Fans of HGTV are familiar with Ken and Anita Corsini from their series"Flip or Flop Atlanta.
“This is the ultimate job interview,” Anita shared in theHGTV announcement.
Ken:Well, it’s a competition flipping series.
So it was a total of nine houses flipped over the season.
Each round got increasingly difficult.
Anita:Yeah, they did.
They all have experience.
Now, all of their experience is very different.
It was really quite fascinating.
What criteria do you use when you’re looking at the finished homes?
Ken:It’s a great question because it wasn’t just the end products.
A lot of it was how did we get it there?
[Then], obviously, how much money did you make?
We were also looking to see, how do they manage their budgets?
How did they manage their time?
Did they actually finish on time?
Could they be brand ambassadors?
How do they treat the people around them?
The design aesthetics, things like that.
Are you a good designer?
Can you implement a design?
So we’re looking at a number of different components to judge the ultimate winner.
Anita:Right, right.
Sometimes, it’s one thing, it’s can you plan and budget?
And can you stay on that plan and budget?
Or can you make the plan, and then when something goes sideways, how do you scale back?
Well, where’s that [money] going to come from?
And how are you still going to make it happen?
And that, to me, excites me about flipping, because I love playing that game.
And I think that game is what really I’ve refined well, so it’s just interesting.
So should we assume there were some surprises that reared their heads during this process?
Ken:You will, absolutely.
And, as I mentioned too, each round got progressively harder.
We encountered almost all of it in the show, which was great.
“How am I supposed to finish this on time?
How am I supposed to come in on budget?”
I mean, it creates for really good television, I’ll put it that way.
Anita:It does.
No power to it for …
I mean, that’s a big deal.
And then, you’ve got another one that’s over 100 years old.
So if you don’t find something unexpected in those houses, something is wrong.
Did you have any advice or tips to offer them in that respect?
We really just told them to be themselves.
I mean, they were in it, really, to compete.
And so, the stakes were high.
There’s a lot of emotion involved here.
I mean … we have great relationships with them.
Ken:We still maintain contact.
We really created good friends from this whole experience.
What should I do with my social media?"
And, from what I’ve seen, no two stories seem to be alike.
So how did you two wind up on HGTV?
Ken:We get asked this question a lot.
I think they found us through an online presence where they saw that we had an investing company.
And it was just like, “Okay.”
So we literally set up a Skype call.
Of course, everybody used Skype back then, right?
It’s Zoom now.
I mean, sometimes, they turn it off and they don’t hear.
But it did really matter.
Tell you what, though.
If you want to learn how to keep your mouth shut, wear a microphone all day long.
That was the biggest thing I learned from that.
But we had an amazing crew who really …
They told us things …
So it was almost like a reunion, getting back together with all your old friends.
You learn where the cameras are and where they need to be.
And it’s funny because even working with these couples, they didn’t.
They were brand new.
Well, in continuity, we were doing all these takes at the beginning.
I mean, we hadn’t even met them yet.
They just came out of their trucks.
It was the first time we’d seen them.
Ken:They picked up.
By the end of the season, they were pros, too.
Did you find sometimes you had to hold yourself back?
Maybe thinking to yourself, “Oh, I wouldn’t do that.”
That is actually a really good question for this show because it was a delicate balance for us.
We wanted the show to play out, but it was legitimately our money on the line, right?
We wanted to let them play out.
It’s okay you pick that tile; we would pick this tile.
That’s totally fine.
Anita:Yeah, yeah.
They gave them different personalities than I would’ve.
But it was fine.
I would tell them, I said, “Listen, this is your design.
This is not my design.
You don’t have to make a house that you think I would make.
I want you to make your house.
But I have to be able to sell this house when you’re done with it.
So don’t make anything stupid.”
Ken:And she said it just like that actually.
Ken:They were very talented.
I want to get that out there.
Anita:They did.
Ken:I mean, honestly, our production company did a very good job casting these three teams.
And so, yeah.
Anita:Right, right.
But, see, these are experienced people, so they’ve flipped a house before.
I mean, they knew that.
So it wasn’t like we had to babysit.
That’s going to make it tricky to sell only because we’ve experienced that here in our area.
So maybe rethink that."
That kind of stuff.
Ken:So they did get coaching from us.
And that was part of it.
We were there throughout the entire process.
And they very receptive to that.
Anita:Yeah, it was interesting.
I mean, it is.
But you do gain [a] different perspective from what other people create.
And so, that’s a delicate balance there.
Ken:That’s another good question.
I mean, it’s been a long time.
And so, it was 2005; we didn’t have kids yet.
She was a teacher.
And we never looked back.
What are the biggest mistakes that you see rookie house-flippers make?
What’s the biggest mistake that you see people making?
It’s the bones.
You got to get the bones right or, at least, know what bones you’re working with.
Ken:And in buying, like she said, at the right price point.
At least, not anymore.
I mean, a house that you could buy on the MLS is already at market value.
Anita:You’re right.
So I would say, and it’s twofold.
It’s identifying the house and then [it’s] over-renovating the house.
So, I mean, there’s a definite art and there’s a definite science.
And, really, you need a good marriage of both of those things.
Now, you also, obviously, have to love what you’re doing.
What do you love about the whole house-flipping process?
Anita:I love that I don’t have to sit down all day.
We love the flexibility of being here and around for our kids.
I’m still taking them to practice every day and that kind of stuff.
And that’s a big part of it.
But I think, in general, we do love real estate.
We love home, everything that has to do with home.
I mean, I love the flexibility.
Ken:Yeah, I mean, for me, I was always an entrepreneur.
As an entrepreneur, it’s fun.
It’s fun chasing deals.
It’s fun landing deals.
Ken:Actually, good question.
We just filmed an episode of “Homestead Rescue” on Discovery, which was a lot of fun.
It was a good friend of ours, the showrunner of the show.
And so, that’s actually going to air, I think, in December.
Anita:It was really, really, really fun.
And, I mean, I loved connecting with these people and hearing …
I mean, their story is just amazing.
I mean, it was hard work.
I mean, we worked hard for sure.
But it was also just a really, really cool experience.
I think we were both really thankful for that.
Ken:Well, it’s fun to do a crossover, I mean, between Discovery and HGTV.
And it was a lot of fun.
Are either of you a fan of reality TV?
It’s just us driving all over the place.
Anita:We’re just Uber drivers now.
Ken:Yeah, we’re glorified drivers for our children.
Anita:For our three children, yeah.
Any favorite reality shows that it’s possible for you to recall that you used to just always watch?
Anita:We love “Big Brother.”
Ken:“Big Brother.”
We’ve gone to [the “Big Brother” house].
It’s just so fun.
Ken:We have a little bit of a connection there.
We’ve been to the finales before; we’ve been to the after parties.
Anita:It’s been fun.
So, that one, I would say, is one that we always watch.
