Vanilla Ice Project Season 3 - ARV Reality Check
UPDATE - Property sold for $725,000
I thought some of you might find this interesting...
I've been watching the Vanilla Ice Project, which for those of you who don't know it's a show that follows former 90's rapper Vanilla Ice (Rob Van Winkle) as he and his crew fix and flip a house.
On this season he bought a property in Lake Worth, FL which had been sitting vacant for quite some time. It's a 4 bedroom 3.5 bath home, about 3,500 sq ft, on a 1.3 acre lot on a small lake.
It was entertaining for me to watch because I LOVE this stuff. With my interest in real estate investing and the fact that I grew up watching shows like This Old House and The New Yankee Workshop, I just can't get enough! Anyway, I'll spare you my life story and get to the good stuff.
So what was the outcome of Vanilla Ice's flip you ask?
Well, on the last episode of the show, which aired yesterday 4/28/13, he had a huge party and an open house. Then he briefly went over the numbers. He claimed to have bought the house for $325,000. He said he put over $500,000 into repairs and would list it for 1.3 million. I wanted to see if the house had sold because I know these shows usually air well after they are shot, so I did a little Googling and I found the address of the property.
According to Trulia.com it was indeed initailly listed on 2/9/13 for $1,299,000. Then on 2/12/13 it was dropped $368,000 to $931,000 and as of 4/5/13 dropped another $100,000 to what it's presently listed at now, $831,000. A little quick math based on what Vanilla Ice himself said means he has over $825,000 into the property. Either the $500,000+ he claimed to have put into the rehab was TV puffery or he seems likely to lose on this deal.
A cursery look on Trulia.com at other proprties in the area would make one wonder how anyone would come up with 1.3 million as an ARV for this property. This brings to mind something I recently heard Ben Leybovich say on podcast 14 @34:20. In essence he said with single-family homes you can't increase the value you can only bring it back to the value the market has set, which is based on a comparative analysis. He said you can make it the taj mahal. You can put gold toilets in it, but you're not going to overcome the price the market sets for that particular location and size of property.
I will be watching to find out what this property actually sells for.
Let me know what your thoughts are?
If anyone is interested the property address is: 4240 Foxview Ct
Lake Worth, FL 33467. Here's a link to the record on the Palm Beach county property appraiser's website: http://goo.gl/f09Xs
Comments (24)
It sold $725,000 Sold on 06/19/13 In 2005, My cousin and I bought a house for $17,000 cash. We did some work to it, knocked walls down, replaced windows, stucco, new electrical, new roof, landscaping... We sold it in 2007 for $240,000 we only put $10,000 into it, cash. We both grew up in families that did construction, only me and my dad built custom cabinet's too.
Matthew Murphy, over 8 years ago
Not a chance he had 500k into that rehab....for $110/sq to $140/sq you could build that home from the ground up depending on the finishes....not to mention all the in house labor from his bro's and the fact that Florida has a badly hit real estate market hence lower construction labor. I bet he didn't spend a dime over $75/sq....or roughly 250k. $500k HAS to be his gross investment.
Shawn Dare, almost 10 years ago
Thanks so much for posting this. First, it wasn't too long of a read which I can appreciate. Second, I haven't watched the show but have intended to and I wondered if he was good at what he does. Maybe you've posted this elsewhere but what network is this on? Thanks for the post;-)
Jasmine Brumfield, almost 10 years ago
In my opinion, this whole show is one giant commercial for tools, materials, suppliers, anything you might need to build a house or renovate one. Those awful bling door handles, I guess they got good money for using them all over the house and talking them up as much as possible in the process. Whatever they made selling the property is probably just a bonus on top, no way this has to cover the real cost of the renovation. I strongly suppose they get everything they use for free including the manpower. I think, they probably only pay the initial price for the property and whatever the team makes. I wonder if the "team" on camera even is the real team that does all the work. It makes for good entertainment though and I would never have guessed that Vanilla Ice is such a great tv host. Thank you for finding out about the actual money they made with the project, I was wondering if they even really sold it or if whoever was gonna buy it was part of it all along.
Nancy Smith, almost 10 years ago
Nancy, I agree. Most of these shows are "setup" in various ways. It's all about advertising and making money so I'm sure they purposely over rehab and do things they wouldn't normally. You can tell Vanilla Ice is no dummy. I'm sure he and the producers know the show wouldn't be as entertaining if they were just doing typical rehabs. And like you said, I'm sure they get all the stuff they use for free because the companies that provide it want the advertising.
