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. -Oh!

[Jonathan] So we want to back you guys.

[woman exclaiming]

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 us,

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

There already 200 grand in the hole.

-Obviously, this needs some work. -Yeah.

On paper, some things can look great.

In person, a 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?

[upbeat music playing]

Real estate is a risky business.

The market is in flux.

Have housing prices peaked?

I don't know. Drew doesn't even know.

So it's even more important that real estate investors

who bought when the market was high

make good choices with their properties

so they can attract renters or buyers.

Real estate investing is not for someone who's insecure.

I mean, you have to be confident in what you want to do.

You've got to have a thick skin.

If you don't have the confidence to make it in this game,

you need to partner with somebody who does

or have a mentor that can help you through.

You don't have to have all the money.

You don't have to have all the knowledge.

You just have to have the ability

to think through the process and think outside of the box.

There are a million ways to buy, reno and flip a home,

and there are even more ways to lose money doing it.

You have to know what you're doing.

It feels good for us

to be able to get these investors to the finish line.

-All right. -All right.

This is why you buy a house here

-because you want that beautiful view. -[Jonathan] Yeah.

Glassell Park has a ton of potential.

There's a lot of properties here that are undervalued.

If you're looking long term,

this is a good place to focus.

[Drew] Especially if you're looking for an income property,

this is the kind of area that families want to be.

Christina and Arek want to add two rental units to their property.

Both the attached garage and the detached garage

have been sitting empty since they bought the property last year.

[Christina] We fell in love with this property the minute we saw it

mainly because it's two lots side by side,

that we thought would be perfect

for a separate rental property.

I work in strategic financial planning,

so we applied that to our endeavors that we do on the side.

[Jonathan] Arek and Christina have done a couple of investment properties before,

and that's great.

This one, though, has kind of derailed.

How are you?

Nice to meet you.

-Jonathan. -Arek.

[Jonathan] It's kind of like a two-prong approach.

We're looking at the investment property,

and we're looking at the investor.

-All right. -[Arek] All right. So this is the main house.

Okay, so you have two levels.

It's literally a full--

-I thought you guys lived here. -[Arek] We did.

[Jonathan] So you're renting a space to live in

-with your three kids while you renovate? -[Christina] That's right.

The plan was to update the JADU.

Turn it into a, uh, short-term rental.

And while we were at it, we were going to update the kitchen.

And, uh, while we were at that,

we ended up changing all of the windows upstairs.

And as soon as it started raining, every window leaked.

-Stucco was incorrectly installed. -[Drew] Oh, no.

So, it ruined all your floors and everything.

Ruined all the floors here, but more--

It went through the walls and went downstairs.

-Yeah. -Oh, no.

[Christina]We ended up having to gut the entire house.

[Jonathan] Even though this isn't their rental unit, I'd like to look around.

You can learn a lot about an investor

by looking at their current projects.

Were the windows larger before and you reduced them?

-Or is that the same? -[Christina] They were larger.

Why wouldn't you have put in as much glass as possible?

[Christina] I got those windows secondhand.

I had to go with what I had.

How much did you save going with these windows instead of brand-new windows?

$20,000, $30,000.

Eventually, if you ever did go to sell,

if you had all glass,

-then you probably would get an extra $50,000 or more. -That much?

Did this happen on the last project, too,

-where everything kind of went crazy? -[Arek] Things happened.

Things always come up.

How much additional cost came up

in the last investment you did?

Our budget was 100,000, and it went over by 150,000.

Yes.

Why don't we head out and see the junior ADU?

-Cool. -Okay.

This is the first of your two rental units?

-Yeah. -[Jonathan] Yeah. Watch your step.

Oh, wow.

Paint a quick picture for us.

-We were gonna have the kitchenette over there. -[Jonathan] Okay.

-The living room over here. -[Jonathan] Oh.

[Christina]And the bedroom over there.

What were you thinking for rent on this?

At least 22 monthly if it was a short-term rental.

Why don't we have a look at the other, the ADU?

So are you thinking that'll be a two-bedroom?

Yeah. Two bedroom, two bath.

[Drew] She's looking at the numbers, she likes to dig in.

She understands you have opportunity for two rental suites.

It's a very family-oriented neighborhood.

There are a lot of pluses here.

All right. Are you gonna rent it as is?

[Christina chuckles]

[Jonathan] You want to do two bedrooms in here?

[Arek] Our plan was to add an addition to the back.

We submitted plans and got approval.

[Christina]A two-bedroom here will probably bring in

anywhere between $5,000 and $8000 in rent.

We thought the fastest we can get it turned around

and start producing cash flow the better.

-Yeah. -[Jonathan] You've got a house

-and two potential units, and none of them are livable. -Yeah.

-So why don't we head back to the main house... -Yeah.

-...and, uh, talk about everything? -[Drew] Watch your step.

How much did you say you have?

We're working with about $200,000.

[Drew] I mean, this is a substantial amount of work.

What we're seeing right now--

-You'll never finish in 200. -You're never gonna finish.

And if we're gonna back you,

it's for the investment portion.

So as much as we're talking about this area, this is for you to live in.

We want to focus on where you have some potential rental income.

I'm open to taking out a loan

to finish what needs to be done.

[Jonathan] How much are you thinking additionally?

Possibly another 200.

I would probably move forward getting that extra cash

so you have about 400k to work with.

