amarante

Not to take this away from bridal gowns, but a player's net is going to be considerably less than that - He has at least a 10% agent fee; taxes and legal/accounting/business management fees. The reason why so many athletes (and musicians/actors) wind up broke is they get their high income quickly when they are young. They aren't more irresponsible than other young people but they generally are not able to sustain their income over their lifetime so they need to be especially wise in terms of figuring out how to manage their money for the short period of time when they are getting paid.

I often wonder who is the target market for a B&B room in a beach town for a place that is out of town; not close to the scene and also doesn't even have a pool. What would be the attraction?

There are so many stories of pros winding up with very little money - for a variety of reasons. Some are profligate; some are actively bamboozled and advised to make terrible investments. I know very little about the economics of professional sports but I do remember from the first season of Real Housewives of Atlanta that basketball players have better contracts than football players and so they are less likely to wind up sidelined with no career after two years and no pension. Of course a fool and his money - this guy didn't seem to be a superstar so it doesn't seem as if blowing $100,000 or so on a wedding reception is a wise economic decision. I am just making up figures based on the *bride* needing two obviously expensive bridal gowns as I would extrapolate that lots of money was being spent foolishly by someone who didn't appear to have the kind of superstar career that merited those kinds of expenditures.

She was marrying a professional basketball player and I assumed he was paying for everything.

Of interest (perhaps) to those of us who would watch the English show that ran after the Kleinfeld show last season - the one with Gok as a presenter. I saw a book called Gok Cooks Chinese and I thought that has to be "the" Gok - it's such a unique name. It was his cookbook and seems like a great cookbook. Relatively easy recipes but not dumbed down and also not Americanized (or in his case Britishized) in terms of the kind of Panda Express style of food with too much sugar and fat. His father owned a Chinese restaurant in the UK and Gok worked there. Gok also had some cooking shows in the UK - found that out by googling. I had no idea. I liked Gok on the English show especially when he transformed dresses. Obviously a person of his stature is not working at a small bridal salon but I didn't mean that unrealistic aspect of the show. Anyway if anyone is looking for some new recipes, you can do far worse than Gok's book. I googled and found these to give some idea of the kind of recipes you would find in his book. https://thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/books/gok-cooks-chinese

I am not sure the "customized" is the issue 🙂 There are many people whose taste I would pay for 🙂 There was a time when that style of home was more popular - all those Tuscan kitchens from a decade ago 🙂 Teresa amplified it to an extreme of course so the whole place is just a place of monstrous bad taste and no way to update it as she attempted to do by painting all the walls white since the hideous marble and the horrible wood ornamental stuff still shows through. I don't want to insult specific groups but it was a style that seemed to be favored by nouveau riche Italians - also to some extent here in Los Angeles by Persians for awhile. I just wonder if it is now so completely out of style that there is not even a small group of Guidos who find it attractive. As I recall Dolores had a very normal looking house even before the remodel - and by normal I don't mean the size because you could have modest size homes with hideous marble/Tuscan kitchens and baths. But there is no way to update the Teresa's home by merely painting the walls white. It is a total and expensive gut job. It is not like Montville is some exclusive enclave where people are paying huge sums of money to buy a tear down because the land values are so high as is common in Los Angeles.

No - it's very atypical especially since the entrance was so oddly placed. Some expensive apartments have what are called service entrances which are doors which open into the kitchen area typically and which also open onto separate stairs/elevators which are used for service and deliveries. I sometimes wonder what is going on when all of the choices are so terrible. The single family home was nice but I can understand why a single family home isn't a desirable option for many people. I don't want one even and deliberately chose a high rise versus a single family home. Also the area might be questionable - there was an article on homes for $250,000 in various locations and what looked as if it were a lovely "flip" turned out to be located in a neighborhood that had a lot of crime. However, surely there had to be better options in terms of condos in Columbus. The one she chose was truly unlivable in my opinion. Beyond being small to the point of really not having space for normal living, wasn't there only one bathroom - which meant that either your guests have to walk up to a loft or you have to trot down to the first floor. The third condo was also a ghastly choice for the reasons stated in posts above.

