TV show follows home's makeover from eye-sore to eye-popping
Camarillo mortgage broker sent in video
By Mira Reverente Special to the Acorn

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION- Antonio Skeeters, a Camarillo resident and senior loan officer with Camarillo-based Consumers Mortgage Realty, watches as the hosts of The Learning Channel's reality television show "Flip That House" film a segment of the show in a Newbury Park home that will be featured in an upcoming episode. Skeeters said the homeowners are optimistic about selling the home regardless of the recent real estate market slowdown.

Gone are the abundant weeds and overgrown trees in the front and back yards.

The once wild landscaping that surrounded the home on Gerst Drive in Newbury Park has given way to a meticulous lawn and an assortment of carefully arranged plants.

The stamped walkway and driveway lead inside the 40yearold house with its newly installed Brazilian cherry flooring and countless other upgrades.

Both inside and out, the three-bedroom, two-bath house has gone through a total transformation in the past two months. Peeling paint, outdated fixtures and heavily stained linoleum floors have all been removed and replaced.

The home's dramatic renovation from shabby to chic was filmed for an episode of The Learning Channel's reality television show "Flip That House."

The series follows homeowners who purchase and renovate out-of-style or rundown homes for a quick sale. The process is known in the real estate industry as "flipping," and with the right home and the right renovations, sellers can make a tidy profit.

That's exactly what David and Deborah Marquardt wanted to do.

To make that happen, the couple enlisted the help of Antonio Skeeters, who works for Consumers Mortgage, a Camarillo mortgage firm, to purchase the fixer-upper for $419,000 with plans to invest another $60,000 for renovations.

Skeeters submitted a video of the pre-renovated house to "Flip That House" for consideration, and the show's producers were soon calling.

"We were drawn to this particular house because of its dramatic transformation potential," said Louis Goldberg, the show's producer. "We are always on the lookout for houses that look promising. The renovation projects have to be substantial and engaging enough to carry an entire episode."

A film crew shot the episode's finale last Tuesday.

"We actually finished the task in seven weeks and a day, but it was time and money well spent, as you can see," Skeeters said while he led the camera crew through the newly renovated home. "We handpicked everything ourselves, from the flooring to the fixtures."

Bob Boyter and Diana Bluhm of Camarillo-based Cornerstone Properties are handling the home's sale.

"So many things were not working in this house before," Boyter said. "The old floor plan did not have ceiling lights, and the bedroom carpet was old and worn out."

The bedrooms now have centralized lighting and wall-to-wall carpeting.

The walls have been retextured, with neutral paint to match the rest of the house. The master bathroom includes travertine stone tiles and brushed bronze fixtures.

The house was put on the market recently at $549,500. A sale at that price would net the Marquardts about $70,000.

Despite the real estate slump, Bluhm is optimistic, "Even with the tough housing market right now, I have confidence that this house will sell to the right person."

For more information about the house property, call Boyter at (805) 279-0663 or Bluhm at (805) 795-5660.