[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 reno advice on the biggest fixers...
Having Jasmine is like having a magic genie here.
♪ Anything that you want you get ♪
...and real estate knowhow
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.
-We believe in you. -Yeah.
No pressure.
[narrator] Tonight in Orange County, California,
Jasmine Roth from Help! I Wrecked My House
works with first-time homebuyers,
but in this market, they'll have to take on a fixer.
-[Brook] Bathroom is an easy renovation? -[Jasmine] No.
Don't end up on my show.
[speaks indistinctly]
-[doorbell rings] -[theme music playing]
[upbeat music playing]
♪ It's a bright sunny day ♪
♪ In California Yeah, yeah, yeah, eh ♪
There's a little step down.
-I like that. -Yeah.
By the way, I have some clients stopping over.
-They're new clients. -Nice.
So I thought this would be really good.
-House for them, you see. -Trying to scare them away. I see, huh.
Well, [chuckles] I don't know about that.
Brook and Jonathan are both born and raised
right here in Orange County, California,
where the housing market
is one of the most competitive in the nation.
I can't believe we get to work with her.
Yeah, I know. It's pretty awesome.
[narrator] Because they know they'll likely need to do some reno
to whatever house they choose,
they reached out to Jasmine for some help.
I've seen plenty of homeowners get in over their heads
trying to renovate their own homes.
[woman] Welcome to our mess of a house.
Oh, wow! This is more than I expected.
We have tripled the size of this kitchen.
Oh, my God! I am, like, shaking.
This is like my dream kitchen.
I want to show them a few renovation opportunities
and share my design ideas
to keep them from getting into any construction nightmares.
♪ Do what you want ♪
[Jonathan] We get to buy our first house with a pro, you know?
I hope we don't scare her off with everything we want.
-This is here. -Right.
[Jasmine] Oh, man, that's a tough one.
Hello!
-Thank you. -Yeah, you're welcome.
-Hi! -[Brook] How are you?
Thanks for coming out.
-Hi, welcome. -Hey.
-What's going on in here? -[Jonathan] Holy...
I know we've been talking about
-the possibility of a renovation... -[Brook] Yes.
...and just wanted you to see kind of what that entails.
This looks like a lot of work right here, though.
-[Jasmine chuckles] Obviously, like, this is what I do... -[Brook] Yeah.
...and these neighborhoods I've worked in for years and years.
So I think that will help us as we're trying to get into,
-you know, exactly what you're looking for. -[Jonathan] Yeah.
I'm very excited to work with Jasmine.
She's got a great creative mind.
She's very realistic and understands
what construction takes.
She can really help us see the possibilities.
Where are you currently living?
I live at my parents'.
She lives at her parents', you know,
it's what we have to do right now
in this market to save money, like...
-Yeah. -It's been a lot,
so we're excited
to not have to do that any more.
[Jonathan] Yeah, have our own place.
[Jasmine] How long have you been dating?
How did you decide to buy a house? Like, this is a big deal.
-Yeah, it might sound a little crazy... -Yeah.
...we've only been together for a year,
-but we have known each other for five. -Yeah.
So, hopefully, that gives everyone
-a little more confidence, but... -It's a little more six.
I mean, when you know, you know, right?
Even if you're young. Like, my husband and I,
we were roommates in college
and we've been roommates ever since.
We never moved out over 16 years,
so, I believe that they are making the right step
and I'm here for it.
So, what are you looking for?
[Brook] Three bedrooms would be great.
I do like more of an eclectic
kind of ranch style home,
something that has, like a natural charm already,
where I know I can build on the character it already has.
I like a craftsman.
It feels like that would be, like,
the ultimate, like, first home.
Those are very different.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
What about the location?
-We really want to be an Orange, so... -Yeah.
We always go to, like, the downtown Orange,
go to dinner, you know, cocktails.
[Brook] It's just somewhere
we've kind of grown up going to. It's...
[Jonathan] We know we're gonna have to pay for it.
I mean, I feel like I'd be comfortable
being at, like, 850.
all-in if we find the right spot.
