Designed to Sell
| Designed to Sell | |
|---|---|
| Genre |
Reality Home improvement |
| Starring |
Clive Pearse Shane Tallant Michael Johnson Rachel Reenstra |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | HGTV |
Designed to Sell is an HGTV American reality television show produced by Pie Town Productions in Los Angeles and Chicago and Edelman Productions in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Each 30-minute episode focuses on fixing up a home that is about to go on the market or that has been on the market but has not attracted buyers. The show began airing in 2004 and was canceled in 2011.
The show provides expert real estate and design advice and general contractors, who are given a $2,000 budget for materials to get a maximum offer for the house. To add excitement to the show, the renovations generally take place over a period of three to seven days, before the home's open house, generally spread out over the course of three or four weeks. The show pays the contractor's fees and the salaries of the carpenters, landscapers, painters, plumbers, and other workers. Most changes are cosmetic, but some require drastic demolition and reconstruction.
Each show follows the same general format:
At the beginning of each episode, the homeowners are introduced and explain why they are selling. The most common reasons are up-sizing for growing families, down-sizing for empty-nesters, and job transfers. The homeowners may discuss their views on why the property is not selling.
The host and a real estate expert walk through the property while the homeowners watch on closed-circuit television from a neighbor's home. Because the goal is to get the most money for the house in the shortest possible time, they are very direct in their opinion of the home's assets and flaws and recommend three rooms or areas to be re-done. If the property has been neglected or the decor is too eccentric for the most likely home-buyers, their assessments can be brutal.
After the appraisal, the designer reviews the main defects the real estate expert pointed out and describes their plan to fix them. Then the homeowners, the host, the designer, and the laborers get to work, usually explaining to the audience what they are doing. This often includes some demolition and building and/or installation of new features, such as shelves, awnings, etc. While the episode's budget pays for materials, it does not include any carpentry labor costs.
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