget

and do the things that you need to do

and not do the things you don't have to and make this look its best.

I'd like to think that we have endless resources to help everybody out there.

We don't. We're looking at other investors as well.

If we decided to back you, we'd have to start immediately.

If you choose me, I will do whatever it takes

to try to make this house into someone else's dream house.

There's so much potential on the property.

But if you don't have the cash to do it right, it will bankrupt you.

[Jason] If the brothers are to come help me,

I feel like I can possibly get through this.

A true Hollywood ending would be wonderful.

[Drew] You get a house on the hill, you get impressed by the views,

-and then all of a sudden you overpay for something-- -You're drowning.

He can't get anyone who can touch this

because his budget is making all the contractors run away.

The only reason I would consider this

is the fact that he has that extra lot

for somebody to have that as an ADU

or whatever they want, a tennis court.

There are people that come up into this neighborhood

that just have deep pockets and they don't have any lending.

They just pay cash and they could afford this.

And they would like the idea to be able to build out.

And on top of that, the view where he is here

because a lot of these houses in the hills,

they don't have that much view that he has.

So that makes me feel better because he's asking a price

that is for a five bedroom home.

We would need to know the breaking even point on this project,

so he'll have to give us all the financials surrounding this project.

I want to understand how much debt he has

and how much he realistically can afford to renovate.

So let's get the numbers from him, and then we can let him know.

Okay. All right.

-Hi. How are you? -[Heidi] Hi.

-Thank you so much. -[Drew] So nice to meet you.

So much stuff in here.

Heidi's been sitting on this commercial property for two years.

I need to get out of the building.

Give me a push to let it go.

[Drew] Our next pitch is from Heidi.

She's an educator in Maywood.

Actually, Maywood is great because it has close proximity to Downtown LA and freeways.

So it's awesome for industrial and commercial real estate.

[Jonathan] Definitely in the heart of the action here.

-Is it this one or this one? Oh yeah. This one here. -This one here.

[Drew] Heidi's been sitting on this commercial property for two years,

so she needs our help o get it cleaned up

and ready to get on the market.

Because she wants to roll this over

into a residential investment property.

She's worried about her return,

but also trying to find any way

to get a little extra money out of this.

My name is Heidi.

This property my husband used for his shop.

We paid for $600,000.

He mainly used the shop for printing, papermaking.

He does a million things here.

After a few years, my husband owned the shop.

He worked so hard, like his dream forever shop.

Unfortunately, he got sick.

And eventually, he passed away.

I do know I should sell the building,

but it's so difficult to do.

I have a problem letting it go.

That's... That's his shop.

But I'm doing things that don't make economic sense at all.

I don't want to be here, but I don't know how to get up.

Who do you trust?

-Hi. -[Heidi] Hi.

-[Drew] How are you? It's so nice to meet you. -Thank you so much.

-Jonathan, Drew. -Yeah.

Wait. How can you tell us apart?

Because my husband was a twin too.

-[Drew] Was your husband the older or the younger twin? -Four minutes older.

I think you guys are also four minutes older.

-Yeah, we are. -Four minutes. Oh, wow.

I knew it. My husband was a fan.

Just too bad that he is not here anymore.

Oh, your husband passed away?

-Yeah. -I'm sorry to hear that.

[Heidi] This was his shop.

[Jonathan] What was the business?

[Heidi] He was bookbinding and the printing from scratch.

[Jonathan] There's so much stuff in here.

So how many years has he been collecting stuff for?

[Heidi] 30 years.

[Jonathan] It all looks pretty cool,

but it's been unused for two years.

You've got to clear it all out if you have any hopes of selling this place.

-So this is an 1862 printing machine-- Press. -Oh wow. That's a press.

It totally works perfectly.

That is amazing.

[Jonathan] Have you thought about renting it out?

-Because, I mean, if you have all of this equipment here... -Yeah.

...somebody would probably look at this and say,

"Oh my gosh, I would pay a premium rent

to take over all this equipment and use."

So this unique printer, very few people in the world are able to print.

According to my husband, says there's only six in the world.

-Wow. -So it's very difficult to find the people.

I want to sell because it's very sad for me to stay here.

