[narrator] House Hunters is getting the star treatment.
You could probably do a plunge pool.
No, I want a bigger pool.
You don't even swim.
[narrator] For the first time ever,
our experts are leading the hunt.
Trust me, I have your back.
[narrator] Taking buyers to see homes in the towns they know best.
Minna is synonymous with the city of Indianapolis.
[narrator] Giving expert rental advice
on the biggest fixers.
Having Jasmine is like having a magic genie here.
[narrator] And real estate know-how to get buyers into their perfect home.
This is why you brought the pros in.
[narrator] It's House Hunters on a whole other level.
Let the house search begin.
-Yes, this is fun. -[chuckles]
New house hunting is my favorite.
[narrator] Tonight in the Motor City,
Evan Thomas and Keith Bynum,
from Bargain Block, help a couple
that can't decide if they want a house
in the city or in the 'burbs.
A couple of things that I would want to change.
-Like what? -Everything.
[all chuckling]
[doorbell rings]
[theme music playing]
[funk music playing]
Dan and Chidimma are almost here.
-Are you ready? -Yes.
I am very excited about this.
-New house hunting is my favorite. -It is fun.
Dan and Chidimma are locals
buying their first house together.
But buying a house in this tricky market
might mean taking on a little work down the road.
What do you think? Should we get a bigger house?
No!
[Dan] I think we have definitely outgrown this place.
No!
[narrator] Because Keith and Evan know how to maximize
a home's potential in this tricky market,
Dan and Chidimma decided to reach out for help in their search.
Detroit is an iconic city with a super-rich history,
and Keith and I have dedicated our lives
to revitalizing homes across this town,
one block at a time.
[Keith] There's some problems with the house,
quite obviously, but just imagine
it's all fixed up.
[Evan] Blocks of houses that are falling apart
might seem daunting to most flippers,
but Keith and I see nothing but potential.
Wow! Oh, this is so nice. [laughs]
So, Evan and I are gonna press pause on our own projects
and help find this couple
the perfect home for their family.
[upbeat music playing]
I am really excited.
Yeah, I'm stoked to finally meet these guys.
We really do appreciate Keith and Evan
and what they're doing for Detroit.
-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you in person. -Nice to meet you.
Welcome to our workshop.
[Dan] We have a fan crush on them.
We'd really be like leaning on them
to help us look at things from a different perspective
and you know, bring up some ideas
that maybe we wouldn't see on our own.
[Keith] We're super excited to help you guys.
What are y'all looking for
in your house?
We have a toddler.
Right now we're living in a one bedroom, one bath condo.
-So... Eek, exactly. -Ooh, yeah.
We need three bedrooms for sure.
So we have Zikora's bedroom.
We have a space for an office.
Tell me a little bit about like what style you like.
So I love colonials.
The house we grew up in, was a colonial.
I tend to be more of a minimalist,
so modern architecture...
Those are kind of clashing slightly.
There's a lot of that. [chuckles]
[all chuckling]
Also looking for two car garage, minimum.
We might set up a home gym in there.
And then y'all, seriously, an ensuite because--
-Everyone needs an ensuite. -[Chidimma chuckles] Sometimes, right?
Sometimes you just need to hide.
I did hear that you were more of a... city oriented, right?
You were wanting more of like an urban setting?
Definitely.
Yeah, I've been in downtown for 20 years now,
-so, it'll be tough to leave here. -Yeah.
It's not gonna be so tough for me to leave here.
-[all laughing] -But...
I do love Detroit.
However, being in a suburb
seems to work better as a parent.
Ann Arbor is kind of drawing me back.
It's where I was born and raised.
-[Evan] Oh, cool. -Okay.
Also being close to family is really important.
-All my siblings are actually in Ann Arbor. -[Keith] Oh.
This is making it tricky.
-Mmm-hmm. -I will say I am partial to Detroit, but...
Tell us about your budget.
