Casting a new season of Flip This House
Posted: June 27, 2007 Filed under: General 48 Comments »From Steve Grant of 813 Casting:
Get your team onto Flip This House!
813 Casting and Departure Films are looking for another great cast of characters to be featured on the new season of A&E’s #1 rated lifestyle show, Flip This House!
We’re looking for confident, charasmatic, motivated and opinionated people who “flip” residential properties for a living. We want real-estate adrenaline junkies who love the high risk, high reward nature of their jobs and who are devoted to doing a great job!
If you would like your team to be featured on the upcoming season of Flip This House, send an email to FTH@813casting.com. Include your contact info, bios on you and your team, and some reasons why your team should be the next team featured on Flip This House! This is a nationwide search. We are casting teams of people (approx 3 or 4) and not individuals. No phone calls please.
$500 Finder’s FeeDid you know that Than Merrill and the New Haven team were found through a referral? If you think you know someone who would be GREAT on Flip This House – tell us about them! If they get cast, you’ll get a $500 finder’s fee (and a cool story!) Email us at FTH@813casting.com. Make sure to provide all necessary contact info.
sounds like they’ve realized it’s time to clean house and start over….
about time.
Re: “$500 Finder’s Fee”
EXCELLENT! There’s a company in Charleston, SC and… ; )
Mike,
“After the second season of Flip This House, we decided to change direction and focus on different cast members, as we did after the first season.”
Same song, different season. And of course you don’t ‘change direction’ if the ratings are there unless it’s something else.
Open to all applicants – with or without past criminal records or allegations.
Good luck to everybody 🙂
Getting a new ‘team’ or two, I’m not so sure I’d call that “cleaning house”. It sure doesn’t preclude A&E from showing San Antonio and/or Atlanta episodes from being rerun and/or being syndicated. It’s a half measure if that’s what it is. The ONLY episodes so far that have been taken off the air are those featuring Sam Leccima, and even then, “pending investigation” by A&E.
It’s a ‘casting call’. Much more than that remains to be seen
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned that A&E is still associating with Departure Films. This is the same production company that knowingly falsified information on the season 2 episodes. They totally misrepresented the facts in concert with A&E – as revealed in the Fox Atlanta investigative reports. I would think that A&E would distance themselves from anymore controversy!
Check out #5 guys! Armando is wishing us well. LOL.
Steve – good point. I should have said, “the superficial appearance of cleaning house.” 🙂
Funny – I just looked back and their last open casting call was March 30th. Three months for a season? Madness. I’m really curious to see how many more Montelongo or Wilford episodes make air.
When I start my next project, if I can find someone to film and edit it, I’ll make a show out of it and put it on YouTube for free.
Mike Voss
Shannon,
It’s a referral site, that hyperlinks to Armando’s site (not Armando). So I was right, his Internet ‘partnership’ consists to driving traffic to and/or selling his CD’s via ebay, craigslist, or whatever. If you Google ‘Armando Montelongo’ though you’ll see a ‘sponsord link’ (to the right) that says ‘FRAUD ALERT’ that links to this web site! Haha ; )
OMG… you guys have to see the BANNER on the lower right hand side of ARMANDO’S site…
hilarious…
what is that pose all about ?
Thanks Steve. You know, I can’t believe 20/20 hasn’t done a piece on all this Bull $hit. I would love to see proof that he has flipped over 1000 homes in the past 5 years.
Shannon,
Unfortunately, he’s going to make a killing selling CD’s off of A&E’s prime time ‘infomercial’. Yeah, and it’s Bull $hit
Armando Montelongo + Internet MLM – ethics = recipe for disaster.
He’s gonna make Don Lapre look like a saint.
I believe this is the one of the reasons David and Armando parted ways.
Steve:
“Unfortunately, he’s going to make a killing selling CD’s off of A&E’s prime time ‘infomercial’. Yeah, and it’s Bull $hit”
He Might make a killing but don’t think for a minute that all this hype, buzz and blatant disregard to ethics will not soon catch the attention of the IRS, FTC or the Texas Attorney General Office.
The Government is like a train: takes time to pick up speed, hard to stop, and impossible to change direction. Poor Armando will be stuck on the tracks 🙁
I’m not into conspiracy theories, however, did anyone notice the sudden (past 24 hrs.) schedule change for FTH?