-Right. -Secondly, I have a no concept how to run this business.

-[Jonathan] Yeah. -[Heidi] I've also no experience

in commercial real estate.

It would really make a huge difference

for anyone coming and looking to buy

if it was cleared out completely.

I already do this process, almost two years.

I'm physically, mentally already exhausted.

-Oh you've been trying to sell the different pieces? -All the different pieces.

-Have you sold anything? -I did sold some.

How much money did you have for that?

I think $80,000.

But basically I need to get out of the building.

-Right. -That's my current challenge.

If you guys don't come, I'll probably stay here another two or three years.

If you were looking at this as an investment,

you need to make these decisions fast, find the sales

because otherwise if stuff is sitting around, it's costing you money.

Why don't we talk a little bit more about the building itself?

-Yeah. -So when we look out here and we see all the structure,

it actually all looks like it's in pretty great shape.

-[Heidi] Yeah. -[Jonathan] I don't see any heaving on the slab.

No big damage.

All the beam work looks good. Is the roof in good condition?

-[Heidi] Brand new roof. -[Jonathan] Okay, that's amazing.

-[Heidi] Yeah. -[Jonathan] I look at the cost.

If you were to clear everything out, it would thousands of dollars.

But if you were to have an estate sale person

or someone who deals with an auction,

where they come and they sell everything,

they'll be able to get you some money.

And then they'll also clear out everything that's left,

so you'll end up in the positive.

-That would be wonderful. -[Jonathan] Yeah.

You just have to be able to make those tough decisions,

-which I know can be hard. -[Heidi] Yeah.

I'm confused, you know, my mind.

I don't want to be here.

I'm sad every time I come here.

But I also don't want to go because that's what my husband was here.

I'm tough for a woman, but I-- It's wore me down.

I can see that you're overwhelmed.

-[Heidi] Yeah. -I can see that there's this emotional tug of war

because you want to get rid of it, but you don't want to.

And that can be mentally exhausting.

-[Heidi] Totally, yeah. -But at the end of the day,

you have to do what's best for you and what you're happy with.

And if you have a business here

-that you have no idea how to run... -Yeah, no. Yeah.

[Drew] And it's been two years.

This is 18 bucks a square foot.

And this is what, like four--

-About 4,000. -4,000. Yeah.

So you could have been making over $70,000 a year the last couple of years.

That's a lot of money.

That's why I thought if you guys come,

maybe my husband will send you a message to give me a push to let it go.

How much money over the last two years,

do you think you had to dish out

-whether it was taxes, your utilities? -Insurance?

70,000. 80,000 at least I would say.

And you only made $80,000

-on all the stuff that you were selling. -Yeah, yeah.

[Drew] This is a solid building.

There's no debt on the property.

What is your goal with this property?

I want to have income.

Because my husband always said

the building is our retirement.

If we can sell this, buy maybe residential rental income.

So residential is a little bit easier I understand that.

You know, people got to live.

Have you had the building appraised?

Do you know what the building is worth?

[Heidi] About a million dollars.

[Jonathan] Yeah. What did you buy this for in 2017?

$600,000.

[Jonathan] When I'm looking at this building

and the building itself is great.

Yes, there's some work that has to happen, but there's no renovation.

Are you looking for help on finding a new investment property?

-Yes, yes. -Okay, I'm going to go out on a limb here

because normally, we'll look at a couple different properties.

We'll talk to the owners and we'll decide

who do we think we can back.

-Who can we get behind and help make a difference. -Who can we be of value to.

Honestly, I don't think we need to go anywhere else.

We can 100% help you with this.

And knowing everything that you've been through

and the heartache that you've been through,

-it is an honor for us to come and be a part of it. -Yeah.

Thank you so much.

My husband will be happy there.

Well, we're gonna make some calls,

and we're gonna start working on this right away.

-Thank you so much. -Thank you.

-We'll talk to you again soon. -Yes. Thank you.

-Bye. -Thanks.

[Drew] We hate seeing someone in a really tough position like Heidi is.

She has no expertise, no experience with commercial property,

but she has a lot of value here.

We don't usually jump on board that fast, but I love Heidi.

I think she's got the right idea.

She's great. And it's good property.