Every month you're sitting here with it unfinished,

-you're losing a ton of cash. -[Christina] Right.

What's the big thing that you think you need from us?

A general contractor that we trust

because I have a full-time job.

We have three kids.

We don't have the capacity

to handle the project of this size, of this scale,

which increased all at once.

If we had a GC, it could be done in five months.

We're talking with other investors as well,

so we're trying to figure out who do we want to back,

who has the most potential.

Why should we back you?

Because the return on this couldn't be any higher.

The potential of the property is spectacular.

And we also have a double lot.

You guys have the potential, but you're at a complete standstill.

We're freaking out on the inside.

If they don't pick us, it's going to be very sad.

[Arek] They didn't candy coat anything.

There was a lot of tough love.

We'll reach out to you if we have more questions, and we'll go from there.

-Thank you. Thank you so much. -Thank you so much. We appreciate your time.

-[Drew] Yeah. -[Jonathan] Yeah, I definitely like that

they're realistic in approaching where they are on the project.

Problem is they don't know how much it's gonna take to get to the end.

These guys have experience, but they look like they've lost their confidence.

I see the potential in the property,

but I don't think this is a slam-dunk choice for us.

Our next pitch is from an Analia and Arash.

They're a couple who have sunk their life savings

into a flip property in Culver City.

Ay-yi-yi. I like Culver City.

Hello. This whole area is like gold mine.

[Drew]This is an amazing area.

-Love it. -Huge draw, great restaurants,

lots of good shopping as well.

Rent on a three bedroom here is about 7,500 a month.

There's a great market in this area.

It's just that you have to do quality work to get that top dollar.

And the house itself, I feel like they've done some work already.

[Analia] We got this house six months ago

below market value of market.

We have two years dating,

and this is the first time we are investing together.

[Arash] We're hoping to get enough equity out of it

so that we can buy our first home together and start our life.

Because it was off-market and we wanted to get a good deal,

we had to pay cash.

We sunk in all our savings.

So that's what makes us a little nervous.

We definitely need the brothers' help

because the more we're working on this house,

the more things we need to do.

So it's becoming a little scary.

And it would be very helpful if we can get someone

to guide us through this process.

-Hello. -Hello.

-Hello. -Hi. Nice to see you.

-Drew. -Arash.

-Nice to see you. -Can I come in?

-[Arash] Thank you. Thank you for coming. -Oh, this is it.

Tell us a little bit about yourselves.

I did some fix and flipping.

I would say cheaper homes than this one.

So this is a big adventure for us.

I grew up in this business with my mom.

We did some flips, some construction,

things like that in Arizona, but--

LA is a very different market.

Yeah, yeah. Tell me about it.

[Jonathan] Fixer-uppers are more expensive.

And getting a crew can be a challenge because of demand.

[Drew]Do you have a GC already?

[Arash] We have a GC, yeah.

What's the budget you have so far for the project?

About $140,000.

-140,000 for the whole house? -Yes.

-Well, we've got 40,000 of it-- -Plus the backyard.

[Drew] Plus the backyard.

-[Arash] Well, just the pool, 40,000. -[Drew] Wait, wait, wait.

Everything in this entire house

-that you're looking at doing for $100,000? -$100,000.

-[Drew] Well, did the contractor quote you 100,000? -[Arek] Yeah.

[Jonathan]If something sounds too good to be true,

then it probably is.

$100,000 to renovate this entire house down to the studs

is crazy.

I cannot see how on earth you would renovate in Los Angeles

an entire house, full gut, for $100,000.

[Drew] Well, materials alone.

What's on the other side of this wall here?

[Arash]Those are the bedrooms.

We need the brothers' help design-wise, for sure.

It's a small house.

It's hard to get a nice floor plan.

[Analia] Even we both have previous experience flipping homes.

We are not full-time flippers.

Being able to delegate would be amazing.

We check with the city.

We can build an ADU, two-bedroom, two-bath, on top of the detached garage.

So your goal would be tear this all down

and build a two-story structure

-that is a garage below and a suite above. -[Arash] Yes.

There's one thing that does scare me a little bit,

and I'll tell you why, but I want to show you in the backyard.

I'm going this way.

[Arash] Yeah.

[Drew] I'll give you a hand. There you go. Watch your step.

Okay. Thank you.

[Jonathan] So tell me, when you bought the place, was the pool working?

-[Analia and Arash] Yes. -And what's the cost of the new pool?

-Uh, 40. -[Analia] 40,000.

[Drew] That is probably one of the the biggest mistakes we see here in California.

[Jonathan]If you're doing a flip property,

putting in a pool is not a good ROI.

-No, it's not. -That's usually something we would just say no to.

You got to look at the numbers.

The numbers do not lie.

-I know everybody wants a pool and it is very attractive. -[Analia] Right.

But pools are very expensive.

Usually, you won't get back what you spend.

-Watch your step. -Be careful.

[Drew] Please tell me your $100,000 renovation

does not include what you would do to that.

-No, no. -No, it doesn't.

[Jonathan]What was your quote for the back there,

if you were doing a new structure, two story?

[Arash] Our quote was 250 a square foot.

[Jonathan] So somewhere around 200,000.

Wait. Is that the same contractor?

-Yes. -Oh, yes. Same contractor.

-I don't understand -I don't understand

how he would do a $100,000 project on a house

that is twice as big than what he would do over here.

-That makes no sense at all. -Yeah.

