‘Flip or Flop’: Tarek El Moussa Installed a Bathtub Where?

HGTV; realtor.com

“Flip or Flop” stars Tarek El Moussa and Christina Anstead have (almost) always made good money with their flips by focusing on smaller, starter homes that appeal to younger buyers. But what happens when they flip a bigger house, with much higher costs?

In this week’s episode, titled “Big House, Big Budget,” these house flippers find a four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom house in Yorba Linda, CA. It’s a great location, but even before walking inside, Anstead and El Moussa can see the place is a mess.

Outside, the cement driveway is cracked and breaking apart, the roof needs to be replaced, and a huge tree needs to be removed.

And things don’t get better inside. The banister is hanging off the stairway, closed-in walls make the place feel like a maze, there’s water damage, and the kitchen is straight out of the 1970s.

The worst part is that this potential money pit is expensive, even with all these problems. After first touring the house, El Moussa is able to negotiate the price of this house down from $775,000 to $700,000, but it’s still a hefty sum, and that doesn’t even begin to factor in remodeling costs.

“It’s one of the most expensive rehabs we’ve ever done,” El Moussa admits.

Will this big gamble pay off, or crash into flop territory? Read on to find out the surprising results of this flip and score some of their best rehab tricks yet.

A mix of light and dark can bring dimension to the kitchen

When El Moussa and Anstead first see the outdated kitchen, they’re disappointed. It’s dark, it’s ugly, and it’s closed off from the rest of the house. From the beginning, they know that the kitchen will have to be totally redone.

So, the pressure is on to design this new kitchen with style.

One of their biggest decisions is to decide what color of cabinets to install.

“I actually love the look of the dark cabinets,” El Moussa says. “But I think to make the space look bigger, we might consider white.”

In the end, Anstead comes up with the compromise to make the cabinets white and the kitchen island gray.

That way, the light cabinets can make the space feel open and bright, while the gray island adds visual interest and contrast to the cabinets above. By the time El Moussa and Anstead are finished, it’s clear the kitchen has come a long, long way.

This gray island works perfectly with the white cabinets.

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Contemporary design appeals to high-end buyers

Anstead and El Moussa are always going for bold, modern styles, but with this house, they’re going in a different direction.

“Sometimes we get crazy with our modern designs,” Anstead admits, “but we need to play it safe here. This is a high-end neighborhood, and I think that a contemporary design will appeal to the most buyers.”

So, they show off their best contemporary style with some trendy tile.

First, they choose a gorgeous white-and-gray tile pattern for the kitchen backsplash. They like it so much that they decide to pick for the bathroom a tile with a similar feel. The contemporary look is perfect for this house and the similar (but not matching) tiles are a great choice.

Add a tub to the shower for the best of both worlds

Buyers always love a luxurious, beautiful bathtub—but El Moussa thinks he can take tub style to the next level.

He explains that while on a trip to Las Vegas, he saw a suite where the tub was placed in the shower. He loved the look, and thinks this house is a perfect place to try a similar style.

Luckily, El Moussa and Anstead both love it. The setup is different and interesting, while still looking gorgeous.

This combined bathtub/shower section is unique and beautiful.

HGTV

Black stair railings are a chic look

The home’s original stair banister is in bad shape, so El Moussa and Anstead know they have to replace it. Rather than opt for the usual chunky wood railing, they go for one that is sleek, thin, and black. It’s a classic look that complements all the gray in the house.

Gray and white look all right

This house needs some new exterior paint badly—and Anstead and El Moussa are at first disappointed to learn that their options are limited when it comes to the house color. Per homeowners association law, the house must be gray and white.

The good news is, it seems that the HOA knows what it’s doing, because once the house is repainted, the HOA-approved colors look great on the exterior of this home. The colors make for a classic look that gives the house a style that’s both sleek and beautiful.

This house must be painted gray and white, per HOA rules.

HGTV

So, is this a flip or flop?

Although they’d originally planned to spend $130,000 fixing up this house, El Moussa and Anstead blow past that, eventually spending $190,000.

Their break-even price is a hefty $920,000, so the flipping duo end up listing the house for $1,099,000.

Happily, they end up getting a full-price offer after three weeks on the market, which means that these flippers stand to make $169,000 in profits.

Looks like in this case, the bigger the risk, the better the reward!

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