[Dan] I'd prefer to stay more in the 400 range.
[Chidimma] Our preference is turnkey
-just because we have a little one. -Okay. Sure.
However, we are open to smaller projects.
At 400,000 in this market,
-Detroit, I could take you to a lot of places right now... -Let's see it.
-...at that price range. -Yeah.
He's chomping at the bit.
He's like, "Let's go."
[Keith] Let's do it.
Ann Arbor's market's a little different.
It is a little different.
Ann Arbor being a college town
and being a very desirable hip sort of place,
the prices are just higher there.
And getting a house that's turnkey
for 400,000 is gonna be tricky.
But I'm hoping that we can find
some sort of middle ground area
that will be urban while suburban at the same time.
It will be fun to try and put this all together.
But it is going to be a little bit different for us
because we're looking for a house that's actually nice.
-[Keith] I know. -Rather than a house that's crumbling.
[all laughing]
[narrator] Keith and Evan are working with local agents
to find options to show Dan and Chidimma,
and today they are taking them
to see a home in downtown Detroit.
When did you guys meet?
We met on a dating app.
We actually met on a dating app too.
-[Chidimma] Did you? -[Evan] Like, 10 years ago now.
Okay. It took me three years
to respond to his message.
-Really? -I didn't realize it was there.
Three years?
He waited and pined.
-I was. -I know... [laughing]
"She'll call one day."
[Evan] This neighborhood, mid-city.
-It's a transitioning neighborhood. -[Chidimma] Mmm-hmm.
You kind of get the best of suburban-style house
in a urban setting.
[Keith] All right. Here we are.
[Evan] What do you think?
-[Dan] Love the block. -[Chidimma] I like-- Yeah.
I love the wrap-around.
[Evan] This house is four bedrooms,
two and a half baths,
-and it's $339,900-- $900. -[Chidimma] Okay.
This house is mostly ready,
but a few of the details on the house
are definitely buyer-specific.
It's well below their price point,
so they can definitely put their own flair to it.
All right, let's see it.
-All right. Welcome, welcome -Come on in.
-[Chidimma] Nice. -[Evan] Nice. Open living room.
[Chidimma] It's very, very blue in here.
It is very blue.
-But, you know, paint colors are easy to change. -That's true.
But I like the space.
What do you think of the fireplace?
-[Dan] It's probably not my style. -[Chidimma] Not mine either.
[Evan] This type of tile job,
you can get a hammer and a chisel and take this off.
-[Chidimma] Okay. -And re-tile it.
-Okay. -[Evan] And you could probably do that in, like
maybe one or two weekends.
-[Chidimma] Okay. -[Evan] It's not too hard.
-[Chidimma] Okay. -[Keith] Kitchen is a very nice size, I think.
[Chidimma] Yeah, I love the open concept.
I could see us hosting parties,
holidays, what have you.
But it is a specific look.
You can also do things like painting...
-That's true. -...a cabinet, too.
-Yeah. -[Evan] That can be an inexpensive change
just to like, mute it
-if you don't want the dark wood. -[Chidimma] Yeah.
-All right, let's take a look at the dining room. -[Chidimma] Okay.
Nice size.
[Keith] I think this view to the backyard's really great.
Unfortunately, there is no garage.
-[Keith] Yeah. -[Chidimma] Oh, yeah.
[Keith] But it's got a cute deck.
It's a good amount of space.
There is a pad with an alley access
so you could build a garage.
Okay. What would be the cost of building a garage?
Hmm. If it's a pretty simple roof line...
-Okay. -You're looking at $15,000 to $25,000.
So we definitely would have to add that in,
especially in these Michigan winter times,
and that's a significant expense.
[Keith] So there's a nice half bath here,
-which is always great on the first floor. -[Chidimma] Okay. Yeah.
It's a nice size. I like the tile here.
Might put some like fun wallpaper in there.
-Something to kind of break things up a little bit. -Yeah.