And set the property itself aside,

all of the contents within.

[Jonathan] She's been trying to go through all this stuff for two years,

and that is stalling any progress on the sale of this building.

So we are willing to back her to be that strong shoulder,

to help her make those decisions

because it's really going to be best for her in the long run.

So now I say we keep this success train going and we back Jason as well.

No, no, no, no.

-No, we can't do both these projects. -Of course we could.

That property is unbelievable and I--

and he is so in over his head.

And I say we take on Jason as well.

No, we can't do both these projects.

-Of course we could. -I don't think so.

I got the numbers back. All his financials.

He only has $350,000 to do everything he was talking about.

It's a huge home with that 90s vibe.

He doesn't have the money.

[Jason] I want to turn this into someone's dream house,

but I don't want it to kill me.

So how much would you say you're out of pocket?

Like over 20,000 a month.

That view, though that property.

He doesn't have enough money.

And on top of that, that is a gigantic house

where that could stretch on for months and months,

and we only have resources for a short period

because our teams are going back on to other projects.

I wonder if there's a way for us

to streamline a little bit, take some of it out.

I just think it's stretching us too thin.

The house is okay the way it is. It's just dated.

So a lot of what he's doing is adding fluff

to try and add some big value for a flip.

All right. He's not going to lose his shirt

because he'll get it done eventually.

He just needs to cut back on the design and...

I don't think we can realistically help Jason at this time

without it affecting our other commitments.

But we will offer him guidance on how to stretch his renovation budget

and get as much bang for his buck as possible.

Focus on Heidi and tell Jason that we can't do it.

But we'll help however we can.

[Drew] We're headed back to Heidi's commercial property.

As a part of our backing, we're gonna introduce her to Mike

who's a liquidation expert we've worked with.

He is gonna help her clean out that space.

And hopefully make a little money while doing it.

[Jonathan] And for the time being,

our backing for Heidi is only our time and mentorship.

[Drew] Our main focus is just to stop the bleeding

because right now, with that property sitting empty,

she's spent almost $80,000 over the last two years.

-Hey, hey. -Hey.

-How's it going? -What's going on?

And every month she continues to sit empty

with that property, it costs her thousands more.

-[Heidi laughs] -What was your first impression walking in here?

There's a lot going on. There's a lot of stuff.

It takes a certain market to sell it.

A lot of these items are heavy

and, you know, they're gonna need to be shipped,

which would cost lot of money.

So the market on these kind of things is not too high.

The most valuable thing in my mind is getting everything out

-so the building can actually sell. -I would agree with you.

[Jonathan] This is what Mike's company does.

He deals with estate sales, liquidations.

He can walk into a space and figure out

what can be sold, what has value,

what needs to just get out of the way.

What do you think you could get for this piece built in the 1800s?

[Mike] Realistically, to be able to sell this,

you're probably looking at, like 25

just because it can't be shipped 'cause of the weight.

-[Jonathan] $25,000? -[Mike] $25,000.

-Would you sell it for $20,000? -Depending on who.

If it's a a printer who will keep for the legacy.

That is a dream.

The chance of you finding someone here in LA

that's gonna buy this to continue the legacy

of using this 1862 machinery print

-is very slim, -[Mike] Agreed.

This is going to be a tough sell.

[Jonathan] This is a tricky one for Heidi

because she has a lot going on emotionally.

We're not trying to come in and be the bad guys.

We're trying to help her, but that's gonna involve some really serious decisions.

How much are you thinking, time wise,

to sort of inventory everything,

get any of the stuff that is not sellable out of here?

In eight days, she would not only know how she did on the sale,

we would have this place emptied out.

So even the stuff you don't sell,

-you'll clear it all out. -Absolutely.

Will your service cost her any money,

or it simply comes from the proceeds of what's happening?

It would come from the proceeds,

but I can pretty much guarantee

that she will return something from this.

-It's taken you two years to get to this point. -[Heidi] Yeah.

From a financial standpoint...

I wouldn't get hung up on,

"Well, this should sell for $1,000.

I'm only going to get $200."

Nothing is going to cost you more money than this sitting unsold for another year.

-Got it. Now I understand. -That is exactly right.

I'm so grateful you bring this all to me together.

