Movie TalkJeremy Renner’s Secret Side Gig: Flipping Houses
Jeremy Renner might be best known for playing brooding tough guys and charming
anti-heroes, but there's one part he plays that few know about: house
flipper.
Before he was nominated for Oscars for "The Hurt Locker" and "The
Town," Renner and his business partner, actor Kristoffer Winters (who had a small
role in "Locker," plus last year's "Fair Game") were fixing up and flipping old
houses in Hollywood and Studio City, according to the new issue of The Hollywood
Reporter (on newsstands now).
PHOTOS: Lost homes of Hollywood
In 2002, the two bought a nondescript three-bedroom 1962 home in Nichols Canyon for $659,000 and sold it less than
a year later for $900,000. According to Keller Williams' Bobbe Mitchell, the
sales agent on many of their projects, Renner and Winters had a shoestring
budget but transformed the house into a cozy, private abode, adding a patio and
new landscaping. During those lean days, the two staged it with flat-screen TVs
that had a 30-day return policy, hoping they'd sell the house before the
expiration date.
Fresh off their first flip, they re-invested in a $915,000 Spanish-style 1940 house off Laurel Canyon that required more work. They gutted it, and Renner lived in the guesthouse during renovations. "He lived in
squalor," Mitchell says. "He was in there with a gun and would shoot the rats"
that would invade during a winter of heavy rainfall. The house sold for nearly
$2.4 million.
Music supervisor Mark Wike ("NCIS: Los Angeles") bought their next project, a four-bedroom 1938 Cape Cod near Fryman Canyon. "My wife is an avid cook, and the
kitchen made it really appealing," Wike says. "They opened it up, and we could have 25 people in there at a party." The flip? Bought for $1.36 million, sold for $2.09 million.
The pair have recently gotten more ambitious, and it
has paid off. In 2008, they bought the Hemingway House, a 1924 Greek Revival estate in Hollywood, for $1.55 million. A year later,they grossed $2.45 million, selling it for more than $4 million. "Renner does
beautiful work and does what he needs to without breaking the bank on
construction costs," says John Bersci, a luxury flipper ($15 million-$20 million
range) familiar with the properties.
With Renner slated to appear in the
tentpoles "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" and "The
Avengers," will he continue his home-buying habit? Neither he nor Winters would
comment.
FIVE FLIPS BY RENNER
1. Laurel Terrace Drive
Renner and Winters bought a two-bedroom in
Studio City for $915,000 in 2004.
It sold for $2.39 million in 2005. Gross profit: $1.48 million.
2. Fryman Place
In 2006, they flipped a Cape Cod in
Studio City, bought at $1.36
million and sold at $2.09 million. Gross profit: $725,000.
3. La Cuesta Drive
Renner and Winters took on their first project in 2002: a $659,000 house in Nichols Canyon; it sold for $900,000 a year later. Gross profit: $241,000.
4. Selma Avenue
After renovating a 1924 Greek Revival estate in Hollywood (purchased for $1.55 million in
2008), they sold it two years ago for $4 million. Gross profit: $2.45 million.
5. Franklin Avenue
The business partners are currently rehabbing a nearly 6,000-square-foot house in Hollywood acquired in 2009 for $1.35 million.
Renner isn't the only star to turn a tidy profit from a side interest in real estate. Courteney Cox, Diane Keaton, Vincent Gallo and ex-TV bandleader
Max Weinberg are among the most famous for flipping. Cox's most famous flip was
a 1979 John Lautner-designed modern residence on Carbon Beach, bought in 2001
for about $10 million and sold in 2007 to now-divorcing Dodgers owner Frank and
Jamie McCourt for a clean $27.5 million. Meanwhile, Keaton bought a Ralph
Flewelling-designed hacienda in Beverly
Hills for $8.1 million in 2007 and sold it to "Glee"'s Ryan
Murphy last year for $10 million.
Watch Jeremy Renner in his Oscar-nominated performance from "The Town":