[Dan] Uh-huh. I love that idea.
I love this banister. It's obviously original.
-[Dan] Mmm-hmm. -[Keith] Very cool character.
-Three bedrooms on this floor. -[Chidimma] Okay.
[Keith] If you want to take a peek, the first one.
[Chidimma] It is a nice size.
This could be a good room for Zikora.
-Another bedroom here. -[Chidimma] Oh, okay, nice.
[Keith] And then there's a nice guest bath.
[Chidimma] It looks good. They did a good job.
[Keith] Let's see, the main bedroom.
[Chidimma] It's probably a little bit smaller
than what we would like.
[Keith] I think it's right size.
-[Chidimma] You think? -Yeah.
And it does have an ensuite,
-which is what-- -[Chidimma] Ooh, an ensuite. Double vanities?
An open concept shower is not something that I had entertained.
I have mixed feelings about the open shower.
It could be a fun couple of date nights.
-You know? -[all laughing]
[Evan] You could pretty easily add glass.
-[Chidimma] Okay. -Um, here, here.
-And even add a door here. -[Chidimma] A door. Okay.
-[Evan] If you wanted to. -[Chidimma] Absolutely.
So I think you're gonna like this space.
-[Chidimma] Oh wow. -[Evan] A third floor bonus space.
-[Chidimma] Wow. -[Evan] Yes.
[Chidimma] I did not expect this at all.
Yeah, I think it'd be a great gym
or a place just to put all of Zikora's things.
-The opportunities up here are kind of endless. -Could be right there.
[Chidimma] Well, I love this.
I mean, this is a nice surprise.
[Evan] Okay. So what do you guys think?
I love the ensuite.
And I would say I love that some of the fixes
-seem easy enough. -[Evan] Mmm-hmm.
-[Chidimma] Like paint. -[Dan] I think the biggest disappointment,
is there's no garage.
That's a pretty expensive add on.
[Chidimma] I would really love to see something
closer to where my family is.
[narrator] So Keith and Evan find a home in Chidimma's hometown of Ann Arbor.
But there's a tradeoff.
I'm noticing something that's missing.
♪ Good morning ♪
[Keith] Ann Arbor just has such a quaint charm.
It's just lovely.
[Chidimma] I love that the houses aren't on top of each other.
I like that there's space.
[Keith] Mmm-hmm.
And our daughter can run around.
-[Keith] Ready? -[Chidimma] All right.
The house is a three bedroom, one and a half bathroom,
has a two car garage, and a really large lot.
-A little bit less urban. -Definitely not urban.
-But it is very beautiful. -[chuckles] Not urban.
Yeah, absolutely.
I am definitely excited to see a Colonial.
A+, 10 stars for me.
It reminds me of the house I grew up in.
This house was built in the 70s.
-[Chidimma] Okay. -And it's at 400,000.
[Dan] I don't love the color, actually.
And like the shutters, like, I'd make it a little bit more like modern.
[Evan] You can give it a more modern look pretty easily.
A few wood accents out here.
-[Chidimma] Yeah. -[Evan] Whole wrap in the wood.
-Change these maybe to cedar or something... -[Chidimma] Yeah.
[Evan] ...a little more natural, pull in that forest vibe.
I think it would go really well.
The price right now is right at the top
of where I want it to be.
It's a little scary to be thinking about
how to even put our stamp on this house.
So what do you think?
I love it.
The size, the bay window.
I think it looks amazing.
[Dan] I'd probably want to upgrade the banister.
It is a little dated And it's also not to code.
[Keith] Yeah, you want them four inches apart.
I mean, if you wanted to go fully modern,
-you could just take these out and then just do like slats. -[Dan] Slats.
That's like a weekend job
-that you guys could definitely do, too. -Oh, okay. Okay.
-[Evan] Modern kitchen. -[Chidimma] Wow.
-[Dan] Oh, nice. -[Keith] I love the green.