My shoulder kind of...

I don't need a shoulder massage anymore.

The brothers back me up.

So give me strength to move forward.

[Jonathan] Had she done this two years ago,

she would be so far ahead of the game.

She'd have an extra $100,000 in her pocket

and the building would sell right away.

But we're not looking in the past.

We're looking forward and we need to get this building on the market

and hope that Heidi can make a great profit

from the sale of this property.

[Drew] We're pressing ahead helping Heidi sell her commercial property,

but we're still heavily involved

with our previous investor, Frank.

We helped him rebuild his three unit rental after a devastating fire.

We want to back you because we think it can really help you

get this project done.

Thank you so much.

[Drew] But this property is his only source of income.

So we want to maximize his rent,

which means overhauling his outdoor space.

That is, if he can come up with a 20 grand price tag.

I'm measuring to see how big a deck I would want if I want a deck.

I don't even know if I need a deck.

This is already a small area back here,

and I may not be able to afford a deck.

The house is done. It looks incredible.

I was able to save enough money

so that I can now put that towards the backyard.

So now I'm excited to get the backyard done,

and it's gonna totally change this whole building.

This is my income that I'm going to live off of for many, many years to come.

I want to make sure I do it right.

[Jonathan] Hey, hey.

So I just got off the phone with Frank,

and he has given me the number.

It is not quite what we wanted, but it's 10 grand.

[Drew on phone] I say we help him.

Bare minimum cost back here that would have to come out of your pocket,

-20 grand. -Wow.

[Drew] I was thinking it was probably gonna cost

about 20 grand minimum to do the project right.

[Jonathan] Yeah, that's the problem.

So he doesn't have the 20 grand.

So we're gonna have to find ways to save.

If we look at some of the big ticket items,

maybe instead of doing pavers all throughout the back there,

maybe we just do artificial turf.

[Drew] Turf's still expensive, but I guess less expensive.

Grass won't work because it's not gonna grow.

So I was thinking privacy wall,

but it's a nice idea that maybe he could do it down the road.

[Jonathan] I think there still should be the fencing

between the two areas.

So that one two bedroom,

two bath suite has its own private area.

I can talk to Jake as well

and see if he can start right away.

But I would-- I would tell him to just, like, hit hard, go fast, get it done.

Jake is a landscape contractor

we've used for a very long time.

He knows how to work with a budget.

[Drew] If Jake can squeeze us in.

I know he doesn't have a lot of time

for a few days here, a couple days there.

Wherever we can scale back, we need to do it and do it fast

because Frank can't rent out any of these units,

even the upper units, until his backyard is done.

Because he wants to get that premium rent

and he's not gonna get that until the yard's done.

We have a small window here.

If we can get this done in the next couple of weeks,

he can rent at the beginning of the month

and then get the whole month's rent.

Otherwise, we're probably gonna miss people until the end of the month.

So I don't want to miss that kind of revenue.

Okay, Let me get on Jake, we'll see if we can get it done.

[Drew] All right. One other question. What about coin laundry?

He has that laundry suite.

If he did coin laundry, that's a little bit of extra income

for him off the suites.

It could be an extra few 100 bucks here and there for him.

Yep. I'm down. Whatever gets in the revenue.

[Drew] All right. Lights that flame. Let's get this done.

[Jonathan] Ciao.

[Drew] Rethinking Frank's backyard design is absolutely the right thing to do.

It keeps it within his budget, but it ensures he gets

the most out of this investment.

But we have to move quickly in order to get it all done

before the next rent cycle at the end of the month.

This is a great area.

-It's almost cut out just like a planter already. -Right, right.

Maybe some hasta, some more cast irons,

things that don't get too tall.

[Frank] Jake's here today, and we're talking about doing the back yard.

The design that the brothers had come up with,

we changed it a little bit where unfortunately,

I really couldn't afford to do the deck in the back.

But we are doing turf everywhere, we are doing plants.

This area is gonna be exclusively for the two bedroom, two bath.

The reason that I wanted a fence and a gate down the middle is so that

the apartment downstairs has its own private backyard.

I want them to be able to come out that door

and have a great backyard as well.

That's a plus, especially in an apartment in LA.

