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The Big Flip ... Flops
Real estate shows need a reno — focus now on home enjoyment
Canadian TV shows about home improvement and real estate are undergoing renovations as the economic crisis hits the housing market. Networks plan to swing the wrecking ball at house-flipping shows in 2009. Instead, they'll focus on programs that help people sell or maintain their homes, cope with their mortgages and add value - not frills - to their property in cost-efficient ways.
Shows are also being made for renters who wish to stay out of the rocky real-estate market altogether. "We've moved a little bit away from being kind of aspirational about your home and looking at it as a commodity that can kind of be bought and sold and used for profit, to really looking at the home as the heart of your life," says Anna Gecan, vice-president of content for HGTV Canada.
The network started asking TV production companies to focus on the theme of "loving the home you're in" back in the fall of 2007, says Gecan, after seeing the subprime mortgage crisis grip the U.S. housing market.
"We also noticed that some of the most popular property shows and property blocks on the network were kind of flattening out," she says. "We sensed that the market and our viewers were telling us really the kinds of show that they were more interested in seeing."
To that end, two new Canadian home-related series suiting the tough economic times debuted on HGTV Canada in 2008: "The Unsellables," which spruces up homes to entice buyers, and "Income Property," which pays for half the cost of renovating a house's rental space so first-time homeowners can bring in tenants to help pay down the mortgage.
"I think putting in an apartment might be one of the only renovations that people would be thinking: 'This is something I should do now, this is a great time for this,"' says "Income Property" host Scott McGillivray, a real-estate investor who owns 18 properties with 30 rental units in Ontario.
"It's a way of ... paying those high mortgages that they have on these houses that are losing value." And losing value they are.
In early December, the ReMax real estate franchiser predicted that Canada's average house price had retreated from 2007's record high and would fall three per cent in 2008 and another two per cent in 2009.
"I'm getting very desperate people - people who are going to get kicked out of their homes," McGillivray says of the applicants they're getting for the show, filmed in the Toronto area.
Other related programs hitting HGTV Canada include "For Rent," which helps young couples who aren't ready to buy a home find the ideal rental space to live in (it debuts Dec. 29), and "House Poor" (to debut in fall 2009), which helps homeowners cope with their household finances.
Over at W Network and the Viva channel, both properties of Corus Entertainment, executives say they're looking at ways to help viewers "get more for their money, and how to use money wisely."
Touching on that theme is "Love It or List It," which debuted on W Network in September and offers tips on how to buy and sell a home, as well as how to renovate one. As production gets underway for Season 2, producer/director Maria Armstrong says they plan to do more episodes featuring lower-budget renos "that would make a big difference in a home."
"A lot of people want to downsize as well but they want to get more for their house so that they can actually move into another house and actually have a much lower mortgage," she says.
"So we're trying to attract people like that to come on the show as well. It's not all about going bigger and better. It's about people who don't need as much room and want to get the most out of their home."
It's the same sentiment on Citytv's "CityLine," where the focus for the home-improvement segments is "to bring people very cost-effective ideas and ways of achieving a look on a wiser budget," says Ramsin Khachi, a contractor and frequent guest expert on the show.
"What's changed in the past four months, I'd say, is that people are putting aside the non-essential upgrades," says Khachi, who runs Khachi Design Group Ltd. and Khachi Interiors Inc.
Chris Hyndman, co-host of CBC's daytime lifestyles series "Steven & Chris," says many of the show's viewers are writing in for advice on smaller-scale home renos. "I have noticed a difference in how many people are saying, 'I'd love to do something with my space but I'm not ready to invest a lot of money in it. I want to do that later in time,"' he says, adding they now make over spaces using a home's existing furniture as much as possible.
Despite the economic slump, TV viewers still want to be entertained when they watch lifestyles programming and won't shun home and real-estate offerings that are unrelatable, says Armstrong: "They want to have a lot of fun."
That may explain why the Canadian series "Home to Flip" - which debuted in October at a time when stock markets were crashing and when flipping homes was becoming a distant memory - was among the top-five most-watched programs on the network in 2008.
HGTV Canada says that while "Home to Flip" and "The Really Big Flip," which launches December 31, may be outdated (they were filmed a year ago when real-estate bidding wars were still common in the Toronto area) they do show viewers how to add value to a home and feature hosts that are engaging. Still, the network doesn't plan to offer any other home-flipping shows once "The Really Big Flip" ends.
"We're probably not going to do those for a while unless there's a massive rebound in the market," says Gecan. "I think the shift is towards nesting, towards maintaining your home. It is looking inward a little more rather than looking outward and seeing your home as just something to be bought and sold."
December 25, 2008 in Home Maintenance Matters | Permalink
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Comments
Never mind outdated, how about terribly banal!
Posted by: So bored | Apr 26, 2009 9:53:05 PM
I have some question?How it works if some of the most popular property shows and property blocks on the network were kind of flattening out? just wondering.
by:stephen
Posted by: philippines properties for sale | Jan 7, 2009 1:02:03 AM
These shows are at least 5 years outdated...;)))
Happy New Year!
Posted by: Sale Ubiparip | Dec 31, 2008 1:44:24 PM
Thank's for the information.
by:stephen
Posted by: philippines properties for sale | Dec 28, 2008 9:14:40 PM
I agree that the house flipping shows are probably becoming a bit outdated. While these shows have always been fun to watch, not one of them has actually served a responsible purpose. Countless people have been inspired by these shows, but lacking in a proper investing education, have found themselves on the wrong side of a bad real estate investment. Many of these folks are the reason that we're in the current real estate predicament.
The shows portrayed the fantasy, and largely ignored the reality behind what happens in a typical flip (acquisition issues, sale issues, budget issues, contractor issues, etc.)
Posted by: Joshua Dorkin @ BiggerPockets.com | Dec 26, 2008 1:14:32 PM
