At 38, wheelchair user Chad Sloan—who was paralyzed following a dive off a pier—is firmly established in the real estate and home-flipping arena. Moreover, his flipping talents recently have been featured on Flip that House, a half-hour reality-TV series that chronicles a given home flip from its initial purchase to its restoration and final sale.
Broadcast on both TLC and Discovery Home Channel, Flip that House recently completed its fourth season. Texas native Charles Ortiz, the show’s executive producer, said during a recent telephone interview that initially the program focused on flippers in the L.A. area. During the last two seasons, though, the program’s creators have worked to show a better cross-section of the nation’s home flippers, including the South Carolina-based Sloan, whose February 2008 FTH episode weighed in as one of the show’s most popular to date.
Flip It, Flip It Good!
“He seems to know his stuff,” said Ortiz, referring to Sloan, who’s been in real estate 13 years and involved in flipping for 12. “From my perspective, the good thing about a guy like Chad Sloan is that when he says he’s gonna get it done and on budget, it actually happens,” he observed.
The green-eyed Sloan, Ortiz added, “does his homework and he doesn’t go into (flipping) any property without it.”
Such reliability is a godsend for TV-production crews, observed the FTH producer, who truly never know how long they will be on a given location—or flip site—because the popular “buy-sell” trend is a business where one can expect the unexpected and extended delays.
A 1993 graduate of the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s degree in political science, Sloan initially set out to become a lawyer, not a real estate pro. But after passing the Law School Admission Test, he said he opted to take a quick break from his law studies. It was during that self-imposed hiatus that his current career was born.
Making the Numbers Work
“I like real estate a lot,” Sloan said in a recent telephone interview from his home office. “But I really like flipping houses; I like to envision it. When I buy one, people think, ‘You are crazy! What are you thinking?’ But it’s like bringing something back to life and making it look good. If the numbers don’t work out, I won’t take it on . . . but I really like making that transformation.”
Thanks to his appearances on Flip that House, which Ortiz said is TLC’s most-watched program, Sloan’s popularity has now extended beyond his Columbia home region and he’s begun offering his services as a home-flipping consultant to those wanting to give the popular rehab business a try.
“It’s a Southern thing for me,” Ortiz remarked, regarding Sloan’s viewer appeal. “He’s got a lot of charisma, he’s very likeable and he’s in a wheelchair doing more than most able-bodied people do,” including taking part in home demolition whenever he can.
A View of House-Flipping, Southern Style
Additionally, Ortiz continued, “What I like about Chad’s story is the relatability factor. He’s able to hone in on something, a property that is set at a realistic house price, put money into it, and then sell it for a reasonable price. When I joined Flip that House in season two, it was very important for me to be vocal about getting out of (Los Angeles) more, and Chad helps with that voice.”
Adding to the show’s popularity is the fact that house flipping, today more than ever, is big business in spite of the sagging economy. And while most homebuyers will often shy away from properties that are in time-consuming disrepair, “flippers” such as Sloan are eager to purchase these houses, quickly oversee needed restoration and rehab with an eye on the budget, then promptly sell the like-new homes for a profit.
On the downside, however, real estate-themed shows on today’s cable airwaves—including programs such as Flip that House—are sometimes credited with spawning an influx of first-timers into the home-flipping market and criticized for glamorizing a business that’s brimming with unforeseen risk.
As for Sloan, who incidentally relishes his stints on FTH, “I think (such TV shows) do both things,” he said. “I mean, sometimes it goes both ways—first-time flippers do well or lose their shirts, because they thought it was much easier to do than it actually is. But sometimes (some of the flipping shows), they just have too much drama for even me,” he added, chuckling.
To view full episodes of Flip that House online, visit http://video.discovery.com/.
- Readers who enjoyed this article also may be interested in Top 10 Tips for First-Time Flippers
Lisa L. Rollins - Texas native Lisa L. Rollins, Ph.D., is an award-winning feature writer, interviewer and journalism educator.
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