Latest / Own It with Angie Hicks / He's Flipped 1,000 Homes. Here's What He Fixes First.

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He's Flipped 1,000 Homes. Here's What He Fixes First. · Own It with Angie Hicks

• 0:00
  - If you wanna paint your walls pink and purple
• 0:02
  and do gold toilets, go ahead.
• 0:05
  Enjoy it, love it. (upbeat music)
• 0:06
  Just know when you go to sell your house,
• 0:08
  you're gonna have to replace your toilets
• 0:10
  and you're gonna have to replace your wall
• 0:11
  because you're gonna leave money on the table if you don't.
• 0:15
  - My guest today is Tarek El Moussa.
• 0:17
  You've probably seen them on HGTV on "Flip or Flop,"
• 0:21
  "Flipping 101," or "Flipping El Moussas."
• 0:24
  But Tarek is also a well seasoned real estate investor
• 0:27
  who's bought fixed and sold over a thousand homes,
• 0:31
  and he spent years helping homeowners
• 0:33
  determine what adds value and what doesn't,
• 0:36
  which makes him exactly the person I wanted to talk to
• 0:39
  about ROI.
• 0:41
  Welcome to "Own It." I am Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie.
• 0:46
  And the honest conversations that every homeowner
• 0:48
  wants to have start right here.
• 0:50
  In today's episode, we talk about what works
• 0:53
  in home improvement, from choosing the right projects
• 0:56
  and people to avoiding the mistakes that can cost you time,
• 1:00
  money, and maybe even a deal.
• 1:02
  Here's my conversation with Tarek El Moussa.
• 1:06
  You got into real estate at a super young age.
• 1:09
  You know, what drew you there?
• 1:10
  - It was kind of out of the blue. I was 19 years old.
• 1:13
  I had just graduated high school
• 1:15
  and I was selling Cutco kitchen knives.
• 1:17
  I developed the sales book.
• 1:19
  So I had all my leads, all my contacts.
• 1:21
  I had my little knife selling business.
• 1:23
  And what happened was I lost my entire lead book.
• 1:27
  (chuckles) And there was no computer, there was no database.
• 1:30
  It was an actual book,
• 1:31
  and I literally put myself outta business.
• 1:34
  And I saw this crooked sign,
• 1:35
  and it was flapping in the wind actually,
• 1:38
  and it said, "Wise Old Owl Real Estate School."
• 1:41
  I had what I call a defining moment,
• 1:43
  which is a moment in your life
• 1:46
  that changes the trajectory of your life,
• 1:47
  because I looked at the sign, I thought to myself,
• 1:50
  "If I can sell knives, I can sell houses."
• 1:52
  And immediately I walked across the parking lot
• 1:54
  and signed up for real estate classes.
• 1:56
  And that is literally how I got into real estate.
• 1:58
  So then my first six months in the business,
• 2:00
  I got my license, I started, I showed up at 9:00.
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  I went to the coffee thing, I went to lunch
• 2:06
  and Taco Tuesday.
• 2:08
  And what happened was nothing.
• 2:09
  I learned that I can't make any money
• 2:12
  if I do what everybody else is doing.
• 2:13
  I went from living in a garage
• 2:15
  to almost buying a million dollar house at 21
• 2:18
  because I had ended up earning a couple hundred thousand
• 2:21
  in gross commissions in a 90-day period.
• 2:23
  - I love what you're talking about here, Tarek.
• 2:27
  I mean, when I started Angie's List, I was similar age.
• 2:30
  I was 22, and I had to do sales,
• 2:32
  and I had to go door to door.
• 2:34
  And I treated it like a math equation.
• 2:36
  It was like, "I have to knock on so many doors
• 2:38
  because so many doors will result
• 2:40
  in so many people saying yes," and it was just math.
• 2:43
  It's a math equation.
• 2:44
  - I'm gonna tell you this, this is...
• 2:46
  Okay, I'm such a big fan of you,
• 2:48
  but now I'm the biggest fan ever of you,
• 2:50
  'cause most people don't know this about me.
• 2:52
  I built my entire career door knocking and cold calling.