[Brook] All-in 800,000.
That's kind of my max.
-Either way, you look at it, it's a lot of money. -Yeah.
-Unfortunately, in Orange,
it's not a lot of money.
-Yeah, I know. Which is crazy. -That's...
That is the crazy part.
[Brook] I'd rather spend less on the purchase price.
That way we have more room for renovations.
I'm willing to put in the work and make it what we want,
given the budget and the difficult location.
[Jonathn] I'm a commercial plumber.
I don't really want to come home
and work on the house a bunch,
so why not pay up front
for everything to be done and save time.
I don't know.
I don't see it.
-Okay. -[Brook] Yes.
We do want a big enough property to entertain.
I want a really cool open concept.
I want a big garage,
good enough to put a couple of cars, tools and you know...
[Brook] All the stuff, all the projects I can make him do.
-That's why you want a big garage, right? -[Jonathan] Yeah, that's...
-That's why I want the garage. -[chuckles]
It's probably not going to be possible
to get every single one of those things,
but I'm gonna try.
-We believe in you. -Yeah.
[both chuckle]
-No pressure. -Yeah.
[Jasmine] I think the hardest thing I'm up against is the location.
I mean, I'm gonna look in Orange
and I'm gonna try to show houses in Orange.
But for the budget that we have,
I think that their dollar might go a little further
if we go outside of the actual city limits.
♪ Only gets better ♪
♪ Only gets better for me ♪
[narrator] So, with the help of her real estate contacts,
Jasmine found a few homes that could work for them.
[Jasmine] Now you've noticed we're not in Orange.
Uh-huh, I... I have been noting that.
Okay, so we're just in Anaheim.
-[Brook] Right. -[Jasmine] This neighborhood,
I think you're really going to like
-if you'll have an open mind. Jonathan... -Mmhmm.
...I don't want you to be mad at me,
but this is a construction project.
It's a blank slate.
[Brook] I'm excited for that.
I guess we'll just have to see.
Yeah. All right. So here we are.
-[Brook] Just love that it's a cul-de-sac. -[Jonathan] Yep.
[upbeat music playing]
And the reasons they wanted to be in Orange:
the neighborhood and the community.
I believe this house has all that and then some.
-[Brook] I like it. -[Jonathan] It's nice.
[Brook] I like the wood on it. Almost looks cottage-like.
Garage is attached.
[Jonathan] Perfect. I can see myself
coming home from work here every day.
It is at $800,000.
-[Jonathan] Okay. -Okay, we're good there. Yeah.
[Jasmine] But remember, I told you in the car,
-it does need a lot of work, so... -[Brook] Okay.
[Jonathan] Hmm.
[upbeat music playing]
[Jonathan] Oh!
-[Brook] Oh. Okay. -[Jonathan] Um...
Looks like a whole lot of nothing.
[Brook] This is like a construction site.
I'm not exactly gonna be sitting on the couch
watching TV in here.
[Brook] Anytime soon.
-So, the previous owners started a renovation... -[Jonathan] Okay.
-...and they're not finishing it. -Oh.
-Okay. -Mmhmm.
-Brand-new windows throughout the whole house. -[Brook] Mmhmm.
-Okay. -[Jasmine] Which is cool.
The electrical is about halfway done being updated.
I don't know if this is too big of a project for them,
but it's about halfway done through a major renovation,
so there's an opportunity to do a project together
and really personalize the house.
If I can take them through and show them
the vision that I have for this house,
I think it might actually be a contender.
This is actually the kitchen.
-Was the kitchen. -[Jasmine] Was the kitchen.
-That's fair. -[Brook] Okay.
There's no ceiling.
-At some point, there was a wall... -[Brook] Okay.
...and they took the wall out.
-[Jasmine] The hard work, the heavy-lifting... -[Brook] Right.
-...has already been done. -[Brook] Right.
Once you close this kitchen up,
you kind of have this clean palate
to put your own kitchen in.