Well, I personally think it's going to cost more,

and we're going to end up spending more.

[Drew] So I'll just help you out.

-I personally know it's gonna cost more. -Yeah, exactly.

You walk away from this project,

what profit do you want to make?

400,000.

We bought it for 1.2 million off-market.

The comps say 1.4 to 1.5.

After repair value, we were taking 1.8 million.

[Drew] The only thing I would say

is that a 1.8 million valuation for this area

-would probably include this being finished. -[Arash] To finish it.

So you'd have to spend a couple 100,000 here,

and you're going to get closer.

Is it worth it?

You always have to weigh the risk and the stress for the return in the end.

Why is it you think this is a good investment?

-Location and high demand in this area. -[Drew] Good on you.

-Thank you. -Because you found a great deal,

and you negotiated well.

I think it is a good property.

But you could easily get in over your head

-if you spend too much. -Yeah.

What is it we would bring to the project if we backed you?

Bring value, right? Definitely. And, and design.

Like, you know, you saw the space.

It's small, so it's hard...

-[Drew] Yeah. -...to come up with a good design.

I like that you already started.

I like that you have a contractor.

Although I don't trust their numbers.

We have to consider who we want to back,

who we have the resources to back.

This is a big project, a lot of things that we have to discuss.

-[Arash] For sure. -But we'll get back to you guys.

-All right. Come on. -[Analia] Go inside.

[Arash]We really don't succeed with this project,

it's going to really put our life on hold.

[Jonathan]Sometimes you get a place and you get a deal on it,

or what seems like a deal,

and you don't realize on the back end,

you spend all the money you saved.

We only have the resources to take on one investment.

Christina and Arek have a unicorn property

with the potential for two additional units.

But we'll need to borrow a huge amount of money

to get even close to the budget required to pull it off.

And it would be a big lift for our team.

We're freaking out on the inside.

[Drew] Analia and Arash have their own contractor,

but their quoted numbers are low

and we might have to take the project over.

That job is way bigger than they think it is.

We are not full-time flippers.

[Jonathan] It's funny because you see how stressed they are.

I'm stressed to get everything finished for $100,000.

It's insane.

[Drew] Yeah. I mean, for this size of a home,

1.8, 1.85, that's at the top end

of what this house could get.

And also, at the top end,

people want to have an ADU that's finished.

Comparing this to Christina and Arek's place is an amazing investment.

You have different opportunities there.

The garage as well as the attached ADU.

[Jonathan]Yeah, that's a huge plus

because they're already starting work on that one.

[Drew]Here, they're budgeting

for the main house, but nothing else,

which is not going to get them

the value that they're looking for.

So I don't think they're being that realistic here.

[Jonathan]Granted, Christina and Arek said the same thing,

and they want to do the whole thing for 200,000.

-Yeah, yeah. -Not happening.

So, a lot of unrealistic measures on all sides.

If it came down to it between these two properties, I think I would have to say...

[Drew] I think I know who I want to back.

Christina and Arek.

[Jonathan] Yeah, the investment opportunity for them is huge.

One of our contractors, Adam, is coming off a job and available now,

while one of our designers, Kelly, she'll be available in a few weeks.

This project is a good fit for our current resources.

Analia and Arash already have a contractor, which is a feat in LA.

We'll make ourselves available to review their quotes and budgets,

which is where they'll need the most help.

So I'm confident with their experience and our advice,

they'll get it done.

So let's call Christina and Arek.

-Yeah, let's do it. -Okay.

[line ringing]

-[Christina] Hello. -Hey, Christina, it's Jonathan.

-How are you? -And Drew.

[Christina] Hi, Jonathan. Hi, Drew.

[Jonathan] We've been thinking about your project,

and the biggest challenge for us

is that you need to be focused

on finishing the two investment ADUs, not the main house.

We don't have the ability for both Adam and Kelly

to do both the JADU and the ADUs.

We can focus our resources on the ADU.

[Christina] I don't care. I'll make it work.

-I love the initiative. -[Christina] I'm on it.

Okay. Well, then, between your resources and ours, I think we could back you.

[Christina] Oh, my God. I'm so happy.

[Jonathan] We'll send over our GC, Adam, to get started.

[Christina] Okay. Great.

Well, have a happy dance with Arek,

and we will talk to you really soon.

-[Christina] Fabulous. Thank you so much. -Thanks, Christina.

-[Jonathan] All righty. -[Drew] All right.

[Jonathan] That's a lot to consider.

The JADU should only take about eight weeks.

They've already done a bunch of the work.

However, they don't really know what they're doing.

So I'm thinking if we, kind of, give them some mentorship,

that we can, kind of, keep things pushing ahead.

If Adam and Kelly tackle the ADU, that's 12 weeks.

-That's doable. -[Jonathan] The main thing for me

is trying to figure out a way

that we can accomplish everything

but not stretch ourselves too thin.

The ADU is the bigger project.

So that's the one that I'm fearful

that they might want to make some decisions

or change something that's gonna elevate the budget.

I think we need to keep a close eye on them.

But we also cannot afford to have Adam or Kelly

fall behind on our other projects.

So we need to keep to our timeline.

I definitely feel like this is gonna be a huge opportunity for them

if they can actually get it done.

[Drew] Christina and Arek already have permits and plans,

plus they've secured a loan for $200,000.

So they'll have a total of $400,000 to renovate their two rental properties.

