msmarjoribanks

Thanks. I believed they showed it, but missed it. Yeah, the "just saw it when driving to a family event" was really fake. I think the one they looked at was quite a bit bigger.

They actually said it was another unit in the same complex. I agree with you about the rest, although as always I'm mindful it was likely for the camera. I was surprised the brunette ultimately went for and seemed excited about the farmhouse, which was a tipoff, given how anti old house and being farther from the water she'd been. Not knowing the area or where the places were (which is one of the most disappointing things the show does these days), so ignoring these factors, that was definitely my choice. If they said the name of the Chicago 'burb I missed it, and it always makes me mad that they now won't say the Chicago 'burb (usually, at least) or neighborhood, which seems to be the thing these days. I can often guess or figure it out, but it takes a little work, and it really influences my perception of the comparison. Same for other places, but if I don't know them at all of course I would have to look up the areas to understand the differences more.

I was glad they went with the Harlem place, seemed like the best option to me, so long as they could find a way to get the piano in. Re gators, big story in Chicago this year was that we had 2 gators found in the Humboldt Park lagoon. The first one got most of the attention: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chance_the_Snapper https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Second-Alligator-Found-at-Humboldt-Park-Lagoon-A-Mystery-513308411.html People are idiots.

I agree with this. Beverly is really far out, and feels quite suburban, so I can see calling it that, and that's one reason it's appealing for those who would otherwise be in the burbs but need to live in the City (i.e., City employees). I like the neighborhood, I have friends who live there, but as I live on the north side it's a hassle to get there. There's a decent train line for commuting. I would not call it gentrified either -- it's actually an area that did a better job defending against block busting vs most of the city, so it never turned over like some areas and has been basically a middle class neighborhood. It's majority white but integrated. Regarding the 3 places in this episode, they have this annoying habit of not saying what suburb it was, which makes a difference. The housing stock looked like that in some parts of the City for sure, and the lot size. It could be Berwyn maybe? But not enough to tell. Of the places in the City, I would have taken the Logan Square one, especially if they are thinking about having a baby soon.

I watched, since I really like Mina and her show and I hate watched Alison's show. From this episode I also will likely check out Jasmine's show, as I liked her personality. I was sure Leanne was going to win just based on the bigger size, but I really hated her master bath as I thought the layout was bizarre and the design just didn't win me over, and I also hate excessively enormous master suites. As someone who appreciates her garage space, I'm not sure that was a great idea over all. The others I all thought had strengths and weaknesses. I might have liked Mina's the best overall, but the wallpaper and mirrors were bad, I'd want to change them. Tarik I only know from the promos to his show (and Christina's new one, from which I get some of the story), but his comments seemed mostly pretty reasonable, although of course he is going to be super positive overall for everyone.

They seem to avoid talking about neighborhoods more often than not lately, which is very frustrating as that is always relevant.

Yes, when she first started to go on about the couch in the laundry room, I was saying "just go in another room, you don't need to be in there the whole time." I thought it might be a reaction to being in an apt building with common laundry you didn't want to leave, but I didn't watch the beginning so don't know. It being really her-space makes sense, but yes then she shouldn't have objected to him having his space. The house they got seemed like a good compromise--both parents and the kids got their personal space, but the bathroom situation was inconvenient and seemed weird not to comment on (not that it's not totally do-able and common not so long ago). Funny given that in the first the wife seemed worried that the kids could have peeked in the master bathroom due to the non-tight door, which, no, really, don't worry about it. True (as noted in a different comment) the wife seemed not concerned about storage space (but for the closets and they ended up going with the place with the smallest closets), but I wondered if she'd change her mind after actually living there a bit. When the second (more expensive) place was still under consideration I was saying "you can do the renovation later, when you have more money, you are young." The other benefit of living in a place for a while before reno is you can make better decisions about what you really care about/like and don't like about the place. I thought they were a likable couple, however. And the resolution showed that no one was being unreasonable. Worst thing about house #2 (which I liked, but I get the budget concern) was that it was a really unfair split of the commute time which was clearly avoidable, and the 3rd one was more reasonable (25 vs. 45 rather than 5 vs. 60).

I think in some markets it's unavoidable, but when I bought my current place last year my personal rule was no bidding wars. One place I looked at was nice (but I prefer the house I got), but they were clearly angling for (and got) a bidding war, and I opted out. I paid asking for the place I got and sold my prior place for $5000 less than asking (which was great since I priced it $15,000 over what I expected it to sell for), but on the whole places here go for less than asking unless they are in the most competitive (like under $250K 2-bed condos in good areas) price range or truly under priced. I paid asking for my place only because I'd been in the market long enough to have a good idea of what a reasonable price was and it was just on and the price was for them to take it off the market before the first open house Some here (Chicago) think it's terrible that our market is much more reasonable/flat than Denver or Seattle or the like (not to mention CA, Boston, NYC, DC), but I think it's a good thing. It's plenty expensive as is.