“Building Blocks” – featuring the 5 houses on the 1500 blk of N. Trinity was replaced with “The Movie Star House”.
Boyson,
Yep. These guys are in full damage control mode. “Building Blocks” and ‘giving back to the community’ was a complete farce. Too little, too late.
Tonight’s episode was a scream. No sooner was I getting over the “professional” contractor (whose truck said he was a roofer) with live electrical exposed to kill someone in the jobsite when Armando took the intern (BTW – that ‘haze the intern’ / ‘intern’s first flip’ plotline is USED UP already!) to see the graveyard of dead bogus deals from past shows. I think I counted 3 houses that didn’t sell as claimed on the show. What a desperate attempt at damage control.
This just keeps getting better.
Did anyone catch the show tonight? They went back to 2 of Armando’s previous flips and admitted one was turned into a rental and the one that ‘auctioned’ for $135,000 actually sold for $105,000. It was under the guise of ‘coaching’ his intern that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Damage control anyone??
sorry Mike. Looks like you and I were thinking the same thing, but yours posted before mine LOL!
Dawn – great minds think alike. 🙂
I also noticed a calendar in the background at one point that was on the last days of March of 2007…right around the time A&E was likely learning about the Leccima frauds. Consider: does anyone believe someone with an ego like Armando would voluntarily go on tv and admit that a bunch of his projects were failures? I suspect he was forced to do this. Also odd: if I sold a house at auction, and a registered bidder renegged on bid, I’d sue them in a heartbeat or use thret of legal action to force them to come through. The stories were shaky at best and only really established that those houses were not sold as depicted on tv.
Found it. Here’s the summary:
“The Rookie” 123 E Edgewood Place
(From the Show)
Purchase Price 260,000
Renovations 45,000
Total Invested 305,000
Target Sales Price 385,000
Projected Profit 80,000
…..
Appraised Value (2007) 296,420
(Bexar County Appraisal District Records)
From Public records (Bexar County Clerk Office)
Deed of Trust: 3-15-2007
Grantor: KRULA KEVIN
Loan Amount: 260,000
Maturity Date: 9-14-2007
Special Warranty Deed: 6-8-2007
Grantor: KRULA KEVIN
Grantee: 123 Egdewood Land Trust
Grantee Mailing Address: Jung Rd. (Armando and Veronica’s residence)
The house is vacant and there are no for sale signs in the yard.
Good luck in getting the asking price. There are several properties up for sale in the area. My opinion, it would take 18 months to get 385,000 out of that house.
Boyson,
YOU ROCK!
I’ve taken your most excellent research and sorted it out by episode ; )
http://armandomontelongo.blogspot.com/
Steve aka Cozumel
I could be wrong, but where I live, in order to buy a house at auction, you must have a bank check at the time of auction, therefore its impossible to renegg.
It appears Chris the Intern updated his myspace web page. Instead of saying I play the intern, he elaborates more about being the intern.
It now reads:
“…But I am on this show on A&E Saturday’s at 8:00pm called “Flip This House” **Two big episodes “The Rookie” and “Intern Affairs” I really do play the Intern on the show (I play me) (no I am not acting on the show, I really want to learn more about ‘flipping houses’..– I am not acting at all, thats really how I am. I do alot of hard work on the show and I have been very happy with the support of everybody in San Antonio and anybody else who watches the show!”…
not that I’m taking up for these guys, but are the appraisals for tax purposes or what the bank actually appraised the home for? Because our bank and insurance appraisals and our tax appraisals are way off too (tax appraisal being the least).
Dawn:
Excellent point. I use tax appraisals as a benchmark and unlike other appraisals (insurance, lender, or Realtor), they are more of a realistic gauge to the actual (as an investor) value of the property.
Flipside is they don’t take into account the condition or most hyped amenities (eg. imported Italian tile, fancy bathrooms, etc. etc.)of the property.
Lender appraisals can be skewed to make loans appear “sound” and lower the down payment (if any) for the borrower.
Yet another reason I’m starting flipthisforreal.com. I would like to expand more into each property flipped on TV and allow people to share their experiences and opinions about the investment side of flipping.
I must disagree with you Boyson. Tax (county) appraisals are not a better benchmark than other appraisals. They are worse.