Our contractor, Adam, is on site with the team,

working on the new foundation

for the addition off the back of the garage ADU.

Once they build on top of it,

this will absolutely create more valuable square footage for the rental unit.

[Jonathan]Since the property is near a steep slope,

we need to check the soil

and get sign off from an engineer for this work.

But the elevation of the ADU is part of the appeal of the place.

[Christina] Adam and everyone has been really helpful.

-You see the progress. -[Arek] Mm-hm. Yeah.

It's great to have the support.

[Drew] This has been a massive first week.

Adam and his team have already done a ton of work

on Christina and Arek's garage ADU.

The foundation for the addition has been poured,

and the framing is done.

Christina has been managing the junior ADU,

so that should be moving along as well.

Yeah, I think it would be good for you to see this.

We need to get a designer over here.

So I'm introducing them to Kelly,

who is a rock-star designer,

to make sure that they do the right things.

I do think it's really great to have a professional designer

to come in here to actually look at what you're doing

to make sure that you're not missing something small.

Lay out the land for Kelly, just so she understands everything here.

So this is the bedroom and a, slash, work-from-home office.

And then this is the "living room."

[Drew] Mm-hm.

And there's a tiny kitchenette/laundry room.

-And then there is a bathroom with a shower. -[Kelly] Mm.

[Drew]With a kitchen that tiny,

why did you decide to put the laundry up there instead of--

Because bathroom is pretty massive.

This was, sort of, the footprint before,

when we first purchased the house.

So it's, like, the path of least resistance.

-[Arek] That's right. Yes. -You're already taking the floor plan

from the original rental

-and basically just making it your own. -[Christina] Yeah.

-Yeah. -[Kelly] Okay.

[Drew] Every time there's something that is not super functional,

you're not gonna get that premium rent, right?

But it's LA.

Would you rather do, uh, coin laundry,

or would you rather have a little tiny washer and dryer in your kitchenette?

Put the laundry behind that door.

Then close this off.

So it's not in your bedroom, it's in the hallway.

-Yeah. -Oh.

[Drew] Even if we stole 36 inches from that side,

to make sure we had enough room for washer-dryer stacked,

you still have a decent-sized closet.

The renter just wants something

that is pretty functional for them.

But if we can give them a little more kitchen space by moving the laundry

and it's not gonna cost you a fortune, then it could be worth it.

I want to go over to the ADU.

Oh, you've been busy since I saw you last.

Can you lay this out for us?

[Christina] This is, sort of, the living room that we're standing in right now.

And then there is a small office.

The kitchen is over there.

The main bedroom suite is going to be where the addition is.

[Drew]Are you trying to make it a three-bedroom with this?

-Is that your plan? -Um...

It's really a two bedroom and an office.

What's your reasoning for wanting to close this off in a small footprint?

We needed a two bedroom,

-and we weren't gonna do the addition. -[Drew] I see.

So, in the original plans,

-the office was gonna be the second bedroom. -Yeah.

And then, when we did the addition and the main bedroom,

we just never deleted this.

Where's your bedroom for the main suite, the primary?

-It's in the back. -[Christina] Right there.

-[Drew] The door's in the kitchen? -[Christina] Yes.

-Yeah, yeah. -[Drew] So you have a door here, leaning outside,

and a door to the bedroom in the kitchen?

-[Christina] Yeah. -[Drew] That's weird.

When plans change, you have to reassess the whole thing...

-Yeah. -...because there are multiple things here now

that you never changed.

And now it's just weird with the new design, right?

-[Kelly] Can I make a suggestion? -Yes.

You don't have enough living space.

Keep it a two-bedroom.

Open this up, get rid of the study.

-[Drew] Mm-hm. -[Kelly] Make it more of a dining or living space.

[Drew] I agree with Kelly.

What if we took the bathroom, turned it 90 degrees.

Then it's almost like it's created a little hallway.

You could have access into your bedroom

and you could have access into the bathroom.

-[Christina] Yeah. -[Kelly] I think it's a much more

efficient use of space.

You have a professional designer in here.

And within ten minutes, we've added so much function for whoever's gonna live here.

Rookie mistake.

We planned it and then we changed it.

Drew was exactly right.

We didn't reassess the entire project again.

[Arek] And hearing Drew's recommendations, they're spot on.

Absolutely what we should do.

But that's gonna get expensive.

I mean, that's a-- It's almost a complete redo.

[Drew] Come on out.

-[Arek] Okay. -I see you already did a little excavating.

Hey, Adam, come join the fun.

Don't hate me when they go over the changes we have

for all the framing that you did

because there's a whole lot we have to change.

-[Jonathan] Hello. -We've got to talk about Christina and Arek.

[Jonathan] Oh, okay.

So, they had a floor plan that they had done before the addition.

And then they have the addition.

But they just decided to try and save some time and money,

and they went with the same original floor plan.

Adam's already framed it up, but it's terrible.

The other bedroom is really small.

They never made the adjustment to make it actually feel more functional and livable.

[Jonathan] Have you had them go and do a bunch of changes--

Whoa. No, no, no, no, no, no.

I told them what needs to happen to change the floor plan,

to make it actually work.

There's no way they're gonna get a top rent for the way this looks.

It is literally tight and awkward,

when they have all this additional square footage

that would make it feel spacious and comfortable.

So, yes, I said they're going to have to change some things.

[Jonathan] It was a little tight in there before.

