‘I Buy and Upgrade Hamptons Homes for a Living’: How a Former Advertising Executive Now Makes Millions Renovating Properties Full-Time

Turn around, makeover or keep? That’s a question Blythe Graham Jones she asks herself now as she looks at a possible property to buy in the Hamptons, and the answer will likely make her millions.

Graham-Jones, a former advertising executive who turned her project management skills into real estate, didn’t set out to become a full-time real estate strategist. But when she and her husband bought a $635,000 house in East Hampton in 2017 (while actually living in a Brooklyn rental), a new path to independent wealth premiered along with the purchase. They just sold that house in February 2026 for $1.9 million.

“We first bought a ‘second home’ and immediately started renting it out that summer. We renovated it with the short-term rental income we earned and reinvested it back into the property,” says Graham-Jones. “Ultimately we were able to have the property appraised at a higher value.”

A much higher value that allowed them to secure a $250,000 HELOC loan, which they turned into a major renovation of the property, which included adding a bathroom and demolishing one of the bedroom walls to transform the layout with a larger living room and open kitchen. After another post-renovation appraisal, they refinanced and “cashed out” the property.

“A cash-out basically means we refinanced and started paying a higher monthly mortgage, but we were able to cover that because of the higher rental income we could charge on the renovated property, and the cash-out allowed us to buy a second home,” Graham-Jones explains.

The second home they purchased was also in the Springs area of ​​East Hampton.

“The next one we bought was a post-COVID climb, but didn’t peak in the fall of 2020 at $895,000,” Graham-Jones says. “With approximately $250,000 in home equity renovations and two seasons of rentals, we sold for $1.55 million in 2022.”

Since then, their real estate portfolio has continued to grow, including a property they closed on this week and plan to lease soon, a property they have under contract in Montauk that they hope to renovate by the end of the summer, and another property they have on the Springs-Amagansett border that they bought for $1.4 million and is now worth about $2.3 million, after about $400,000 in work.

“We’re not ready to sell that yet because we haven’t done all the work needed to get it ready to sell, and it’s perfect for renting out,” Graham-Jones adds.

But this process also made Graham-Jones realize that she has an affinity with this type of work. In 2022, she left her advertising career to focus full-time on buying and renovating (and then renting, holding and flipping) Hamptons homes.

Why the Hamptons are a smart place to build a real estate portfolio

Although Graham-Jones has done projects and helped rent out family homes on Airbnb in California, the Berkshires and Westchester, NY, she certainly thinks the Hamptons deserve the hype.

“Nowhere is like the Hamptons when it comes to the rental income you can earn in such a short time frame. Typically, you can cover a home’s mortgage and other expenses for an entire year just by renting. [it out] for the ten to twelve best weeks of summer,” says Graham-Jones.

In other markets you see shifts throughout the seasons, but not as dramatic, she adds.

“Rates can vary about 50% between peak and off-peak nights in the Berkshires, but in the Hamptons it can vary 200% or more.”

Because the Hamptons tends to be a consistently hot market, the risk is also lower for real estate.

“Even for somersaults, we like that drop-off,” says Graham-Jones. “If a house hasn’t sold or the market is down from a buying perspective, we know we can rent it out [out] and cover the costs and then relist it to sell later if we want to.”

Now, after nearly a decade of being involved in the home renovation/rental/flipping market, Graham-Jones is still popular in the Hamptons.

“Right now, it’s difficult to consider renovating outside of the Hamptons because of the deep relationships I have. I’ve worked with many members of the same team for almost a decade,” says Graham-Jones.

“My contractor, electrician, landscaper and photographer were all involved in my very first project in 2017 and every project since. When something goes wrong, as it inevitably does, the depth of those trusting relationships is critical.”

What to look for in a house to rent or to flip

How does Graham-Jones decide which houses will make a good rental price and which ones could be a perfect flip? She certainly has her criteria at this point, along with good instincts.

“For every home I consider buying with the intention of renovating, I look for benefits that a casual buyer might not notice,” says Graham-Jones.

For example, maybe the ceilings in a house are low, but it’s a ranch style and she realizes that bringing them up to the next level isn’t that complicated.

Or maybe it’s already a six-bedroom from a construction perspective, but the owner never had the headache of replacing the septic to legalize the property as a rental. Or maybe a house has terrible flow or a small, dark kitchen, but she can imagine a new layout by moving walls.

“Many buyers can see past an odd paint color choice or a bad bathroom tile, so I don’t necessarily have a competitive advantage if that’s the only thing that needs to be done. But many buyers can’t imagine the potential of the house if more structural or complicated work needs to be done,” Graham-Jones explains.

When it comes to a revolving home, she looks for location and limitations.

“I really have to think like the primary buyer: what is the street itself, is it desirable, what is the proximity to amenities like the beach or the city, and will they be able to see themselves there long-term?” says Graham-Jones, who adds that she can’t fix things like making train or traffic noise disappear.

For a home that could potentially serve as a rental, she looks for ways to fill it to the brim.

“It’s all about heads in beds for a rental property, so I always try to find properties where there is the opportunity to do that, and/or add more bedrooms and bathrooms so that sleeping can be done comfortably at maximum capacity.”

How social media knowledge makes her renovations even better

Leveraging her advertising background has helped Graham-Jones in her projects. Not only did her management skills translate perfectly into the project management of a renovation, but her experience with social media marketing has also allowed her to pitch to top brands and negotiate collaborations (which means she can get better materials than her budget would otherwise allow).

“I do a lot of design research to discover hacks to achieve the aesthetic or construction I want without spending too much money,” says Graham-Jones. “A big difference between an interior designer or architect being hired to do projects for clients is that I’m spending my own dollars.”

It is one of the reasons why she started recording her renovation projects Instagram And YouTube.

“A lot of creators with larger followings do this, but I make it more about the content/items I can deliver to a brand, especially when it comes to products I would pay for anyway,” she adds.

Anyone interested in learning some of her tricks and checking out the completion of one of her latest projects can tune in to see the progress of her current baby: a six-bedroom, five-bathroom house she’s getting ready for the Hamptons’ summer 2026 rental season.

“I call it ‘The Big House’ because it’s my biggest project ever,” says Graham-Jones of the property they just closed a few weeks ago. “I’m really prioritizing amenities and plan to make it the ultimate party house destination, with its 20-meter swimming pool, and I’m adding a sauna and full outdoor kitchen under a pergola.”

In other words, if you haven’t closed on your summer rental yet this year, you might want to check out this space!