That is still a gut remodel for whoever buys it. All she did was paint everything white which just makes all the awful marble finishes look even more awful. The bathrooms are a gut and the kitchen is now terrible fake Tuscan but painted white. And painted cabinets are generally just a temporary fix anyway. This is a very taste specific home but I am not sure that even those who HAD this taste level still have it at this price point.

It was obvious the LA HH were going to purchase the first house. It was much nicer and in a better area. I snorted when the realtor said that you could just get on the freeway ha ha - get on the freeway and sit in traffic especially if one has to come in from west of the 405 intersection. The hill house was just awful and no reason for anyone to purchase it as it didn't have great views; had absolutely no land and was awful inside - dated but without any kind of charm. It was always an ugly house and it had obviously been neglected for years. I wouldn't be surprised if it were either an estate sale or an older couple downsizing. The market for that kind of home was a professional who could renovate it for less money than amateurs - e.g. do it for wholesale - flip and sell for retail. The first house was pretty standard for the style of home that is being built. The developer purchased a small home that had been built in the 1950's - tore it down and then built the maximum square footage that was permissible. Modern farmhouse is fairly popular now and I don't really mind it as they are good homes to raise a family in and they also tend to blend in better with the character of the older residential homes. For awhile the homes were being replaced (and sometimes still are) with homes that are completely out of scale and form with the rest of the homes.

I can't speak to Nigerian culture but I was also raised in a culture in which a college degree was just the basic and the children were expected to become either doctors, lawyers or tenured professors. None of us went around stating what degrees we had unless it arose for some reason in the natural course of a conversation. And that included my cousin who had an MD degree - was a Board certified Surgeon and then got a Business Degree so that he could perform his duties as the Chief of Surgery more effectively. So I would continue to think it's an asshole type of thing.

Easy for me to miss it since I watch everything on DVR and fast forward through ads. 🙂

Yeah - that was what I was attempting to say. I don't think you can successfully traverse the worlds of academia/serious political thinker/commentator and appear on this kind of show. I seriously question why should want to do this and then to make it even worse by acting like an entitled asshole. She has revealed herself as either willing to do anything for money and or celebrity as a D-List celebrity. Most people I know wouldn't be willing to trade their dignity for this kind of exposure and it's even sadder when the person doing this like Wendy theoretically is trading her reputation for this.

I don't know why a serious academic or political *freelance* commentator would be on this show. Seeing the manner in which she interacts, I can't imagine taking her seriously on any subject. I would seriously question any booker using her for serious political commentary in the future and if I were a student, I would probably avoid her classes. I get that there are situations in which a POC might need to blast their academic achievements but it is utterly ridiculous to do so in a social situation in which no one is questioning her academic or professional status. WTF is it to say that she is Dr. Wendy - that isn't even a thing. I have a professional degree and I can't remember ever bringing it up as some kind of "gotcha" in a social situation. And I am old enough to remember when professional women were mistaken for secretaries so I do understand why theoretically one might feel a need to prove one's credentials.

Well I am the lazy and incompetent person who would (and does) hire other people but I don't pretend that it is a factor and wouldn't be grousing to my real estate agent about it either. 🙂 Having finished a gut remodel, I am now really suspicious of homes that have been renovated for resale because I learned all the ways a less than scrupulous remodeler can cut corners so that it looks okay but wasn't done as well as it could have been. And of course the remodeled homes are not what I have chosen at all in terms of either best functionality or aesthetics. .🙂

