The Thoroughly Modern Amenity That Tarek And Heather El Moussa Are Incorporating In New Flips

Deciding to invest in a property, a paint color, or a type of flooring is just that — a decision with a consequence. Sometimes the result is that everything works out. You may love how the space works for you, or how the aesthetic fits your tastes. Sometimes you buy a home knowing it's perfect for your family, move in, and start building a life without looking back. Other times, the decisions you make don't achieve the goals you set out with. Often, things like changing out the paint color are easy to fix when they don't look right. However, it can be much more expensive to navigate new flooring, especially if it's just a color or design problem and not something related to the functionality or safety of the home.

If you buy the wrong home, though, that's a much more complex and often expensive loss you may have to endure. Even the most talented interior designers and real estate pros find themselves making mistakes from time to time. They often regret the decisions they make for one reason or the other. Tarek and Health El Moussa are no different. The HGTV stars of "The Flipping El Moussas" have found themselves realizing they made a mistake and they're learning from it, too.

Learning about the upgrades they should install moving forward

In an episode of their show, the two tour a home listed on the market for $12 million. Tarek recognizes the home and says he almost bought the property for $4.4 million just a few years ago. The mistake of not deciding to purchase that home is certainly one to learn from. The designing and flipping couple takes this learning opportunity further in order to gain knowledge from the flips completed by others. This allows them to see how they can incorporate similar changes, upgrades, and modernizations into their projects going forward.

In this particular tour, they note that the countertop has a few pop-up power ports, a handy tool for countertop appliance use. It's also a modern amenity the two says they will include in their own new flips going forward. Not only are these outlets, they're chargers perfect for smartphones, tablets, and laptops. It may seem like a simple upgrade, but to the property owner who needs connectivity on the go, it's a valuable improvement.

Making it right is important

During this episode, the couple also finds that their project is way behind, costing them about $2,200 per week as it sits waiting for city permits. Tarek is frustrated at the cost and why the delays are occurring, noting that other contractors skip these steps, including getting required permits, so they can finish a project and move on to the next one within weeks. He shares, according to Realtor.com, "Because we do things the right way, we get penalized. We probably spend $1 million a year that we wouldn't spend if we didn't do it the right way."

During the episode, they make other critical decisions to help their current project benefit from their experience, including simplifying renovations like a stone finish on a fireplace to save money, but then spending a bit more to get rid of the 1970s-inspired stucco on the exterior of the home because it's the best thing to do to add value to the home. It's not always easy to know the right decision when remodeling a home, but weighing the benefits, costs, and timeline, along with how the space ultimately needs to function, are ways to improve outcomes.