Designed to Sell

Designed to Sell is an HGTV American reality television show produced by Pie Town Productions in Los Angeles and Chicago and Edelman Productions in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Each 30-minute episode focuses on fixing up a home that is about to go on the market or that has been on the market but has not attracted buyers. The show began airing in 2004 and was canceled in 2011.

The show provides expert real estate and design advice and general contractors, who are given a $2,000 budget for materials to get a maximum offer for the house. To add excitement to the show, the renovations generally take place over a period of three to seven days, before the home’s open house, generally spread out over the course of three or four weeks. The show pays the contractor’s fees and the salaries of the carpenters, landscapers, painters, plumbers, and other workers. Most changes are cosmetic, but some require drastic demolition and reconstruction.