Cristy Lee Helps Fellow Detroiters Maximize Their Budget in HGTV’s ‘Steal This House’

If you remember Cristy Lee from her time on MotorTrend’s All Girls Garage and Garage Squad, it’ll come as little surprise that her new HGTV show, Steal This House, is filmed in Detroit, the automotive mecca that “put the world on wheels,” as the adage goes.

But as you’ll see when Steal This House premieres tonight, Saturday, July 9, at 9 p.m. ET on HGTV, Cristy isn’t fixing up cars: She’s proving that fixer-upper houses really can be “steals.”

“Known for her expertise fixing cars, trucks and bikes, Cristy will apply her unique talents to personalize clients’ homes with custom amenities, including fabricating metal work for fireplace surrounds and kitchen hoods and repurposing wood to create a one-of-a-kind 3D map,” HGTV teases in a synopsis.

As the Detroit Free Press notes, the city of Detroit, Mich., and its surroundings are becoming popular with HGTV producers. Bargain Block restored houses on Detroit’s west side. Rehab Addict Lake House Rescue centers on a waterfront property in Lake Orion. And now Steal This House is spotlighting houses in communities across southeast Michigan, including Canton, Royal Oak, and Grand Blanc, all of which are close to Motor City.

That said, Steal This House’s first season does take a jaunt to the community of Leland, close to Traverse City in northern Michigan. “I think maybe there was just a little bit of regret for us working through the [winter] on that one,” Cristy told the Free Press. “They get a lot of snow up there!”

And Cristy calls the Detroit area home: She lives in Oakland County, which is northwest of the city’s downtown. “I feel like my roots have been so deep in this state for so many reasons, professionally and personally,” she explained to the Free Press. “My adulthood, my professional career … it’s all happened here. I have Michigan to Detroit to thank for a lot of amazing things in my life.”

Now she’s helping other Michiganders: “I’m working with homeowners to help guide them and change their perspective on the real estate market,” she told Hour Detroit. “It features buyers who have been looking… at the top of their budget. My goal is to help them see things a little bit differently through my background in real estate and home restoration to help them find that ‘steal’ and use some of their budget toward renovating the house to get what they really want.”

And Cristy added that she “took a lot of pride” filming in the Detroit area. “Being here and knowing the market and knowing the area is a huge advantage,” she says. “I’m working with people who are shopping in the areas that I’m familiar with. It helps me gain trust from the homeowners because they know I live here, and I know what I’m talking about, so it’s like, ‘Let’s do this.’”