-Yeah. -[Jonathan] So the addition should have alleviated that.

But, obviously, it would require a different layout.

It's a red flag to me that they would even make a move like this,

where they're trying to save time and money.

But in reality, it's gonna cost them a lot more money

because they have a layout that's terrible.

They should have automatically thought,

"Well, what's the best function and flow for this

with the new square footage that we're adding?"

And then gone from there.

[Jonathan]I think you need to do some breathing exercises

and take it down a notch.

It is a bit of a two way street if we're backing them

then you know, they're still running the show.

But I would say part of this is on us, too,

because our subs should have said, "This doesn't feel right."

Instead of just framing the whole thing and moving it.

You know, that's absolutely right.

So maybe have a chat with the team and make sure that

they're keeping an eye on things for us.

Since we're not there every day.

[Drew] it's tough for me to not be

the one in control of this process.

We are backing these investors.

We're backing them and letting them take the reins.

It's just sometimes I'm like... [straining]

All right, I just had to vent.

-Okay. Bye. -[Jonathan] Talk to you later.

[upbeat music playing]

[Drew] Adam, let us know that the crew has removed the old framing

Arek and Christina had put in, and we've reframed it properly

at a hit of 29 grand to their budget.

It was a bad a plan that costs money to change,

but at least we fixed the layout.

[Kelly] I'm really excited to see this.

We were coming to check in on the progress

of the changes that Drew made when we were here last.

I hope it worked out.

[gasps] This is amazing.

[Christina] I love it!

I think it looks so much better.

[Kelly] This is a game changer.

Everything is different.

-Oh, we switched the door. -Yep.

Yeah, so instead of the washer being like in the middle of your hallway,

-it's now a little bit offset. -Yeah. All right.

-Closet and the bathroom-- -Yeah, and the closet has a vaulted ceiling.

[laughs] How cool is that?

[Kelly] From the original plan to now,

it's a totally different layout, so much more efficient.

-Do you love it? -Yes. Yes, it's a big improvement.

When changed the layout around, and it's felt like for a minute

that we were starting over again. The extra time.

[Arek] Juggling, full time family, full time life, full time job.

But I love the new layout.

[Kelly] I think we need to talk about floors.

Personally, myself and the brothers,

we love luxury vinyl.

It's less expensive, it'll last longer,

it'll be super durable, and what you need is something

that's going to give you a return on your investment

and do that for a very long time.

I think I would rather a cheap hardwood than a luxury vinyl.

There's just something about wood that I just like it.

-[Kelly] Okay. -I'll keep an open mind.

-Just keep an open mind. -Yeah.

[Adam] Today, I need to see Christina.

We have some pretty bad news to go over for the footing.

Things are gonna slow us down.

All right. So I have one pretty big issue.

Follow me over here.

-[Christina] Oh, my God! -Yeah.

It's a big giant hole.

[Adam] We passed inspections, obviously on this.

-Yeah, -We passed a foundation, we were able to pour.

After we got all the sign offs from the inspector to be able to pour.

And the soils engineer came later

and he wants us to dig deeper footings

-underneath the footings that we just poured. -Deep footings.

You have one, two, three of these bad boys.

This excavation, this underpinning, the rebar,

the concrete for these three new footings.

This is going to be a $13-$14,000 change.

No...

$13 or $14,000 isn't something you just have lying around.

It's just throwing it down a hole in the ground.

[Adam] We have to do it.

Unfortunately, that's the only choice we have,

'cause he's not gonna sign off on us.

And if he doesn't sign off, we don't get final building inspection.

The soils engineer came by the project at a random time,

and he's like, "Who let you sign off and continue?"

And we were like...

"The inspector, the structural engineer."

He's like, "You know what?

I want you to dig another couple of feet."

Kind of a little dagger to like,

"Hey, here's an unforeseen thing

that you have to tell the client."

So it is really stressful. It does slow us down.

We followed the plan.

This is a very rare occasion that this happens.

No! [chuckles]

Okay. I guess

-we'll see if we can try to save somewhere else. -Yeah.

[Christina] Maybe after the next earthquake.

I will be very grateful for my additional foundation costs.

But for now, it's irritating.

Oh, my gosh, $13,000 down the hole.

[Jonathan] The Junior ADU you started over a month ago.

Cristina and Arek are managing it,

but both have busy careers and three kids at home.

So when it comes to working with trades

and lining up inspections, they have to divide and conquer.

-So it's been a while since we've been here. -Uh-huh.

-Not much has changed. -I see.

[Christina] I'm basically the contractor for the JADU

and taking care of it as a third job.

My day job, uh, the whole family stuff

and then I'm an unlicensed contractor on the side.

-This is the sink? That's the sink right here. -That's the sink, the stove.

-Uh-huh. -Hello?

[Christina] I'm dealing with all the subcontractors.

It's actually not bad because I've worked with most of these guys

on multiple projects.

I think the only change we have left in here

is the washer and dryer.

It's going to move towards here.

So I am following Kelly's advice.

We are moving the washer and dryer.

It's painful, to have to have that additional cost,

but I think it will be worth it in the long run.

-[Jonathan] What's happened? -[Adam] Hello, sir.

I heard about the...

-slow down with the... foundation here. -Foundation.

-Yeah. -Unfortunate.

Yeah, we had to...

We had to excavate three, three times over

to get underneath that footing that we already poured, but...