A person can fight a tax appraisal to keep the value low. Some counties have caps of how much a property can appreciate per year, which is clearly not a reality. The tax district also considers the “over 65” exemption and does not always appreciate that property at market value.
A tax appraisal is a horrible guide to a homes value. It should only be used as a starting point, nothing more.
I also rehab properties. I have purchased homes at more than tax appraisal value and sold it for more. Why? Because that is not the MARKET value. Tax appraisals and market values are not a direct correlation.
Sorry, but you are incorrect with that. I dont know your background, but if you where into real estate, you would clearly know that.
I do agree that the montelongos are full of shit.
I was wondering because in Louisiana I remember the tax appraisal being almost half what the property would sell for. I don’t know if that’s changed in the 12 years since we lived there. I’m sure texas has a better appraisal system but I always thought the tax appraisal was lower than what you could actually get for a house.
Tax appraisals are different in every locality. In most larger tax areas, the “assessments” are automated to a large extent, and automated estimation of values is worthless. This is why Zillow is useless and has, in fact, been banned from giving values in at least one state recently. It should be banned in all 50 in my opinion as it is completely worthless.
In orher areas, usually smaller, the tax assessor may have very astute people who personally inspect homes and give very accurate values. This is less common, but I have seen it. Smart municipalities want every dollar of tax revenue and try to get the highest / most accurate values recorded.
This brings up another problem caused by a lot of flippers: permits. Or, more specifically, the lack thereof. If a permit is not pulled for work which adds value to the property, such as an addition of square footage, then the city has no idea that the property needs a reassessment to reflect the higher value. (unless they happen to drive by, see work in progress, and shut you down) The flipper then is trying to sell a property that doesn’t match the property records or values and this is a huge red flag to a smart buyer indicating illegal work has been done. The property price can then go into freefall if they make this known to the selling agent who now must legally disclose it! I have employed this tactic to lower prices on properties for sale – you don’t want to be in this position!
Just one reason why you are a fool if you don’t permit your work. Even Trademark made this mistake in one show and it is a total amateur’s move. Permits add value, avoiding them is illegal and removes value. You want all your value in an investment.
Mike Voss
Dawn,
That’s correct about Texas, at least where I live. The tax appraisal number is almost always lower than the true market value. One of the reasons is that by law there’s a cap on how much it can be raised year to year. Also, the tax appraisals for the most part are ‘desk top’ appraisals based on comps of houses sold in a given neighborhood in conjunction with ‘recorded’ square footage of the house.
Mike,
If I remember correctly, no square footage was added in that Trademark episode you’re referring to. And they did eventually get it permitted. I can’t imagine they’d do that (add square footage) without permits but who knows
Steve, as I recall, they were doing electrical, plumbing, and structural (at minimum) w/out permits, which is totally unprofessional. They got shut down and fined as I recall.(after violating a stop work order) Doing something like closing up uninspected electrical in a wall is a crime and can get someone killed. That’s why I detest people who do stuff the way the Montelongos do – it puts people’s safety at risk to get them a quick buck!
People who know their stuff plan their work and get permits *before* they start. Trademark seemed to do this in later episodes, but I didn’t see it in the earlier ones. If someone doesn’t have their plans/permits in hand before starting work, they never intended to get them.
Mike Voss
Houston:
I did a poor job explaining myself. I was trying to explain to Dawn the wide gap in appraisals.
You are correct, tax appraisals are a starting point (I said basis) and is usually the most conservative (I said realistic) value of the property. Tax appraisals in Bexar county are determined yearly by drive-by exterior examination, square footage, and comps sold in the area.
The other reason I was using tax appraisals was to compare Armando’s inflated selling/asking price – I have no idea how or what (universe/reality) he is basing them on.
The tax appraisal may not be the current market value but it’s far more realistic appraisal than what Armando claimed he sold (or wish he can sell) it.
Mike,
About 25 years ago a couple of friends of mine rehabbed the inside of a house in Fresno, CA, built around 1920. It was an old latt (sp) and plaster job, the electrical outlets were about six inches off the floor with some kind of weird wiring with ceramic doo hickies and the attic was “insulated” with newspapers from the 1920’s! LOL I’m sure you’ve run into that. We didn’t get any permits but we sure left the house safer than it was. All three of us were formerly educated in electrical, but not licensed in electrical, but we brought it up to code, sans permit. And “fixed” everything else. So I’m *somewhat* sympathetic with not getting permits for ‘internal’ (only) improvements.
