HGTV’s Drew, Jonathan Scott Help Property Owners in Need in BACKED BY THE BROS
By Movieguide® Contributor
HGTV’s most famous twins, PROPERTY BROTHERS Drew and Jonathon Scott, are back for another TV reno show, BACKED BY THE BROS.
This time around, the bros are helping people who are in over their heads with their home and property projects.
“In each of the 10 episodes, the Scotts choose between two potential real estate investments,” TV Insider explained. “They’ll meet with owners and assess the properties to decide who to back with all their resources and network of designers, trade contacts, and a warehouse full of construction materials.”
Movieguide® previously reported about the show, which came out on June 5:
“You’ve never seen a show like this on HGTV because these people are literally at the brink, where they’re going to lose everything,” Jonathan said during an appearance on the TODAY show. “We’re coming in to try and rescue them.”
Drew previously noted in an HGTV article that the brothers are spending more than just their time to help people in need. Their reputation and resources are on the line, too.
“So many people we talk to, whether they are clients or friends, everyone we’ve heard from,” Jonathan said to TV Insider. “They’ve said, ‘I wish I could invest in real estate or convert my garage to make a new revenue stream.’ Everybody loves the idea but doesn’t know how to jump in.”
“With this show, we’re finding a lot of people who are diving in not knowing what they are doing and on the brink of losing everything. They’ve made some mistakes and overspent,” he continued.
One of the families on the show bought a property and planned to build an apartment there. They didn’t know the property wasn’t zoned to have that kind of structure. They spent over $150,000 and all of their savings.
“We bring our experiences and resources and help pull them out of that hole they’ve dug themselves into. Every story is different. That’s what makes this exciting,” Jonathan said.
Drew added, “We made a lot of mistakes over the years, and we’ve been doing this for over 25 years. In the beginning, when we didn’t know, we were overspending on projects. We had a property we thought we could do one thing with and turned out we couldn’t.”
“We have one of our homeowners in the exact situation we were in. They didn’t do their due diligence, as they didn’t realize they weren’t allowed to do what they wanted. All of a sudden they paid for this project that wasn’t going to yield what they thought it would.”
Now, the brothers get to be mentors, which is what they wished they had when they were younger. But the show’s property owners don’t always follow the brother’s advice.
“As you know with our shows, we are very hands-on,” Drew said. “During this process, there were times I had to stop myself and say, ‘Okay just because they are not doing what we’re suggesting doesn’t mean this isn’t still an investor to help.’ This is their project, and they can do what they want at the end of the day. It is so tough.”
“When I see someone making a mistake that I know is a mistake and will regret down the road and not willing to take our advice, it’s hard,” Drew said. “There is this one episode with a 21-year-old who saved up some money and made money and got his first investment property. His name is Jon, so we kept making fun of him because Jon was him back in our early days of investing.”
The young man didn’t heed the brother’s advice, which was hard for them to watch.
“In some of these deals, they’re spending tens of thousands of dollars on things that will not get them a penny more. It is tough,” Drew finished.
Jonathan said, “In this game, everything comes down to the dollar and the numbers. You can not overspend or you won’t recoup that back and make a bad investment. Why would you go through this whole process if you’re not going to make any money in the end?”
Jonathan told PEOPLE on June 4, “In the show, some of these people who have no experience do the exact opposite of what we’re suggesting. Then it comes back and hits them in the face. It’s so frustrating because we’re not taking over these projects, we’re trying to assist these people to learn on their own and learn from their own mistakes.”
“Following our advice is key. He (Jon) did learn in the end and came out with a good investment, which I’m glad,” he continued.
One man had an apartment building that burned down. The insurance company promised a rebuild, but it would have been a “worse-off investment,” so the brothers stepped in with another idea.
“We’re not just investing in these folks because the property has potential. We’re investing in people we really do feel can benefit from what we are bringing to the table, but also improve their skills for the future. Jon is now on a path to being incredibly successful, but he learned the hard way with some of these things. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it,” Jonathan said.
Drew said, “It was tough because we have different pros and cons to every project. Jonathan and I also didn’t agree on who we should back, so it was some good back and forth. It’s the person and type of investment.”
“At the end of the day, we’re not here to help someone with their own personal house,” he continued. “We’re trying to help people get into investing. There is a lot of opportunity.”
In the early days, the brothers found it very difficult to navigate property renovations and investments, as they had no one to guide them.
“We really didn’t have anybody. That was the struggle. Eventually, I went to school for construction and design,” Jonathan said.
“That’s when I had aha moments on the construction side. When it came to investing in real estate, Drew and I were doing all our research. We were asking questions.”
They even fell for the infomercials that promise millions without spending a dime, which was mostly rubbish.
“But we discovered some things that did work and allowed us to buy,” Jonathan said. “We bought our very first investment property at 18 years old with $250 out of pocket. That’s where you can assume a mortgage without qualifying, which you can’t do anymore.”
“But it shows that there are a lot of different ways you can get into real estate more creatively. You don’t have to have a tunnel vision view where there is only one way save up, put down 25 or 50 percent. There are other ways to be successful,” he said.
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