• 2:57
  The first 10 years, I had no marketing.
• 3:00
  I did what you did, I hit the streets.
• 3:02
  Like even, that's how I started flipping houses.
• 3:05
  I used to get in my car and go knock on foreclosures.
• 3:07
  I mean, dogs would chase me.
• 3:08
  There'd be drive-bys, police chases.
• 3:11
  So to hear that you went door to door
• 3:15
  shows me exactly why we're here today.
• 3:18
  - True grit and character building is what I learned.
• 3:21
  So tell me when you were, you know, so you got going,
• 3:24
  things were going great, right?
• 3:26
  But then you hit the financial crisis of '08.
• 3:29
  No one thought the housing market
• 3:30
  was gonna collapse like it did.
• 3:32
  I remember sitting in a coffee shop watching it happen
• 3:35
  and thinking, "Oh my gosh, what does this mean
• 3:38
  for Angie's List back then,
• 3:39
  because are people gonna be renovating?"
• 3:41
  If they can't keep their houses,
• 3:43
  they can't renovate their houses.
• 3:44
  And I think you too had a similar story.
• 3:46
  - Yeah. So man, the Great Recession.
• 3:49
  So I was doing what I always did.
• 3:51
  I was getting listings, I was putting them on for sale,
• 3:54
  and then I'd go get the next one, I'd put on for sale.
• 3:56
  And then I realized, well, I'm putting them for sale,
• 3:59
  but none of them are selling.
• 4:01
  Wait a minute, something's going on.
• 4:02
  I started doing research.
• 4:03
  I noticed that inventory had spiked 84%
• 4:06
  in the summer of 2006.
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  So I really studied the market,
• 4:10
  and I determined, for two different reasons,
• 4:13
  one, based on studying and, two, based on my income,
• 4:17
  there was a problem (chuckles)
• 4:18
  because I wasn't making money, my houses weren't selling.
• 4:20
  So I listed my main house and one investment,
• 4:24
  I closed escrow, both of them.
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  One was December, 2006, the second one was March, 2007.
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  And as you know, the subprime market crashed spring of 2007.
• 4:37
  So I barely, barely, barely made it out of there.
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  And then that first house that I sold right before the crash
• 4:45
  sold almost exactly a year later
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  as a short sale for 700,000,
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  which was 300,000 less.
• 4:53
  - As in I'm glad you did not lose your love
• 4:55
  for real estate, that you were able
• 4:57
  to pull yourself back from that.
• 4:59
  You know, one of the things that's interesting to me
• 5:00
  is just how many houses you flip.
• 5:02
  What, over a thousand houses, something like that.
• 5:04
  What is it when you walk into a house,
• 5:06
  and I'm not talking about just a house
• 5:07
  you're potentially gonna flip,
• 5:08
  but you've been in so many houses.
• 5:10
  Like, what do you see buyer, typical average homeowner
• 5:14
  who's buying it for themselves doesn't see?
• 5:16
  What are things that catch your eye?
• 5:18
  - The first thing I see is the potential,
• 5:21
  and really the potential comes
• 5:23
  from the layout and the bones.
• 5:25
  Because if it's very expensive to fix the layout
• 5:29
  and the bones, it's gonna be expensive
• 5:32
  for the overall project.
• 5:33
  So one of the things I really like to find
• 5:36
  is an older dated house, but maybe it has good bones
• 5:38
  and a good floor plant so I don't have to remove walls
• 5:40
  and do heavy construction and fix foundations
• 5:44
  and things like that.
• 5:46
  - Are there things when you look at a house
• 5:47
  that you're like, if I walked into this house
• 5:49
  and I was getting ready to buy it,
• 5:50
  what advice would you have for a homeowner of like,
• 5:52
  "Hey, this thing or these two things
• 5:55
  I would always steer away from."
• 5:56
  What are things that you're kind of like,
• 5:58
  you'll be in over your head quicker than you can imagine?
• 6:01
  - Here's the truth.
• 6:02
  We have a really big problem in this country where,
• 6:05
  since 2008, 2009,
• 6:08
  I mean, how many people have started flipping houses
• 6:11
  probably 'cause that that show called "Flip and Flop"
• 6:13
  on HGTV. - Right.