Now, for this lower unit, I can get more money.

There's a little bit more room where we can add some low maintenance vegetation.

A couple of shrubs, plants that will grow.

-[Frank] Can we paint the walls? -[Jake] Yeah.

Something that's gonna make sure it balances

-the color with the house. -[Frank] The property? Yeah.

But also, it pops off of the green of the turf.

[Jonathan] We're racing to have Frank's backyard space

ready to go by the end of the month.

This gives us less than two weeks.

[Jake] This is a cast iron.

These are very cool. One of my favorite plants.

It's got a very tropical look.

It just-- It just spreads from the bottom.

-The bird of paradise. It will grow very large. -[Frank] Okay.

-[Jake] Let's put this guy right there. -[Frank] Okay.

-Nandina. -Nandina. Only needs three.

Another bird of paradise.

-Kind of like that. -It looks kind of like the base of the tree.

-I like that a lot. -Doing okay so far?

Yeah. Absolutely.

And then once the turf is in, then we will dig the holes

and put everything where they're gonna go?

Absolutely. They'll go in simultaneously.

Okay. Excellent.

This is pretty.

No, forget it. It's too much money.

Out of our budget. Out of our range.

-No. No. -No?

Always in the back of my mind, unfortunately, is the budget.

This one I'm gonna keep.

My husband made it.

I kind of want to keep it.

[Mike] Your keep table's looking pretty big.

[Heidi] I want to keep lots of stuff.

This is my husband's stuff.

Are these gonna be here?

We're gonna do a pressure wash?

[Kevin] We're gonna do a pressure wash,

and that way the concrete's gonna be clean.

Perfect. And then, the fence and the wall,

-we're gonna go all the way down? -All the way down.

And then do we have enough turf left to do that?

-Yeah, we have enough turf. -Yay. Oh my God, this is beautiful.

-Hi, Gianna. Look at the new backyard. -Hey.

Oh my God, it's so different.

-Like I wanna hang out here. -[Frank] Right.

[Gianna] We just need to add a couple more things on our end.

I got a little shopping trip planned...

Okay. How exciting. Okay.

...so I'm going to go ahead and do that.

[Drew] As a part of our backing Frank,

we gave him 12 weeks of one of our designer's time

to get those interior units looking great.

And so, we'll also give him another few days of her time

to get the back yard looking as good as it can.

[Gianna] I am taking Frank shopping for some outdoor plants

and pottery for his backyard space.

We're looking for some plants that are low maintenance,

will add some visual interest, add some extra green,

just make a nice little calming space

for the tenants that will be there.

What we're trying to do right now is get some different levels. Okay?

-[Frank] Okay. -But we can't go too crazy

because there's some really awesome big ones.

-[Frank] Okay. -[Gianna] But the problem is those are really...

-Expensive. -...out of our budget average.

Always in the back of my mind, unfortunately, is the budget.

-No. No. -[Frank] No?

I love this color, but not for you.

When I'm thinking of short term rentals,

trying to keep it kind of-- Not a blank slate,

but maybe something with some personality, but not too much personality.

Frank has to remember that he is not shopping for himself.

He is shopping for future tenants.

This is pretty. No, forget it. It's too much money.

-I figured. That's what I was gonna say. -[laughs]

I do have a bit of a discount with the brothers here.

-[Frank] Okay. -Okay?

But we're still capped at 700 for these pots and plants.

[Frank] A little nervous because I don't know what to expect.

But Gianna says that the pottery and the plants

that she has in mind will take it to the next level.

-Let's go take a look at some examples... -Okay.

...of what I have in store for you.

Jake's laid a great base with the in ground plants in the backyard.

But it's my job to elevate the space

with decorative potted plants that we can place around.

Making an impact and getting the backyard looking where it needs to be

to get the rent the brothers are aiming for,

it's a tough order.

You want to find one center, focal plant

that has a little bit of height,

-a little bit of drama. -[Frank] Right.

-The general term we use is thrill, fill and spill. -Okay.

The thrill, the fill and this spill.

I would limit to like, two or three plants per container for you.

So slightly thrilling.

-It's a little bit of a thrill. -But definitely a spill.

-There's some spill too. -Okay.

