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Unsellable Houses - General Discussion


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I think the houses are equivalent to flip houses, instead of regular homes.   

I watch the Deed: Chicago, and Sean Conlon who is a millionaire or more, has a huge real estate firm in Chicago, and he said that for flip houses you want trendy, it sells better for flip houses.   The people that buy flips want the latest, and I hope they have the money to redo things when the trend is over.   For regular homes that are remodeled, and sold, or remodels for the home owner to stay in, classic and not-trendy (no brass, mixed metals, cabinet colors, etc) then you go with more coordinated colors, and neutrals.   

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12 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I think the houses are equivalent to flip houses, instead of regular homes.   

I said this early in the series. The only difference is the original homeowners still own the house, instead of selling it to the flippers before the renovations.

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On 6/8/2022 at 8:49 AM, 3 is enough said:

It seems once the talent have a season or two under their belts and are more comfortable on camera the producers start asking them to ham it up to build a “brand”.  Drives me nuts.

And the ham quotient seems to increase to over half the show after a couple of seasons so I watch the opening to see the property initially and FFwd to the reveal. The ham and hijinks are bad enough on FF with no sound; I don't know how anyone can watch in real time!

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(edited)

They're showing the commentary version of the Day Care Redo, and I still hate the desk /office right outside the door to the half bath, and part of the kitchen.  They call the agent who bought the house, and he did rip down the wallpaper the twins were so proud of. 

Tonight's new one "Love Tub to Shower Power", the couple want their kitchen and 1990  bathroom complete with a heart-shaped tub.    Located in Snohomish, 3 bed 3 bath 2900 sq. ft. , mother-in-law suite on the bottom level, house is on 4.9 acres, The homeowner works as a designer for the twins.    They have a zip line on the property.   

Kitchen isn't up to date, pantry is huge and gorgeous, main bathroom is awful.  MIL suite and bonus room are downstairs in walk out basement.    I don't think they need to touch anything but the main bath and upstairs kitchen.  They want to price at just under $1 million, after doing reno for $100k.

They want to extend the kitchen into half of the laundry/pantry, redo the main bath, all for $100k and market house at $956k, leaving $53k split after the sale at the higher price.    I would have done the extension of the kitchen, but used as many cabinets as they could, reface existing ones, to match new cabinets to fill in, plus new counter tops, and back splash. Instead of the heart-shaped tub, they're doing a large shower. 

I could skip them doing the zip line. Randy went first and got dragged to a stop on the grass, then the Leslie goes, and Randy catches her, followed by Jeff who doesn't do the zip line, and I think Jeff was the only smart one.   I wish they would stop with the cutesy stuff about their family, VWs, and just show the remodel.   

I hate floating shelves and they want to put them in the kitchen.  I wish the main bath shower was a lighter color tile, the grey makes it look dark. The main bath floor tile is too busy.   

The extra gravel parking pad was brilliant.     Rain catcher does nothing for me.     I'm glad the exterior was freshly painted that blue color, or it would have ended up dark gray or black too.  I didn't care for the little fence.   It added nothing to the curb appeal for me, and will be a problem for mowing too. 

As always, staging is way too much wall mounted stuff, odd decor items like a drift wood branch, and so much stuff on every surface.   I wish they used the same tiles for all of the kitchen back splash, instead of using another patterned tile on the stove back splash.    I don't like the wood range hood outside either.    Now, the front loader laundry is stacked. Why do they always put a huge plant in the shower?   I think shower tile is too dark, and shower pan and floor tile clash.  The living room fire place looks like every other one they've done recently, dark gray painted brick. 

Tried to sell for $750k, rehab $100k, list at $975k, sells for $1.150,000 with multiple  offers,

Split was projected to be $62,500 each, turned out to be $150k each, or more profit of $300k over rehab and pre-remodel price.

Edited by CrazyInAlabama
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The twins have the worst taste in furnishings, fixtures, accessories, and especially tile. They must go to a tile warehouse and pick up all the odd lots on the cheap. Mixing tile the way they do seldom works.