• 6:15
  - It's very, very important for homeowners
• 6:18
  or anyone looking to sell their house
• 6:20
  to make sure they're aligned with the right people.
• 6:23
  Because at the end of the day,
• 6:24
  the right people are gonna make or break
• 6:26
  your entire transaction, your remodel, your design.
• 6:31
  And the biggest mistake I used to make
• 6:34
  was looking at the cheapest person.
• 6:36
  And I learned very, very, very fast,
• 6:40
  you get what you pay for. (chuckles)
• 6:42
  In 2026, what's important for a homeowner
• 6:46
  is to do the things to their house
• 6:48
  before ever putting it for sale
• 6:51
  to reduce the risk of it falling out of escrow.
• 6:54
  Because right now, of homes falling out of escrow,
• 6:57
  seven out of 10 houses are falling out
• 7:00
  because they're not passing the home inspection.
• 7:03
  And a lot of times it's not passing over dumb items
• 7:07
  that, if they were fixed beforehand,
• 7:09
  they never would've been an issue.
• 7:11
  So with my company, Nestla Home, if people want to,
• 7:15
  I always suggest, before we list it, or before you list it,
• 7:18
  get a home inspection.
• 7:19
  That way if there's a red flag,
• 7:22
  you could fix and remove the red flag.
• 7:25
  - Right, put you in a much better negotiating.
• 7:27
  - Yeah, and it puts you in a better position
• 7:29
  for negotiating.
• 7:30
  And when you really think about it,
• 7:32
  imagine a family or a person spending months
• 7:35
  trying to sell their house.
• 7:36
  Every weekend there's open houses, they gotta leave.
• 7:39
  And after six months of doing this, they get an offer,
• 7:42
  they go into escrow and bam, it falls out of escrow
• 7:46
  because of something this big.
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  So it's all about risk prevention with real estate,
• 7:53
  and it's about doing the things you gotta do
• 7:56
  before you ever list a house.
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  And that's what I'm focused on.
• 8:00
  - It's interesting, what we've seen in our state
• 8:02
  of home spending report with Angie
• 8:03
  is that homeowners spending more on maintenance now
• 8:07
  than they have historically,
• 8:08
  which I think is super interesting,
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  which means they're probably taking care
• 8:11
  of some of those little things.
• 8:12
  Because I tell people, and I'm sure you do as well,
• 8:15
  like when people come into your house looking to buy it,
• 8:18
  they're actually looking for reasons not to buy it.
• 8:20
  - I really believe the next couple years
• 8:22
  we're gonna see, people doing way more remodeling
• 8:25
  of their existing houses.
• 8:26
  We're gonna see a lot more additions,
• 8:28
  we're gonna see a lot more add-ons,
• 8:30
  which tells me there's gonna be a lot of people
• 8:32
  that are gonna need our help.
• 8:34
  - Yeah, exactly, because they think about
• 8:37
  that like, "Hey, I'll take that second
• 8:40
  and merge that, blend that in with my mortgage,
• 8:42
  and all of a sudden my rate's not that bad,"
• 8:44
  versus totally flipping the mortgage to the higher rate.
• 8:46
  You know, for those that are out buying right now,
• 8:48
  it just makes thinking a little more long term
• 8:51
  because people aren't staying,
• 8:53
  they're staying in their houses longer,
• 8:55
  you know, so location matters more.
• 8:56
  It's like, where are you gonna be in five or 10 years?
• 8:59
  So think about that
• 9:00
  when you're thinking about that location,
• 9:01
  because you can change many things about the house.
• 9:05
  Can't change the location without moving.
• 9:07
  - Absolutely. Oh, I love that.
• 9:08
  Angie, do you mind if I ask you one question?
• 9:11
  - Yeah.
• 9:12
  - What drove you to start, Angie?
• 9:15
  - So I started when I was fresh out of college.
• 9:17
  I had done an internship with the guy
• 9:21
  that then became my co-founder.
• 9:22
  Bill had renovated a house in Indianapolis.
