Richard Davis is the head of Trademark Properties in Charleston, South Carolina. He buys houses that are "fixer-uppers" and turns them into attractive homes very quickly. This type of quick buy and sell is referred to in the real estate business as "flipping a house", where the show gets its name.
The show does a nice job of showing what is often involved in buying and selling properties: inspections, getting owner to sell, permit issues, neighborhood thieves, etc. The first couple seasons of "This Old House" with Bob Villa was WGBH buying a house, fixing it up, and re-selling it while trying to make a profit. Same concept here, but the producers feel they need to add some reality show basics as well: watching co-workers skeet shoot, some kind of verbal conflict every show, but every one is happy at the end. The conference meetings are also a bit much. These are the parts of the show that look staged.
The producers were also smart to include two of Richard's female assistants in all of the episodes. Ginger is a young woman that helps with finding properties and closing the deals on purchases. She appears to be Richard's protégé. Dawn is a little older and in the middle of a pregnancy as the show starts. She is the project leader that makes sure all the construction on properties goes smoothly. A no-nonsense kind of person that is perfect as a team leader.
I hope A&E picks this up for more seasons. The show puts a "realistic" face to all the HGTV and PBS fluff that shows how to turn a closet into a beautiful home in 30 minutes. "This Old House" used to do this but not for a long time. Buying and selling a home is a big deal and there is a lot of work that goes into working on a house. I am sure that there are many more people that make Trademark Properties what it is today. Hopefully, we can see more of these folks.
