The “Fixer Upper” Couple Are Sick Of Seeing Their Clients’ Homes On Airbnb

August 18, 2016 / Posted by:

Because I just love some good ole’ HGTV drama (I am still waiting for a scandal involving that annoying Flip Or Flop couple), here’s a story about how that Fixer Upper couple hates seeing their work on home rental sites more than they hate wood that hasn’t been tastefully distressed. The Waco Tribune says that at least six houses in Waco, TX that Chip and Joanna Gaines renovated on Fixer Upper are available for you to rent nightly on sites like Airbnb and VRBO. Chip and Joanna don’t like that, and it seems like future contracts with homeowners will have a “NO RENTING IT OUT OR ELSE” clause in it. Sorry, tricks, but only Chip and Joanna are allowed to make $$$$ from their show, thankyouverymuch.

Thanks to the success of Fixer Upper, Waco has gone from being known as that town where a bunch of cult members died in a standoff with the FBI to being the Land of Whitewashed Shiplap and Giant Clocks. It’s crazy, but that show added a boost to tourism in Waco and some of Chip and Joanna’s past clients are getting in on the action. The Tribune interviewed a few homeowners who are pimping their houses out and all of them said that they didn’t intentionally go on the show for Chip and Joanna to renovate a property they can rent out. Since their houses were featured on a hit HGTV show, they get a lot of nosy lookie loos and so they’ve moved to a different house for more privacy.

A rep for Chip and Joanna’s company burped up a statement where he said that yeah, yeah, they totally understand that people want to make that money, BUT… and then he dribbled out something about honor:

“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. We want to honor our national viewing audience. We want to do remodels for clients’ homes. 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.”

If you go on Fixer Upper, you have to pay for the renovations yourself and you only get to keep the furniture, which mostly comes from Chip and Joanna’s store Magnolia Market, if you buy that shit.

Some people think it’s rich of Chip and Joanna to throw hate at the whole “renting” thing since they renovated a big house into a bed and breakfast on their show. Yeah, I see them. They’re probably trying to stomp out the competition! But well, if you’re ever in Waco, you now know that you have many options when it comes to sleeping in a rented bedroom that’s like a shiplap coffin and has the word “D R E A M” written in metal letters over a bed made from reclaimed wood.

This story gave me the sads, slightly. I’m sad that Airbnb wasn’t around when Trading Spaces was on, because I definitely would’ve traveled far to stay in one of Hildi’s magnificent creations:

tradingspaces2016

Who gives a shiplap! It was and will always be about sand carpet.

Pics: HGTV, TLC

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