In my community I’m “breaking the law” when I install a ceiling fan in my OWN house! Some of it is a bit much in my opinion.
Steve, That kind of wiring from back in the 20s is called ‘knob and tube’ – crazy stuff! I’ve seen something like 10 different situations where unlicensed electricians tied it into new wiring and set places on fire – scary! The house I just finished had a burned out bathroom hidden under new drywall and the burn pattern came right off the old knob and tube holes.
There’s nothing wrong with people working on their own houses and, in fact, here in LA there is an owner/builder provision in the law allowing it. While sometimes code can seem excessive, it really is to protect people who are hiring 3rd parties from getting substandard work. If someone knows nothing about electrical and hires an electrician, the permit assures that the guy is competent and does everything safely – it is the owner’s only real insurance most of the time.
There’s no shortage of owners like you who are more than competent enough to do their own work. As long as the person doing it cares enough to make sure they’re doing it right, staying in code is easy. When I was younger and learning, I looked upon the permit/inspector as very inexpensive expert advice and took full advantage of it. For about $300, I could do $10.000 worth of work and have a guy with 20 years+ expertise check my work and approve it. Try to get expertise that cheap on the street!
I agree that changing a fixture is a bit excessive and unrealistic for the city to require a permit on, but panel work and rewiring and things like that I really want to know are inspected because even the best tradesperson can make a mistake and that 2nd set of eyes can make all the difference. I like cheap insurance!
-Mike
The whole affair seems to break down as a joint venture between a Charleston real estate firm and a network. Due to lack of a clear understanding much less a written contract the network people unilaterally made changes in the show’s personnel and replaced the Charleston firm with an Atlanta firm. The network’s lack of diligence in investigating the Atlanta firm impaired profits, so even if the Charleston firm prevails in court there are diminished damages. And now the network in issuing a ‘casting call’ is essentially hiring replacement workers without informing them of an existing labor dispute.
From what I have read, it’s a bit more involved than that. Apparently, Richard Davis developed the concept and put up the money to produce the show, then got A&E to either buy in or partner on it. The dispute was over advertising revenue, which Davis says A&E agreed to share and they say they didn’t. A&E somehow took over production of the show and it’s name and hired a new production company who went out and hired the cast. (not clear as to if Departure Films was involved in season 1 or not and, if so, to what extent.) So it will be an interesting and complex case, which I am inclined to think A&E will lose.
Mike,
Departure Films has produced every episode from day one of “Flip This House”, from what I’ve read in the lawsuit info here and watching the show credits
Oh, I’m sure there are a variety of entities involved but the crux of the matter appears to be that the Southern Real Estate Guy who had the original idea for the show forgot that he was dealing with “Hollywood Types” and that in Hollywood “an oral contract isn’t worth the paper its printed on”.
Steve #23,
The link to your blog is not working.
Did Armondo flip it?
🙂
I stopped watching Flip This House a few episodes into the second season. So, is there a new team flipping in New Haven? Maybe that team, or whoever they pick for season three will make the show worth watching again. It can’t be much worse…right?
Steve – that makes sense – explains how the production elements stayed in place without the cast. Does Departure do other shows for A&E?
It’s funny – at the end of season 1, Trademark had a page on their website looking for ‘affiliate’ partners nationwide. When I saw the first episode of season 2 with a different cast, I thought Richard had gotten affiliate partners and replaced himself with them for the show. Little did I know what a mess had transpired…
I think the first few episodes of season 1 were the most entertaining – especially with Kevin the contractor. Waiting for thieves and the bit where Kevn talked about being a ‘puppet on a string’ were damn funny.
Mike,
I looked at Departure’s web site a while back and if I remember correctly, they’ve done things with Court TV and others. So it looks like they’re an independent production company.
I just started watching these ‘flip’ shows in December I think. The first “Flip This House” episodes I saw were with the Leccima’s and the Montelongo’s. I think the first Trademark one I saw was the “waiting for thieves” one and yeah, that was a riot! LOL
hey….stop fooling around ….get some new episodes of real deal on the air….and stop with this flip this house stupidity.
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