• 9:25
  He'd bought like a 1920s house that needed tons of work,
• 9:28
  and it was the first house he'd ever bought.
• 9:30
  But it turned out there was a little business
• 9:32
  in Indianapolis called Unified Neighbors.
• 9:35
  And it kept track of who the good contractors were in town.
• 9:39
  And he used that and was like, "This is great.
• 9:41
  Like, I love owning houses."
• 9:43
  And then he moved to Ohio
• 9:44
  and bought another diamond in the rough,
• 9:48
  and quickly discovered that there was no such thing
• 9:50
  as Unified Neighbors there or anywhere.
• 9:52
  So he convinced me to join him
• 9:56
  and start this business.
• 9:59
  Back then when we started,
• 10:00
  we were competing against the Yellow Pages.
• 10:02
  You're like, you just open 'em up,
• 10:03
  and you're like which company's the best?
• 10:06
  - Yeah.
• 10:07
  - You know, and was all about really being able
• 10:08
  to get to that real scoop because in 1995
• 10:11
  there was no internet, reviews weren't really a thing.
• 10:15
  It was really word of mouth was how you
• 10:17
  a lot of times would then have to hear about people.
• 10:20
  - And it's incredible to think the impact
• 10:22
  you've made all across the nation,
• 10:25
  because it's a very risky, difficult-to-understand industry.
• 10:31
  And it's an industry where if you're a homeowner
• 10:33
  and you don't do the right things,
• 10:34
  it's easy to be taken advantage of.
• 10:37
  And then the problem is, if you are taken advantage of,
• 10:39
  trying to get your money back
• 10:40
  or fight with the court systems,
• 10:42
  it's very, very close to impossible.
• 10:44
  So what I always tell people that the most important thing
• 10:48
  you can do is spend the time on the front end.
• 10:51
  It's the most important part
• 10:52
  because the front end is where you find your team,
• 10:55
  it's where you do your interviewing.
• 10:56
  That's when you check the credibility.
• 10:58
  Because if you make mistakes on the front end,
• 10:59
  your entire project is just gonna be a roller coaster
• 11:02
  and it gets off very stressful.
• 11:04
  - Absolutely. So I couldn't agree with you more.
• 11:06
  And I tell people it's like,
• 11:09
  because it's emotional purchase, right?
• 11:10
  Even when you're remodeling or something like that,
• 11:12
  I might not be an expert roofer,
• 11:14
  but over the course of my home ownership,
• 11:17
  I might replace a couple of roofs,
• 11:19
  and I've gotta trust that contractor.
• 11:20
  So making sure you get a great contractor,
• 11:23
  you're exactly right.
• 11:26
  And especially if you're looking at a house
• 11:29
  that needs some work, having a contractor that you trust
• 11:32
  and you've built some rapport with
• 11:34
  to go in and look at it with you
• 11:36
  before you buy will also help you avoid some pitfalls,
• 11:39
  I would think.
• 11:40
  - Yeah, absolutely.
• 11:42
  And the biggest mistake is usually hiring the wrong people.
• 11:46
  And then once you do, you pay them in advance
• 11:49
  and then they take your money.
• 11:50
  - That is true.
• 11:51
  And it's important to you make sure,
• 11:53
  I think you brought it up, like make sure
• 11:55
  you're getting several estimates,
• 11:57
  checking their credentials,
• 11:58
  and then also just getting to know the contractor.
• 12:01
  I mean, you've been involved in lots of big projects,
• 12:04
  and it's not something that you do overnight.
• 12:07
  It's something you might...
• 12:08
  You know, I joke around like,
• 12:10
  you might be living with your remodeler
• 12:12
  for a couple of months while they're doing a major project.
• 12:15
  And it's like you've got to have a good rapport with them
• 12:18
  in order for that project to go well.
• 12:21
  Let's talk about ROI, because I think that is something
• 12:23
  that homeowners spend a lot of time talking about it.
• 12:25
  You've seen it from the investor perspective
• 12:28
  of kind of how important it is to choose the right projects
• 12:30
  to do in a house, and which ones you might wanna avoid.
