Northern Michigan University 2013 alumnus Ben Argall, an Ishpeming realtor who has been flipping houses for the past six years, is featured on the new season of HGTV's “Battle on the Beach.” He and area licensed contractor Pete Meldrum represent one of three teams competing in weekly renovation challenges across three seaside homes in Gulf Shores, Ala. Argall and Meldrum won the bedroom challenge in the second episode that aired June 11.
“Each team is given $90,000 to spend and they have to flip the entire house,” said Argall in a TV6 interview. “Whichever team comes up with the best return on investment wins a $50,000 cash prize.”
The owner of Argall Real Estate Group, with nine years of experience in the field, graduated from NMU with an associate of applied science degree in general university studies. He and Meldrum are coached by Alison Victoria of HGTV's “Windy City Rehab” program. Ty Pennington of “Rock the Block” and Taniya Nayak of “Build it Forward” are mentors for the two competing teams. Over a six-week schedule, each group completes the designated transformations, while judges Bryan and Sarah Baeumler of “Renovation Island” and local real estate experts determine which home gained the most value.
Argall says the experience on the program gave him a chance to show his artistic style.
“I tend to be more apt to keep with the time period and kind of have more of a classic design,” he told TV6. “I am not afraid of color, so in most of my houses I use a lot of bold colors; kind of jewel tones with blues, greens, magenta—that type of thing.”
“You can't find your passion just thinking about it in your head, you truly just have to go out and do it,” he reflected on Instagram in April 2023. “I never would have learned so much if I never started as an assistant for a realtor. Combining my artistic talents, real estate knowledge, local history and building relationships has led me on this awesome adventure and standing inside a gutted building, visualizing what it will be in the end, just makes me smile. Can't wait to see what's next.”
“Battle on the Beach” airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET on HGTV. Find more information here. Read a closerweekly.com feature story on "HGTV Breakout Star" Argall here.