Yeah, me too. I guess I'm not far from an area with lots of Orthodox. The SIL was great, and the homeowner was lucky to have her help. These CA episodes bug me, since I don't get how someone of that age has $900K+ for a house (they didn't say her job, I don't think). I'm in Chicago and we are nowhere near what CA seems to cost outside of really select neighborhoods. I thought it was funny her mom said she was rich for being willing to spend $900K and she disagreed. Also saw the dating app one and while I liked the couple well enough the cost for the houses on offer was so depressing.

Yeah, I have a powder room which is my only first floor bathroom, and I like the storage for toilet paper, cleaning supplies, towels, and plus I get ready downstairs more often than not so have a brush, various hair products, and some makeup in the cabinet. (I like that it doesn't have a shower which would be a waste of space for me). I have most of my stuff in my master bath, of course.

I don't know about Indiana, but as I mentioned upthread the lots (and relatedly, the houses they do, although not their specific style) remind me a lot of Chicago. I own a remodeled Chicago workers cottage (and looked at a variety of late 1800s/early 1900s houses, many remodeled, when looking), and the typical plan for the smaller cottage style (remodeled, as they were originally 1 floor only, with an attic, 2 beds on the first floor, unfinished basement) is living, dining, kitchen, maybe some family space, plus a half bath, on the first floor. Then 3 beds, one with a master bath if it fits, and a shared bath on the top. A fourth bed might be in the finished basement, or just a rec area or it might not be finished (and likely would have low ceilings). For a grander Victorian, the first floor would likely be similar, but more likely to have an entry way, and maybe a small extra room, and there would be bigger bedrooms on the second floor (or more), with only one bathroom, and then often an attic master or promise of one (sometimes an office and the master would be on the second floor). But most of theirs are more the workers cottage model. (My own place is different only because I have a crazy number of books -- living room, kind of small because I created an entry space, library/overflow gathering room with additional seating, kitchen, and then dining at the back. Top floor 3 beds, 2 bath. First floor half bath. Finished basement with a bath. Mine has an addition in the back too, but cannibalizing it for a master bedroom and another bath would make no sense.) A first floor master really doesn't fit the floor plan/size. It might well be common in some suburbs, but I didn't see it in the city (where I looked) at all. Even with newer places I suspect the lot size makes it an awkward configuration. I do get that it would be helpful for older people (when my mom had mobility issues toward the end of her life my parents had a hard time finding place with just one floor, which they wanted, and I think they would have been fine with a first floor master, guest beds on the second floor, but they weren't common where they lived and apparently the master on first/all first came at a premium.) I wonder if it is expected in Indy burbs, so people who are starting to consider these transitional areas of the city as an alternative expect it. Interesting that Mina chose it, although her place is much bigger than most of the ones they do. That all aside, I think a house without 3 beds would be a hard sell.

They look a lot like Chicago lots to me. Do you happen to know if there's a standard size in the area?

I loved the Cooperstown episode. The Victorian was similar to some places I looked at and totally up my alley, and I'm typically all about location, so I knew it was the obvious choice. And I normally always go for vintage. I knew they would pick it, super obvious the others were decoys. That said, the others were great and interesting. The first was so cool, although clearly 120 acres was ridiculous (I didn't think of selling off the land, wonder what it goes for there), and I would have so loved growing up in the third and love it now (again, even though I normally always want vintage). (My sister and I would have loved the kids area so much and not even needed a wall.) The views were amazing and it was only 4 miles from town. But still the Victorian was great too and IMO the right choice (yes, it's pretend). They lucked out it was on the market when they were looking. I like that area -- I'm not specifically familiar with it, but I am familiar with the Finger Lakes and the Berkshires and it's in-between.

Arizona wife was super unpleasant (I felt a little bad for the realtor, but then remembered she's playing a role for the show) and the stairs thing was crazy, but I felt a little sorry for her as I think she was legitimately (if extremely irrationally) worried, and they've gotten into a dynamic where he is going to be fun parent and she's going to be the nagging stressed out worried about everything one. Not fun. I actually thought the house was probably the best fit (although not because it lacked a second story, just that there were bigger issues with the other two houses, none of which I liked). However, adding to the grass in an AZ yard seems like a bad idea. Isn't grass tough there anyway?

Grand Rapids: for once they picked the place that was my favorite. None of them fit the wants entirely (mainly for the wife), so I also thought one was the obvious choice for them, but often when I think that they disappoint me. I also love 4-squares. Didn't end up getting one, but it would have been a plus for me. Mason, OH, the wife's obsession with being in Mason (likely producer driven) was annoying. I checked and both the other places were quite close (I think she said Westchester was 0.5 miles, but Lebanon is pretty close too in an area where you are driving everywhere anyway). I thought the one they picked was the best fit although figured there might be something to the location that I was unaware of. The thing about the bathtub inserts mystified me; I'm not even sure what a bathtub insert is.

