Disclaimer: I'm not associated with Trademark Properties, Richard Davis, A&E, TLC, or anything else connected with anything else. I'm just a girl watching a show. And that's that.
This episode is called Stepping Up. Or perhaps it should’ve been called “Stepping in it.”
The acquisitions team views slides of various houses. Each team member gives an opinion of what they are seeing, because as Richard says, “If you don’t have an opinion, you don’t have a job.” They agree to buy a house in Greenville, South Carolina.
Ginger is originally from Greenville, so she’s pretty excited about being able to work in her hometown. She’s been with the company for seven years, and has worked her way up from being an intern. Richard thinks she’s ready to manage a job on her own. Father’s Day is coming up, and he’d like to take his kids to a Clemson game. Ginger is confident she can handle it.
The twist? He also gives Dan a chance to run the construction site. It’ll be his first time as well.
(This is going to be a car wreck. During the interviews, Dan doesn’t look scary. In order to run these sites, you gotta look like you could easily beat the shit outta the contractors. Even I know that, and I’m just a girl watching a TV show.)
“Yeah, pretty much, this is the worst looking house in the neighborhood,” Ginger says, getting out of her car. Having no keys, she breaks into the house by climbing through a window. Dan arrives with his two dogs. Ginger has brought her little dog to the site as well. Dan and Ginger bond over their love of animals. Put your money in the kitchen and bath, Ginger says. New appliances. They cut to Richard, who confidently says once again that while Ginger is with a rookie, he’s sure she can handle it.
(Nope, she’s screwed. Dan is the type of guy you want your daughter to date. He needs a tattoo, at least. Maybe a scar on his face. Something to make him look scary. These contractors are going to run rough-shot over him.)
The house has a Mother-in-Law suite, but they have no keys to the apartment. Dan opens a window, and a horrible stench leaks from the apartment. Ginger finds a note on the door that says, “Jason, call your mother.”
Is there a dead body inside?
(Someone has killed their mother-in-law. I just know it. Where’s Vance with his metal detector? Where’s that psychic from the Georgetown episode?)
Coming back from the commercial break, Ginger and Dan have somehow located a key. As they open a door, dogs and cats run out of the apartment. Someone has left the animals there! Bastards! Dan calls the Humane Society and they arrive to pick up the abandoned animals. From what Ginger and Dan are able to surmise, the previous occupant had a drug problem. They immediately get busy, since there’s only four days to work on it. The apartment is stripped, washed and cleaned.
Richard visits the house for the first time. He has given Dan explicit instructions that the house should not look like a duplex. Evidently, the place has an extra door to it. Walking through the house with Dan, he notices that there has been no progress on the removal of the extra door. Richard also kicks a wall off the screened-in porch, which ruins Ginger’s plans for that part of the house. As a result, Ginger doubts the rest of her decisions about the house.
(Is there such a thing as a real estate internship? That strikes me as odd. I don’t know why…)
Richard and the kids are at the Clemson World Series Game. They keep showing statues and signs that say Omaha.
(I’m clueless. Are they in Nebraska?)
Richard’s three kids are there, along with four of their friends. He tells us how a friend’s family took him to a Super Bowl game when he was a kid. It meant a great deal to him.
Meanwhile, back at the house, two guys show up and ask Dan if they can work. Dan says sure and gives them the task of putting on the shoe molding. Of course, they aren’t very good. Of course, they’re too slow, and of course, Dan doesn’t fire him. Richard says this was the best Father’s Day he’s ever had. He is so glad he left the job site to Ginger.
(They are SO taking advantage of poor Dan. Hope Ginger makes him fire the workers.)
The caption suddenly says, “One Day Left.”
(My fiancé Jethro bursts out laughing, shakes his head and walks into the kitchen.)
Dan finally fires the off-the-street shoe molders. (It’s about freaking time!) They’ve delayed everything.
Ginger needs to put new tile on the bathroom, but the tile guy can’t meet their deadline. “Putting an investment in these tiles without getting rid of these floors would be like putting whipped cream on an onion.” He shakes his head. She needs to find a new tile guy.
Richard is back in town and on his way. Everyone scrambles to complete the house. The extra door is finally taken off and the area is filled in. When Richard finally arrives, he makes peace with the little apartment. Ginger doesn’t want to put anymore money into the place. He tells her to put some throw rugs on the floor.
Day of the Open House. Still a ton of stuff to be done. Dan has decided to work on the porch himself. Richard thinks this is a great idea, but is it? Dan thinks that this will save the project money, but will it?
Ginger’s dog got sheared. They show before and after shots of the dog. Richard looks down at the dog and tell him that he never would’ve done it to him. Funny.
The Open House ad was supposed to be in the paper, but alas, it isn’t. Richard and others go into town to recruit people to come to the open house. Finally, someone calls Richard to tell him that the ad is in the Metro section of the paper.
A painter is helping Dan put together the porch. Richard says that this is the definition of teamwork. A new tile guy is busy putting tile on the wall.
Ten minutes until the Open House. Richard says that they can do it, but there’s no sales team. Construction people are still on the site. Someone is letting people inside the house, and Richard still doesn’t have a price set for it. He’s mad. He keeps talking about how you can’t buy real estate off the net.
(Do people really buy real estate off the net? Richard’s right. That is stupid.)
The asking price for the house will be much higher than planned. Richard gives Ginger and Dan props for doing it all on their own. Richard has no regrets about handing the reigns over to them.
Most inspirational saying: Doing what everyone else does makes you average.
What I learned: It’s great to help people, but they’ve got to prove themselves once they get their foot in the door.
What I wish someone else learned: Sure hope someone has told Dan that he should’ve fired those guys earlier. Dan’s a nice guy and all, but you know…
Curious moment: Now we know how they go about buying a house, I hope they show us their evaluation process after a project is done. Do they go over their mistakes? Do they talk about what they would’ve done differently?
Worst commercial: Cheryl Ladd for nomenopause.com. She looks weird, but not as weird as Farrah.
Funniest moment: Ginger’s dog, Jack getting sheared.
Final Verdict: Richard’s a tough teacher, but I think those are the best mentors. Still, Ginger had a lot to deal with this time.
It’s interesting how the “plot” of this reality show tends to follow the ebb and flow of a conventional story. Skillful editing, I’d say.
Next week’s show will feature the regular crew, including Dawn and Vance. Cool.
For more on The Real Deal, click here.
Richard taking off to Nebraska maybe kept him from doing some fool thing like over-chemicalizing a swimming pool, like he did last week.
Posted by: Jethro | April 30, 2007 at 10:19 AM