‘Million Dollar Zombie Flips’: James Dainard Teases ‘Unreal’ Season 2 Transformations

James Dainard once again puts his money where his mouth is to bring properties back to life with hopes of maximum returns on Million Dollar Zombie Flips. Season 2 of the A&E’s Home.Made.Nation series sees the real estate investor partner with fellow flippers, from all experience levels. . 

They locate rundown listings that have the potential to be transformed into seven-figure worthy showstoppers. Dainard’s track record speaks for itself with a billion worth of real estate deals in the greater Seattle area. He isn’t one to financially back a failure, meaning he puts the pressure on these operators to follow his plan or risk being cut out of the 50-50 split. Helping resuscitate these “zombies” is Ryan Burgess, construction manager, and Megan Halter, real estate agent. 

Ahead of the April 11 premiere, Dainard breaks down what’s to come and the challenges ahead. 

With this being Season 2, what did you take away from the first one? 

James Dainard: Season 1 was a learning curve for us because it was a new world for us mixing construction with production of TV. What we learned going into Season 2 was to get a jump on things as quickly as possible. Permits can be very difficult sometimes. So, we learned how to design houses in an easier permit way. As far as overall filming-wise, I think we’ve been a lot more efficient, and it has been a lot more fun. Season 1 you’re still learning being on camera. It has been more fun between Ryan, Megan, and myself. We’re way more natural in the scenes because we’re used to it. We’ve definitely had a lot more fun and had a lot more enjoyable experience in Season 2. 

Since the show has come out, how has that impacted everyday life? What’s the adjustment been like? 

That’s been a little weird. I ran into it more at the airport. I’d be standing there, and people would come up to me to say they watched my show. I’m like, “What?” It throws you off a little bit. It hasn’t been too overwhelming, but it is kind of random. Like I’d be standing there with my daughter a month ago and a guy came up to tell me he loved the show. My daughter is like, “Did you see my episode? Did you see me on it?” It has been an adjustment, but everyone has been super nice. The most random thing was I got a call from a mayor who said he loved my show and asked to come out to meet me. I’m like, “Sure, can I get my permits faster?”

James Dainard , Ryan Burgess and Megan Halter (A&E)

Has this helped business? 

We’ve been doing this a long time in Seattle. I’m the guy who buys the worst of the worst, so we get a lot of phone calls. I would say the real estate broker community reaches out to me a lot more now. As far as they have a seller with a house that needs to be renovated and they don’t want to list it. We’ve been getting more deals and opportunities sent to us. I think people are trying to send us the most shocking house. It’s funny even sellers are like, “My mom’s home would be perfect for your show. Take a look.” I’m thinking, “Wow, you’re not joking. Your mom’s house needs work.”  

I feel there could be some crossover opportunities with Hoarders when it comes to some of these properties. The premiere is one.  

That was a gross one. That’s the thing about these houses. They are authentically gross. You’re smelling them, tasting them as you’re walking through. You’re always trying to get a bearing of what you are walking through. Like how big is the actual space. Or when you’re walking on garbage in the basement thinking, “How tall am I in this basement?” Getting the garbage out is always the first thing. That’s what the neighbors all love, especially that house. Giving you the real story there were squatters living in that house for like six months. They kind of moved in and made themselves at home and really trashed that place. There was a lot of garbage in that house. We were probably clearing garbage out for a solid week. That basement was completely packed, especially that back room where we added square footage too. 

The first episode you team up with a flipper [Jared Holland], who has a lot of experience, and is sort of set in his ways. Talk about the challenges working with someone established compared to another who is new to this business? 

It’s completely different. Jared, me and him have run into each other numerous times. He does it his way, and I do it my way. He can be pretty stubborn. That’s what works well with him, but when you have a partner, you have to listen to each other. I would say the actual new flippers require more consulting on the construction side. Like, “You have to do it this way and why. Here’s how you don’t pay too much.” The experienced flippers are more, “We hear your suggestions, but we want to do it this way.” There is way more back-and-forth with the experienced flipper versus the new. 

What can you tell us about the projects to come and challenges you face? 

Season 2 a big step above, and Season 1 we had some gnarly houses. I would say Season 2 we had a goal of beating that and are delivering. The stuff we run into. There are a lot of rotting, dilapidated buildings. I would say two of them could have been classified as teardowns. When you’re dealing with a structure like that, as soon as you start demoing the house starts to fall apart. It’s like a toothpick model. You pull out one, they just all start falling. That happened a couple times where we would be working on the wall, and the whole thing would collapse. We leaned into the zombie effect, but there were some really big repairs we had to do. I would say this season is definitely next level compared to last season as far as the condition of homes. The transformations are also unreal. Some of my favorite renovations in 20 years are in Season 2. 

Things get a little heated between you and Ryan in the first episode. How is it working with a friend and through those tough moments? 

That’s the hard part about construction. You have to have stern talks on construction sites. There is a lot of money at risk. When directions aren’t followed or something goes off plan, it can have some serious consequences for costs and permits. Me and Ryan go way back. He started working for me about 17 years ago. We have an almost brother-family relationship. Just like your siblings you may get into it sometimes and have to take a step back to get to the solution. You do have to take a breather, especially in the moments where you’re wondering why something isn’t happening because it could have financial consequences. You do have to take a step back and go, “Okay, what is the next logical step where we can have a team solution and not put it on one person.” I’d say me and Ryan have that brother relationship. He’ll give it back to me as I will to him. That is for sure. 

How would you compare the business when you started out to today? 

Flipping is a business you have to rebuild every three to four years. The market always changes. They go up and down, construction costs, permitting changes. That is the hard part of flipping a long time. I’ve had to rebuild my business every two to three years. When the real estate market is doing well or people see others doing well, they think it’s simple. They think it’s buying the house, hiring the contractor, and it’s done. There are so many steps in between. That’s where people can get into trouble. The good thing about the show is because it’s not like we’re an investment team versus another. It’s collaborative. Me and Jared have probably bid on about 50 houses against each other. That’s where there is more friction, but after going through the show, we’re authentically going to be doing more projects together because it was a good experience. The good thing is you can collaborate more than compete. 

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What do you want to say about the flippers this year? 

The operators on the show I would say the more experienced operators we had more friction for sure because they have their way they want to do it. I think the good thing about these operators is they really were heavily involved. It wasn’t just to be on TV. They wanted to build a business with me too and do more deals with us. They would get and go. There were more strong opinions in Season 2 where last season it was more me telling them what to do. They were giving it back to me this season. 

Do you have interest in venturing out of the Seattle area for the show? 

I know this area very well. I’ve been doing it for more than 20 years. It’s kind of a high risk business. I’m comfortable here, but I’m in Scottsdale and have to travel quite a bit. I do have a passion for maybe possibly starting to flip homes in the desert possibly down the road. 

Million Dollar Zombie Flips Season 2 premiere, April 11, 11 a.m./10c, A&E