Josh Randall, almost 10 years ago
Zillow says it sold for $725,000 on 6/19/13. Not surprising. He put way too much money into it, considering the area comps. Too much personalization as well. As was said above, he made money from it by doing the show, but that's all.
Anita Bloom, almost 10 years ago
I agree Anita. They are obviously trying to make the show more interesting. He does all the things anyone who knows anything about real estate would advise against, i.e., over building/renovating, designing very taste specific, etc.
Josh Randall, almost 10 years ago
Vanilla Ice played at this festival I was at a couple years ago. He may not be a great investor but he puts on a pretty entertaining show.
James Wise, about 10 years ago
My monocle just fell into my champagne flute at the shock that these TV shows may embellish on things a little bit. :)
Shaun Reilly, over 10 years ago
Interesting reading, thank you @Josh Randall. Just ran into Rob @ Home Depot ordering doors for his next project. I was curious about his dealings, glad to see some info on BP. Ice seemed like a very nice guy, gladly posed for a pic w/ my wife and daughter, as well as some others @ hd.
Michael Lemieux, over 10 years ago
Michael Lemieux, over 10 years ago
Thanks for the update. TV puffery shows $1.3 million for the list with $825K all-in and people do the math and think he's walking away with a fortune. They don't know the true costs and then what it actually sold for. But now WE do.
Dawn Anastasi, over 10 years ago
Dawn Anastasi, Of course it is a TV show, so who knows how much money he really put into the rehab and he no doubt gets paid by the network too. But as you said, people who just go by the numbers on the show would assume he made a ton of money.
Josh Randall, over 10 years ago
I like the show a lot and think he does awesome work most of the time. I'm sure some of the numbers are inflated. Since he is doing most of his own work, he just gives a high estimate of what he could charge someone.
David Holland, almost 11 years ago
Well that's $525,000. There's no way they spent $500k in rehab. That selling price would have $40k+ realtor fees Those knobs were ugly.
Scott R., almost 11 years ago
According to the MLS, he bought it for $305,579 on 7/18/12 and it went under contract on 4/11/13 for $831,000 but is currently accepting backup offers. BTW, I think he could have saved a ton had he not used the god-aweful-faux-diamond-encrusted hardware in the kitchen & baths.
Zach Staruch, almost 11 years ago
I thought the same thing Zach Staruch. Those knobs were ugly, too specific in taste, and probably expensive.
Josh Randall, almost 11 years ago
After all my time watching home improvement shows, and I have been watching This Old House for over 20 years, I have never seen someone do an $80,000 kitchen that looked like his! It was good, but $80k? The numbers have got to be inflated. He does so much work himself and with his crew, which makes me think he may give the prices as though one who may pay a normal contactor. He definitely does a great job and encourages me to be more of a maverick like Frank Mckinney's book from a few years back "Maverick Real Estate Approach." The other side of the coin on what Ben Leybovich talked about in your podcast, is that when you make this huge renovation, you also have to have some big deal marketing behind it, and put it out everywhere. Maybe Van Winkle's agents need to step it up?
Ethan Atkinson, almost 11 years ago
Ethan Atkinson, they probably figured a TV show was advertising enough. :)
Josh Randall, almost 11 years ago
Vanilla Ice embellish? Never...haha Love the show, but never thought to actually dig into the numbers at all. Thanks for writing Josh Randall!
Matt Weirich, almost 11 years ago
VERY interesting, Josh Randall! Thanks for writing this! It's sad, isn't it - though I can't say I haven't made similar mistakes (with MUCH lower numbers though!) Funny though - I'm sure Vanilla Ice (Rob Van Winkle) made PLENTY of money just by doing the show! :)
Brandon Turner, almost 11 years ago
You're welcome Brandon Turner. It would be sweet if the average real estate investor could figure in a talent fee when analyzing a deal wouldn't it. Who knows, maybe he and the producers picked that property knowing it would make an entertaining season and not caring if it ended up being a loss or break even deal.
Josh Randall, almost 11 years ago
Hey @Brandon Turner, maybe you guys can have Vanilla Ice as a guest on the BiggerPockets Podcast!
Brad Friesen, almost 11 years ago
That would be awesome Brad Friesen! Then Mr. Ice himself could fill us in. He claims to have been a real estate investor for 10 or 15 years. You can work on that Brandon Turner. :)
Josh Randall, almost 11 years ago