• 12:34
  You know, homeowners who are living in their house,
• 12:36
  they may not have that same business sense
• 12:38
  when it comes to their own home as you have
• 12:40
  on the projects that you're doing.
• 12:41
  But what types of projects oftentimes
• 12:46
  tend to kind of result in the best ROI?
• 12:48
  - So actually after buying, fixing and selling
• 12:51
  a thousand houses, I've kind of identified
• 12:52
  what I feel are the most important things.
• 12:54
  So within my company Nestla,
• 12:57
  I created something called Nestla Touch.
• 12:59
  Touch means anything we've touched on the house.
• 13:02
  And the thing is, I think every homeowner needs to do.
• 13:06
  And this is important because this is,
• 13:09
  I'm not talking about a fixer-upper.
• 13:11
  I'm talking about the average am American homeowner
• 13:14
  before selling their house,
• 13:17
  one, I feel like it's very important, declutter.
• 13:21
  Get someone in, take half of the stuff from every room,
• 13:25
  put it in a box, label the box.
• 13:27
  Go into your closet, take half your cloth-
• 13:30
  - I'd say even take more than half.
• 13:31
  I'd take three-fourths. (laughs)
• 13:34
  - Exactly, your closet, right, all your stuff,
• 13:36
  take 75% of the stuff out, make your closet feel bigger.
• 13:40
  Go to the front of your house and look at it with your eyes.
• 13:44
  You want green grass, you want flowers,
• 13:47
  you want painted trim.
• 13:48
  You want a new, fresh colored front door.
• 13:51
  It's not about spending a fortune before selling your house.
• 13:53
  It's about spending a little bit of money
• 13:56
  on the right things that'll cause it to sell
• 13:59
  just for more money and that much faster.
• 14:03
  And I was just talking about the outside,
• 14:04
  like I'm talking paint, kitchen,
• 14:08
  replacing hardware, even as simple as lights.
• 14:11
  I walk into these beautiful homes for sale
• 14:13
  and they're using these yellow light bulbs.
• 14:15
  So it's the details. You're telling a story.
• 14:18
  And in today's market where it's slow
• 14:20
  and it's difficult to sell houses,
• 14:23
  this is the most important time ever
• 14:25
  to do the right prepping and improving
• 14:28
  before you ever actually list your house.
• 14:30
  Imagine you're a buyer, you're walking into your house,
• 14:34
  what would you wanna see?
• 14:35
  I mean, I would wanna walk up to a clean porch,
• 14:37
  a freshly painted front door, a welcome sign, a cute mat.
• 14:41
  You're selling a story. - Right.
• 14:43
  If I bought my house during the pandemic, for example,
• 14:45
  I took advantage of that super low interest rate.
• 14:47
  And I'm trying to figure out what ways
• 14:49
  to make my house grow, because I don't wanna move right now,
• 14:53
  which I think a lot of homeowners feel like that,
• 14:56
  what projects, you know,
• 14:58
  what are your top couple of projects you would consider
• 15:01
  like making sure that kind of, in updating a home?
• 15:04
  Which are the favorites that you go,
• 15:06
  you think about first?
• 15:07
  - Yeah, that really depends on the goals.
• 15:09
  Is it looking for more size
• 15:11
  or is it looking for more design?
• 15:13
  - So if we think, like, why don't you gimme one of each?
• 15:15
  If you're thinking size, where do you go?
• 15:16
  And if you're thinking design, where do you head?
• 15:19
  - Oh, okay.
• 15:20
  So I mean, if I'm thinking what is the best way
• 15:23
  for me to get the best look on this house
• 15:26
  with the lowest money spent,
• 15:28
  if I can just clear my mind really quick,
• 15:30
  empty out that house.
• 15:31
  First thing I'd go in there is scrape all the ceilings,
• 15:34
  replace baseboards, fresh paint everywhere,
• 15:38
  white light bulbs.
• 15:39
  I'd install canned lights, modern lighting,
• 15:41
  modern light fixtures.
• 15:43
  I'd repaint or refinish cabinets.
• 15:45
  I'd put new hardware on.
• 15:48
  I would tile the kitchen backsplash,
• 15:50
  'cause it's pretty fast and easy.
