laredhead

Charleston, SC - I thought the woman was trying out for a role as Barbie (or Barbie's mom) in a movie or something. She must have rec'd a nice divorce settlement given her budget, and I believe that was a Range Rover she was driving. I found it hard to concentrate on the houses she was touring because I was distracted by the hair, false eyelashes, clothing, etc. The townhouse the best option for her, IMO, and the reveal showed it nicely furnished. I kind of thought there might be pink everywhere, but it wasn't over the top.

NoodlePony - there was a version of HH called Where Are They Now, but it had only a few episodes. You might be able to find it on the HH site. A lot of us fans would love to see it return.

Charleston, WV grandmother to Havoc was giving her daughter some good advice about what to look for when buying a house, but daughter was more into the cosmetics rather than the soundness of the houses, or the state of the things that would be an expensive fix - electrical, plumbing, roof, etc.

First, how do I delete the above. I have no idea how it got there, and I cannot find a way to delete it. Secondly, I was coming here to comment on the Chicago episode which I liked very much. It was nice to hear the husband talk about where to place the 65" TV, and not hear the wife snarl that she wouldn't allow it on "her" wall. Also nice that the husband was not insisting on his man space where he could go and watch his 65" TV by himself or play his video games on it. They seemed to be a good fit for each other, and I wish them well in the future. I think they chose the best of the 3, and the 2,000 sf will allow some breathing room for all of them.

I wasn't rooting for John to win, but I was hoping he would win more $$. He didn't seem to be able to get into the game either with the buzzer, or with his missed answers. He seemed nervous, and a bit overwhelmed.

I love the movie Bringing Up Baby. Of course, I have always loved anything with Cary Grant in it. It's one of the funniest movies ever - IMO.

Not everyone in Louisiana has a Southern accent. Many people from certain areas in New Orleans actually have an accent that sounds somewhat like Brooklyn, NY. If you are from the Acadiana area of south & west Louisiana,people there will have a Cajun accent. The Southern accent that most people identify with can be found in more rural areas of eastern Louisiana towards Mississippi, and northern Louisiana which borders east Texas, Arkansas & Mississippi. We are a "gumbo" of accents here. I grew up in Baton Rouge, and do not have an accent, or much of one. My parents were from a rural area of Louisiana, and had somewhat of a country/Southern accent. I think TV has had a big effect on people losing their accents in all parts of the country in the past 50 years. I do still say "y'all".

Shapeshifter - And, darn it!, I knew Lucy's habit of not giving the response in the form of a question was going to come back to bite. I thought I had heard her answer a couple of other times w/o her answer being in the form of a question, and they let it go, but then I chalked it up to not hearing correctly. Glad to know someone else noticed. Wonder why the production crew let the other incidents go w/o a penalty?

The hubby in the St. Paul couple seemed very anxious to begin having children, while the wife was less enthusiastic. She thought they should probably get another dog first - lol.

The Iceland episode left me with a lot of questions. Seems like the wife runs the family from all of the comments and background information that was given. Selling house, car, etc. and uprooting a family to fulfill a desire of one spouse to live in a foreign country seemed a bit extreme to me. At the end of the episode she ticked off all of the countries they had visited in that usual "3 months later" time frame, and it sounded like they were on an airplane almost every weekend. That must be expensive, but maybe frequent flyer miles pay for a lot of it. Maybe once they moved to Iceland, she figured out that there aren't 4 seasons like Michigan has, and to be warm, you have to fly somewhere else. As for the apartments, why would someone use such dark paint (#2) in a place where there aren't many daylight hours? I liked the layout, but the dark paint would be depressing (IMO). The boys are old enough to help with the laundry, so maybe that will be an assigned chore for them. At least the husband won't be walking 40 minutes to work with the apartment they chose. What's she going to do all day when the kids are in school, and the husband is at work? This is one where I wish we could have a revisit a year from now.