-[Chidimma] Okay. -[Keith] What do you all think of the green?
-[Chidimma] I love the green too. -[Evan] Good.
-Yeah. -I really do.
[Keith] I feel like this kitchen, I wouldn't change anything.
And I love these countertops.
[Keith] What about these posts?
[Evan] These might be load bearing,
I assume probably at least one of them is.
I would hope so, 'cause otherwise
-it's just adding them for the sake of adding them. -[Dan] Yeah.
-Yeah, it's tragic. -[Keith] It's an odd move.
[Keith] Yes. Tragic. That was the word I'm looking for.
[Chidimma] What would be the cost to remove these?
[Evan] Expect to spend 15-20 grand
-at least. -[Chidimma] Oh, my God.
-Yeah. -There's cheaper ways of going about it like,
-especially if you keep this one here. -Totally. Yeah.
Then you can probably,
-honestly, just use, like a large header. -[Keith] Yeah.
Trick with things like this is you always want to try and make it
-look as intentional as possible, right? -[Chidimma] Sure.
Box it out with like an added functionality.
[Chidimma] That's a good idea.
So that it's not just like some random thing.
That could be a way to turn
-a negative into a positive. -Yeah.
[Evan] You do have a powder bath down here.
[Chidimma] Yeah, nice and cute.
A couple of things that I would want to change,
-but... -[Evan] Like what?
I don't really love this.
This seems a little dated.
The mirror, and you know, the faucet and this vanity.
-Okay. -So essentially everything.
[all laughing]
The upstairs is actually pretty sweet.
-[Chidimma] I'm noticing carpet. -[Keith] Carpet indeed.
There is more carpet.
Good sized bathroom and it is partially renovated.
-[Dan] I do like the vanity... -[Chidimma] But the tile...
-That's probably like a $5000 job. -Okay.
But if you do it yourself, that'll save you a bunch of money.
-[Chidimma] Okay. -[Dan] Yes.
First of three bedrooms.
[Dan] That's pretty tight.
Yeah, it is a little tight, but we could use this as an office.
[Keith] Well, they're cute bedrooms.
[Chidimma] This is a small bedroom, too.
Maybe Zikora's room.
[Keith] And the final leg of the tour.
[Chidimma] Okay, I love the size.
Like I could see our king size bed fitting in here.
Even a little coffee table and chairs.
-I'm noticing something, fellas. -Mmm-hmm.
-Okay. -Yeah.
-That's missing? -Uh-huh.
My ensuite.
[Dan] Would it be possible
if we did want to do that ensuite over time, like...
-That would be real tricky, I think. -Okay.
I think from a layout perspective,
-it would just be too small to add in a full bathroom. -Okay.
-Yeah, I'm sorry. -It's okay. It's okay.
You have a really nice neighborhood.
-You have a beautiful environment. -Yeah.
You have a little bit smaller house.
-It's just kind of, you know... -Yeah.
[Keith] Yeah.
-I really close-- I'm closer to my family, you know? -Yes.
If we could get it around 400,
that would leave us some room to do some of the suggestions
that you all were sharing.
[Chidimma] It's a lot of money, I think.
I'm still really, you know,
I love-- I'm so passionate about Detroit,
I've spent so much time there.
I would love to see something in Detroit.
[narrator] Since Dan and Chidimma can't agree on a location,
Keith and Evan find a middle ground in Plymouth.
It is a little dated.
♪ Feel so good Gotta move gotta grove And dance ♪
[narrator] Keith and Evan are helping Dan and Chidimma find a new home.
But while Dan wants to stay in Detroit,
Chidimma wants to be closer to family in Ann Arbor.
This area is in between both Detroit and Ann Arbor.
[Keith] Mmm-hmm.
And also, I feel like it's a little bit of an in between
of what you guys are both looking for.
Welcome to the middle ground.
[Dan] It does have a garage.
[Keith] It does have a nice garage.
[Evan] Yeah, right.
