Set your DVRs, everyone. This is fun: Best friends Sarah Nowak and Chauncey Pham are putting their house-reviving skills to good use on TV in a Dallas adaptation of A&E's hit show, “Zombie House Flipping.”
The show, originally centered around a team of Orlando-based home flippers, is already airing its fifth season on A&E's hit show Home.Made.Nation and will introduce a new Tampa resale team and a mix of Dallas experts. Nowak and Pham's show debut is scheduled for Saturday, January 28 at 10 a.m.
Nowak, a seasoned stager and interior designer, and Pham, an agent-broker and owner of Family Capital Real Estate and Family Capital Partners, will be joined by Pham's husband, Derek, a “rich guy” who selects and buys properties for resale.
Nowak said the camera crew follows the trio as they do things together over the years.
“I don't think it's that weird,” Nowak said of keeping records of her work. “It's the kind of thing you forget. [the cameras are] “When we're working in the moment, we're there. But before that comes COVID testing and having to schedule time to work and then all of a sudden having a microphone on and speaking and all that stuff. Overall, we're just doing what we have to do.”
You won't find any selfish attitude from the girls in Dallas.
“If you watch the first few episodes, Chauncey definitely looks more attractive because we shot it in the summer, and I sweat a lot,” Nowak says. “None of us are taking it to the level of, 'This is Hollywood.'”
The production team took time out of their hectic filming schedule, which saw them shoot 23 hour-long episodes up to five days a week, to speak exclusively with CandysDirt.com.
Dallas Home Resale
With each episode showcasing a different home, a number of homes will be renovated and soon put on the market.
“Zombie House Flipping” has already drawn big crowds in North Texas neighborhoods, where residents are eager to see what all the fuss is about. Pham and Nowak have stayed true to the products and vendors they've used and have been in contact with plenty of producers and Florida flippers, who plan to watch Saturday's premiere at the same time as the rest of us.
Production will continue through November, meaning episodes will be released while crews are still filming.
“Everybody's really excited,” Pham says. “Expectations are high because we're going into an established franchise. They already have a loyal audience that's used to a certain cast, so we've got to go in there and win some hearts and minds.”
The unique design, the Phams' chemistry, and their best friend-like relationship make for a TV-worthy home, the real estate agent explained. Plus, if you follow Pham and Nowak on social media, you already know they're super funny.
“I stuck to my guns in terms of being mindful of what I said,” Pham said, “and A&E is a network that tends to embrace the real reality behind what's going on. We didn't have to put on a pretense, talk differently, or refrain from bad language. That's not how they do things. It was really important to me that if we were going to do this, it was going to be who we are.”
Pham and Nowak exude confidence, but they're also comfortable poking fun at themselves.
“What you see on social media is what you see on your screen,” Nowak said.
Back side
Pham explained that flipping a home can take 45 days for a “quick and easy cosmetic fix” but up to six months for a full-blown zombie.
The team currently operates out of East Dallas, North Dallas, Pilot Point, DeSoto and Richardson, and the stars explained that producers were drawn to North Texas because of the high number of people moving to Dallas.
“Our real estate market is one of the toughest, so they started looking in the area for talent,” Pham said.
Sarah Nowak Chauncey Pham (Photo by Zach Whitman/A&E) Derek Pham (Photo by Zach Whitman/A&E)
Nowak added that filming days will be scheduled around what will be interesting for the cameras, but will also fit around the existing schedule of the renovation, such as design days and demolition days.
The production team emphasized that the show will be different from past seasons featuring the original Orlando cast, and the husband-wife duo of Derek and Chauncey Pham is the only one of their kind in the series, which is why they've attracted a lot of attention.
“I'm screaming at the top of my lungs to watch this show,” Pham says. “I don't think there's anything wrong with being confident and knowing you're good at something and wanting to share that. I want to show people the good, the bad and the ugly of what we do, and I want to show a different side of flipping. I think a lot of what you see on TV right now is the glamorous side of it. We're going to bring a different perspective.”