He's not wrong, though. Look at the like the mud and the slide

and the settling like, it needs to be

-[Adam] Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. -rock solid.

[Jonathan] And it just slows everything down.

I'm keeping my eyes closed.

-I'm keeping my eyes-- -[Christina] Yeah.

-Oh, my gosh, nothing's happened! -It's just the same.

[Jonathan] This is really depressing, unfortunately.

Nothing's been finished,

so I'm a little nervous.

So it does look a little bit different.

It's kind of hard to tell,

but that washer and dryer alcove wasn't there before.

So now it's gonna be a little tiny, bit bigger.

The unfortunate thing is, you know, sometimes you get your plumbing,

and your rough-in, everything done,

-and then you've got to change things last minute. -[Christina] Yeah.

But we really gotta get to the point where we can close up walls.

Are you managing to manage?

I am managing to manage,

except like, I just need permission from this inspector

-so that I can start closing things up. -[Jonathan] Yeah.

We're otherwise ready to go.

So you haven't been able to even board inside

because you could keep it exposed on this side,

so the inspector can still see inside the walls.

But actually get ahead like, 'cause tile work takes

-a lot longer than just drywall paint. -Yeah.

Yes, but the tile wasn't really... set until this morning.

Oh, my gosh, you guys, mistake number one,

you didn't make decisions about what tile to go with.

Always pick your finishes as soon as possible,

so you have those materials ready to go.

Push anywhere you can get an inch ahead, keep inching ahead.

You two are in charge of renovating the JADU

and you've got to keep it moving

barring any delays out of your control,

so you can get that rental income sooner than later.

So keep your chins up.

But most importantly, get moving.

[Jonathan] Christina called and told me that they've passed

the JADU inspection and can close up the walls.

That's good news because we've got just a little over two weeks till rental.

Drew's heading over to make sure that's still going to be possible.

[Christina] Just wait. Let me grab my key.

-Hey. -Morning.

-Oh, hey! -Hey, how's it going? Good to see you.

Were you coming out here to greet me?

We were coming out to get a sink.

-[Drew] I'll join you. -[Christina] Yeah.

-[Drew] Oh, my gosh. -[Arek] Just one more block.

[Drew] You can't park closer?

This is an example of why

I feel it might be good to keep an extra parking spot

instead of putting in a little outdoor seating area for the JDU.

-[Arek] Yeah. -[Christina] Yep.

[Drew] I don't know. I think you should keep parking.

[Christina] Okay.

[Drew] I think any tenant who's losing their breaths

like this is gonna be like, "No, I want the parking spot off the street."

-Yeah. Is this another find that you had? -[Christina] Yes.

[Christina] I'm constantly bargain hunting for materials ahead of time.

It's almost become an obsession of mine,

and I think the savings are well worth it.

How much did you pay for the sink?

-[Christina] A $100. -Really?

Well done.

-I know you're tackling that JDU yourselves. -[Christina] Yeah.

Do you feel that you're on task? On time? On budget?

Uh, we're behind.

No, for the plumbing, electrical, everything else, you have--

-[Christina] Yeah, that was already, um... -Progression's coming, right?

The rough was already done.

-It is all just the finishing work, so. -Watch out.

And catch our breath.

-[Arek] The reveal. -All right. The big reveal of a $100 sink.

-Ah, that's a nice looking sink. -Right?

Shall we have a look at what you're doing?

-[Christina] yeah. -[Arek] Yep.

[Drew] So, are you putting the cabins in yourselves, or do you have someone coming?

[Christina] So we're gonna try to put it in ourselves.

Is there an eating area? Where do people eat?

-On the couch. -That is super unappealing.

When somebody comes to rent this,

if they see, there's literally nowhere for them to sit and eat,

even though it's a small space,

-they're gonna be like, "That sucks." -[Christina] Yeah.

Yeah, because out here,

I was even just thinking like, this is almost like the perfect height.

Yeah, I mean, so, like, if you were to create a seat right here,

-you almost have a built in bench. -[both] Oh, yeah.

You could actually have a small little table right here.

I know it's not optimal,

but I wonder if it makes sense just to have a really small table

that you could have here with a couple of chairs

on the outside and then the bench here.

-[Christina] Yeah. -[Arek] Yeah.

[Drew] And it's just a really small lounging area here.

-[Arek] Yeah. -[Christina] If we can do a pivot to the mount,

-[Drew] Yeah. -so that you can turn it over to there.

You know, honestly, people might like that.

They might like to watch from the table.

Or they might like to watch from a seating area.

-Yeah. -So one other question.

Have you decided the tile choice in here?

So there's gonna be the marble, the blue and then white.

And then blue, marble,

and then just white on the middle parts.

I don't know if you need, like, three different things.

I'm not saying no to a border.

I'm just meaning, like this is a super busy border.

So what's the plan for the floor?

You want to do that for the floor?

-Yeah. -Yeah.

You guys, you're breaking all the rules.

You have four different tiles in a tiny bathroom.

And actually, that doesn't even go well with...

Does that look like it works together to you?

[Christina] It does to me.

What's your flooring in the main area?

It's wood. We already did the wood.

It is a huge no-no to have a wood up against a wood.

-Even though it's tile, it looks like wood, right? -Mm-hmm.

-Yeah. -So I think that's gonna look terrible in the end.

-Okay. -So I know you're trying to save money

by using materials that you already bought.

You've made the mistake of buying a bunch of things you shouldn't have bought.

