msmarjoribanks

Yeah,for that price there has to be something wrong with it not disclosed to the viewers. I liked the 3rd place and think Wicker Park is a great location. It's not that far from River North and more of a real neighborhood -- I would prefer it (but I live way up in Lincoln Square, so clearly have different priorities).

I read this book when I was 12 or so, and it has been one of those books I've vaguely recalled and wanted to read again, but couldn't remember the title or author. I would occasionally google the plot, but had no luck. As soon as I heard about this show I thought "I bet it's based on the book" and ordered it. I got it on Kindle since I wanted to start it immediately, although I am trying to read roughly what each episode seems to cover before watching each episode, rather than allowing myself to read straight through.

Chicago rerun -- I couldn't help but watch it thinking about Covid. I knew they wouldn't get the Old Town place, but they are lucky they did not. I was rooting for Old Irving Park (I like that neighborhood, historic houses, and think the larger lots are great, although I also like North Center), but figured they'd stay in the neighborhood they preferred. The Queen Anne would have been better for both of them working from home and trying to have the kids do school from home, and the renovation would have been easier, but looking at both on Redfin, it seems like they did do lots of renovations on the North Center place (which I bet cost much more than $150K), and it's probably workable now (vs the terrible office situation before even with just him there). I hope they finished the basement. Neither of the houses seems to have had a garage. I'm mainly posting because I didn't notice when I watched it before, but it's hilarious when she says "it looks like a Doll House. Nora will love it." I know she was talking about her daughter, but of course my mind went to Ibsen.

Ravenswood in general is overlapping but different (covers a more diverse area, including parts of the better parts of Uptown, and definitely mostly areas to the north of this place) than North Center, and new construction in NC proper (which is where this is) has a higher price. It's a gentrified area (was mostly white, is now mostly white, but the income level has definitely changed, and it has some of the best elementary school districts in the city and is very family-oriented). There are 35 houses (per redfin) that have sold for $1.5m+ in North Center in the past year, so she might be able to come close if it seems like new construction, given the size. (I find the fact that turf instead of grass is not a turnoff odd, among other things, but who knows.)

Yup, although the pronunciation of Goethe St has been shifting lately too (closer to the German pronunciation), so who knows. (Random facts: I used to live quite near this place and strongly considered buying a place a block and a half from this one, which needed a lot of rehab and was too close to the L, so I said no.) Agree re Ari, whom I like, and her designs.

So interesting, I did finally watch the beginning, and wish I'd seen it before. I didn't realize it was a 2-flat, and it seemed much bigger than they suggested. Also, the first bit did indict Donovan as a jerk. "I don't want to be selling $800K houses, that's beneath me." I still think Allison must have had more knowledge than she pretends, but ugh.

So true. I was actually quite interested in this episode since I live in a "Chicago workers' cottage" style house (on the north side) that was rehabbed to get more space/baths/beds, and has a layout somewhat similar to this one (some major differences, such as kitchen location), as well as an addition on the back -- all done before I bought. I actually wish it had more of the feel of the period in which it was built, and have a plan (delayed due to coronavirus) to redo the fireplace to bring back some of the vintage feel (my place is a bit newer than the house in question -- 1910). For me it would be important to bring in details that aren't out of place given the vintage and style of my house. For example, I love Victorians, but a 1910 workers cottage never had the same kinds of details as a Victorian,and such details would also not fit with the relatively modern, open, simple style of my place. Allison doesn't seem to care where/when something is from so long as it is old, which is fine if that's her aesthetic,* but it doesn't seem like bringing back the house to what it was, or whatever she says. Anyway--back to your point--since my floor plan has some similarities and since I nevertheless couldn't imagine where or how that pier mirror would fit in my place, I looked to see what I did have in the place she put it, and of course right where her pier mirror went is my coat closet. The episode I watched missed the beginning of the show, so I might try to find and watch the first bit to see what the house looked like before she bought it, as that is one of the things I like about house rehab shows. *I'm also not a fan of painted brick, especially that black, or hoods intended to make an artistic statement and likely (among other things) to feel dated before all that long.

Argh, I actually was interested in the one in Bridgeport, and had this set to tape, but first Xfinity screwed up and gave me the awful clip show under that name -- and I watched it thinking eventually it would be about the Bridgeport place somehow -- and then they got the real one but cut off the beginning. Anyway, funny she made only $15,000, which likely doesn't cover costs, but I'm shocked that place sold for $790K in Bridgeport (and based on Zillow apparently it really did). Yeah, I had the exact same thought. Yup, agreed.