Let's look at some of these.

That's beautiful. See, that's a good "to fill."

-Okay. -Let's get a couple of those. They're beautiful.

It is so important to get tenants back into these properties.

And tenants that are paying Frank the market rate.

And one of the top things that will get you better rent

is an outdoor area that feels like comfortable indoor living.

-[Frank] This is a good start. -It's a start, yeah.

[Drew] So for now, we just need to do what we need to do,

spend as little as possible to make it look great

and approachable for a renter and get them in.

[Heidi] Today, Mike and his team came,

and they are organizing, they are staging.

Hey, good to see you again.

So I'm very excited.

And oh my God, I was thinking now I'm not alone anymore.

I was working here alone for almost two years now.

They will back me up. That's huge.

We'll give you a chance to go through

and to look at all the tables that we have

and decide if you want to keep it

or if you'd like to donate it, or if it would like to be in the sale for us.

Okay, but please be careful, okay?

Lots of stuffs my husband brought from in Germany.

It's one of a kind.

-Thank you so much. Thank you. -All right, guys. Let's go.

Perfect. Perfect, perfect.

So this will all be on the first table right there.

We're making good progress.

Yeah. So far, so good.

They are doing a good job.

Just can't believe so many things I would like.

Do I have this? Do I have that?

I wanna keep this and this.

The keep we can put--

Is that the keep pile? Okay.

[Mike] In this business, we have to be very patient.

The biggest issue is emotional connections to the items.

Oh! This one I'm going to keep.

This is the type. Look at how beautiful.

My husband made it.

[Mike] Your keep table's looking pretty big.

Yeah.

If you like this, but you don't think you're ever gonna use it,

-and you're just gonna put it into a box. -[Heidi] Oh okay.

-This one you can sell. -Yeah, definitely sell it.

This one you can sell.

[Mike] What's in that box right there?

Oh that's beautiful.

I think we should definitely try to sell that.

I kind of want to keep it.

[indecisive humming]

[Mike] You know, I think this is definitely something that would make some money,

and it would attract some people to the sale.

Okay, okay. I'll let you sell it. All right.

-[Mike] Have you ever seen that before? -No, I--

You probably wouldn't need it

if you've never seen it before.

[Heidi] I want to keep lots of stuff.

This is my husband's stuff.

That is a hard decision.

I do understand I cannot keep with everything,

and I should sell them

so I can invest in a new property, which will generate income.

But it's hard. It's really hard.

Wow it's looking much better now already.

I do need the money to support myself.

More importantly, I want to make my husband proud.

I don't want to let him down.

[Jonathan] When we're looking at somebody to back them,

you know, it's not just about the project.

It's about the person, too.

We want to make sure it's somebody taking in our advice

and they're willing to make decisions based on that.

Heidi is slowing everything down

because she has sentimental attachment to some of these things,

even if it's just like, a random box of paper and trash.

"But this was paper my husband bought,

and it was for this purpose and..."

You can't do that with an investment.

With a real estate investment, you can't do that.

Sometimes you have to cut your losses.

It's not a joke. We need decisions.

The longer it takes for her to decide what to do with everything,

the longer this building's just gonna sit on the market.

[Frank] The brothers are about to arrive.

I'm trying to make the backyard look as pretty as possible.

I'm worried 'cause we cut back so much

on what we had originally thought we were gonna do.

[Jonathan] Good weather for tenant viewing.

[Drew] Frank held off on listing his place

so he could complete the backyard.

So when he does list it, it will really stand out and get a lot of interest.

[Jonathan] And depending on how this new outdoor space turned out,

we'll determine how much we can list it for.

[Frank] The brothers took a chance and backed me.

So I want to make them proud.

I want to make them feel like they made the right decision.

[Jonathan] Hey, can you come over and sweep my driveway?

Yeah, right.

Sweeping away, cleaning it up,

making sure it looks good for you.

I mean, everything looks good.

The building sells it.

This is all a cherry on top.

Welcome. Welcome back.

[Drew] Yes. Thank you.

-So, do you want to take us down? -Yes.

Come on. Let me show you.

-The turf looks awesome. -[Frank] Doesn't the turf look great?

And the bark on the other side?

