What do you guys think of the Montelongo’s on “Flip This House”?
Based on what I’ve heard & seen, they appear to do primarily wholesale flipping and lease-options, plus operate some rent houses. Please correct me if I’m wrong though. Their market consists of the cheap houses…$20-$50k before being rehabbed…I bet…primarily in hispanic neighborhoods. Obviously if they’re flipping - or rehabbing is the more correct term - 200 houses a year…they’re doing something right. They now have an office building, and are doing some sort of big 600+ acre land development gig north of San Antonio.
They used to have a list of their houses on their website, but now they’re gone. See http://www.montelongohousebuyers.com online. My guess is they don’t want their competitors to see what they do in real life…but just on TV. Hell, I’d get nervous too if I gave away ALL my secrets on national TV and then realized thousands & thousands of people might copy my success. LOL. You can still see their OLD listings by going to their website indirectly…
I love the show. I like Trademark better than the Montelongos. I have seen some of the ways that the Montelongos have cut costs on projects. Now this may just be just TV, but when you talk about putting lipstick on a pig, I don’t like that.
When I do my rehabs, I always do it as if I am going to live in the house. I get enough money in my financing to fix up the place and I would rather make my profit when I sell it than shortchanging the family I am going to put into my house by putting duct tape on it a painting it over instead of doing the job right. If I get the job done right and cheap, I will take that all day long, but I am not going to take the funding and not do the fix up.
I agree, Trademark takes the cake, hands down. They’re #1. But, I don’t have the capital or resources that they do…yet…so I can relate far better to the Montelongos. I’m at a stage where I can start out like the Montelongos, and work my way up to doing what Trademark does. =)
Checkout http://www.trademark-properties.com/ - they actually a very large company with diversified real estate activities. As their website says…“Trademark Properties Real Estate Services is a full-service Charleston Real Estate firm. Specializing in residential listings and sales, commercial listing and sales; business brokerage, condominium conversion and sales, new construction sales, property management, corporate apartments, Relocation, and Investments.”
Also, for those not in the loop, Trademark is (a) suing A&E for the rights to the Flip This House show [see flipthislawsuit.com]…as apparently Richard was the guy who thought of the show, (b) is making plans to start a new, competitive show on another cable network [Discovery, or something similar] and (c) is currently seeking investment partners across the nation. See http://www.trademarkareapartners.com/
I think the Montelongo’s are sleaze balls…my personal opinion. I think they possess little or no business scruples and I think they treat their subs (and their wives) like dirt – I’m not a big fan.
Again, my personal opinion. I’m sure it’s all a big act for TV – they may be great guys…but they don’t come off that way.
i’ve heard their rehab work isn’t top notch (and have seen some things in watching that didn’t seem quite right). apparently, they profit from it, which is what’s important (for the most part.)
Well, I imagine that your rehab work does not have to be top notch as long as you have a renter or a lease-option clinet. If you have an buyer, and don’t disclose something, that could be pretty serious issue though…but I wonder if those disclosure laws apply if you have a cash buyer getting it ‘as is’ or if you do 100% owner financing?
NOTE: the only problem I see with the Montelongos is the way they - specifically David - deal with people. He can be a real jerk sometimes. However you have to respect the fact that he is a shark, and has a never say never attitude. He’s a winner in the business world. His basic strategy of starting out with the small deals, and working your way up from there, is smart. Plus he uses the cheapest labor, which is smart. I don’t like the idea of doing a bad job on a rehab, but again if the situation applies where you don’t have to take care of anything beyond the basics, that’s all that you have to do. Not every place needs granite counter tops or new appliances even - especially considering your dealing with ‘poor mans’ housing anyway. In the end most of their places look good. I bet you a nickel they’re smart enough to disclose any underlying problems…e.g. termite damage that was not fixed, but patched. He’s doing something good for the nasty inner urban areas of his city. I just might wind up doing that in my town…but I sure as hell won’t treat people the way he treats them. LOL!
I agree with the posts above that you should rehab the house so it is in a condition that you would be comfortable living in it. On one show the Montelongo’s had a house with a foundation problem. The contractor said it needed something like 26 supports under the house. They chose to go with just 7 to get the floor level enough to sell the house. That is not the type of work I want to put my name on. Maybe it is all an act for TV but they don’t impress me as being a good example for rehabbers.
I agree with all of the negative comments about the Montelongo’s. ;D
To add a few more; the main character (the brother who talks the most) is like the blind leading the blind. He has all kinds of stupid phrases like putting lipstick on a pig and call it a potbelly. Then there is his oh-so-wise shark/whale/dolphin analogy. He’s the type of person everyone wants to jump in a bar.
I’m boycotting the Atlanta and San Antonio crews!!!
FTH has gone down hill without Trademark. I still watch the show as entertainment, knowing that they are just acting. The sub they always low-ball and beat up on the price, I think it’s Sergio, looks like he’s passing a stone on every episode…when he say’s “I don’t know David, I will be losing money if I do it at 10% my bid…ok I will do it”. The show is so predictable. Now David’s wife is pleasant to watch although her whiney voice gets annoying.
First off, why is it that neither the San Antonio crew or the Atlanta crew know how to rent a freakin’ dumpster? They waste an amazing amount of time moving their detrius twice.