The Bossier City, La episode was on last night, and I do wish that the narrator would learn to pronounce names of cities correctly. Her pronunciation of Bossier City was awful. I really didn't know it could be mispronounced until I heard her version. I guessed correctly as to the house they chose, but none of them made my heart flutter. If the wife cut her hair in a more flattering style, she could look years younger. I hardly ever comment on the HH looks, because it's about the houses, but I really wanted to give her some hair advice.

Kudus to the actress who played Ebele because she made me intensely dislike the character. I had to keep reminding myself that the character had a sad life, but I also wanted to yell at her to shape up, get sober, and stop blaming everyone else for her problems. Overall I found the story line to be pretty depressing all around, and this was probably my least favorite season.

Count me among the confused as well. Why did Lord Hume agree with Jay's story that he shot Joe, when actually Precious shot him by accident? I'm going to have to begin keeping a murder/crime board to keep track of characters and their relation to each other, lol. I wish Haley Mills had played a bigger part, but it was nice to see her.

Re the St. Louis HH's last night - I appreciated his comments about unpainted wood, and the quality of construction. When he pointed out that the closet doors in one house were not wood, and she said "but they're pretty", I thought that sums up what so many home buyers want - "pretty" - at the expense of quality. If I was spending $500,000 on a long term investment, I would want as much quality as that would buy. Yes, I know that $500,000 doesn't buy what it used to. I was on team hubby for this episode because he was the one looking at quality. I wish them well, and as another poster said, I hope the worst is behind them. The Victorian house was beautiful, but since the first 2 houses were furnished and the 3rd one wasn't, there was no suspense about which house they would choose.

I think one or 2 less characters would have made this season little less confusing. I'm watching it each week on PBS as it plays out one episode at a time. By the time the next one airs 7 days later, I've forgotten some of the plot and the characters relationship to the story. This is one I will have to binge watch in a couple of months to keep things fresh in my mind.

I thought they were paying off student loans, but it was never mentioned. He said he was a criminal defense attorney, and I don't think they make very much $$ unless they get a few high profile cases and win. He also might be a public defender, and in my area, those don't make very much money either. Many have another practice on the side to supplement their income. The 2-story house had no real living space on the first floor, and the garage offered the only expansion area in which add a living room/family area. Of course, then there is no covered parking for the car. The wife mentioned that she wanted a safe area where she could put the baby in the car, so that probably was not an option for them. The house they bought is very small, but if they don't plan to have another child, and they don't acquire a lot of things, then it will probably work for them. I did agree with her about the brown speckled granite being unattractive in the kitchen of the house they bought. Obviously it wasn't a deal breaker.

This comment has nothing to do with a HH episode, but an observation of my part about the influence of HGTV designers/design programs on buyers. I have a good friend who is a long time real estate agent. She has said several times how much that occupation, and buyers have changed since she became an agent in the late 80's. In the last 10 years more buyers want what they see on TV, don't expect to have to do a lot of work, have expectations that don't meet their means, and now that interest rates have risen, sales have decreased a lot in our area, but buyers are still wanting something for nothing. Our local paper used to feature open houses on Sundays, but agents now have to pay for ads, so there might be one or 2 listed in the paper on-line edition. Zillow and other on-line services are the go to places to find houses. As for "gutting" houses because buyers don't like the counters, floors, etc., there is a house about 3 doors down from my son's house that has sold 3 times in the last 8 years. Originally, it did need TLC because it was a very vintage 40's house. It is now undergoing its 3rd major remodel with the newest owners who have not moved in yet. This house has had 2 new kitchens and bathrooms in 8 years, and is now getting another (3rd) new kitchen and several walls removed. The sales price has increased each time it has been sold as well. Unbelievable! It's almost like it's a practice house for remodeling. I guess HGTV has been an economic engine for contractors and renovators.

Thanks. I didn't remember the Miami episode with the attorney moving from Arizona to Miami, so I thought it was new. I did like his friend trying to give him some sound $$ advice from his experience as a mortgage lender. If I had an HOA of $1,000 a month, I would be using every facility that condo had on a daily basis.

