Written by Amanda Coers – DIY Network’s “Texas Flip N Move” made a stop in Early with the well-loved Snow Sisters, Toni Barksdale and Donna Landers. The pair acquired an older house, which will soon be moved and, you guessed it, flipped.

 

 

If you’re unfamiliar with the show, the premise has a few interesting twists on the typical remodeling shows. At the auction, only the houses are sold (not the underlying land). The bidders can view the home from only the outside and must also factor in costs of moving the house from the original lot to the renovation site, usually another facility where the houses are renovated and later sold again at auction to purchasers wanting houses to move to existing property. Toni and Donna are one of the teams of buyers on the show who compete to score older homes to flip.

As they visited Early to purchase the soon to be remodeled home, the sisters brought plenty of their endearing sass and charm along with their commitment to honoring their family’s long history of moving and restoring homes. Toni and Donna have been in the housing game since they were “knee high to a grasshopper.” Following in their father’s and grandfather’s footsteps of moving houses, the sisters are dedicated to bringing new life to older homes. They have been flipping homes with ‘Daddy Snow’ for over 50 years.  

H.D. ‘Daddy’ Snow, and his son, Gary are longtime Fort Worth home movers with H.D. Snow and Son House Moving, Inc. Toni and Donna both spoke highly of their father and brother, who often do a lion’s share of work behind the scenes. 

The Snow sisters expect to take around eight weeks to complete the renovation of the three bedroom, two bathroom home after it has been relocated to their lot.

“There’s a lot to do to this house, there are so many possibilities,” Donna said. “If we could keep it a three-two, that’s attractive to new home buyers.”

The appeal of the show lies in a return to a fix-it mentality rather than the more modern approach to throw away the old and buy new. As many Americans are keeping a closer eye on their budget, DIY shows help teach the skills needed to repair and remodel.

“When we do our little DIY’s it’s to show people if we can do it, you can do it,” Donna said. “Let your imagination run wild, turn that into something you never dreamed of before and enjoy it.”

“I think the show appeals to people like us, you know, you don’t have to live in a multimillion dollar home. You can live in a decent 2,000 square foot home and to be able to live a lot better,” Toni added.

“If it’s usable and savable, do it. Don’t just throw it away,” Donna said. “There’s a lot of people who have great ideas and vision, sometimes you just need to give them the right tools and turn ’em loose.”

The sisters would like to see a young family make the home their own after the renovation.

“Somebody’s memories are in that house right now and it now has a chance to start with a new family,” Toni said, adding she hopes to tell the new buyers, “Here’s the key to the front door. Start your dream.”

And though the house is moving from Early, both Toni and Donna have enjoyed their visit, especially with the warm welcome and fully loaded gift basket provided by Denise Hudson with the Early Convention and Tourism Center.

“Early welcomed us,” Donna said. “I love the hashtag Visit Early, Visit Often. This may be a small community but it has an extremely large heart.”

They’ll return of course when it’s time to move the house.

“We’ll be swarming that thing like ants on a sugar hill,” Donna said.

You can catch new episodes of Texas Flip N Move on the DIY Network on Fridays. Watch previous seasons on texasflipnmove.build/shows