Karen Laine and Mina Starsiak are a mother-and-daughter duo in the real estate business who want to help their hometown of Indianapolis by buying dilapidated houses before fixing them up. The mother brings the legal expertise and experience, the daughter brings the real estate know-how, while the rest of their family are known to show up from time to time to provide a helping hand. So far, Good Bones has met with a positive reception from viewers, as shown by the fact that Season 2 premiered on May 30 of 2017.
Here are five things that you may or may not have known about Good Bones:
Discovered through Facebook
The mother-and-daughter duo were discovered by a casting agent through their Facebook page. However, when Mina answered her phone, she thought that the calls were a joke at first. It was not until later that they realized that they were being called by an actual casting agent, had a serious discussion about whether they were actually interested in doing a TV show, and then decided that it sounded fun.
Started Out Slow
Karen and Mina fixed their first house in 2007 but it took some time before the mother-and-daughter duo started treating it as a business in 2009. After all, Karen had a full-time job as an attorney while Mina had a full-time job as a waitress, meaning that they couldn’t spare time for their real estate efforts save on their weekends as well as the rest of their days off. However, by the time that they had completed their third or fourth house, they realized that they had something with serious potential on their hands.
Filmed Their Test Episode with a Flip-Cam
Naturally, Karen and Mina had to do a test episode before their hypothetical TV show got the go-ahead. However, it is interesting to note that the mother-and-daughter duo filmed their test episode on their own using nothing more than a flip-cam. Afterwards, they had it edited, set to music, and then sent to HGTV, where it convinced the right people to pick up a pilot, which in turn, convinced the right people to pick up the first season of Good Bones.
They Come from a Huge Family
Karen and Mina have a huge family. For example, Mina is the second oldest out of seven siblings. Out of the seven siblings, three are from Karen and Mina’s father, one is from Karen’s subsequent marriage, and three more are from Mina’s father’s subsequent two marriages. As a result, there is no shortage of people who could make an appearance on Good Bones.
They Buy Houses Based on Price and Location
Karen has stated that they buy any house that is priced at less than $10,000 so long as it is in one of their focus neighborhoods in their local region. This is a common approach when it comes to fixing up houses. After all, a house’s value isn’t determined by just the house itself but also by its surroundings. As a result, it makes sense to buy dilapidated houses in good neighborhoods rather than dilapidated houses in bad neighborhoods, which would put a severe cap on their potential value. Furthermore, sticking to a local region is just common sense because that is what most people know best, thus enabling them to make better real estate decisions than otherwise possible.