Living next to any kind of commercial establishment - especially a garage with cars entering and exiting - is NOT a good thing in NYC. It's not as if people who live in townhouses generally are driving their own cars every day - or any day. Her property is worth exactly what somebody is willing to pay for it and no one is willing to pay what she was asking. If and when she wants to sell the place, it will sell for FMV. The problem with Sonja's town house is that it is a gut job of the kitchen and bathrooms and much of the decor. That is quite expensive. Also I would imagine that there is a lot of deferred maintenance that needs to be done - there was a season when there was some kind of leak and I doubt Sonja spent the money necessary to truly correct whatever damage was done behind the walls. ETA - I saw the listing and it is being marketed as a Morgan property. Oddly much of the decor which is going to be ripped out by anyone who buys it is highlighted. The decor is hopelessly dated and very old-ladyish in style. The exterior is landmarked and the charming period details will hopefully be retained but there is a way to update a period home without having it look like an upscale assisted living facility. 🙂

The fixer with the walk in tub was an estate sale or some other "as is" when the elderly occupant died. Not only was normal maintenance probably deferred but any kind of style updates was done years ago. As I recall not only were there issues with the drain but I think they mentioned that the pool needed work as well. The walk in tub was done so the owner could continue to live in the home as long as possible. So when the old (literally) owner died or moved to a nursing home, the home was put on the market and it made no economic sense for the heirs to attempt to spruce it up. As I posted above, those kinds of true fixer uppers are what people in the construction business really look for because they have the ability to do the work for less money than a regular person would do. And since they do it for a living, they don't have the same kind of stress related to remodeling. I have friends who flip homes as their profession and their experience (both financial and emotional) is nothing equivalent to what I went through when I did my remodel recently. And spare me the fake moans about not wanting to do the work after work as they are not doing the physical labor of that kind of extensive scope by themselves. Same kind of ridiculous complaints about people who don't want to maintain yards as most relatively affluent people with full time jobs hire other people to do yard work unless gardening is a hobby.

I am wondering how the pandemic has impacted their ability to pay for homes that were predicated on income received from rentals. That is also true to a lesser extent for domestic rentals in the US of course. I also wonder how some of the HH who bought homes are doing when their jobs were in industries really impacted by the pandemic.

There have been a couple of brides who *claim* to want a black dress for whatever reason but they have never purchased one. The closest to a black dress was a woman who saw the light when they added a thin black fabric belt to a white dress. There was a woman married to a rocker and Randy convinced her that she could wear black dresses to any function but could only wear a white dress to her own wedding. Not that I am convinced that she ever wanted a black dress but at least the woman led a lifestyle in which she actually did have other occasions to wear black formal dresses so Randy's argument made more sense - i.e. that wearing a black formal dress really wouldn't differentiate the occasion. Years ago there was an Indian girl who needed a red dress for the reception. As I recall she was marrying a non-Indian and so there were three services and three gowns - a sari for the Indian ceremony; a white dress for the church and the red gown for the reception. I believe she got an Pnina ball gown because it was one of the few lines that would custom make a red dress. It was actually quite a beautiful classic gown but still was odd because why would you need to go to Kleinfelds for a formal red dress. At the price point she could go to any number of stores that sell beautiful expensive evening wear and purchase a red dress. And the pockets on the Irish bride are going to hang more properly when the dress is fitted as those kinds of measurements are taken for the custom dress. It is the same as bodices being too short or boobs being droopy because a clothes pin or some kind of elastic can't provide the kind of support the actual well fitting dress will and a larger chest will make the waist too high and short as well.

I think Leah’s parents were comfortable but you didn’t need to be very wealthy to afford the clothing at Pat Fields. She wasn’t selling couture stuff. It wasn’t Target priced but it was certainly within the price level for a clothing for a teenager especially for a special occasion. I am outing myself in terms of age but I went to high school in Manhattan and shopped for clothing at Paraphernalia which was the trendiest of mod boutiques. They had a lot of English designers from Carnaby Street and as I recall Betsy Johnson was a designer of some stiff. I would kill to have the iconic mini dress from their store with the overall peace sign design. I wore that thing with black tights and red shoes. I alternated that look with the bell Bottoms I wore with my Mexican import tops from Fred Leighton when it was still located in the Village on Macdougal and Eighth Streets. My best friend gave me an amethyst and silver ring from there which I just recently gave back to her for her daughter to wear.

