Monday, February 6, 2017
Fixer Upper–Jumping the Shark
Fixer Upper–Jumping the Shark
Well, well, well. The Houston Chronicle wrote an article about FIXER UPPER, that hugely popular HGTV show that everyone in America is addicted to. Interesting things are happening in Fixer Upper land, but, first things first…
Just a few years ago, Joanna and Chip Gaines were local house renovators. They came into the sights of HGTV who then invited the pair to create a pilot for a network show to be called “Fixer Upper.” And now, a couple of years later, their hometown Waco, Texas has exploded from their success. Literally. The Fixer Upper couple has, in these few years, done more for the economy of Waco than anyone could have predicted.
Waco: Above, can you find the silos before they were The Silos District? Where’s Waldo?
The Gaines’ popularity is immense and impossible to calculate. They created a brand – “Magnolia” that is based out of Waco’s new “The Silos District” a lifestyle park that includes a retail store, a nursery, a vacation rental, a bakery, a food truck court, a furniture line, paint line, rug line, and wallpaper line (did I leave anything out?) - all in hopes that tourists, shoppers, and the curious would come. And they did. By the tens of thousands. The number of people coming to Waco on any given week to visit the Magnolia Silos District is over 20,000. Waco is the Mecca of Texas.
Build it and they will come: the line of people waiting to get inside the Magnolia Market wraps around the corner and down the street.
I mean, are the Gaines giving away something for free? Do these people not realize you can buy it all on the internet?
In case you live on Mars, the Gaines’ HGTV show, Fixer Upper, is about taking a horribly run down house and transforming it into a beautiful home for its owners who basically have no input into the renovating process. The renovation is done mostly in secret by the Gaines Team, who then reveal, on camera, the final product to their clients. Their house is renovated from top to bottom by Chip and his crew and then Joanna furnishes it in her iconic style.
A typical Fixer Upper:
And have no doubt - their renovations are truly incredible, usually done for such little money that almost everyone in America wants to cash in and move to Waco. I can’t tell you how many times Mr. Slippersocks Man has watched Fixer Upper and said “I could live there. I love Waco, come on, let’s move.” Honestly, he’s said that after every single episode and he doesn’t even really love Waco. 
“Waco, who?”
Waco, Texas, a small city with a population of 130,000, is located along the Brazos River, off I-35, halfway between Austin and Dallas. It is the home of Baylor University and the birthplace of Dr. Pepper. Because of its location on the river, it’s one of the very few universities where people can sailgate at football games as well as tailgate.
Sailgating on the Brazos at Baylor during game day.
But now, Baylor isn’t the only tourist draw in Waco, the Magnolia Silos are.
BEFORE: What the Silos looked like when the Gaines bought the property. The bakery is at the right on the corner – a florist at the time. The big building on the left will be the main Market and Magnolia offices.
The Silos today with its barn doors and new checkerboard landscaping, gooseneck lamps, and black and white awnings. The two tall silos are really just accessories.
The Magnolia Silos Bakery and its new landscaping with the checkerboard grass. It’s really synthetic, but it looks fabulous!!!
Besides watching the show Fixer Upper, people are very curious about the behind-the-scenes minutiae. Fans have many questions about the show that are never really answered on HGTV. One of the most frequently asked questions is:
“Do the owners get to keep the furniture that Joanna decorates the house with?”
The simple answer is NO. The cost of the furniture and accessories is not included in the final price. If, after the final reveal, the owners want to keep it all – they can, for sure, but it’s an additional cost.
I’m not sure that any of their clients have moved into their new house, lock, stock, and barrel using everything Joanne placed in their house, but some have come very close to keeping it all. The Shotgun House is one where the house today looks the same as when Joanna furnished it. Most clients have kept at least SOME of the furnishings, but many don’t keep any of what Joanna bought for the final reveal. 
The main store or anchor at the Magnolia Silos – huge barn doors close off the front entrance.
Another frequently asked question about Fixer Upper:
“Is the final reveal a reality?”
Yes. The clients are not allowed to be a part of the renovation process after it is agreed upon at the beginning. The owners’ reaction at the end when they first see their renovated house is very real; that is, as long as the owners haven’t cheated and driven by the house at night or on the weekends.
Inside the Magnolia Market at the Silos.
Another popular question:
“Do Chip and Joanna really pick out three houses for the owners to chose from?”
One truly phony part of the show is at the beginning where Chip and Joanna drive the couple around offering them three houses to buy. In actuality, the couple usually already owns the house to be redone. The contract states that they must be willing to spend a minimum of $30,000 on its renovation. Since they are also Real Estate agents, Chip and Joanna do sometimes show a house to a client, but that is a rarity.
Another:
“Do the owners pay for the renovation?”
Yes, the owners do pay for the work done. The scene where Joanna adds a final choice of three extra decorative renovations - that is paid for by HGTV. In addition the Gaines receive a flat fee of $30,000 per episode (I”m sure they make much, much more now than this for the show.) The renovation cost is paid by the owners straight to the Gaines’ renovation company. In other words, HGTV does not pay for the renovation – the owners do.
With all they have going on in their lives, the couple have even found time to write a book, now available for Pre-order. Just click on the picture to order it.
Since The Silos, the Magnolia Market, Nursery, Magnolia House, their vacation rental, and Magnolias Bakery has opened, droves of the curious have landed in Waco, a town not exactly known for luxury hotels. As you can imagine AirBnB has become popular in this college town where motels sell out on game day months in advance. The word “Fixer Upper” is a popular search term for houses in Waco’s AirBnB and VRBO database. Most surprising to me was to find out that several Fixer Upper houses are now available for rent through AirBnB and VRBO and apparently the Gaines are not too happy about it, at all. Enter the previously mentioned Houston Chronicle article.