I mean, it's kind of hard to envision
[Jasmine] Here's what I'm thinking,
-Jonathan, you're a plumber. -Mmhmm.
[Jasmine] Plumbing's here on a nice big island.
This back wall, big pantry, a refrigerator.
This wall that's shared with the garage
becomes the range wall.
Okay. Well, I'm glad you're here. [chuckles]
I like the open concept.
Yeah, that'd be a really nice kitchen.
The plumbing, that's easy.
For a kitchen of this size and the amount of work
that it would have taken from the very beginning,
it probably would have been about $50,000.
But half the work's already done,
And to finish this entire kitchen
would probably be about $25,000.
I didn't think that we'd be
walking into a construction site.
But I do see the positive of it
already being demoed. It's a lot of costs.
So, they did it for us.
Yeah, but, I mean, how are we gonna live
in a house without a kitchen?
-[Jasmine] All right, so in here... -[Brook] Yeah.
...this is the bathroom for the two guest bedrooms.
[Brook] Oh, yellow.
-Yeah, so... -[chuckles] Not quite my color,
but we could change that.
You could use this bathroom the way it is
and then do this renovation in phases.
This is more what I was thinking.
-Like, put this on... -[Brook sighs]
...paint it, boom, done.
[upbeat music playing]
[Jasmine] So, this is the guest room.
It's a good size.
Definitely needs some resurfacing
-and finishing up the walls. -[both] Mmhmm.
-I'm gonna say it's not that big of a deal... -Yeah.
...but it's really not that big of a deal.
-[Jonathan] I don't know. -[Jasmine] All right.
You want to see the main bedroom?
-[Brook] Okay. -[Jonathan] I'm seeing another open wall...
-Yes. -...and then...
[Jasmine] But, like, imagine...
Just, like, close your eyes for a second,
imagine there's a door on the room,
and there's baseboards and everything's painted.
Jonathan, your eyes aren't closed.
Yeah, I don't know. I'm still pretty shocked about all this.
I... I don't know.
I feel like, "Are you just doing what Brook wants?
"Like, am I... Am I getting shoved to the side here?"
I just see a lot of dollar signs flying,
a lot of work going.
This is a lot.
[Jasmine] Definitely a lot of work.
But I do think it has a lot of potential,
especially because it has this en suite situation.
[Brook] Hey, you... You nailed it on character.
[Jonathan] Yes. Definitely got a lot of character for this room.
-This might be too much character. -A little too much.
-A little too much, yeah. -I might peel that off.
[Jonathan] You know, it'll be nice to have a bigger bathroom.
So this is actually where your furnace is.
-[Brook] Okay. -So a lot of my clients
will take an old furnace like this...
-Uh-huh. -...and put it up in the attic
and reclaim the space as square footage.
-Oh! -Okay.
Remembering that you don't have to do that now.
-Right, down the road, down the road. -Okay. Okay.
[upbeat music playing]
-This is your backyard. -Wow!
-This is big. -[Jonathan] Pretty good.
-[Brook] Every party is at our house. -[chuckles]
[Jasmine] Walk with me.
-[Brook] Oh, my gosh! -[Jonathan] Wow.
[Brook] We could have a pool.
-Could have two pools. -Oh, my gosh.
[chuckles] The backyard...
-Check. -Yeah, the backyard for sure.
[Brook] I don't know if we'll find something this big in Orange.
I'd still definitely like to try to get closer.
Maybe less work,
little bit more finished.
[upbeat music playing]
[narrator] So Jasmine lines up a house in the heart of Orange
that she thinks is more of a compromise.
[speaking indistinctly]
[Brook] Oh, my gosh! This house looks cute, huh?
[upbeat music playing]
This is so fun!
-[Jasmine] Are you surprised? -[Brook] Yes!
-How are you? -Here in Southern California.
-[Brook] I know, right? -[Jasmine] What a fun car.
-[Jonathan] Hi, how's it going? -[Brook] Thank you.
