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I don't get how those horrendous fixer uppers cost so much, and then the construction is so inexpensive. How do they do it?

I don't get it either. But I think they may be in Toronto which has very expensive housing.

The show I watched the other night the owners paid 50K more than the original price. thus cutting back their 80K budget for renovations. Still they got a new bathroom and three bedrooms. That seems like quite a bargain (30K)

Also the brothers must have stylists as the rooms were furnished right down to toys, and quite unattractively too.

Construction costs are made up of two things and usually it is a 1/2 materials and 1/2 labor split. Framing up a wall, drywalling and painting (like in redoing bedrooms) is fairly inexpensive. Ripping up carpets is fast and easy work if it is not glued down and cheap or unfinished wood flooring is not hard to come by inexpensively. Bathrooms and kitchens are the most expensive because all of the fixtures required. The more you can build on your own, the cheaper it is and the better your crew, the more you can do on your own.

I also suspect that the Property Brothers get all of their materials at cost or close to it(instead of paying what you and I do or even wholesale prices) and that their crews are mostly staff who get paid a salary instead of each person or crew being paid for doing one projuct, which costs more. Plus the brothers make it a 2-4 week job instead of months of dragged out work where you are paying to workers to set up and break down for each day they come by for a few hours per day over several months time. The Brothers leave the stuff in the space so time and money is not wasted cleaning up and setting up each day.

Sometimes I am impressed with what they can do with the money they have left, but usually I can see what has cost a lot and what hasn't.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Carly Price,

I love this show! Especially love Jonathan.

The waste in this show is profoundly offensive. Nothing is ever recycled. This is a huge mistake in this day and age... it's easy to see, when watching HGTV, that younger people are becoming even more selfish and self-indulgent than humans of previous generations. Granted, selfishness helped us survive when we lived in caves, but we can relax and look at the bigger picture now... but shows such as this and everything else I have seen on HGTV make me sorry for young people, who will learn nothing. "I can't live here because there is only one sink in the bathroom and no granite in the kitchen." I'd like someone who hears that to grab the person by the hair and put their head through the wall. Now THAT would make a cool show: bash the selfish, self-centered idiot, not the old kitchen cabinets!

The time frame on their renovations is unrealistic. They never seem to peg the correct fair market value. It takes time to order materials--so I've come to the conclusion that this show is all staged. They order the stuff in advance not after the buyer makes the decision on the show. The buyer has actually bought the property before and has chosen the materials before the decision is filmed. Also only so many people can work in a home at one time. Mine's larger and I've renovated. You can't have plumbers, electricians, counter installations and painters all working in the same area. Their budgets are so low ball either they are getting stuff for free or else they are doing poor work. At least on Holmes you see them apply for permits and you see licensed professionals. Why don't you see any of this on the Brothers show? Who is doing the work a bunch of tv actors?