The former TV host has a history of buying and quickly selling many properties around Southern California, a side hustle that won’t be so easy across the pond
DeGeneres, comedian and former talk show host, and de Rossi, a retired actress, have long been known for their house-flipping hobby, buying up eight-figure properties around Southern California only to quickly sell them for profit, sometimes within a matter of months. They still own several properties there, including their primary Montecito residence, which they plan to list soon, TheWrap reported.
The couple have reportedly bought a home in England’s posh Cotswolds region with no plans to ever move back to the states after the election of Donald Trump, according to TheWrap.
But continuing to house flip in the U.K.—especially in the countryside—won’t come as easy as it has in the U.S., especially in the ultra-luxury sector.
“Whilst some savvy purchasers have been buying smaller cottages in good villages around honeypot locations such as Kingham and Burford and doing them up, the cost of renovation now means that owners will be unlikely to make huge returns,” said Harry Gladwin, head of the Cotswolds at the Buying Solution. “The larger Cotswolds properties are long-term investment decisions—they’re legacy homes that are bought with a longer-term view.”
Indeed, these grand, and often historic, estates tend to attract buyers looking to own and live in them for decades, especially as they don’t often come onto the market.
“The reality is the higher-value houses across the Cotswolds don’t come up particularly regularly, so it’s quite a process to track one down in the first place,” said Sebastian Hipwood, co-founder of Blue Book Agency. “At £20 million (US$25.2 million), for example, we might be talking about a handful of houses a year.”
Ellen DeGeneres documented a number of the homes she’s owned in her 2015 book “Home.”
Toronto Star via Getty Images
And with the high-end inventory being so low, someone successful in flipping one of these estates might then have trouble finding their next property, Hipwood added.
That’s to say nothing of the hurdles of renovating.
Buying a luxury house in the Cotswolds often means buying a listed, or historically significant, property. Listed properties come with a number of restrictions when it comes to renovations, both on the exterior and interior, and getting consent to make changes can take three to six months, or longer, Hipwood said.
“It slows the whole process down, and that’s inevitably why we don’t see much [flipping],” he said.
The Cotswolds region is home to many historic estates.
Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Even changes to windows and the flooring can require permission, and often those approved renovations are limited.
“There are a lot of tight and challenging obstacles in terms of the planning regulations, conservation restrictions and environmental restrictions, which make it harder for investors to kind of turn a profit,” said Gemma Maclaran, a residential property advisor for the Cotswolds at Middleton Advisors.
The renovation process is not only slow, but very costly, decreasing the profit margin.
“Buying English country homes and estates and flipping them for profit has become increasingly hard to do,” Maclaran said. “In the country market, there’s been an increase in property prices and competition, as well as a sharp rise in renovation costs.”
The couple bought this Beverly Hills, California, estate from Maroon 5’s Adam Levine in 2019 for $42.5 million and sold it two years later for $45 million.
Google Maps
Like in the U.S., construction costs have “nearly doubled” since Covid, Maclaran said.
“A good-quality renovation would now cost about £400 per square foot, when before you could’ve done it for £200. On the higher end, that can go up to £1,000 per square foot, so it’s definitely become more challenging,” she added.
Additionally, last month’s stamp duty hike, which increased the tax for those buying second homes by 2%, adds to the cost, slimming the potential profit even more for a home flipper like DeGeneres. The taxes get even costlier for international buyers, who can face a tax of up to 17% on the purchase price.
MORE: Once Upon a Time, This Storybook Home Outside Cleveland Was Horse Stables
For a better chance at successfully flipping an English country home, Maclaran said to look to more up-and-coming areas and for homes in great need of repair.
“Developers who can find gems of rundown properties in these kinds of areas—a dilapidated property that puts off most people—then there is the ability [to flip], especially if there are outbuildings that can be converted into entertaining or lifestyle spaces,” she said.
But judging by the most recent sale of a $96 million Santa Barbara County beach home—which the Hollywood couple bought for $70 million—dilapidated fixer-uppers aren’t really their style.