-[Jasmine] Oh, my goodness. -[Brook chuckles]
It's in Orange,
it's within their price range,
it has a lot of the things that Brook's looking for,
it has a lot of the things that Jonathan's looking for.
It's going to need some work,
but they could immediately move in,
work on it over time.
It's just a question of how much they're willing to live with
and for how long?
[Brook] I really like this detail
-on the wood, on the outside. -[Jonathan] Does look good.
Really a lot of charm, a lot of charm here.
-[Jonathan] Got a garage. -[Brook chuckles] Yeah.
-We're happy you found something in Orange. -Yeah.
Let's go ahead inside. Ready?
-Okay. -Yeah, let's go.
-[Jasmine] Come on in. -[Brook] Okay.
Ooh.
-Okay. Oh, wow! -Oh, wow! Look at that fireplace.
[Brook] Yeah, that's the first thing I noticed for sure.
This is cool. It's got a lot of character.
-[Jonathan] Yeah. -[Brook] Okay.
[Jonathan] I did notice this, though.
-[Brook] The, uh... What? -A little furnace.
So that means it doesn't have central air or heat.
-[Jasmine] Right. -...you know.
AC would be nice to have.
You didn't have AC on your list.
-No, I'm just kidding. -[all laughing]
-That's true. -It's true.
[upbeat music playing]
[Brook] Nice old tile, huh?
[Jonathan chuckles dryly] Yeah, that's interesting.
[Brook] Look at this, uh, oven behind you.
This is probably older than all of us.
[Jasmine] Here's what I think you could do.
You could take out this wall completely,
which would give you room for a nice big island
with seating, replace everything.
New cabinets, new countertops,
new backsplash, new appliances,
really add in some of the charm
that you want to have in this room.
It would take about $50,000 to upgrade this kitchen.
[Brook] That sounds like a full remodel.
I would be willing to do that.
That takes our whole budget, though.
[upbeat music playing]
[Jasmine] This is the guest bedroom.
It seems pretty big, actually, for a guest room.
-At night, it's gonna be real dark in here... -[Brook] Mmhmm.
...'cause there's no can lighting.
Just figuring out the lighting in this house,
it would be a challenge.
[Jonathan] I've never done them before.
-We could try. We'll put a lot of holes... -Don't end up on my show.
-[both laugh] -Don't do it.
[Jonathan speaks indistinctly]
We're gonna have a bunch of holes in the wall.
-[indistinct] -Yeah.
As far as electrical goes, you want to make sure
it's done professionally
because otherwise you have an electrical fire
-and that's that. -[Jonathan] Yeah, you don't want that.
-Okay, fine. I won't do it. -[Jasmine] Yeah.
So, for these two bedrooms, this is the bathroom here.
Whoa, that's weird. This used to be a tub.
Look at how low that shower valve is.
Turn it off... On and off with your foot?
It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
-All right, well, bathroom is an easy renovation? -No.
-No.
-No. Okay, so... -No.
I love Brook's enthusiasm,
but unfortunately, I don't think she really knows
what goes into a renovation.
She's definitely more of, like, a "Let's just do it. It's gonna be fine."
type of person, whereas Jonathan seems a little bit more calculated.
I... I think it's good. They're kind of Yin and Yang, right?
[Brook] The main bathroom feels tiny.
Personally, I can't imagine getting ready in this.
-Like, trying to blow dry your hair... -No way.
-...you crack your... -Yeah, right here.
...elbow right into the glass.
There is a way to make this bathroom work.
-[Brook] Okay. -It's not this way.
-Yeah. -Yeah, I really needed you here to say that, though,
because I probably would have freaked out without you.
But I would argue that the bathroom is functional.
You could move in and do the renovation
-when the time comes. -[Brook] Yeah.
[Jasmine] This is the main bedroom.
-Whoa. -[Jonathan] What the heck is that?
[Brook] It's a little weird.
[Jonathan] I feel like I'm in Vegas.
[Brook] That I actually like.
[Jonathan] You know, it's good size, everything.
-It's a good potential. -[Brook] Yeah.
This is nice.