• 15:52
  Homeowners can do it.
• 15:53
  And it's just the little things,
• 15:56
  the hardware, the lights, the chandeliers, the paint.
• 16:00
  And it makes just such a big difference
• 16:02
  in modernizing a space.
• 16:04
  - I think you're exactly right.
• 16:05
  I mean, one of the things that I hear homeowners
• 16:07
  talk about is like, "I wanna remodel my kitchen.
• 16:09
  Does that mean I'm spending $50,000?"
• 16:11
  And it's like, it's amazing the number of things
• 16:14
  you can do in phases, right?
• 16:16
  Or some of these smaller things that can give it a new look.
• 16:19
  I mean, I tell them, if you can keep the cabinets,
• 16:22
  keep the cabinets,
• 16:23
  because they'll be the most expensive thing.
• 16:25
  And do not change the footprint of the kitchen
• 16:29
  because you don't wanna move plumbing and electrical.
• 16:30
  - Oh my gosh. - Right?
• 16:32
  I gotta tell you a story.
• 16:33
  Two years ago, this is a funny store, I'll be quick.
• 16:36
  It was on season two of my show "Flipping El Moussas."
• 16:40
  We bought this house in a Hawthorne.
• 16:42
  It was like a thousand square feet,
• 16:43
  tiny little thing.
• 16:44
  Last minute, me and Heather are in the kitchen
• 16:46
  for the design.
• 16:47
  We're like, "You know what, we're gonna move this
• 16:48
  one little window from here to here."
• 16:50
  We tell the contractor.
• 16:51
  Oh boy, next thing we know,
• 16:55
  that little window, it ended up delaying us three months
• 16:59
  and costing $40,000
• 17:03
  because we moved that little window.
• 17:05
  They made us retrofit and do all this wild code upgrades.
• 17:10
  And if I would've ever known,
• 17:12
  I would've left that window.
• 17:13
  - One thing I encourage homeowners to think about
• 17:15
  is making sure they're giving some cushion
• 17:17
  to their budget, right?
• 17:18
  Because you hear about these things that happen
• 17:20
  that go awry.
• 17:21
  You know, make sure you got a good 10%.
• 17:23
  Hold back, tell your contractor you have 20,000,
• 17:26
  but hold back a few thousand
• 17:28
  just so that you're prepared,
• 17:29
  because they can't see behind walls.
• 17:32
  They don't know the condition of absolutely everything.
• 17:34
  And when you start moving some things around,
• 17:37
  you can run into those things
• 17:38
  that'll eat up all of your fun budget.
• 17:40
  - So glad you just said that.
• 17:41
  It's very important to pay on a payment schedule.
• 17:44
  When I first started flipping houses,
• 17:46
  the biggest lesson I've learned is choose the right people
• 17:51
  and pay them on a schedule.
• 17:53
  - Yeah, yeah. And get everything in writing.
• 17:56
  - Yes.
• 17:57
  - So one thing you talk about is every house
• 18:00
  needs a sizzle feature, you know?
• 18:02
  - Yeah. - One thing that kind of
• 18:03
  really stands out and makes your house special.
• 18:06
  How do you decide what that is?
• 18:07
  I mean, is does the house inherently have it?
• 18:09
  I mean, like, I love curved archways,
• 18:12
  so maybe something like that is that sizzle feature,
• 18:14
  but would love to learn more.
• 18:16
  - I think every house inherently has it,
• 18:20
  and I think every house's sizzle feature
• 18:22
  should be the one that the homeowner wants.
• 18:25
  So for me, I analyze every house.
• 18:28
  I'll look at the inside, I'll look at the outside.
• 18:30
  I always like to create sizzle features
• 18:32
  in every house for a few different reasons.
• 18:35
  One, it gives the owner an opportunity
• 18:38
  to show off something cool.
• 18:40
  You know, maybe people don't have enough money
• 18:41
  to sizzle their entire house,
• 18:44
  but you can do one part, like maybe a bar, maybe a fire pit,
• 18:48
  but just something that's personal and you're proud of.
• 18:50
  - So talk to me about your framework.
