Even if you watched every single episode of season six of “Rock the Block,” there are still plenty of things that went on behind-the-scenes that viewers never got to see.
But now Hamlet Homes, the Utah builder behind all four homes, is letting viewers in on what goes on when the cameras turn off.
Country Living talked to Tami Ostmark, the owner of Hamlet Homes, to get the inside scoop.
After season six wrapped, the builder hosted a “Rock the Block” Block Party May 30 and 31. And more than 10,000 people showed up from all over the country to see the homes in person. All four homes are currently listed for sale for between $1,369,900 and $1,399,900. But to get the homes ready to list, Hamlet Homes had some work to do.
How Hamlet Homes Became the ‘RTB’ Builder
Ostmark says her company became HGTV’s “Rock the Block” builder thanks to a referrral.
“We actually know the builders that did season 3 and season 4, and when the network thought about coming to Utah, they recommended us,” she revealed.
The “Rock the Block” season lasted just seven weeks for viewers. But it was a much longer process for Hamlet Homes.
“We signed the contract with the network early last year. We started building the homes in May last year, and we delivered them to the production company in the vanilla shell stage, which is basically drywall stage, in early September. They were here on site filming from September to November, and then we still had to keep them under wraps until the show aired in April,” says Ostmark.
The Homes Were Unfinished When the Winner Was Declared
After Alison Victoria and Michel Smith Boyd took the title and saw their names go up on the “Rock the Block” street sign, there was still work to be done on the homes according to Tami.
Afterall, the 5,500 square foot homes had a whopping seven bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms. So there were plenty of rooms the HGTV design teams never touched.
“They [the HGTV design teams] came in and finished the spaces you see on TV and then as soon as the show wrapped in November, we went in and finished the remaining 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. They’re just basically finished how we would finish our homes. I did go in and do design selections with tile and carpet and all that fun stuff to see if I could try and match kind of the theme of what the designers were doing,” said Tami.
Builder Appraisals Were Separate from Appraisals Used in Show
The season finale of “Rock the Block” had Property Brother Jonathan Scott working with three independent, unbiased appraisers to come up with the winner. But Hamlet Homes didn’t necessarily use those appraisals to determine their list prices.
Tami Ostmark explained, “We have independent appraisers who come in and help us put a value together.”
But Hamlet Homes’ numbers didn’t shake out very differently from what was shown on HGTV. Each home’s starting value was set at $750,000. And at least $300,000 in renovations were done to each home. So, the HGTV appraisers were right on the money when they valued Allison and Michel’s home at $1.4 million.
Tami says, “With a lot of trade out that the network does for materials, the homes really do come out at about $1.4 million, even independent of an appraisal. So we’re staying between $1.35 and $1.39 million for the listing prices of the houses.”
Here’s the breakdown:
Alison and Michel’s Refined Rustic house is listed for $1,399,900
Chelsea and Cole DeBoer’s Cowboy Contemporary house is also listed for $1,399,900
Tristyn and Kamohai Kalama’s Moody Modern house is listed for $1,379,900
Jonathan and Jordan Knight’s Modern Farmhouse is the lowest listing at $1,369,900
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‘Rock the Block’ Builder Reveals Inside Information