-[Jonathan] I don't know if it's big enough, though. -[Brook] Oh, wow.
[Jasmine] And then this isn't necessarily your tree,
but in the city of Orange...
-[Brook] Yay! -...any fruit tree that's hanging over
-into your property, the fruit is yours. -Uh-huh.
-Oh! -Oh, nice.
So, this...
Here we go. Look at us in the city of Orange
eating an orange.
[all laughing]
[Jasmine] What are y'all thinking about this house?
I mean, it's pretty turnkey.
Like we could move in right now
you know, and do some stuff to it later.
Oh, I would want to do quite a few renovations.
I don't know, I think I would like to see something
maybe at the top end of our budget, you know,
-that doesn't need as much construction. -Okay.
[upbeat music playing]
[narrator] With that direction,
Jasmine takes them to see a home that needs less work,
but it may still require some compromise.
[Brook] Oh, no, not the mint paint.
-I actually kind of like this color. -Oh.
[upbeat music playing]
♪ Dive in ♪
[narrator] Today, Jasmine is showing Brook and Jonathan
something that needs less work
and is closer to Jonathan's price point,
so they can have an option that's truly move-in ready,
but it's another house outside the city of Orange.
[Jasmine] Technically in Anaheim, but we're close to Orange.
It does look ranch style,
-almost little craftsman. -Yeah.
Far as the budget goes,
we're $1 under your max budget.
-[Jonathan chuckles] Oh, wow. -[Brook] That's a lot of money.
I wanted to make sure that Jonathan saw something
that he could move into,
not have to do any work to,
and that was at the top of the budget.
But there's also a lot for Brook in this house.
-Wow. Open floor plan. -Oh, yeah.
-Pretty nice. -[Brook] I like it.
[Jasmine] Yeah, and it's bright in here, too.
-[Brook] This has some really cool characters to me. -Yeah.
You know, hanging out, I can still see through it.
[Jasmine] What do you think of the kitchen?
I like it. I mean, look at this island.
This feels open and nice.
[Jasmine] I mean, this is a turnkey kitchen.
It is. I won't argue there.
[Jonathan] I feel like it's good to go.
[upbeat music playing]
[Jasmine] This is your first bathroom.
-[Jonathan] It's a little awkward. -[Brook] A little bit.
[Jasmine] But, um, you know... [clears throat]
[Brook] It's pretty big, actually.
Okay, the color's obviously a little bit jarring,
but that can change quickly.
I actually kind of like this color.
Oh. Well, we could talk about that later.
[laughs]
-Uh-oh. -Hmm.
[Jasmine] Guest room.
[Brook] A little small.
Hold on, what's going on here?
It looks like they painted
and they didn't put the plate cover back on.
Okay. We're gonna get electrocuted.
No, you're not.
But it definitely would need that.
-An inspector would call that. -[Brook] Okay.
[Jasmine] Okay. So here's the other guest bedroom.
[Brook] Oh, no, not the mint paint again.
[Jonathan] Yeah, look at that, huh?
-[Jasmine] Come on in here. -[Brook] Okay.
[Jasmine] It's a little funky.
[Brook] Oh. Oh, another...
door on the toilet.
Where do I go? [chuckles]
-[Jasmine] Right? -[Brook] It's awkward.
-[Jasmine] This is the main bathroom... -[Brook] Oh, God.
...but it's also connected to the hallway.
-[Brook] Uh-huh. -So it's an en suite...
-Okay. Kind of... -...but it's...
I mean, you wouldn't want to be sitting here
and open this door.
Yeah, you better lock it, or else you're getting hit.
Reconfiguring this so it works,
it's gonna be 20, $25,000.
It really sucks to think we're at the top of our budget
and this is the type of bathroom
that we have to deal with.
Okay.
There's no wow factor.
[Jonathan] It is a little small.
It's definitely not what I had in mind
for our bedroom.
[Jasmine] A queen bed in here,
you would still have enough room for nightstands,
A king bed, though, it would get real tight.
[upbeat music playing]
[Brook] Okay.
