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Controversial San Antonio real estate investor and reality TV star Armando Montelongo is launching a new television series later this month that he says exposes “the really dirty secrets” of his longtime specialty, flipping houses for a profit.
Montelongo, who starred in multiple seasons of the hit A&E series “Flip This House” and went undercover on CBS’ “Undercover Boss” in 2015, now is delivering his own creation, “Flipping Nightmares.”
The first episode is available online, starting today, at FlippingNightmares.com.
“When I did A&E, there was an episode called ‘Little House of Horrors,’ which the network initially didn’t want to do because it was about a woman who had 13 cats living in her house for nine months,” he said in a phone interview. “They said the house was too dangerous and dirty to put on television.
“Yet when it did air, it turned into the second-highest-rated episode.”
In fact, he said, A&E’s series “Hoarders” was inspired by that installment.
So in his new “Flipping Nightmares,” Montelongo said he intends to show “the worst-of-the-worst houses” and other network no-nos, such as “vagrants living in vacant houses, collapsed sewage systems and dead animals.”
He also said he wanted to address a constant irritant: skeptics.
“When I’m out and about, it’s somewhat common to hear people say house flipping isn’t real … your training systems are not for real and you’re scamming people,” he said.
(A group of ex-students has sued Montelongo in federal court, alleging the advice they received in his real estate seminars was worthless.)
Season one, which was shot in San Antonio, will be 13 episodes long; the first will air at 4 p.m. Feb. 18 on KSAT.
Montelongo said he decided to distribute the show by buying the media time himself so he can control the content. He believes the guidelines of many networks are too constricting, he said, and his goal was to make both a realistic and entertaining show.
“It’s also a way to build our brand 100 percent,” he said.
In addition to San Antonio, “Flipping Nightmare” will air in 11 markets across the country — including Houston, Boston and New York.
In the half-hour, he makes like scowling television chef Gordon Ramsey and challenges skeptics to try flipping houses themselves. It’s also a way to flip people, he said, and turn someone into “a believer in what we’re doing.”
Montelongo provides the house and money for repairs, but those challenged have to do all the work — with the help of contractors, painters and other experts they choose. If they can flip the house on time and on budget, they get to keep the profits.
If they can’t accomplish the task successfully, they agree to give up something important.
“In the case of our show, the people featured have something even more to lose than money,” Montelongo said. “They lose their livelihood.”
In one episode, Joseph, a Realtor, says “house flipping is old school.” Armando puts Joseph to the test— with Joseph’s Realtor’s license on the line.
In the episode available online now, one of Montelongo’s own employees, a computer programmer named James, puts his job where his mouth is after Armando overhears him saying “any Neanderthal can flip a house.”
He decides to put the cocky James to the test, using a San Antonio home that looks fairly nice on the outside but is a mess inside. The floors are in horrendous shape, and the house if full of wall-to-wall rubble. The bathroom and kitchen also are hideous, not to mention inoperable.
“Welcome to James’ living hell,” Montelongo tells his wife, Whittney, who’s also featured in the series.
“I don’t know how you can expect him to do this,” Whittney says. “Isn’t this his first time?”
Making matters worse, James chooses to save money by doing all the work himself. As you can imagine, that leads to a disastrous situation — and possibly the loss of his job.
Jeanne Jakle’s column appears Wednesdays and Sundays in mySA.
jjakle@express-news.net
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