Tarek El Moussa Suffers Home Renovation Flop After Taking One Pricey Project Just To Prove to Wife Heather He Isn't a ‘Chicken'
Tarek and Heather El Moussa have made a name for themselves as some of HGTV's most successful flippers—but they've also had their fair share of flops over the years.
In fact, on the first season of their hit show 'The Flipping El Moussas,' they spent much of it being haunted by difficult projects and sinking profits.
Now, in the second season of the series, it seems that at least Tarek, 43, is seeking to learn from his past mistakes, bearing a slightly more risk-averse attitude toward projects that have the potential to go disastrously wrong.
That is until his wife teases him into changing his mind.
In the latest episode, aptly titled 'Flipping Over Budget,' Tarek is contemplating backing out of a particularly pricey project, a home in Yorba Linda, CA, that he and Heather had already purchased for $1.3 million.
Tarek estimates that it will take an additional $300,000 in renovations before the home is ready to sell. And even with all of their investment, it's likely he and Heather will see a profit of only about $70,000.
Luckily, Tarek is given an 'out' when Adam Lindholm, the president of his real estate firm, calls while he and Heather are finishing up their tour of the property to reveal that they've received an offer on the home from an investor.
Lindholm explains that the investor is willing to give them $50,000 more than what they paid for the home if they would be willing to sell it and walk away from the project.
'I just got an interesting call about 10 minutes ago,' Lindholm tells them. 'I have an investor that saw that we bought it. They're offering 50 grand more than we paid.'
'So we should just walk away?' Heather asks, prompting Tarek to explain that, if they take the offer, they would still end up with a $40,000 profit—even after they take into account the money they've already spent on the home.
'Yeah,' Tarek continues. 'We spent some money, but we would end up making about $40,000. So that's something.'
However, the couple want to weigh up every possibility before parting ways with the partly finished project.
Tarek admits that his renovation profit estimate of $70,000 might have been on the low side—although he concedes that he needs to keep renovation costs down and find the right buyer to push that number higher.
'So let's do it,' Heather urges.
Still, her husband is wary, noting that it would be a 'stressful flip' because the home is large and in such poor shape.
Lindholm questions why this stressful flip would be any different from the other hectic projects they've taken on over the years. Still, Tarek remains on the fence—until Heather pipes up.
'Tarek's too scared to do this flip,' Heather says.
Apparently swayed by Heather, Tarek finally makes a decision.
'All right, give me that phone. Yeah, we're doing this flip,' he says to Lindholm. 'She's talking s—.'
But Heather isn't done teasing.
'You sure you don't want to just take the easy way out?' she asks. 'You don't want to take the easy way out and get 40 grand? You sure?'
'Am I scared?' Tarek counters. 'Do I look like a chicken?'
Heather then flaps her arms, mimicking chicken wings.
'Right, now you look like a chicken,' Tarek says, before declaring: 'We're flipping this house.'
As the couple head for the door, Tarek denies yet again that he's afraid of the house flip.
'I'm scared of one thing,' he says. 'My wife.'
Heather seems satisfied, but it seems Tarek should have been scared of this flip, after all. In the end, the renovation cost way more than anticipated: $410,000.
After accounting for $160,000 in holding and selling costs, the house has a high break-even price of $1.87 million.
At first, Tarek and Heather seem confident that, with all their expensive upgrades, they can list it for $2,499,000 and make a sizable profit of $630,000.
But Heather admits, 'Now homes are sitting for a little bit longer.'
After hosting an open house, Tarek reiterates that if they sell for their list price, they could make a big profit. It could be their 'most profitable flip yet.'
The episode ends as if the house hasn't sold, but in fact, it has. After Tarek and Heather listed the property in June 2024 for $2,499,900, it went through two price decreases before finding a buyer in August for $2,238,750.
That's $261,150 below the list price, meaning the flippers walk away with a profit of $368,750. It's still an incredible profit, but it's not what they expected. In fact, it's just over half what they estimated they would make.
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