HGTV’s Drew and Jonathan Scott have parlayed their sibling banter into multiple home improvement shows Property Brothers, Buying and Selling and Brother vs. Brother.
The themes of these shows slightly vary, but most involve taking some sort of fixer-upper home, remodeling it, and selling it. They are among a host of shows on HGTV that follow this same sort of premise. But, there’s something very charming about twins Drew (who handles the real estate side) and Jonathan (who is hands-on with construction).
Some people watch solely to see their handsome faces, and fast forward to the reveals of the finished fixer uppers. They also are getting solid renovation advice from these Canadians.
The Scotts’ series Buying and Selling focuses on remodeling their clients’ existing homes so that the clients can afford to buy their new dream home. Drew and Jonathan enter a home and quickly evaluate what is keeping prospective buyers away (many of these homes have been sitting on the market without any nibbles), and what fast rehabs can be done to get the home on the market and sold.
In the real world, a decent realtor will do a similar evaluation on your home for you, but the costs can add up quickly if you don’t know what you are doing.
The brothers usually focus their energies on DIY projects that have gone wrong. It seems that more often than not, a homeowners attempts to save money end up costing them in the end. They also recommend bathroom and kitchen rehabs, and staging cluttered living rooms to get the most bang for your buck.
Watch enough episodes (and this show and their others rerun a lot) and you’ll see trends emerge – they use nice but less expensive countertops (like quartz instead of marble), streamlined furniture with pops of bright color and create open floor plans.
Even if you can’t get the actual Property Brothers to come to your home, these tips could be valuable when dealing with contractors or realtors, or even standing in a Pier 1 trying to decide which pillows will sell your house faster.
On the buying end of the spectrum, Drew is finding move-in ready homes the family can afford, but he’s also mindful of how long the closing will be, and the possibility that his clients could juggle two mortgages if their current place doesn’t sell in a timely manner. He also advises on how much his clients should offer, based on other home values in the area and how long the property has been on the market.
So, Is This Show Business, Or Is It Business? I say, business. While the Property Brothers are certainly handsome and like to goof around with each other, they provide the viewer with useful information.
Watch clips from Buying and Selling.
Story Ideas
Common Renovating Mistakes
More on the Property Brothers
Angel Cohn is a freelance journalist who has written about entertainment and television for the last 15 years. She is currently an editor at NJFamily.com. Follow her on Twitter at @angelcohn.
