Major Fixer Upper fans have the opportunity to stay in a home designed by Chip and Joanna Gaines without having to move to Texas to purchase a fixer upper of their own.
Many of the houses featured on the TV show are available to rent on sites like VRBO (Vacation Rentals By Owner) and Airbnb. While the price tag for a rental is significantly less than the budget to refurbish a whole house, it’s still going to cost a pretty penny.
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The houses average $250 to $350 per night.
So far the houses available to rent include: the Gorman House (season 1, episode 2), the Mailander House (season 1, episode 12), the Shotgun House (season 3, episode 12), the Barndominium (season 3, episode 11), the Chicken House (season 3, episode 18) and the Mid-Mod House (season 2, episode 11). The Harp House (season 1, episode 11) is likely to be listed next month.
The owners of these homes admitted they hadn’t planned to rent their homes when they hired Chip and Joanna, but it was such a handy business opportunity they couldn’t resist. It also meant their renters would have to deal with tourists and fans taking selfies with the house and driving by slowly.
While the Gaineses have no problem with the fact that their former clients are sharing their homes with others, they are also aware that it could look bad for their brand. In order to make it clear that their intention is to create homes, not businesses, they are considering changing the contracts they have with future clients.
“We have no problems with our clients’ interest in using sites like VRBO and Airbnb to rent out their homes. In fact, we get it. But we are going to be more strict with our contracts involving ‘Fixer Upper’ clients moving forward,” Magnolia spokesman Brock Murphy said in a statement to WacoTrib.com.
“We want to honor our national viewing audience. We want to do remodels for clients’ homes,” he explained. “That’s the true intent of our show, and we want to ensure that does not get lost in this new vacation rental trend. What started off with perfectly understandable intentions could cast a shadow of a doubt on the much bigger picture, and we are going to do our best to protect that moving forward.”
In the meantime, anyone planning a trip to Texas can take advantage of the chance to inhabit a dream home, even if it’s just for a few days.
This story first appeared at Womanista.
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