Two hardwoods next to each other is a no-no.

Four tiles in one space is, I don't know.

I would just do this large scale tile on the floor

if you have enough of the tile.

Do the floor and up the wall with that.

And then whatever color you choose for the wall to complement this

is really gonna make this feel high end.

It's actually gonna get you a little bit more money for the space.

So what is the plan for the exterior?

What did you decide?

-[Christina] Parking. -Absolutely worth it.

May I reference when we hiked up the hill to get your sink.

-That's right. -Okay.

I will stay out of your hair until the final reveal of the space.

-Okay? -Sounds great.

All right. I'll see you later.

[Drew] These guys are way behind schedule

and seeing as the ADU is on hold

because of the footing issue, I'm gonna send Adam over

to help them hang their kitchen cabinets.

If they do it on their own, honestly, it'll be a disaster.

[upbeat music playing]

[Christina] I don't know why we thought we could do the cabinets ourselves.

There were so many tricky things with this mini kitchen

to make it the most efficient that it possibly could be.

[upbeat music playing]

We are so close to being done in the JADU.

If all goes perfectly like we discovered,

uh, sometimes things don't go perfectly.

The electrician was here, putting in light fixtures.

I have the light for this one.

Outlets, light switches,

I have tile going in, the cabinets are all done,

the sink was installed.

So now it's our turn to do the work.

Um, sweat equity.

Arek and I are building the bench that Drew suggested,

and we're excited because we're making it a storage bench.

For the outside of the JADU,

we're putting board and batten on it.

I think it's charming

and the insulation inside will make the space quieter for the renters,

since it's a little closer to the road.

[Christina]The brothers donated some key furniture items

from their warehouse that look amazing.

And we've added our own stuff that I've been buying over the years.

We're styling ourselves, and then we're gonna present it to the bros.

There were times when I didn't think we would finish,

but we got, we got there.

[Arek] Do you worry that the work isn't going to look up to snuff

-and it'll be a total disappointment in there? -Yes.

I think the layout's great.

-It looks light in here. -Yeah. Yeah.

Makes the space look a lot bigger.

As a family, we're willing to sort of

sacrifice lifestyle for the future benefits

and to not have to worry so much about money in the future.

But it's been exhausting.

[sighs in relief]

I think we've done all we can.

[upbeat music playing]

[Christina gasps]

The last time I was here, this was a giant mud pit.

[Jonathan] I mean, it looks gorgeous from the front.

What's the plan? You want to show us around like we're tenants?

-Yeah, prospective tenants. -Yeah.

You know what? Honestly, I think it is a really smart idea.

Have the extra parking here and here.

It's like one in a million chance of getting a parking spot on the streets.

-So it's nice that you have parking. -Yeah.

-Let's get inside. -Yeah.

-[Christina] Okay. -What's with the split door?

Oh! Look at this.

It looks so good. The bench looks amazing.

-[Christina] We built that. We're very, very proud of it. -[Drew] Yeah!

[Jonathan] Wow, the bedroom, it feels massive, too.

That having enough room for a desk over here

is a huge upsell for anybody renting this.

I just gotta ask you, why that door?

-[Christina] I like it. -How long ago did you buy that door?

Years and years and years.

Okay, so it's another one of the many things

that you bought before you even knew what was going on here.

To be totally honest, most tenants are going to think that door was annoying.

The rattle, the jiggle, lets more air flow through.

Renters are usually looking at a whole bunch of different places.

-Yep. -They'll remember that.

You want all of those impressions to be good ones,

not something that's like, "Oh, this is a bit of problem."

We already know we're dealing with things like

the trip hazard, the raised kitchen.

Those aren't ideal.

But as far as space is concerned, this feels great.

-Yeah. Clean -It feels comfortable, cozy.

So the washer-dryer,

I thought would be a little further tucked back,

so we could put a door in there.

-So, those-- -Yeah, it can, uh,

it could probably go back further.

But we thought it was a selling feature.

Sort of front and center!

In-suite laundry is a selling feature, seeing it...

-Nobody cares to see it. -Yeah.

I mean, it's not the end of the world.

-It's just nice if you can tuck it away. -[Christina] Yeah.

I see you did decide to go for the tile

instead of the hardwood all the way up here.

One thing to keep in mind is usually continuity

in a small space especially, is better.

Having the same material flow through

would probably look less chaotic.

[Jonathan] Okay.

Uh, so what's the deal?

I thought you said all work was done.

-Well... -Well...

So you still have glass coming, right?

-[Arek] Yeah, we do. -[Jonathan] Yeah. That'll be a pretty quick fix.

Once that's done, you have a very classic aesthetic in here.

-Which is nice. -[Drew] Which was not the original plan.

You had the wood grain tile, and I know you liked the ornate detail,

-and I still see you have some of that that you added. -Yes, that's right.

So you went with my suggestion and still changed it a little bit.

-Yeah. -But at least this,

it looks clean.

That's what renters want.

[Jonathan] In an ideal world, I probably would have kept it more tone on tone.

Really paying into that true classic look.

But It's nice.

The only issue when your tenant is using this bathroom

day in and day out is their only bathroom.

-Toothbrushes, flossers. Pedestal sinks -Storage.

are an absolute no for every single bathroom except the powder room.

This is the complete worst thing to have for a tenant in here.

Why wouldn't you have done a vanity with drawers?

You have so much space.

I really thought it was gonna feel so tiny.

