Drew and Jonathan Scott have come under fire for their hit HGTV show Property Brothers. Most fans love to watch the twin brothers help homeowners find their dream homes and then renovate them. However, critics say the series is an unrealistic portrait of the buying process.
It is true that you cannot believe everything that you watch on HGTV. Renovation reality shows usually deceive despite being entertaining. The Scott brothers even admitted that they didn’t do most of the renovation themselves.
Shows like ‘Property Brothers’ don’t realistically reflect home buying
Jonathan and Drew Scott | Aaron Rapoport / Corbis / Getty Images
Most of the shows on HGTV, including those where people buy houses, require attendees to be signed before they can get on the show. That’s because it would take way too long to show buyers looking for property from the start. A series like House Hunters will “fake” home tours while the show attendees are already under contract for one of the houses.
Property Brothers also follows this rule. Drew is the resident real estate expert and shows people different housing options. He helps them imagine what the house might look like during renovation work. Really, buyers already own or are about to purchase one of the homes.
“[The show] doesn’t work well for people who haven’t even started looking, ”Drew admitted, according to YourTango.
Jonathan Scott doesn’t do the renovations himself
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After Drew “helped” attendees find a home with Property Brothers, it’s time for Jonathan to work his magic and renovate the properties into something that feels like home. Homeowners purposely buy properties below their prime budget so they have enough cash to turn those lackluster homes into something better.
The cameras make it look like Jonathan is there every day to do the renovation and oversee all decisions. However, in the Scott brothers’ memoir It Takes Two, the brothers admitted that this was just one case of misleading editing.
Property Brothers, like so many other renovation reality shows, is in that they use local subcontractors to do most of the work. On-screen talent is there to moderate the show, but they don’t physically do the work most of the time.
Other Deceptions About Property Brothers
These are far from the only wrong moments at Property Brothers. While the big reveal at the end of each episode is usually dramatic and inspiring, it doesn’t show the full picture. Multiple sources confirm that the show only focuses on specific spaces and that what viewers don’t see isn’t renewed.
Plus, the drama is staged on the show to make arguments and problems seem more serious than they really are. Property Brothers is like other reality shows in this regard, playing off negativity to make everything seem more interesting.
But the only fake that persists on other HGTV shows is just the opposite at Property Brothers. While homeowners aren’t able to store the furniture on shows like Fixer Upper – at least not without paying much more – they can keep all of the pieces shown on Property Brothers.
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