Designed to Sell
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Designed to Sell is an HGTV American reality television show hosted by Clive Pearse, Shane Tallant, Michael Johnson, and Rachel Reenstra, and produced by Pietown Productions and Edelman Productions. Each 30-minute episode focuses on the fixing up and renovation of a home that is about to go on the market. The show began airing in 2004.
The show provides expert advice, redesign advice, professional carpenters and a $2,000 budget into fixing up the home in order to get a maximum offer when it goes on the market. To add excitement to the show, the renovations generally begin three days before the home's open house, by which time all the changes have to be complete. The show's $2000 budget does not include the carpenter's fees, which the show pays for. All changes are cosmetic, but some require drastic demolition and reconstruction, though all changes must stay under the budget.
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[edit] Description
Each show follows the same general format:
- Homeowner introduction
- Recognized problems
- Professional realtor appraisal
- Redesign plan
- Demolition (if any)
- Construction, painting, etc.
- Review of changes
- Budget breakdown
- Open house
- Result
At the beginning of each show, the homeowners are introduced and explain why they are selling. Common reasons include needing more room for a growing family and wanting to shorten commutes. The homeowners then may discuss some cosmetic defects they recognize their home has.
Then the host gives a professional realtor a walkthrough of the property while the homeowners watch on closed-circuit television from a neighbor's home. The realtor is asked to be very direct in their opinion of the home and often their assessments can be brutal and demeaning.
After the appraisal, the redesign expert reviews the main defects the realtor pointed out and their solution to their criticisms. Then the homeowners, the host, the redesign expert and carpenters go to work fixing up the house, using the designer's plan as a guide. This often includes some demolition and building and/or installation of new features (such as shelves, awnings, etc.). While the episode's budget pays for any materials used, it does not include any carpentry costs (i.e. the pay for the carpenters).
Often, as the date for the open house nears, they may run into unanticipated problems and may have to work around them or work longer in order to meet the deadline.
After all the changes are complete, the designer reviews the changes with the homeowners and the viewers are shown "before" and "after" views of the improved areas. This is often accompanied by host voiceover.
Afterwards, the host discusses how the $2,000 budget was spent, such as for paint, construction materials, accents, etc. The show normally comes in within $10 of the $2000 limit.
The homeowners and designer leave before the open house commences. The host stays and asks prospective buyers their opinions of the home, which are almost universally gushing. The host often also asks if the visitors are considering making an offer.
After the open house, the host tells the homeowners the general opinions of the open house viewers and any offers they've already received. The show ends describing how quickly the house was sold. Often the house sells above the asking price. While the asking price is never revealed, the host or homeowners usually disclose how much above the asking price the house sold for.
[edit] Locations
Designed to Sell features homes in four real estate markets: Los Angeles, CA, Washington, D.C., Chicago, IL, and Atlanta, GA. Each location has its own specific host, designer, carpenters, and real estate experts.
Although all four locations are featured regularly, the Los Angeles team seems to be the marquee crew, with HGTV regularly running short segments called "Lisa La Pointers" and "Clive Unleashed" during commercial breaks. Clive and Lisa are also featured in most ads and promos for the show. Even though the Washington D.C., Chicago, and Atlanta episodes have their own hosts who talk to the homeowners and help in the transformation of the home, Clive Pearse narrates most episodes off-location.
[edit] Los Angeles
Host: Clive Pearse
Designer: Lisa LaPorta
Carpenters: Steve Hanneman, Brooks Utley, Deus Xavier Scott and Greg Plitt
Real Estate Experts: Donna Freeman and Shannon Freeman
[edit] Washington DC
Host: Shane Tallant
Designer: Taniya Nayak
Carpenters: John Allen and Matt Steele
Real Estate Experts: Shirley Mattam-Male and Terry Haas
[edit] Chicago
Host: Michael Johnson
Designer: Monica Pedersen
Carpenters: Robert North and Chad Lopez
Real Estate Experts: Brandie Malay and Bethany Souza (also formerly Kathy Quaid)
[edit] Atlanta (Spring '08)
Host: Rachel Reenstra
Designer: John Gidding
Carpenters: Chip Wade and David Wint
Real Estate Experts: Heyward Young and Toniya Williams
[edit] Designed to Sell: Room by Room
In April 2008, "Designed to Sell: Room by Room" debuted on HGTV's real estate website, FrontDoor.com with more than 80 video clips and slideshows cut from episode archives. Users are able to search by room type for home staging ideas and inspiration delivered in short three to four minute webisodes and before-and-after slideshows.