I love it 'cause it matches the building.

Here we are. Check it out.

-[Jonathan] Ooh la la. -[Drew] Okay.

[Frank] It's green, we've got a lot of great plants.

These are all light tolerant.

There are plants for the specific area.

People can chill out here while they're doing their laundry.

I see it. The coin machine's in.

-[Frank] Yes. Hello. Ching-ching. -[Drew] Oh yeah.

What you've done here is more than enough.

Your tenants would love this space.

I can see them enjoying it.

[Frank] The turf, the plants, the furniture,

all just complement what was already there.

And I think it looks fantastic.

I want to see the private courtyard.

Yeah. Check this out.

-[Jonathan] Oh wow! -[Frank] This...

[Jonathan] It looks huge.

[Frank] Isn't this great?

-[Drew] This is amazing. Yeah, grab a seat. -[Jonathan] Oh my gosh.

This is the dream that people want.

They'll come and look at this two bedroom, two bathroom,

see this and say, "Sold."

[Frank] I mean, it's beautiful on the inside,

but the minute you open the door

and they see this back yard, the deal is done.

-It's a deal. -Exactly. Yeah.

They say a little landscaping makes it look bigger. And it does.

[Jonathan] And also the fact that it's low maintenance.

This is going to be super easy for you.

And also painting like, the walls and everything on this side white

with the green and the plants against it they really pop.

-[Drew] Yeah. -And then, the fence was painted

sort of like a matching of the trim.

It all blends together.

And I like the plants they planted.

Those will grow together, make a nice bush

and, you know, not only all the plants in the ground

but all the potted ones.

Gianna and I went shopping the other day,

and she again has that designer eye.

And I learned about the thrill, the fill and the spill.

[Jonathan] What used to be essentially a forgotten space,

a wasteland back there is now going to be generating money.

[Drew] Frank has been making way under market value

on these properties for 20 years.

He deserves to make as much as possible

and the back yard is definitely adding value.

I was impressed when you finished the building.

I am even more impressed now that you've finished the yard.

And I can't thank you enough for your backing.

Inside and outside.

I'm glad I decided to pull the trigger.

I pinched my pennies to make it happen.

I'm so glad I did.

If this didn't have the yard, you could have gotten

-maybe 3,700 bucks a month, which is great. -Right.

But now, with this yard, you can get over $4,000.

We all agree this needed to be done.

-No, it did. -It came down to the finances.

-[Frank] Exactly. -[Jonathan] You took on that burden,

you took on the stress, but you made it happen

and you'll make that money back in no time.

So if we're talking numbers,

if you're going from $48,000 a year

to over $120,000 a year for all the properties,

plus you have, you know, money to make with the laundry.

You paid an extra $10,000 out of pocket

-for the added spend back here. -[Frank] Right.

But keep in mind there was another 14,000 of value that we brought.

Our landscaper, they brought their price down by four grand,

and then we have all the furniture,

the staging and our design team.

That means you have a project here that was almost $24,000.

But you only paid 10 grand for it.

No, it's great. Are you kidding? It's fabulous.

And the furniture? Thank you so much.

-It's beautiful. -[Drew] No, you're welcome.

My word of the year is grateful.

And I'm so very grateful.

-You just needed a little nudge. -A big nudge.

Going forward, I can put to use

what they have taught me and what I have learned,

and I'm going to be a great landlord, a great property owner.

And my livelihood is looking fantastic.

We didn't realize that Frank was showing the units

to potential tenants before we even finished the reno.

He actually brought back a past tenant as well

from before the fire.

Not the one who started the fire.

And they brought a couple of friends.

Once they walked through, they looked at the places

they signed leases right away with Frank.

So he's now making 9k a month.

He's earning back that lost income. Pretty awesome.

My biggest fear whenever we're trying to get a building on the market

is what's the first impression to a buyer.

When you have a building that is so cluttered that you can't see anything,

a lot of times the buyer is just gonna walk away.

Heidi kept talking about sentimental value.

But the thing is, buyers don't have

that attachment to any of this stuff.

Heidi has attachment to a lot of this stuff,

so who knows how much she's left in there for sentimental value.

But if Heidi has this completely cleared out,

it's gonna make a world of difference.