Armando treats his subs like crap. There’s a reason why a sub “stole” the cabinets that had just been installed. And…you’ll notice that the police were not notified of the “theft”.
Then sending his wife and SIL into the garage to kill bees while he had a beer. I wonder if he realizes that if you get stung by a swarm, you can die?
It was obvious from one epsiode that they don’t pull permits. In the same episode, he yells at his brother for pulling the rotten bathroom down to the ground. He just wanted to sugar coat that bathroom. :-X
The Atlanta crew is just as bad. The Victorian had a 5" floor slump under the kitchen which they were jacking up. They never even thought about unscrewing the cabinets from the walls, so all of them were ruined. How can they be pros at this and miss such an obvious issue?
In the same house, hours before the open house, the project manager falls through the floor. Their answer? Don’t bother checking the rest of the floor to see if it’s safe…just replace the one broken board. :
And my personal pet peeve with them: Since Sam is driving a brand new 7 series, I’m reasonably sure that they can afford maternity pants for the wife. Walking around in unbuttoned and rolled down jeans with your belly hanging out is just classless.
I liked the way Trademark operated. They make it clear that you can be profitable at this without exploiting others. I’ll certainly be watching their new show. Maybe Ginger will manage to wear closed toe shoes?
I admit that I’m addicted to these shows. Flip That House, Flip This House and Property Ladder all get recorded in our house. They’ve taught me what not to do in our flips.
I’d have to agree with many of the negative statements as well. They are in it for the “bottom line” as they like to say. They squeeze every nickle out of their subs - don’t the subs need to make money to live too? We don’t treat our subs like that and still make a very nice profit.
I can even see their rehab work isn’t up to par even on the TV screen - and everything looks good on TV!!! LOL
And I don’t like the statement made above that said - ‘well it doesn’t need to be very good workmanship if you are just renting it out!’ == WOW …
As a builder - everything I do needs to be up to par or better. Why would I put my name on something that is a below standards or looks shabby? Why purposely hurt my reputation? That’s not good business.
And you can see by the comments about the Montelongos made here that they are presenting that image.
BTW - I’d love to find a house for $50,000 in my state … I haven’t seen one of those is many, many years!
Hey Jimbo that is what I keep telling you guys. That is Texas. You can get a mansion for $350k and live like rockstar. Anybody that pays more than $400k for a house in Texas is just throwing money at it. You can have 4,000sqft on the lake for $500k. You just can’t justify spending much more that about $400k on a house. You ask can they make $50k on every house? I am closing on a house Thursday that every other house like mine in that neighborhood sells for $140k and mine will be purchased and rehabed for $109k. That is not $50k but is a strong $35k. The house I did last month has a value of $150k and I bought it and rehabbed it for $105k that is a solid $40k and I don’t have a dedicated crew. You need to live where real estate actualy works and also where it is cheap to be rich.
Besides, who knows how much money these guys are really making. The producers show flips where a deal “nets” $50K or more. Did they really? I’ve heard these guys claim to do 30 deals a month. That’s an insane pace, even with the four of them working full-time plus a poor intern who’s been totally taken advantage of (free labor). Are they making $50K x 30 deals a month? That would be $1.5 million a month. Hmmm. I’ve seen the guy drive a Hummer (before that a pickup truck), but lives in a $350,000 house (last season I think). What are they doing with all that cash from all these flips, besides paying over 45% in income tax?
I can only speak for my own company therefore I don’t disagree with anything you mentioned about the Montelongo’s. Rehabbing 30 houses a month is not as insane as it sounds. My company’s record is 49 in a month. That was back when the market was in frenzy mode and some of those rehabs were really “prehabs” but they still netted a my minimum criteria of $50k.
That would be a minimum “net- gross” of 2.45 million (it was actually much more) in a single month. Albeit, I have many more employees than what I’ve seen from the Montelongo’s which made it even more attainable. Most of that money goes right back into the company to finance more and more rehabs, especially luxury homes and commercial properties. I’m not sure how the Montelongo’s finance their properties but their unused profits certainly give a plausible explanation as they aren’t driving Bentleys, McLarens or living in a real mansion.
I have to agree with those that have posted. I remember the Atlanta episode where they were going to hire the neighbor to do lawncare then screwed him over. The NEIGHBOR!! I always befriend neighbors because they help sell the house.
As to the San Antonio crew…I think all of their money goes into their wives plastic surgeries. ha ha ha. No way those are REAL!
Also, I saw where someone said they were hired as an extra to stand in front of a house in San Antonio to pretend to be in an AUCTION.
There is no way the Montelongos are making $50k per house. They sell houses that are not even worth $50k, AFTER being fixed up, in some cases. I think whomever said that $ figure was mistaken…or he was talking about their average sales price. They deal in 95% low income homes. Don’t forget in the worst part of the suburbs of the big cities of Texas, take Fair Park in Dallas as an example, you can get a pre-rehab house for under $10k. Just query the MLS and you’ll see a couple NOW. LOL. That’s not talking what you can get at auction.
They’re in the San Antonio area…right now there are 143 properties listed on Realtor.com for less than $50K, 684 less than $75K, and 1464 less than $100K…that’s a pretty TRE (target rich environment)…and if you expand the search area outside of San Antonio proper, the numbers are even higher…
The pickings there for their model seem pretty good…
