You may know Richard Davis as the guy from A&E’s series, “Flip This House,” though now he’s doing a similar gig for TLC.

Davis got interested in the real estate business when he was 15 and was paid to sweep out a large house that he thought was an inn until the owner came in and he found it was a second home. After college, Davis bought his first house for $27,000, put $10,000 into it and sold it for $68,000. Then, after Hurricane Hugo hit the South Carolina coast in 1989, he helped rebuild 47 homes in a year, a feat which he says was “like getting addicted to adrenaline.” He started his real estate company, Trademark Properties, in 1991. An upcoming episode of the TLC show will focus on Davis’ involvement in moving the house of baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson and making it a museum. So what does this profitable flipper flip out over?

An Admitted Crackberry
“I could never go anywhere or do anything without my Blackberry,” Davis says. “It’s amazing how efficient I can be with it. I think for anyone who is running a business and multitasking, a Blackberry is key. Mine is an older model, but it’s got all I need.”

He’s a Pod Person
“I download video and music to my iPod,” Davis says. “I don’t like bulky electronics. And I didn’t even want a Walkman. But an iPod fits my personality. You can sit on a plane, plug the earbuds in and no one even knows you have it.”

The Diet Coke Diet
“I live off of Diet Coke and my Blackberry,” Davis admits. “If you’ve seen the show, you know it’s real if you see me with a Diet Coke.”

Sports Release
“I’m big into sports,” Davis says. “I’m either coaching basketball and baseball at the rec center or middle school or [working] as an assistant at the high school. That’s my release. When a kid can’t make a left-handed layup, and you work with him and he does it, seeing that development is great.”

Steven Castle - Contributing Writer

Steven Castle is Electronic House's managing editor. he has been writing about consumer electronics, homes and energy efficiency topics for two decades. He is also the co-founder of GreenTech Advocates.