• 18:52
  It's a four-step framework, right?
• 18:53
  The evaluate, emulate, renovate, and duplicate.
• 18:56
  Walk me through what that's like
• 18:58
  for someone who just owns a house they live in.
• 19:01
  How should they be thinking about that framework?
• 19:03
  - So before you get started, you need to know
• 19:05
  what you're going to do.
• 19:07
  So what I like to do is, if I look at a house,
• 19:10
  I'm like, okay, that's a 1970s house,
• 19:13
  a four bedroom, two bathroom, it needs some love.
• 19:15
  The first thing I want to know is,
• 19:17
  well, like, how nice should I make this house?
• 19:19
  And what do other people make houses look like in this area?
• 19:22
  Because I don't want to do a LA Hollywood modern house
• 19:27
  in the middle of Ohio, right? - Right. (chuckles)
• 19:29
  - So identify your competition. What are they doing?
• 19:34
  And then what are they doing that's working?
• 19:37
  Find out what that is and then do what they did
• 19:40
  and try to do it better by emulating,
• 19:43
  which is what they've done, and enhancing it
• 19:46
  with a personal touch to improve it.
• 19:48
  That way you're always doing things based on
• 19:51
  what's already been proven and you're always trying
• 19:53
  to improve what's already been proven.
• 19:56
  - Right. Right, right.
• 19:58
  I like that.
• 20:00
  I tell people that they wanna keep up with the Joneses.
• 20:02
  They don't wanna kind of exceed the Joneses.
• 20:05
  So I think you bring a good point,
• 20:07
  like how often, like, homeowners should be thinking
• 20:09
  about the market probably more.
• 20:11
  I mean, I've lived in my house for 20 years,
• 20:13
  so maybe you aren't paying attention
• 20:17
  to kind of the real estate market
• 20:18
  if you're not in the market.
• 20:20
  But you bring up a great point
• 20:22
  about how that can actually help you educate you
• 20:26
  on what you should be doing in your house,
• 20:28
  even if you don't have a move in the horizon.
• 20:30
  - 100%, you know, the best way to learn about your house
• 20:34
  is to study your neighborhood.
• 20:35
  What are the neighbors doing? Are there similar floor plans?
• 20:38
  I mean, I've learned so much just by looking at photos.
• 20:42
  It's amazing.
• 20:42
  Like I've said, "Okay, I wanna do a remodel
• 20:45
  of this beautiful house."
• 20:46
  I've literally pulled up every house listed
• 20:49
  along the coast between five and 20 million
• 20:52
  just to get design inspiration.
• 20:55
  So you can pull inspiration from anywhere.
• 20:57
  You could take a look at a $20 million house,
• 20:59
  and put it in a $500,000 house.
• 21:01
  - Yeah. - But instead of using hand,
• 21:04
  you know, formed clay tile, well you get a porcelain
• 21:07
  with a print on it. (chuckles)
• 21:09
  - That has a similar feel to it
• 21:11
  and warms up the space the same way.
• 21:12
  - Yeah, and here's one thing I've actually learned
• 21:15
  doing this so long, is you can get
• 21:18
  a super high-end designer look
• 21:20
  by just choosing the right materials.
• 21:24
  Because it's amazing the type of patterns
• 21:27
  and stamping they can do on porcelain.
• 21:29
  And nobody ever knows the difference.
• 21:31
  - You've done so many of these projects.
• 21:33
  You can always say like, you wanna invest in quality,
• 21:36
  you wanna make sure you're doing everything right.
• 21:38
  But sometimes you just wanna go after the trend, right?
• 21:41
  Like, "Hey, I just want a little pizazz."
• 21:44
  So where would you say like, "Hey, this is an okay spot
• 21:49
  to go kind of trendy, maybe less expensive,
• 21:52
  but I would never do it
• 21:54
  with this kind of a product"?
• 21:55
  - We only got one shot at this thing called life.
• 21:58
  And I think it's very important to separate
• 22:00
  business decisions and personal decisions.
• 22:02
  And I feel like a home is very personal.
• 22:06
  - It's emotional, yeah. - Here's what I tell people.