[Evan] It is a condo, it's a townhouse,
and it is only two bedrooms,
and there is a space in the basement
that I think is very doable for you to finish out,
-and maybe add another bedroom... -[Chidimma] Okay.
...and a bathroom, to make it your desirable three.
-It is coming in at $349,000. -Okay.
-So it's well under your budget.
-Yeah. -So any kind of updates that you would like to make...
-Yeah. Okay. -...you have plenty of money to do.
My first impression from the outside,
it isn't exactly the style I would be open to.
[Chidimma] Also, sharing walls. I'm over it.
Uh, that said, I will keep an open mind.
[Keith] All right. Welcome.
[Chidimma] Okay.
-[Keith] Right. -All right.
[Evan] Right on into the kitchen.
[Dan] You said this was turnkey.
You know, you could certainly move right in,
but you'd probably brighten it up a little bit.
One of the things that we wanted was a kitchen
that could accommodate gatherings,
and it's a little small.
[Evan] If you're wanting to entertain,
there is a nice dining space over here.
It's open to the living room, too.
This is a nice space.
I love the overflow from a family gathering...
-Mmm-hmm. -...that happens.
[Dan] Feels very high end.
-[Chidimma] Yeah. -Mmm-hmm.
-[Evan] You have a nice powder bath. -[Dan] Mmm-hmm.
[Chidimma] I love this wallpaper.
[Dan] Yeah, I like the gold fixture.
-It's not just sort of your basic condo. -[Chidimma] Yeah.
[Evan] Yeah, it's definitely designed.
[Chidimma] Wow.
So this space is definitely finishable.
-[Chidimma] Okay, -Mmm-hmm.
[Evan] This is a space that's already framed out.
-[Chidimma] Okay? -[Evan] That I think would be relatively easy
to add a whole bedroom ensuite.
[Chidimma] Oh, wow. Okay.
[Evan] 'Cause what's great is that you have plumbing here.
[Chidimma] Oh, awesome!
This is gonna save you a bunch of money.
Sixty thousand dollars?
-Forty to 60,000. -Okay.
Well, and with a lower list price,
-there is some room to do a project. -Mmm-hmm.
[Evan] All right, let's see upstairs.
To your right I think would be your daughter's room.
-[Chidimma] Okay. -[Dan] Okay. Oh, check this out.
-It's big. -[Evan] Yeah.
[Chidimma] It is really big.
Oh, Zikora would love this.
Yeah, she would love this space.
[Evan] And it's an ensuite.
-[Dan] How many 2-year-olds have their own ensuite? -[Chidimma] Right?
I would probably wanna change out this countertop more.
And maybe just paint the vanity.
So that's something that you could do over time.
The only thing I'm not fond of is this pink tile.
-Like a subway-- -[Evan] You don't like hospital showers?
[all laughing]
[Evan] The main bedroom.
It is a beautiful uh, space.
It's really large.
Could even see adding a sitting area.
[Evan] Let's see the big ensuite.
Yay! An ensuite.
I love that there's a bathtub and a shower.
I would prefer to have a different situation here.
-Yeah, situation. -Yes.
It is a little dated.
-It is. -Yeah.
-It's giving me '89. -Yes.
They could kind of go multiple routes
with the updating in this the main bathroom.
You could do it light
and just kind of change out the tub,
and change out the door,
change out the vanity.
They could probably do that for just a couple thousand, really.
Or you could kind of gut it
and make it your dream bathroom.
But then you're looking at maybe 10-15-20.
All right, guys.
What do you all think?
Detroit, Ann Arbor, like, this is situated
geographically between those two,
which is nice, and it's way under budget.
[Chidimma] It has my ensuite,
but there are some updates that need to be made too.
We hope that we've shown you something that you'll like
and that you'll actually want to buy
♪ Ooh, baby ♪
[Evan] Good morning, guys.
[both] Good morning.
-Thank you so-- -How's it going?