But it looks like I wasted space.

In the future, always think of who your tenant's going to be,

how they're going to use the space

and how can you minimize the complaints that you're going to get?

You will get a complaint about storage, lack of storage.

So figure out, is it an overjohn, is it a tower?

-Whatever it is, problem solved. -Yeah.

You just want to make sure that everything functions.

-[Arek] Oh, my God. -Oh, is this stiff?

-Oh, it's stiff. There's a screw right there. -[Arek] I think it's off.

-So it's hitting your roller. -[Arek] Yeah.

And so And you're also missing three screws here.

-Yeah. -When you said to us that everything's done,

-you mean to the naked eye? -That's exactly right.

At the end of the day, you always want a place to look great,

and it stands up because as soon as a tenant gets in

and starts to have that issue and this issue

and another issue, they're gonna hate it.

Well, here, look,

-I'll show you, the floors look amazing. -[Drew] Mm-hmm.

The space actually feels really nice.

I like the connectivity.

What I actually really love

s that this room feels massive.

Sometimes I would look at a space like this,

and I would center the bed in the room.

You shifted it over to allow for more function.

So this was a, this was a better idea.

-Thank you. -Having the bedroom set up as a bedroom slash office,

because somebody as well during the day they may close that work here

-while their partner watches TV. -[Christina and Arek] Yeah.

[Drew] I think that this space has turned out so much better

than what the original plan was.

-Having that table over there, -[Christina] Yeah.

-adds a ton of function. -[Christina] It was brilliant.

-[Drew] I love this. -Storage.

-Yeah, -I think a little...

So you have a little storage in here.

Well, this is so much better for whoever lives here.

[Jonathan] To be honest, for a one bedroom, this is more than enough.

You've got pantry storage, you've got cabinet storage.

I can tell that you had these cabinets before you had the kitchen.

They're not like a perfect fit.

It doesn't look like it's customized in,

but It does look nice.

[Drew] The countertop looks great.

I think the tile layer looks great and all the woodwork on the stairs looks awesome.

I think it ties it nicely to the floors.

-And moving the laundry-- -[Christina] Was brilliant.

-Really makes the difference. -[Christina] You guys, yeah.

I honestly, really like this.

You have everything you need.

You've made it look pretty,

it looks great, it's functional.

-It has AC and heat. -[Christina] But not really.

[Drew] This is gonna be a gorgeous rental

with parking and everything you can want inside,

you're gonna get great rent.

[Jonathan] How does it feel to be here?

Because when we first saw you guys,

you didn't know if it was ever gonna happen?

There was a really long tunnel before.

You guys helped make the tunnel a little shorter,

-and now we're-- -A lot shorter.

The thing is, you found a lot of,

what you bought all the cabinets

that will be for all these units for $1000 bucks or something like that?

-Yeah. -That's crazy to get this many cabinets,

even though they're not perfect in the space.

That's saving you a lot of money.

Again, I love how you're really good at finding deals.

Just wait until you know the design,

the plan, the property before you buy those bargains.

-Yeah. Yeah. -But there's so much value you've added.

Everything does look great.

And as much as we've given you a really hard time,

I'm actually really excited to talk about the numbers.

-Yeah. -All in,

if my numbers are right, you're $87,000

-from what you spent before and now. -Yeah, that sounds right.

So I think you can get $2,200 in here.

-It's so nice. -[Christina] Okay.

It's clean, there's an outdoor space and there's parking.

A lot of the units along here, it just says street parking.

$2,200 bucks a month is easy. You can totally do that.

-Okay. -That's $26,000 a year.

So as much as we were making fun of all your purchases of things,

you've actually saved a ton of money, which is really great.

And that's just this.

Just imagine what you can do with a beautiful ADU when that's done.

[Jonathan] Before you know it, then all of a sudden

you have two rental units while you're finishing the main house still.

The best part is you have a clear path forward.

You have revenue that can start coming in pretty soon.

And that's exciting.

It's great. I'm so excited.

So, you feel good?

Yeah, I feel great.

-You don't feel good. -You look stunned and shocked.

I am stunned and shocked.

I wish we could say we were out of the weeds.

But you still have another project to get going,

but if we can have the same rentable outcome as this here,

with that, you guys are gonna be making bank.

We'll continue to work on our action plan to help you out

because we want to see that completed as soon as possible.

All right, we will duck out.

We will let you celebrate because I think you really deserve that.

And we'll keep in touch about phase two.

-[Christina] Sounds good! -All right. See ya!

Let's go have a drink.

All right, a couple last little details and they are off to the races.

[upbeat music playing]

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

They've bought a house that's over 100 years old,

and that comes with a 100-year-old problems.

-[Dwight] Welcome. Dwight. -Good to see you. Drew.

[woman] Husband and my son have been the primary contractors.

And we are not strong in that field.

Everything is a problem.

-Structure, electrical plumbing. -This is awful.

-Nice to meet you. Drew. -I'm john.

[Drew] John bought this $1.35 million property and he did it in cash.

[John] If this renovation goes wrong,

I stand to lose everything that I have.

We have poured the new foundation.

[Arek] The goal now is finishing out the ADU.

We have to talk all things with Christina and Arek.

Remember that wood grained porcelain tile

that we said they shouldn't do in the JADU?

-[Jonathan] Yeah? -They put that in their main suite bathroom.

- What? -They're cheapening out the look of the space.