All in The Phamily: Dallas-Fort Worth Real Estate Pros Hit The Small Screen With a Flipping Reality TV Series

A team of local real estate professionals inked a deal last month with a major network to showcase their Dallas-Fort Worth flips.  Filming is set to begin early this summer, with the first of 20 episodes airing in October. 

The husband-and-wife team of Derek and Chauncey Pham, along with Sarah Nowak and The Rehab Squad’s Ray Negrete, have worked together on flips for a few years. Their chemistry, humor, talent, and social media presence got the attention of TV producers. 

“The dynamic between us is what sets us apart from the other shows,” said Nowak, a real estate stager. “We are very design-focused, aiming to do designs that are not just something you would normally see in luxury or high-end homes. We try to be mindful of materials and ecological impact. We are not full-on green but we do consider things like bamboo flooring or sustainable sources.” 

This isn’t the group’s first foray into negotiations for a TV show, but this time they have contracts. 

“Since 2017, off and on, I’d found myself in contact with many producers, production companies, and networks going through the talent casting, proof of concept, and pitching process,” Chauncey Pham said in a social media post. “But nothing ever stuck. Until it was supposed to.”

They’re not yet permitted to release the name of the show or the network it’s on, but say it’s a spinoff of a popular series. 

Natural Progression

Nowak is a Realtor, designer, stager, and owner of Sarah Nowak Interiors. She met Realtor, social media expert, and boutique brokerage owner Chauncey Pham through real estate a few years ago and the ambitious pair became good friends. Pham, at the time of their introduction, was trying to recruit Nowak to do design and staging for her flips.

“Her design seemed to take exactly what I had in my brain and make it a beautiful space,” Pham said of Nowak. “We really connected on that. Shortly after we met, my husband and I launched Phamily Capital Properties. She pieced together what it needed to look like. We’ve worked together collaboratively, informally since then.” 

Now the two do numerous projects together with Derek Pham in charge of acquisitions and Negrete as the general contractor. 

“This [TV show] seems like a natural progression,” Nowak said. “The four of us all strive to create a great product, but there’s a lot of conflict. We disagree, argue, and talk crap about each other. Like, ‘I think that’s ugly, hate your idea,’ back and forth until we come to something we love.”

Pham is an industry leader in social media and said she’s thrilled that the project she’s been working toward for years — a TV series — is finally happening. 

“[Producers] were pitching me to networks and they wanted to know if I had any friends or co-workers to include, so I was dragging all the others into it,” Pham recalled. “It didn’t really come through the first time, but then it happened again.”

Unapologetically Myself

Chauncey Pham built an entire brand around telling it like it is, and she doesn’t plan to change for the cameras of a major network. 

“The biggest part of my brand is that I’m unapologetically myself,” Pham said. “If it comes to a time when I can’t do that, that will not be a project for me.”

Where Pham is polished, Nowak is … not. 

“I’m the most awkward person in the world,” Nowak said. “Chauncey is going to be totally fine [on camera]. As far as a glam squad, that’s not really me. My job is so physical. I’m usually wearing workout clothes with my hair in a bun. If ever I’m staging a house and I know that a client might see me, I would maybe plan for that, so I’ll probably do the same on the days we are filming.” 

The group agrees that they’ll keep doing what they do — which involves much more than upgrading properties in need of love — and try to ignore the rolling cameras, which will be following them just a few scheduled days a month to tape segments of the hour-long show. Eight-to-10-hour days of shooting are required over a period of time to capture the progress of a flip. The “stars” of the show have been told it will be documentary-style, not heavily produced. 

“Our dynamic together is a huge element,” Chauncey Pham said. “Something that sets us apart [from other shows] is focusing on the financial aspect. We focus a lot on the people. Because I’m a licensed Realtor, going in and offering these acquisitions is just a byproduct. I’m helping people fix their credit, and get pre-approved for a loan.”

House Hunting

Derek Pham heads up the team’s acquisitions — and keeps them on budget. He’s looking for “any and every property that needs love in the DFW and surrounding areas” and can close on some sites in less than a week. There also are opportunities for affiliate partners who could offer trades, materials, or deal sourcing. 

“Chauncey is the one who has to sell it, and it has to be marketable,” Nowak said. “They’re looking for homes we can complete fairly quickly without anything complicated that needs to be done; something that can give us a before and an after.” 

Nowak, whose husband is a recruiter for commercial construction, said she’s thrilled to be part of the “Phamily” and looking forward to working on the show. 

“I think it will be a really fun show to watch,” she said. “We’re always trying to find ways to maximize design on these smaller, more entry-level homes with good design, on-trend that feels really nice and expensive.” 

They’ll be paid a “very small” stipend per episode, but the reward is in the exposure and empowering others, Chauncey Pham said. 

“I’m most looking forward to exposing people to a different perspective on house flipping and flipping design,” she said. “Our designs are very on-trend. They are very eco-friendly and very creative on a budget. I’m excited about the exposure we’ll get, bringing other people into real estate and interior design.”

Nowak added that it offers an opportunity to tread new ground in creativity.

“I’m most excited about being able to knock out some designs that I’ve had in my head that we haven’t executed yet,” she said.