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They had a whole long bit about Leslie overruling Lindsey and doing floating shelves on a kitchen wall instead of cabinets, but the end reveal didn't show any floating shelves. Just a tiled wall. 

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1 hour ago, egc3 said:

They had a whole long bit about Leslie overruling Lindsey and doing floating shelves on a kitchen wall instead of cabinets, but the end reveal didn't show any floating shelves. Just a tiled wall. 

This. What was the deal? I thought maybe I missed seeing the shelves but watched carefully during the open house and there were no shelves on that wall to the right of the sink. Why even leave all that in?

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They have a Facebook page, and someone asked about the floating shelves in the kitchen, and it said that the reveal was filmed before the shelves were installed.  

I've noticed in some reveals that grouting isn't finished, there are touch ups needed to the paint, etc., and I guess it's due to filming schedules, and they have to finish the house after the reveal is filmed.   

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17 hours ago, egc3 said:

They had a whole long bit about Leslie overruling Lindsey and doing floating shelves on a kitchen wall instead of cabinets, but the end reveal didn't show any floating shelves. Just a tiled wall. 

I guess Lyndsey over-ruled Leslie's over-rule. LOL 

Again, the homeowner is a friend, coworker or family. And if she worked for them, and they're realtors, why was she initially consulting with another agent? Also, if she does interior design for the twin's business, why did her own home look so bad and why couldn't she stage it herself? 

The tile in the shower was too dark. It's a good thing they live on acreage without close neighbors or they'd be giving them a nice view right into the shower through that big window.

I don't get the obsession with mixing and matching patterned tile. I hated the tile above the stove. It did not coordinate with the rest of the backsplash tile. The pop of color blue sink was a bad idea too. But I find a lot of the design choices too taste specific, which is fine if a designer is working for a client who's remodeling to stay in home, but not such a good idea for resale.  

Why didn't Lyndsey think of buying car seat covers for Ginger until now? The rips in the leather will still be uncomfortable to sit on though. 

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New, "Sunken Seventies to High Class"

A deal for several homes in the neighborhood were going to all be sold to a developer, but the deal fell through.   Owner is an engineer named Joe.      3 bed 2.5 bath about 2,000 sq. ft. built in 1975.   He wants to sell and move closer to the water.   It was listed for $815,000 for sale to the developer.   I hate the sunken living room.   The kitchen is so 70's. main bedroom is huge.  main bathroom needs to be expanded. 

I don't like the comp house with black and white exterior.  Good point that they're in a tech. industry neighborhood, and they need to go modern.  

They're raise the living room floor, expand the main bathroom, take the railings and posts down around the living room, remove the hall/coat closet, open the kitchen up. raise the kitchen ceiling, make a dining area, mostly cosmetics on the the main bedroom, and other bedrooms. Where do you hang your coats?     New flooring and lighting throught.    They hope to get $975,000 for the home after rehab. 

Theme is "Dark Academia", I have zero idea what that is, they want dark and moody for the kitchen. trim will be black.   Lyndsay is making a whiskey bar/station in the kitchen, and I see no value added by that.   Kitchen has the chevron tile behind the whiskey station, with the moroccan look tile for the rest of the kitchen back splash.   I think the back splash tile should have been more subtle, and the cabinets lighter.  I don't like the main bedroom bed.    The clear glass shower enclosure hasn't been installed yet.  

Jeff the contractor has to point out that with a small shower you don't put more than a rainhead, and a regular shower head. 

They want to paint the exterior, but to paint everything will be $6,000, so that's out.   They'll do the exterior trim for $2,000, but it looks like dark brown.     The exterior trim looks great. 

I don't like the mix and match chevron tile in the shower in the en suite, it makes me dizzy.   I would also like the kitchen cabinets in a lighter color.  I didn't like the busy pattern of the main kitchen back splash.   

I'm just glad they didn't paint the lovely, unique fireplace.   If they had painted the fireplace, it would have been dark gray, like every other one they've done this season, or maybe dark green.  