-I see what you're doing here. -[Jonathan] Oh, wow.
[Brook] This is huge.
This is, like, the biggest patio ever.
-[Jonathan] Yeah, this is a nice backyard. -[Brook] Mmhmm.
-[Jonathan] Really big. -It's not the city of Orange,
-but this backyard helps a lot. -Yeah.
It is ready to move in right now.
[Brook] Mmhmm. You gave us some really good options,
but we're gonna go home, do some thinking
and write out the pros and cons.
♪ You can live a life So fabulous ♪
♪ All day, all day So fabulous ♪
♪ With the one you love So fabulous ♪
-[Jasmine] Hello! Hi, hi, hi! -[Jonathan] Hey, how's it going?
So, how is the decision-making going?
It's been a little hard.
There's a lot to think about.
This is probably the most important decision of our lives.
Let's start with the first house that we saw.
The cul-de-sac house.
[upbeat music playing]
[Brook] It's my price point that I wanted, at 800.
So I'm happy.
It's not in the city of Orange.
[Jonathan] We wanted something more turnkey,
not a full-blown renovation right off the bat.
[Brook] But I do kind of like that it's a blank slate.
We can really make it our own right off the bat.
And that backyard really did blow us out the way.
[Jasmine] Let's talk about the next house.
-It was in the city of Orange. -[Brook] Yes.
[upbeat music playing]
[Brook] It is slightly under our budget, which is amazing.
[Jonathan] It's pretty much move-in ready.
-Any negatives? -I was taken back by the showers.
And the main bathroom was small and weird.
[Brook] It doesn't have the biggest backyard.
It definitely needs some work.
Okay, let's talk about the Blue Ranch.
[upbeat music playing]
[Brook] It's hard. It's not in the city of Orange,
and I don't want to spend our full budget up front.
Of all the houses,
this was the most turnkey, right?
I... I enjoyed this one.
It's a good entertaining space.
The kitchen layout was nice, backyard is big enough
and covered where you can hang out.
[Brook] But the main concerns are in the size of the rooms.
You know, they're all really small,
and then you go into the primary bathroom
and it's just a mess.
But it was ready to go.
We can move in there right now.
This is the first time that
Jonathan and Brook are going to be living together
and [inhales deeply] that's a big step.
I don't know which way this is going to go.
[upbeat music playing]
[doorbell rings]
-[Jasmine] Hello! -[Brook] Hi.
[Jonathan] Hey!
-[Brook] Welcome, come on in. -Hi, friends!
Surprise! We went with the cul-de-sac house.
I know it's a little bit shocking,
but I love that it was a blank slate
so we can get in and start making it our own right away.
[Jonathan] I gave in because I love Brook
and I want to start our future together.
And although it isn't the city of Orange,
honestly, I love everything about it.
How's it going so far?
It might not look that different in here.
A lot of the work has been under the house
or outside the house, so you can't really see it,
but he's been working on some plumbing.
-Just what you wanted to do. -[Jonathan] Yeah, exactly.
The house was on the market for 800,000.
[Brook] In such a tough market,
we did have to go a little above asking,
but I think it's really worth it.
We're gonna be able to grow a lot in this home.
Hopefully, our renovations should be done in the next month,
and we don't have to drive anywhere to see each other.
What's the average length and width of an island?
8x5 is huge.
So go, maybe, 5 ft from this corner. Let's see how that feels.
We're pretty much gonna do the exact kitchen design that Jasmine gave us.
We both fell in love with it.
[Jonathan] Having Jasmine help us
is like having a magic genie here.
We're just so lucky.
I have one little housewarming gift.
-Okay. -[Jonathan] Wow.
[Brook] Oh, my God!
It's been so fun to be
a part of Brook and Jonathan's journey.
I love house hunting, so to be able to do it
and help people who are buying their first home, it's awesome.
[Brook] I love them. Oh, my gosh.
-[Jonathan] That's gonna look great. -Yeah.
We need to hurry up and get this done so I can put these in.
[chuckles]