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‘Flip This House!’ propels Trademark to national spotlight
By Holly Fisher
Supplements Editor
Trademark Properties’ founder, Richard C. Davis, never doubted his new TV show would be a success.
The James Island real estate firm is the focus of a new series on A&E called “Flip This House!” The show, which premiered July 24, follows Trademark’s investment division as it buys rundown homes, quickly renovates them and sells them for a profit.
In the first episode, the team remodels a home on Stone Post Road on James Island in a two-week period and then sells it for $190,000 profit.
The 13-episode series will follow Trademark as it renovates more homes in the Lowcountry and throughout South Carolina. Davis hopes this first season will be one of several that tracks Trademark’s progress as it expands across the United States.
The show received little promotion on A&E, and Davis says the network told him it was less interested in ratings and more interested in building an audience over time. But Davis was not surprised when the network called two days after the show to report initial ratings looked great.
"The premiere of 'Flip This House!' on on A&E Network became the highest-rated, most-watched series premiere among all A&E lifestyle programs," says Vicky Kahn, A&E spokeswoman. "It also finished as the top lifestyle series premiere among adults 25-54."
Viewing the expansion
It seems everything Davis touches turns to gold.
He plans to take his 14-year-old company nationwide and has targeted cities in North Carolina, California, Wyoming, Arizona, New Jersey, Vermont, Virginia and Florida.
But for Davis, expansion is more than opening an office or selling a franchise. It is about finding the right person to lead the office. Davis grew up on James Island and thinks his local ties to the area have made his company all the more successful.
“I couldn’t do this in Summerville,” he says.
So anyone wanting to purchase area rights and open a Trademark office will need those ties to the local community. “I want to recreate 300 to 500 other offices just like this with 500 Richard Davises who are from the area, invested in the local community and who embody the community they grew up in.”
Trademark has representatives working in its James Island office that handle real estate deals in the South Carolina towns and cities where they were raised.
“No matter how much knowledge you have, you can’t match that local knowledge,” Davis says. “If you didn’t grow up in that town, you’re not getting the job (of overseeing the office).”
After a local owner purchases area rights to a Trademark office for $50,000 to $125,000, the owner then would be expected to hire ambitious, smart people—who may or may not be from the local area, Davis says.
He makes a conscious effort to hire people who are as ambitious as he is. Davis looks for people who will speak their mind and are not afraid to challenge his decisions.
Davis views his company as a pie—everyone is on the same level, just working in different slices or divisions of the company.
He isn’t one for hierarchy and organizational charts. And he prides himself on creating a fun working environment where employees are happy and well compensated.
The company deals primarily in what Davis classifies as “acquisitions” or the buying and investing in properties and “dispositions” or selling properties. The key to Trademark’s success is Davis’ knack for spotting trends and staying ahead of the real estate game.
“Anything that is hot right now, I got into a couple years ago,” he says. “My job is trending. Real estate is a cycle—get in, get out and go home.”
Success as a team
Trademark—with about 40 employees—uses the slogan “teamwork is our trademark.” The team effort is evident in “Flip this House!,” as employees work together to research properties, determining which ones to purchase, renovate and resell.
Together, they worked late into the night to complete renovations to the James Island house to meet the two-week deadline.
Davis says this TV series will propel his nationwide expansion efforts and that was his plan all along.
Davis developed the idea for the series two years ago. Working with his brother, a Hollywood art director in the movie business, the two created a pilot episode and started shopping it to A&E, Discovery (for its TLC network) and HGTV.
Davis has a fair amount of creative control and involvement in the filming process.
The first show was taped last fall and more episodes for the first season are still being filmed.
Davis expects to roll out his expansion plans within the next six months. He is eager to share the Trademark recipe with others around the country.
It has taken him 17 years in the real estate industry to get to this point, and Davis wants to help others be successful faster by providing capital and resources early on.
“I want to teach people how to make money running a real estate company. If it will work here (in James Island), it will work anywhere,” he says. “We’ve built a better mousetrap, and we want to share it.”
“Flip This House!” is on A&E at 6 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. Saturday.
Holly Fisher is the supplements editor for the Business Journal. E-mail her at hfisher@charlestonbusiness.com.
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