Magnolia House is available for vacation renters. The Gaines own this house they renovated for tourists.
Recently a large story ran in the Waco Tribune, which the Houston Chronicle and multiple gossipy web sites then picked up, about these Fixer Upper houses that are now available for vacation renters. It’s become a huge story. The owners of these houses say they did not buy their Fixer Uppers just in order to rent them out, but since the Gaines are now so popular many homeowners have jumped on this bandwagon. The Gaines spokespeople are not too happy about it. They are now thinking they need to make some changes about Season 5 applicants.
Here is their official statement regarding Fixer Uppers becoming AirBnB vacation rentals:
Magnolia spokesman Brock Murphy stated:
“We have no problems with our clients’ interest in using sites like VRBO and Airbnb to rent out their homes. In fact, we get it. But we are going to be more strict with our contracts involving ‘Fixer Upper’ clients moving forward. We want to honor our national viewing audience. We want to do remodels for clients’ homes. That’s the true intent of our show, and we want to ensure that does not get lost in this new vacation rental trend. What started off with perfectly understandable intentions could cast a shadow of a doubt on the much bigger picture, and we are going to do our best to protect that moving forward.”
Hmmm…
It’s been reported that at least twelve homeowners have decided to put their Fixer Upper houses in the vacation rental pool. The Gaines want to stop this from becoming a trend. The Comment Section that accompanied these two stories were full of different opinions as to why the Gaines would even care if people rent out their houses. They ARE their own houses to do with as they please. Right? Can the production company make future participants sign an agreement not to turn their house into a vacation rental? Is that even legal?
The huge popularity of the Gaines has been very important to Waco. Without a doubt they have had a huge impact on the college town. The 20,000 people a week that come to Waco’s newly named “Silo District” means big money to area restaurants, shops, motels, and other businesses. But, not all this change has been welcome. This once sleepy downtown area where the silos is located is now receiving tax valuations that have doubled and even tripled this year. Needless to say, not everyone is happy with all changes, although besides the increased tax rates, the benefits to Waco have been enormous.
And then there are the throngs of people who come to visit Magnolia Silos who want to tour Waco and see the Fixer Upper houses in person. Many visitors contact the tourism manager with requests for tours that include the Fixer Upper houses. Officially, the tour only includes public sights – also included are two recent Gaines real estate additions, the Elite Cafe and the Dossey Mansion and the Clint Harp house. Other houses are not on the tour in order to protect the owners privacy.
Locals complain of the cars and traffic and lack of privacy from all the tourists. Have the Gaines become too big for Waco? To understand the thinking behind the Fixer Upper owners choosing to join the vacation rental pool, consider the most surprising one: Clint Harp, the Gaines furniture designer.
Clint Harp’s Fixer Upper:
“BEFORE THEY WERE FIXER UPPER FAMOUS”
Clint Harp’s shop is on the left and his house is on the right.
Today: The shop has been renovated and painted to match his house on the right.
And, what the house looks like today.
Clint and his wife and 3 children bought the run-down house next door to his design shop – which the Gaines then renovated. It was the star renovation of their first season. The biggest surprise is that the Harps moved out of that house after just a year. Clint said: “We love that house. It’s such a great house. It’s not like we didn’t want to live in it.”
Well? Why move then?
He didn’t move because of safety, he moved because his business was next door and he was never able to separate his private life from his work. On Saturdays, he would look at the parking lot and worry why there were no cars in the lot. No cars meant no shoppers. Instead of selling his house, he has decided to make money off it through vacation rentals. He had to redo some of the upstairs to get it ready for renters and he has just started offering it online. I’m so curious to know what the Gaines think of Clint doing this? He is a major part of the show, appearing on each episode.
Will he be back in Season 4, Season 5? Actually Clint now his own show on DIY. Since Fixer Upper is now mostly using only furniture from the Magnolia Home line, what role would Clint even play now? He was their furniture builder. My prediction is Clint won’t be back in any meaningful role.
BEFORE: Their house was a complete dump, but watching the process the Gaines went through to transform their house was fascinating and inspiring. It made everyone in America think – I want that or I want to do that ! The Harps bought their house for pennies and spent a reasonable amount on the renovation. Home ownership could be this affordable to everyone, right?
AFTER: The Harps moved in but didn’t stay for long. They bought another house – it was also a fixer upper, but it won’t be shown on HGTV, the couple want to maintain their newly found privacy. Clint turned his house into an office, but now the house is being reworked to become a vacation rental. I’m sure it will be booked solid.
Want to rent Harp’s House? Clint and his wife have just put it on AirBNB, right in time for football season. All the pictures on his ad are from the final reveal on the Fixer Upper web site. So, I don’t know if that means they have changed anything since the house was revealed over two years ago? I’m not sure why they didn’t take current photos. Seems a little curious to me. Still, how fun would it be to stay there? I’d love to see it today.
Want to rent it? Go HERE.
In total there are said to be twelve official Fixer Upper houses on the vacation rental market. I couldn’t find all 12, but I did find a number of them. What I LOVE is seeing how different the houses look now that they are no longer furnished by Joanna Gaines, but instead are decorated by the current owner. Some of the houses for rent are their most popular renovations, including the famous “Barndominium.”
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