Renovating Sin City one dump at a time on HGTV’s ‘Flip or Flop Vegas’
Anyone who has ever renovated a run-down property knows of the horrors that can await – rotted wood, collapsing floors and ceilings, asbestos, decaying garbage, dead critters and squatters of the human and nonhuman kind among them.
As veteran home flippers and hosts of HGTV’s “Flip or Flop Vegas,” Bristol and Aubrey Marunde have seen it all in their decade-plus of saving some of the most dilapidated Sin City homes from the wrecking ball and turning them into showplaces, all with strong stomachs and a cando attitude.
“A lot of these houses are extremely dirty and just downright gross,” Bristol Marunde explains. “You know, it’s hot in Vegas and these houses just bake, and so the old food and the old refrigerators and the deceased pets – somebody has to clean that up, and that somebody is me.”
As the 13-episode second season gets going Thursday, March 15, builder Bristol and realtor and designer Aubrey take on more wayward homes, hoping that smart improvements and a dash of Vegas glamour will help turn a quick sale and make them a tidy profit. But to do that, they first must be ready to pounce when a prospect comes up for sale.
“Vegas is a fast-paced real estate market,” Aubrey Marunde explains. “Our properties are going on the market and they’re selling within hours ... . So that’s the thing about Vegas, is that it’s a fast-paced market and you always have to be on your A-game. You have to be on top of the trends and designs. Vegas, we always say, has no limits. No limits with our design. People want a piece of Vegas and we try to bring that into all of our properties.”
In Thursday’s opener, the Marundes go back to the neighborhood that launched their flipping career 10 years ago, to redo a dingy three-story home with an odd layout and an awkwardly situated staircase. The couple open up the living area, upgrade the kitchen and add custom stair railings, colors and accents to make the home seem more spacious and modern and more, well, Vegas.