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.
[1] The show pays the contractor's fees and the salaries of the carpenters, landscapers, painters, plumbers, and other workers.
Each show follows the same general format: At the beginning of each episode, the homeowners are introduced and explain why they are selling.
The host and a real estate expert walk through the property while the homeowners watch on closed-circuit television from a neighbor's home.
Because the goal is to get the most money for the house in the shortest possible time, they are very direct in their opinion of the home's assets and flaws and recommend three rooms or areas to be re-done.
After the appraisal, the designer reviews the main defects the real estate expert pointed out and describes their plan to fix them.
Designed to Sell features homes in four real estate markets (and nearby suburbs): Los Angeles, California, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Illinois, and Atlanta, Georgia.
Users are able to search by room type for home staging ideas and inspiration delivered in short three- to four-minute webisodes and before-and-after slideshows.