We are doing well.
How have the last few days been?
-Uh... -Pretty intense.
This is actually a little bit more challenging
than I thought that it was gonna be.
So I'm dying to hear
what you guys have thought about all these houses.
What did you think about the craftsman?
[Chidimma] So it's way under what I wanted to spend, which is awesome.
And I know for you,
you were excited that it was in Detroit.
[Dan] And then you have that beautiful porch.
I did like that it was an open concept.
[Chidimma] I love that there was an ensuite.
We could talk a little bit about... [chuckles]
-what that looked like. -[Keith] The concept?
[Chidimma] But I love that it was there.
But a major downside,
-no garage. -[Dan] Mmm-hmm.
Tell me what you guys thought about the suburban colonial.
[Chidimma] One thing I loved about this house
is that it's so close to my family.
[Dan] But it did feel quite suburban.
I love that the kitchen was, was, um, remodeled.
[Chidimma] I appreciate that we have the garage
and the primary was huge.
But I wish we had an ensuite.
What do you guys think about the townhouse?
-[Dan] Definitely came in under budget, which was nice. -[Chidimma] Mmm-hmm.
And it is equidistant between Ann Arbor, and Detroit.
Ideally, you could kind of split your time.
[Chidimma] Yes, it was a townhouse.
That wasn't my favorite type of house.
It was well done.
[Keith] I mean, it had the ensuite that you were looking for.
[Chidimma] One drawback is that it's only two bedrooms.
[Dan] Finishing out the basement is definitely a possibility.
But, so I don't know if we're quite ready for that.
I feel like we really offered them some great choices.
It really kind of covered a lot of territory
in terms of what they wanted and geographically.
At this point I think it's kind of anyone's guess.
[upbeat music playing]
[doorbell dings]
-Hey guys. -Hello. Hey.
-Welcome. -[Chidimma] Nice to see you.
-Congratulations. -[Chidimma] Thank you so much.
We chose the Colonial.
It really is a mix of both of what we needed.
[Keith] Ooh. I love it.
-It looks so good. -Check it out.
This is our sibling, and this is Zikora.
Hi.
Moving from Detroit to the suburbs was definitely an adjustment.
But being near to family,
you know, is important to both of us.
-Do you like your new place? -She does.
It is definitely better than a one bedroom,
-one bath condo, that's for sure. -Yeah.
The house was listed at 400,000, and we ended up paying 407,000.
So it was a smidgearoon above what I wanted to pay.
But it was still worth it.
-[Evan] Oh, cozy. -[Keith] Oh.
-So chic. -[Dan] The king size bad fits, no problem.
-[Evan] Yeah, -It doesn't have an ensuite,
but that's okay.
The amount of house we've gotten
for what we've paid here in Ann Arbor,
it's really, really a steal.
It feels so good.
Love it. Well, good job, guys. We absolutely love it.
-Yeah. Nicely done. -[Chidimma] Thank you.
My heart is swelling with pride.
[Dan] Keith and Evan were just so amazing to work with.
[Chidimma] They really took into careful consideration our wish list,
and really were thoughtful and intentional and strategic.
We are so grateful.
There is one extra thing.
Dan, we knew that it was a lot for you to move out of the city.
So these are some photographs that I took
of downtown Detroit to remind you of the city.
-[Dan] Oh! That's amazing. -That's amazing.
For you to hang up in your new house.
Thank you so much. It's been so amazing working with you all.
-It was really cool. -Yeah, you all have been amazing.
I hope you guys love your home.
-[Dan and Chidimma] We do. -I think you guys made the perfect choice.
It's so exciting that Dan and Chidimma have a new house
to start their next chapter of their life together with their daughter.
I definitely had a lot of fun.
I will say I am not ready to hang up
my construction man hat for my real estate agent hat just yet,
that was very stressful.
-All right, we're gonna head out. -All right.
-Give me a hug. -See you, guys.