Was the Farmington, CT a rerun? Seems that I remember it, or I remember the couple with the constant over talk of each other, and his need to be on the water. Of course, that does also fit many of the HH's in other episodes. I didn't like any of the houses they saw, and the prices were outrageous - IMVHO.

I enjoyed the Portland episode mostly because the couple didn't argue, and didn't demand a grand foyer, granite counter tops, and all of the other things that so many HH's whine about. Lots of humor in this episode from all 3, but the boyfriend was a keeper IMO. I laughed when the brother/realtor pointed out the 5 different floors in one house. My brother lives in Portland, and real estate there is expensive in most areas close to the city. He has a 100-year old bungalow style, and he is lucky to have bought it about 5 years ago before prices went sky high. On another note, a friend of mine lived next door to some people who had peacocks. There is a reason they are banned in many urban areas - they are very noisy, and they can be mean (my city prohibits roosters, and pea fowl because of noise). The friend was on his roof cleaning gutters, and when he tried to descend the ladder after he was finished cleaning, several peacocks were at the bottom of the ladder, and kept attacking him as he tried to get down. His wife ended up having to chase them away with a broom and a leaf blower. My friends said the peacocks sound like a screaming woman. Homeowner tip - always take a leaf blower up to the roof if you live near peacocks.

I'm a new watcher of Unforgotten. I don't know how I managed to miss it when it was aired on PBS for the past few years, but I'm glad I found it. When I began watching it on Amazon I watched 2-3 episodes at once, and that helped me keep track of the many, many characters that are always introduced during the first episode, and it was easier to follow the story line and remember who was who. Now that the newest season is being shown on PBS on a weekly basis, it's hard to remember what happened the week before. I think I'm going to stop watching and wait until Amazon airs the entire season so I can sort of binge watch it. Too many characters and too many subplots to keep track of and remember for 7 days - lol.

Zwolle, Netherlands - the house in the country was set in a beautiful area, but the bedrooms upstairs were a nightmare. He couldn't even stand up, and they had to duck down to go between them. I was getting claustrophobia watching it. When I saw apartment #3, I told my cat they needed to take that one because of the space and the outdoor area. The cat agreed. On another note, the husband had lost a lot of his accent in 9 years.

Ho Chi Minh episode - which apartment did they choose? The most expensive one @ $2,200/mo or one of the others? I fell asleep before the episode ended. The wife made is very clear that it was her husband's idea to move abroad, and I could understand her anxiety about giving up her career and staying home full time if that is not what she had planned or envisioned her life to be. I wonder which shoe company he worked for. I always find it interesting to see Ho Chi Minh City as it is now compared to the images of it that I saw almost daily on the news back in the 60's & early 70's.

Am I the only one who was confused about last night's HH's reason for buying a vacation house in the Naples, FL area? First it was for the large family, all of whom would seldom be there all at once, then it was for the parents who spend 2 months in Florida every year, then it was for rental purposes. That woman was all over the map. What did she do to be able to afford that as a second home, which by the way she stated she was the buyer many, many times. I think even her twin sister got a little tired of hearing it. And did I hear correctly that her parents have been spending $20,000 to $30,000 a year rented houses in Florida and hosting the family while they are there? I really should not have erased that video so quickly. As for the houses, I wasn't over impressed, especially when the realtor showed them a 1,000 sf house which would have been OK for a couple of people, but not the sister who has 5 children, and definitely not for 16 or 17 people that the family included. That was an obvious decoy. Anyone want to tell her that a screened pool area will not keep out a determined alligator or snake?

I must have missed something regarding the Dallas couple who wanted to downsize. What was the size of their former house? The new one is over 3,100 sf. Were the rooms in the old one not configured to their liking? They didn't annoy me like a lot of other HH's have done. I agreed with the wife who doesn't like kitchen cabinets that don't go to the ceiling. That's just dust catching space, IMO. I'm also not a fan of the gray fad. One last thing, if I'm going to pay $800,000+ for house, it needs to have wood floors, and not luxury vinyl flooring like the 3rd one that was featured.