A broker will come in. He'll know right away.

We're good to get it on the market.

A buyer is gonna see what they want to see.

So my hope is that she's actually cleared everything out.

And then we can have a purely blank canvas.

Because listing it is gonna be a big step for her,

not just for her real estate journey,

but also for her healing process.

[Heidi] I really want to show Jonathan.

I hope he will be proud of me.

[knocks on door] Hello?

-Hi. [laughing] -Hi! Oh my gosh!

[knocks on door] Hello?

-Hi. [laughing] -Hi! Oh my gosh!

-Look at this! Oh my gosh! -[Heidi] Look!

-[Jonathan] You have been busy. -[Heidi laughing]

[Jonathan] We have cleared this place out.

-Wow, almost two years nothing had changed. -Yeah.

-And in a week-- -[Heidi] Yeah. Boom!

-[Jonathan] How do you feel? -[Heidi] I feel great.

I feel like I accomplish something.

I like the fact that you kept some of the warehouse shelving.

[Heidi] So the new owner can use.

[Jonathan] Yeah, cause otherwise they're going to spend

to buy stuff like that.

You kept the stuff that's worth keeping,

you cleared out the stuff that had to go.

I'm actually looking at this through the eyes

of someone who is looking for a warehouse like this.

And someone can walk in here now and say, "It's ready."

I can see the floor and I can see the walls,

and that means a buyer is going to see the potential.

Normally, if we had to bring in a cleanup crew

-to haul this stuff out, dispose of it... -[Heidi] Yeah.

...we would have spent tens of thousands of dollars.

You had Mike's team in here going through everything.

What did you net in the end?

Uh, 7,000 around. We're still doing the calculation.

So you actually walk away with 7000 bucks.

-Except I do see you kept one peace. -[laughing]

I think I'm going to keep it.

It's a really historical piece.

I have difficulty to let it go.

-[Jonathan] I am supportive of you keeping this... -[Heidi] Oh, that's great!

...because you did such an incredible job with all of this.

-[Heidi] Thank you. -[Jonathan] So I guess the big question now

-is we need to talk about next steps. -Yeah.

I'm gonna put you in touch with a commercial broker.

He'll know the area.

He'll know what pricing we should look at.

'Cause right now, there's a lot of commercial buildings available

and you have to stand out.

The broker will actually tell you the perfect price to list at.

Probably gonna get somewhere between 800,000 and 1.2 million.

-Something like that. -Okay.

You don't want it to sit for a long time.

We don't have any time to waste.

-I want to set up some showings. -[Heidi gasps]

I want to get out. I want to find some properties for you.

Drew's already working on pulling some stuff together.

-And you said Glendale, Burbank. -Yeah.

-I want close to that area. -[Jonathan] Yeah.

Also narrowing down what's gonna give you the best rental possibility.

-If you thought this part was stressful... -[Heidi gasps]

...it's a whole different kind of stress

-when you're looking for a property like this. -Really?

Because not every house is gonna make for a good rental.

But this is your future income, right?

-This is what you want. -Yeah.

So we have to find something that's gonna set you up for success down the road.

Emotionally, though, you feel good with everything here?

Really mixed emotion, but most of the positive, like finally.

Everything she has is banking on this property bringing her in that revenue.

She's not going to find another million dollars anywhere else.

This is it.

[Jonathan] Next time on Backed By the Bros...

I sold it the building.

[both] Yay!

[Drew] Heidi has 45 days to buy a new property

or she'll have to pay over $100,000 in taxes.

-45 days. -That's pressure.

[Drew] So I give her a crash course in rental real estate.

The house, it was built in the 40s.

-[Heidi] Yeah. -[Drew] 1,006 square feet.

[Heidi] Yeah, I like the fireplace.

Keep in the back of your mind, it's a rental.

It's an investment property.

It's not her own personal home.

[Heidi] I like this one.

I like the ceiling.

It's like a stage. Hello!

[Drew] But Heidi proves to be a stubborn student.

That is one of the biggest mistakes that a landlord will think,

"My tenant's going to take care of this property the way I would."

Big mistake.

There are some things we're saying that I feel

it's kind of going in one ear and right out the other.