Fatal Flip

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Hi. You've reached

Monica.

I can't come to

the phone right now,

but you could

leave a message.

I might call you back.

Hi, baby.

My work here is done.

The house

wasn't the right fit.

I'll keep looking.

I know that the perfect house

is out there.

I think I'm gonna

go up north next.

I miss you.

Aah!

Aah!

It's too bad.

Jeff, are you sure

we're ready for this?

Alex, you're the one

who wanted to take a risk.

Change things up. That's

exactly what we're doing.

Maybe I'm getting

cold feet.

Well, it's

a little too late for that.

You're right. This

is just what we need.

I'm not sure

I packed everything.

Would you stop worrying?

We have everything

we need.

Ah, there it is.

And it looks like

it's in great shape.

Come on.

Love the house.

Bright and early,

like always.

We're doomed.

Well, well.

I think

it looks beautiful.

There they are!

Hello, hello.

- Hello.

- Alex?

- Hey, Babs.

- Jeff.

So good to see you.

Oh! It's all yours.

An antique Colonial at this

price, it's a real find.

- Yeah.

- Well, thanks to you.

The keys.

I've got your paperwork.

Wow, look at that thing.

You're nervous.

Your first fix and flip.

You should be nervous.

Oh, we got the basics.

Fix it, stage it,

sell it, right?

Oh, selling

is the easy part,

especially if you let me

list it.

First you have to

renovate the house

enough to pass

FHA inspection.

And you two are sure

you want to do all

the work yourselves?

Sweat equity.

That's the way to go.

Your wife is very

confident, Mr. Taylor.

Oh, she's not my--

No, no,

we're not married.

Not yet.

Oh, I just assumed.

I mean, after all,

you bought

the property together.

Anyway, inspections

are a challenge,

and you're on

a deadline, right?

About 45 days.

From today?

Oh, we'll be fine.

No, the exterior

looks good.

Just a few touchups

here and there.

Maybe some light woodwork.

Take a look

at the electrical.

You remember the roof leaks?

Yep.

And there's a crack

in the foundation?

Yeah. We really

appreciate it.

Thanks, Babs.

Okay. I've included

a welcome packet.

Papa's Hardware

is just down the street.

A lot of local guys

hang out there.

Most of them know

their way around a remodel.

Well, it's our house,

our remodel.

I think we got this.

Okay. I'll be back in a week

to take some pictures.

It's never too early to

start looking for a buyer.

You never know. You might

fall in love with the place.

Fix it up,

never want to leave.

This is ours.

Yeah, we did it.

I love this

vintage wallpaper.

Yeah. Can't believe this place

was built in the 1870s.

This is big.

What we're doing,

this is really big.

I know.

And your plan

is kind of nuts.

Aw! I know.

It could all backfire,

and we could lose

everything.

Yeah, but we've

talked about doing this

for a long time, right?

You're pretty handy,

and I've always

been wanting

to get into design.

People are making

a million dollars,

you know, flipping homes.

This could be great.

This could be

really great.

Yeah. Told you.

You seem eerily calm.

I feel eerily calm.

Tell me about 45 days.

Okay, check this out.

We max out our credit cards

for the next 45 days,

and by the time the bills

are due, we sold the house.

Pay them off

and enjoy the profits.

So there will be

profits, huh?

Yes, as long

as we make the 45 days.

If we have to pay interest

on the debt,

that's when

we'll be in trouble.

So it's not

an ideal plan.

No, but the timing

is right.

Hey, we could stay

at the firm,

work our boring jobs

until retirement.

Or we can take a chance

and do this.

This is a great house.

Yeah.

So I've convinced you of...

my daring, brilliant

45-day plan, huh?

Well, I don't know.

Can we get

the money back?

Nope.

Then I'm convinced.

Jeez.

I might still need

a little convincing.

It's your plan.

No, it's our plan.

Water damage.

Hmm.

I don't even know

where to start.

Kitchen. Definitely

the kitchen.

Specifically the stove.

Oh, I need drip pans

and an ignitor.

Okay. Well, if you're

gonna start in the kitchen,

then maybe

I'll start upstairs.

I have big plans

for the master bedroom.

I wonder what kind

of tile they have?

Oh, that reminds me.

The staircase

is a bit rickety,

so we might have to

replace the entire thing

and start from scratch.

- Jeff?

- What?

That's the original

banister.

That's custom woodwork.

You can't just rip it out.

You know what?

I think we might have to,

I'm sorry to say.

Jeff, we don't want to be

the kind of flippers

who don't care about

the integrity of the house.

We improve and refurbish.

Maybe we could use

some help.

Will you just trust me?

Let's get out of here.

Don't you think we should

have called someone

before we just

started digging?

Oh, definitely not.

Make us fill out

a bunch of paperwork

and make us wait

three weeks.

We don't have time

for all that red tape.

As opposed

to yellow tape?

We're going to find

this gas main,

and close to that,

the water main.

How does a nice

hot bath sound?

Heavenly.

Right? Now get to work.

Damn it.

We can now officially

brush our teeth.

What?

Oh, these

are lead pipes.

I checked the pipes

in the bathroom.

They're PVC.

They need new fittings.

I can do new fittings, but...

But these are lead.

They need to be

completely replaced.

They're dangerous,

and perhaps

they're poisonous.

Maybe we were naive

in thinking we could do

all the repairs ourselves.

- Yeah, you think?

- We need an expert.

A plumber, maybe.

I can go

to the hardware store.

No. Don't you

worry about it.

I'll do that myself.

We're in over our heads.

Yeah, just a little.

Yeah, I'd go PEX

over PVC.

Unless, of course, you got

the money for copper.

Oh, yeah, I definitely

don't have the money

for copper.

Yeah, I like PVC.

Worked with it before.

- Oh, yeah?

- Yeah, yeah.

You working any jobs

around here?

Yeah, just a little

remodel down the road.

Oh, you fixing it

and flipping it?

Yeah. It's a bit

of a headache

right now, but--

Congrats.

Oh, thanks, thanks.

Appreciate it.

You went to Michigan?

No, no, I wish.

My ex-girlfriend

went there.

Are you kidding me?

No, I went to UM.

That's where

I met my girl.

Go Blue!

Yeah, small world.

I'm Jeff.

- Nate Grant.

- Yeah, pleasure.

Yeah, nice meeting you.

Yeah. I ran into a bit

of a setback today.

Kitchen pipes are lead.

- Lead?

- Yeah.

That's hard to believe.

You sure?

Yeah, I think so.

Well, they could be

galvanized.

Sometimes corroded galvanized

looks like lead.

Corroded galvanized

sometimes looks like lead.

Why don't I know this?

I could come by

and take a look if you want.

Yep. See that?

Galvanized.

Zinc-coated steel.

Congrats. No lead here.

Oh, thanks, Nate.

Whoo!

Any time, bro.

Whew. That's a relief.

So, uh, you do a lot

of plumbing?

Yeah, plumbing,

electrical,

roofing,

foundation repair.

Even did a little mold

removal for a while.

Oh, nice.

You working

on a deadline?

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