Perhaps there is no answer but was Dorinda fixated in Tinsley with such hatred. Normally there is something however ridiculous that sets a housewife off but there seemed to be nothing, even a trivial misunderstanding that could have been the reason. Dorinda was awful to the other housewives at times but there was generally some reason however poor or misunderstood that set Dorinda off But there seemed to be nothing Tinsley did or said that was a cause. And not even the off stage stuff that can’t be directly discussed. Sonja’s townhouse is way overpriced. Today’s NY Times had an article on the week’s big sales. There was William Paley’s townhouse in Beekman Place. It had fabulous river views and better interior and finishes and it sold for under $12 million. Behind having lots of maintenance issues I am sure, her interior needs a lot of work as finishes are old and tired. Also it is in a theoretically nice block but next to a commercial parking garage.

Enough with the fake story lines where construction people or others in the field pretend they aren’t going to get something that needs extensive renovation. A professional in the business is the only person who can actually do extensive remodels that make economic sense because they are doing the work For essentially wholesale. Any General Contractor who doesn’t buy a fixer is an idiot because he is paying retail prices for another contractor’s project and it won’t be as good or exactly to his family’s needs or tastes as what he can do. And I roll eyes at his claim that he doesn’t want to come home and work on the house. He isn’t doing the work. His crew is doing the work. A project of that scope requires multiple workers. A general contractor doesn’t perform the labor as he has better things to do with his time than demolish and put up dry wall.

The house on Coldwater Canyon had a really undesirable location. The road is a major commuter thoroughfare for people to get from the Valley into Beverly Hills and the West Side of Los Angeles. There would always be traffic and during commute time, I could be bumper to bumper. The backyard of the home was right next to the road - that's why there realtors were discounting the value of the home so significantly. As I recall the "Castle" was located in an exclusive enclave in Beverly Hills. The home was taste specific for sure but all you need is one person with that specific taste which evidently Altmann found. Price reflected the reality of it being so taste specific. The Coldwater Canyon home on that lot would have sold for more - but probably would have been built more spectacularly as the land itself was more desirable - larger and had views. I can't remember exactly what street Tracey's home was but it's not a scary area and it's not even particularly gritty. It just is further East and the price reflects that. Beverly Hills is desirable for a lot of reasons including that you can send your kids to the public school system so for many families that's a huge savings when you consider first grade through high school graduation. Beverly Hills below Wilshire was originally built for the shop owners with modest homes but that area is still less affordable because of the ability to send to the Beverly Hills public schools.

The location for the Long Beach Woman was why it was that price. There are sketchy areas in Long Beach. Besides which the condo was a block from the beach and the house was several miles inland. I wasn’t wild about the condo but the price reflected FMV for a beach adjacent home. Location always impacts FMV significantly. Sex sells. You shou see the female realtors in Million Dollar Listing or selling Sunset. 😂😂

It’s not logistically difficult to retrofit a washer dryer in an apartment. You tie the drain into an existing drain - my washer is tied to the drain in the bathroom. Typically for an apartment you use a low flow washer and a ventless dryer. Those are standard in European appliances. My condo has to approve the model washing machine and dryer. Mine are Bosch and I also have very strong water safety systems going to prevent any damage if there is a flood. The machines turn off automatically if the sensor senses water outside the machine and they are set in a pan to catch the water. It is an excellent thing to have for any appliance even if you don’t oiv3 in an apartment. My dishwasher and refrigerator also have water alarm systems that turn water off if they sense water leaking.

You can show up to inspect the dress at Kleinfelds and have them ship it after you have tried it on. You don’t have to hav3 it drop shipped to avoid sales tax.