I love Asheville too. I did the Asheville Marathon a couple of years ago (at the Biltmore), and just enjoyed the whole area.

Heh, I wished I understood more the location of the places. They got the only one I thought was reasonable, so I was happy.

They tried to broach the editing step with Rachel, and she instantly shut them down. Her bags and shoes are her daughters, apparently. They managed to get her to rehome (as in put in storage or perhaps some other closet, who knows) some of the stuff she doesn't use and doesn't love. The books by color thing is just odd, but I have a crazy number of books and they are the only thing in my house (although I've been working on the rest actively) that are super organized. I obsessed about how to categorize them and came up with a system that allows me to find books pretty easily.

I find it odd just because Chicago (which otherwise seems to have pretty similar lots and houses) nearly always has houses with basements. Sometimes they aren't deep enough for useable space without being dug out, and normally they weren't originally finished, but almost always when rehabbed the basements are finished if they don't need to be dug out. Here's something I found interesting: http://moss-design.com/basement/ When I was looking for houses, I saw one place with a basement that needed to be dug out (the owner used it for storage and a wine cellar, but they included quotes on the cost of digging it out), several that needed to be finished, but already included the washer/dryer and often a weight/fitness area, as well as storage, but none with no basement at all. It makes me wonder if they just aren't that common comparatively in Indy, although I don't know why they wouldn't be, as here converting any small house on a small lot to current norms will nearly always include finishing a basement and building out the attic (if big enough, depends on the style of house) with dormers. (The cost of reno'd Chicago places (in gentrified or transitioning areas) is much higher, though, beginning with just the lot cost and then, of course, the cost of a redone house, so that might be part of it, although finishing a basement always seemed to me relatively low cost for the added space. Digging one out not so much.)

I like the organizers okay, and I love organizing shows (I adored Marie Kondo and like Hot Mess House pretty well), but I was excited about this when I heard about it, and then the celebrity aspect was a disappointment. The first was okay because I do like Reese Witherspoon, even if her portion of the show wasn't what I was watching for (I'm currently "editing" and organizing, and need inspiration), and the system aspect of the closet was okay, but not specifically relevant. Rachel Zoe bugged me already (pre show), although I get the difficulty parting with things even as one acquires new things, and think it's necessary to have rules in place personally so as not to become disorganized again quickly, and that's up to Rachel. Haven't see the garage bit yet, but it's only my interest in that that has me watching the Rachel Zoe segment.

I also am guessing Charlie is a girl (and thought the timing of the gender reveal party was unfortunate). I'm guessing the reason for the main living upstairs is more windows, in addition to more views. I'm fine with it. I lived in a 4th floor walk up condo for years, so don't think one flight of stairs is an issue, and have lived in Chicago (with the unattached garage on the back alley) long enough that the front garage seems weird in a similar house. I grew up in a front garage split level but the floorplan of the house was quite different. Other comments: I thought they were saying the place was quite large, not small, and still don't get why their places don't have basements. The living space/dry bar area would be common here (Chicago) on a smaller lot (standard is 125x25), but in the basement (my basement has an entertainment center/additional living area, since I hate TVs in the formal living room, plus storage room, plus exercise area, plus washer and dryer and sink). I looked it up and I guess an issue is flooding, but that's an issue here too and people just have sump pumps (I guess I now live in one of the few areas of Chicago where basement flooding is not an issue). One big upgrade in houses in my area (originally tiny workers cottages) is finishing the basement, as well as creating a real second floor. Re Mina being due pretty soon, I guess they've managed to keep filming throughout coronavirus.

Yeah, I liked this episode, liked the househunters, but usually for me thought the suburban option was the best. But oh well, hopefully they like their choice.

I went to law school at U of M, and knew a number of people from the Detroit area who settled in Royal Oak after school (not mostly lawyers). Royal Oak was the hot place for younger people then ('90s, I'm old), as well as for those who wanted to be urbanites as Detroit was problematic. I enjoyed this episode and thought all the houses were good, although I thought/predicted #1 for them (which is what they picked). Personally I would have gone with #3, and I had friends in school from West Bloomington, which was not as cool as Royal Oak but a nice area, but that barn and yard were great, and I know it's a nice area.

Re Chicago episode: I used to live in a 4th floor walkup and had no issue with it, so have no sympathy for those whining about stairs. 100% would have chosen the Ravenswood house (I'm in a similar slightly less expensive area and am so happy currently). My second choice would have been the Wicker Park walk up, as WP is a great area and as noted before I used to be in a 4th fl walk up and I never thought it was a thing and was in better shape as a result.