• 22:08
  If you wanna paint your walls pink and purple
• 22:11
  and do gold toilets, go ahead.
• 22:13
  Enjoy it. Love it.
• 22:15
  Just know when you go to sell your house,
• 22:19
  you're gonna have to replace your toilets
• 22:20
  and you're gonna have to replace your walls
• 22:22
  because you're gonna leave money on the table if you don't.
• 22:26
  - I think this is a great point,
• 22:27
  and like paint can be one of those inexpensive things,
• 22:31
  but you just have to remember to paint it
• 22:33
  before you list it.
• 22:34
  Because that paint could,
• 22:37
  that off-white paint that you end up painting it
• 22:39
  could be the least expensive thing you've ever put in
• 22:41
  your house but turns out to be the best ROI
• 22:44
  you've ever spent.
• 22:45
  - Absolutely. Absolutely.
• 22:47
  - You know, and people, for most,
• 22:49
  their home is their largest investment.
• 22:50
  So they wanna be smart, they wanna make good decisions,
• 22:53
  and they want to feel like,
• 22:55
  "Hey, when I do sell this, I am gonna make some money on it,
• 22:58
  and it's gonna turn out to be
• 23:00
  a wealth builder for me."
• 23:02
  - I love what you just said because it is 100% the truth.
• 23:05
  I mean, I believe it's 90% of this country,
• 23:10
  the majority of their net worth is in their house.
• 23:13
  - Exactly.
• 23:14
  So, as we wrap here, what is the one room in a house
• 23:18
  that tells you everything you need to know about the owner?
• 23:21
  - The entry. (chuckles)
• 23:23
  I'd say the entry.
• 23:23
  Like you, for example, you come to my house,
• 23:27
  you're gonna see a lot of organized shoes
• 23:29
  'cause my wife has a rule.
• 23:29
  "Hey, no shoes in the house."
• 23:31
  - No shoes in that, fair. (laughs)
• 23:33
  - Sometimes you go to a house
• 23:35
  and, you know, there's stuff everywhere, right?
• 23:38
  - Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
• 23:39
  - So I think immediately you kind of know
• 23:42
  the second you walk in. - Right.
• 23:44
  You get that first impression. It's back to the front door.
• 23:47
  - Yeah, it's back to the front door.
• 23:49
  And a lot of times, it starts at the curb,
• 23:51
  you know, based on the landscaping
• 23:53
  and as they're peeling paint on the door
• 23:55
  and stuff like that.
• 23:56
  - This has been so much fun, Tarek.
• 23:58
  I've really enjoyed this. Appreciate the conversation.
• 24:01
  - Well, this is so fun.
• 24:03
  I really am a big fan of what you've done,
• 24:05
  and I love the fact that you did
• 24:07
  this going door to door based off an idea,
• 24:11
  who's someone who had a great experience off of a list.
• 24:14
  I mean, I just love these stories.
• 24:16
  (upbeat music) - Here's what I am taking away
• 24:18
  from my conversation with Tarek.
• 24:20
  Your house is personal. You should love it.
• 24:22
  It's where you live, so live in your home.
• 24:25
  But the day you decide to sell,
• 24:27
  it stops being yours and becomes a real asset.
• 24:30
  And the homeowners that come out ahead
• 24:32
  are the ones that understand the difference.
• 24:34
  They spend their money on the front end,
• 24:36
  on upgrades that aren't dramatic
• 24:39
  but deliver the best ROI; the basics but done really well.
• 24:43
  And in today's market, where seven out of 10 deals
• 24:46
  fall apart at the inspection phase,
• 24:49
  these homeowners do a pre-inspection
• 24:51
  and fix the items upfront.
• 24:53
  It's the smartest money they'll spend all year.
• 24:56
  Thanks for watching.
• 24:57
  And if this episode sparks some interest,
• 25:00
  feel free to follow along or subscribe or leave a review.
• 25:04
  And if you know someone getting ready to sell their house,
• 25:07
  this might be a great episode to pass along.
• 25:10
  This is Angie Hicks with "Own It,"
• 25:12
  and we'll see you next time.