Notice how every potential buyer on the show is actually a couple, even if only one of these people is actually buying the home? That’s because when it comes to casting on the Property Brothers, singles in need of a home need not apply unless they have a camera ready wise-cracking, a hard-headed friend with loads of opinions that everyone (no one) wants to hear who can enhance their friend’s decision-making process.
The “sidekick” is someone to banter with, collude with, consult with and, as each show is required to have, someone to turn to and complain, “This is a total gut job.” This a non-negotiable part of each show to which all applicants must comply with. Most of the time, it’s not a concern, as most home buyers are couples anyway and yet, the episodes when a parent, sibling or friend have been dragged onto the program are always a treat.
Some of the house-hunting is totally fake
While many of the twins’ potential clients are still shopping around for a house, it seems most of them already have the house they want picked-out, if not under contract. In fact, the application buyers have to fill out to appear on the show asks these potential buyers to submit the address of the property they want to renovate with the presumption that many, if not most, will already be in the proceedings of buying a home.
But how does that translate into the blockbuster show everyone loves so much? The short answer is that the walking-around, touring other houses part of the show is, well, just for show as is the protracted, overly dramatic decision-making process between the clients as to which home they’ll choose. It also translates to many cases of couples having to go through the “acting” part of reality TV involving being torn apart by this apparently darned if you do, darned if you don’t yet overly produced and predetermined decision.
Drew isn't really making all those real estate deals
This may be obvious, especially after the last point made above, that a good number of the buyers on the show are not always using Drew as their real estate agent. Just to be clear. He may be the helm on the occasions when his clients don’t have a home under contract already, as long as they’re purchasing the home in an area where he is licensed as a realtor.
For the show, if you see back and forth negotiations with offers and counteroffer to happen on the episode, it is probably real. But for the people who show up to set with the keys to their new home already basically in hand, Drew is just there for comic relief as he makes fun of Jon and to look pretty on camera, which is fairly adept at.
They don't renovate the whole house
Don’t get us wrong, the Property Brothers do finish the renovation projects they started. All the houses are of sound foundation structure and are definitely livable the twins are done with them. But only about half of the house-maybe three or four rooms total-gets remodeled, renovated and decked out with the bells and whistles with assistance with the brothers help. The big reveal at the end shows more than what’s just on camera, with the camera shot going into a few choice places and avoiding what is still in shambles.
The buyers get to pick which rooms the brothers renovate, but there are rules to this. For example, buyers can get either the kitchen or bathroom redone but not both, which means if they want to appear on the show, clients must make some tough decisions before the cameras are even rolling. Buyers will have to decide where they want all those luxury touches to go: either where they eat or where they, well, do the opposite?
The Big Mid-renovation Surprise
The Property Brother’s formula usually takes on two letdowns per show. The first is when the potential buyers are played into thinking they could actually afford the first house the twins show them, although, as stated before, the buyers know this is imminent. The second disappointment usually happens halfway through the renovation process when the poor couple learns that something has gone terribly awry regarding the project.
A Reddit thread post by a prospective show contestant indicated that a 20 percent, in-case-of-emergency contingency fee is a non-negotiable requirement for any and all participants on Property Brothers. When the buyers make their wish lists at the beginning of the show, they are likely made aware in advance they probably won’t be getting everything they’ve asked for no matter how much they beg or look destroyed in front of the camera when Jon notifies them of the bad news.