Press Release

South Florida Franchise Shows How the Original “We Buy Ugly Houses” Company is Making America Beautiful

MIAMI (JANUARY 22, 2020) – America has chosen The Ugliest House of The Year®, and the 2019 winner is a three-bedroom, two-bath, 2,000-foot extreme makeover done by Rick Tobchi, an independently owned and operated HomeVestors® / We Buy Ugly Houses® franchisee and development agent with offices in Tampa and Miami. The home’s gut-wrenching condition, shown in the “before” photos, led Tobchi and his team to do a total gut job to replace literally everything except the four walls and foundation.

“The damage to this house started with a small roof leak that was never fixed and got worse, causing enough damage to render the home uninhabitable when we purchased it,” said Tobchi. “To our surprise, when we took possession of the property, we found the new roofing materials stored in the garage! We rebuilt from the foundation up – all new partition walls, electrical and gas systems, plumbing, roof, windows, floors, bathrooms, kitchen, etc.”

Tobchi’s improvements not only replaced previously damaged areas, but also improved upon them. The new windows are hurricane-resistant, LED lighting and new appliances were installed introducing energy efficiencies, and countertops were upgraded to quartz in the kitchen and granite in the bathroom.

Tobchi’s rehab in Miami was one of several projects completed by HomeVestors® franchises and submitted for consideration as The Ugliest House Of The Year®. Voting took place in December at facebook.com/webuyuglyhouses, where the most incredible 2019 house makeovers done by the company’s franchises were displayed. We Buy Ugly Houses® has more than 1,100 franchises in 176 markets across the country, and further cemented its position as America’s number one home buyer when it purchased its 100,000^th house in 2019.

“Our professional franchises like Rick set the bar high for improving neighborhoods,” added David Hicks, CEO of HomeVestors. “They take the time to first work personally with homeowners that need to sell properties similar to The Ugliest House Of The Year, which no other traditional buyer or iBuyer would even consider. And then, they perform carefully planned and executed rehabs that become valued and beautiful assets to their communities.”

About HomeVestors of America, Inc.

Dallas-based HomeVestors of America, Inc. is the largest professional house buying franchise in the U.S. with more than 100,000 houses bought since 1996. HomeVestors recruits, trains and supports its more than 1,100 independently owned and operated HomeVestors® franchisees that specialize in building businesses based on buying, rehabbing, selling, and holding residential properties. Most commonly known as the "We Buy Ugly Houses®" company, HomeVestors strives to make a positive impact in each of its 176 markets. The company ranked on the 2019 Inc. 5000, has appeared for 12 consecutive years on the prestigious Franchise Business Review's "Top Franchises,” and for eight years on the annual Dallas 100. HomeVestors has also been recognized as the 20th fastest-growing franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine, and in 2019 ranked 30th on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 and 159th on the 2019 Franchise Times Top 200 Franchise Chains by Worldwide Sales.