Sinking all of her savings into a first home was a bad investment HGTV's Page Turner wishes she didn't make. Instead, she should have used her cash to build a real estate investment portfolio, financial wisdom she is teaching her adult daughters, Turner told Homes.com.
“If I could do it all over, that’s what I would do,” she said. “I loved our first home, but it limited me from buying more homes until I made more money or the house built equity. I swear I would have five properties before I was 34 if I could do it over again.”
Helping her kids build wealth with rentals
Turner said her three daughters — twins Quincy and Qai, 29, and 30-year-old Zaire — don't have a lifestyle conducive to buying a house. They're young, they want to travel, and they don't have children, she said. But they still should buy real estate to build wealth, she said.
Turner said she is mentoring her daughters to build a portfolio of multifamily properties in the South. The region's real estate is affordable, and several members of her family live in the areas they're checking out.
“It is my comfort zone,” she said. “I have people who can keep eyes on property in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.”
It's a good way to keep ownership personal and relevant in your life, a necessity for a successful real estate investment, she said. “You must be able to physically touch your homes. You don’t want someone running your business and you don’t know what goes on.”
She's also targeting markets that are near universities. “Your well will never run dry because kids always go to college, and their parents want to stay somewhere,” she said.
High prices keep homes out of reach
Buying a home for the first time is difficult because prices have risen, Turner said. She paid $134,000 for her first home in 2003. Today, the average home price is more than $400,000, she said.
“Everyone freaks out about interest rates,” she said. “Calm down. Rates play a part, but it is unaffordable because home prices have gone up.”
In addition to saving for a down payment, buyers who want a first home should investigate assistance programs that communities offer to help ease the sticker shock, Turner said. “There’s no need to part with money if you don’t have to,” she said.
There were a record 2,509 homebuyer assistance programs in the first quarter of 2025, according to Down Payment Resource, an Atlanta-based tech company that links consumers with programs. It is the highest number of programs the firm has ever recorded.
Small rehab projects make big dollars
Turner said she's learned a lot through flipping homes. Spending too much on renovating a distressed home is one of the biggest mistakes, she said.
Painting and changing out kitchen cabinet hardware are inexpensive ways to freshen up a home, Turner said, and removing wallpaper and covering up old tile are others.
And don’t forget staging.
“Of course, staging is always important — that is so worth the investment,” she said, adding that real estate agents typically handle hiring a stager.
Sellers should take a long look at the neighborhood before planning how much they will renovate, Turner said.
“Know what is going on in your market first,” she said. “If everyone is renovating, maybe you should to get the full return. But if the house is in an area where no one is doing anything, then maybe you should do some paint.”
Don't invest in a full renovation to bring your home in line with others in the neighborhood, Turner said, because the greatest return on investment will be doing the minimum. A fully renovated house will sit on the market because it will be the same as other houses that aren't moving in the neighborhood, she said.
Turner has hosted several HGTV shows about flipping homes, including "Fix My Flip" and "Flip or Flop Nashville." In her latest role, she replaced Hilary Farr as the sidekick to co-host David Visentin on "Love It or List It." The show pits the two against each other when advising a homeowner whether they should keep their house or sell it. Visentin is the real estate agent finding them a new home, while Turner rehabs their current abode.