My dad lives near Portland, and exactly this. It's crazy hot more often vs moderate all year round. I'm in Chicago and his weather is not dissimilar to mine but more unpredictable.

Agree, I really miss the specific location information. I thought they should have picked the first house, which was only $475K and seemed to have most of what they wanted, but whatever. I did like the couple.

Washington DC, two masters, another where I liked the two they did not pick and not the one they did. Likely location (which was not discussed) would cast light.

The things they don't mention are so odd. Parking should have been. I thought the 3rd place was good for her, I would have picked the house, so of course she went with the 1st. Higher assessments than a high rise (the high rise was shockingly reasonable) is odd, but the amount of reno she's doing is impressive, I'd love to see the results on an update show as the bedroom was why I thought that place was a no, so I'd love to see how she manages it in that space (with the larger bathroom and closet and apparently no loft)..

Absolutely. When they start out saying they want a specific neighborhood, especially if it's certain neighborhoods of which North Center is one, and show 3 houses, only one of which is in the target neighborhood or near it, then I know which one they will pick. Also, flat out (and as the realtor said) there's no modern single family with a backyard in North Center for under $800K. A modern SFH in NC is going to be rare and over a million. $600,000 for a house with a larger than standard lot in North Center is quite cheap, it made me wonder specifically where it was, but I haven't found it yet. I looked a little in North Center before I bought last year (I sold a condo in Southport, which is a similar area and not far), and the lowest priced I saw were these: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1821-W-Byron-St-60613/home/13388358 (sold for $580K, but listed way above, needed work and more importantly too close to the L and metra). https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/1924-W-Grace-St-60613/home/13387310 ($680K, 3/1.5 like the place the couple bought, but less charming on the outside, although likely less work needed). The deal with North Center is that it's a hot area for families with children, lots of single family, nice area although not all that close to downtown (not bad by L, though, depending on where you are), and most of all, some of the best elementary school districts in the city (although that only gets you through 8th grade). The Old Irving Park place (which I loved) might have seemed like a possibility except they showed them going to an open house, so it seemed obviously not the pick. When looking, I looked at a couple of places in Old Irving (without really wanting to live there). It has pluses, including the actual time to downtown by the Blue Line and accessibility to the highway, but doesn't have the amenities of some other areas, depending on what you want. But it's a nice and pretty area and has lots of great houses, many on extra large lots as the one shown, and is great for families. The elementary schools aren't as respected, however, and in miles it's farther from the Loop, the Lake, and other popular areas like Lakeview. But the prices are much better. Here's the listing: https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/4302-N-Tripp-Ave-60641/home/13481384 Some of the recent Chicago ones have not specified the neighborhoods, so I was glad that this one did.

Agreed, I loved this one.

OMG that episode was so annoying. I knew it would be when the description was something about wanting a fancy house in the Bay Area (where prices are out of control for any house) and then they were debating $2 m vs. $2.5 m budgets. The husband does reconstructive medicine or something like that so is very aware of the risks of being in a wheelchair/having bad knees and what not. The wife's deal with grout actually makes sense when picking backsplash specifically (although it's not as big a deal as she suggests) and I agree with her that grout on a counter is dumb, but backsplash is easy to replace (and again some grout on a backsplash is not that big a deal, speaking from experience). The freakout about the shower I thought was weird. Also, if you feel compelled to buy a $2m+ house that is gigantic, hire a cleaner or change a few finishes. I liked the first (which seemed by far the best value, especially given the views). The second was a nutty mansion that seemed way excessive to me. The third was okay except that the MiL was too close, so I would have liked the first, predicted the third (despite the apparently bad location, freeway I mean, not MiL). And of course they took the third (for $2.226 m).

I really liked this episode, it was different. I thought they should pick the third house, but when they explained they got maintenance for hay on the second it made sense. The boom boom room thing for once seemed actually authentic and a little funny, not for the camera (cringe-worthy though it was). One thing about families with that many children is they seem resigned to sharing space in a way so many precious princesses on HHers will not.

I thought it was a good decision, though -- the price made sense, and the second would have taken a lot of work since one of the issues was the low ceilings. I think it having some of the original details despite not needing much work was probably a factor (although who knows, location which was not mentioned much could have been a major unidentified factor).

Until the end I was sure Emma wasn't really dead, just evil (I thought it was a fake-out to throw Will off his game). I suppose I now believe the female baddy is Tina, but wouldn't mind a shock. Guess I'm in the minority as I have no issue with Susan/Ray.