Yeah, the second one was clearly the best, but I knew they wouldn't take it because he was Mr Precious West Loop. (I'm old, so thinking West Loop is all that, let alone over Old Town, which IMO is a much better place to live and the lake does in fact matter, annoys me. But West Loop is hot with the Mills.) Of course, I really do live out in the 'burbs (Lincoln Square), but it's cheaper out here.

They seemed to mean close to the Loop -- they were referring to River North as "downtown" (the place they bought was in River North) and Logan Square as "not in the City" (which is a bizarre thing to say) but maybe close enough. I'd guess they meant something like River North, West Loop, South Loop, maybe Streeterville and Gold Coast (although the first two are much more popular with Millennials than the latter two). More people do live in the Loop itself now, but I still wouldn't want to vs living in a more home-y feeling neighborhood. I wish they'd say what suburb they look in when they look in a 'burb more consistently than they do. The suburban area looked like a neighborhood near me that I run in all the time, although this is in the City (just farther from downtown). But of course there are lots of suburban areas not too far from the City that look similar. I'm sure I commented on this episode when it was on before, but I didn't remember it. My suspicion was that in reality there was no actual conflict about where they wanted to live, but that was added for the show.

Agree. I actually liked both the second and third and hated the first. I wondered if there was some location factor not discussed.

Sauganash is in the far NW of the city, it's nice. A friend of mine (with a young child) recently moved there, and I considered looking there (and searched options there on Redfin), but we wanted to be in a slightly less suburban-feeling part of the city. I still don't get why they didn't even mention the metra or explain the commute thing better. I think Vernon Hills is a fine choice for them (especially since it clearly is where the girls were in school, where their family was, it was obvious they would pick it) but would have preferred the decoys be actual contenders showing what else was available at their price point in the area, rather than pretending they were considering moving to totally disparate areas of Chicago and showing 2 other houses they obviously were never going to pick.

That episode was, among other things, annoying because it was so transparently fake. No one looks for houses in Vernon Hills, Bronzeville, and Sauganash. No one with 2 girls of those ages would not be talking about schools as a main consideration (and if they were in private that in reality would have been mentioned). So I took it as obvious that they were going to the 'burbs, and wished the (awful, IMO, but new-build, totally open, all white kitchen are all things I actively dislike) 'burbs house had been compared with other houses that are options in the 'burbs. Plus, the commute thing was dumb as Vernon Hills has the Metra. Unless he works somewhere Metra inaccessible, which was not explained. Sauganash is cool (although too far for me, and I don't have a short commute), and the place was obviously impractical for them. Also MCM is not really a common Chicago style. If they'd been serious about trying to find a city/'burb compromise they could have found a great place in that area for $750K or under, but of course they were not. Also the husband (whatever) wanting a white kitchen in that house was ridiculous. The wood there fit, white would not have. Bronzeville was obviously a non serious option. They weren't a family who was going to move there. The whining about the kitchen by the husband (or whatever) was pathetic (yuck, so Y2K), though, and the wife won points with me for liking it (despite her poor judgment (IMO) in wanting new construction, a jetted tub, and open open open). I do wonder why the roof deck in that place wasn't larger, seems like it would have been easy to make it so.

This show was successful in getting me to check out the two shows I hadn't seen (I was already a fan of Good Bones, and I watched Alison's show since I'm in Chicago and know the areas and markets she works in, although she usually drives me crazy). I haven't seen that much of Jasmine's yet (I enjoyed the supplemental episode), but was surprised that I've been really enjoying Leanne's show. I don't like her obsession with white or share her precise design sense, but the houses she works on are really interesting, and that's something that appeals to me.

I think she hit some of my buttons, because I really could not stand her. She made me angry. They didn't even look at one that would have fit the husband's stated criteria, but at least they did not get the 3200+ sq ft place with a pool. Her whole thing just seemed ridiculously entitled and unrealistic and, frankly, tacky (she had to be whiny about closet size in addition to everything else). Pure conspicuous consumption, the kind of thing that leads people with bad priorities (social media! pretending to being rich at age 25 being more important than actually saving and investing and being financially careful) to spend way above their means. Luckily the husband (who was making the money) seemed to have much more sense and better priorities. I hope he does fix up the place they got and add lots of future value.

Harry Hadden-Paton also recently appeared as George VI in The King's Speech, when it was at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. I couldn't help but think of The Crown when I saw it.