Lyndsay wants a hanging plant box for indoor plants, in one of the smaller bedrooms.  It looks like a great way to hit your head, and water to go everywhere too.  In the reveal, the bedroom actually has two hanging plant boxes.   

Unsellable price $815,000, rehab budget $135k , listing price $975k, and selling price $975k, split profit $12,500 each.   I'm surprised it only sold at list.  This is the first in a long time that didn't go over list price, and it wasn't much to split, compared to others recently. 

Good point about the Pier One showroom, that's exactly what it is.    That's what their staging always looks like, too much stuff just crammed on shelves, too many plants in strange places.   The staging of a big plant in the corner of the shower is another thing they do a lot.   Having so much stuff layered, and sitting everywhere makes rooms look crowded.     THey do the same thing on Good Bones too, but on that the actual real estate ads are cleared out a lot.    

Edited by CrazyInAlabama
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48 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I don't like the mix and match chevron tile in the shower in the en suite makes me dizzy. 

I didn't like this either.  Didn't make me dizzy, but I just didn't like it.  I also thought with that smaller bathroom the shower surround should have been the color of the walls (or close to that) to make the space look bigger.  

I understand why they removed the coat closet, but I also don't like the lack of coat closet a the entrance.  Where do they put coats and boots and such?  I didn't see an attached garage with a mudroom or anything.  

50 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Lyndsay wants a hanging plant box for indoor plants, in one of the smaller bedrooms.  It looks like a great way to hit your head, and water to go everywhere too. 

I thought this looked odd, too.  And good point about hitting your head.

That said, I did like the rest.  So overall a good reno.  I was also surprised it didn't sell for more.

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(edited)

This season I've only been watching the first few minutes where the sellers show the house and the last few minutes where we see the results. (Thanks CrazyInAlabama for filling in what happens in between!) I think it was their Eng-lish-As-A-Se-cond-Lan-guage style of talking that was getting to me. Though if they ever needed to pursue a 2nd career they would be naturals as ESL teachers.

Yet, even with my 10 minute viewing time these two manage to annoy. This episode they managed to replace all the dated trends of the 70s with the soon to be dated trends of the 20's. Count me in as someone who would find those loudly patterned tiles nerve wracking. Plus their color schemes can be jarring - especially in regard to fireplaces. I thought the orange brick of the fireplace clashed with the rest of the living room trim, but I guess I should be grateful they didn't paint the mantel a shiny grey. As for their staging - it always reminds me of an old Pier One showroom - which would be fine if you wanted your home to double as a store. 

I think another reason I'm not enjoying the show as much this season is that the prices reflect today's supercharged housing market. I much prefer the fantasy of thinking that if I were to ever leave my area I could still find a bargain in another state. Guess those days are over......

Edited by Mannahatta
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On 6/29/2022 at 10:46 AM, CruiseDiva said:

The twins have the worst taste in furnishings, fixtures, accessories, and especially tile. They must go to a tile warehouse and pick up all the odd lots on the cheap. Mixing tile the way they do seldom works.

I usually liked Christina’s choices of tile and the mixing of tiles on Flip or Flop.  But it’s easy to go wrong, and such an expensive and messy ordeal to correct

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I don't like painting all the wood trim out in a boring brown. I'd rather keep it natural. In some homes, I get painting it white to lighten up the space, but they seem to have painted all the trim and doors a solid brown.

Shallow note: Lyndsey needs some wardrobe help! 

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9 hours ago, Mannahatta said:

As for their staging - it always reminds me of an old Pier One showroom - which would be fine if you wanted your home show to double as a store

All that crap that they load in each home is from their store or product placement. Pier 1 indeed.

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12 hours ago, South said:

I usually liked Christina’s choices of tile and the mixing of tiles on Flip or Flop.  But it’s easy to go wrong, and such an expensive and messy ordeal to correct

The twins seem to use remnants of Christina's tiles from ~5 yrs ago, so they already look dated, and then they choose not-quite-matching other tiles and bold paint colours to make the room look busier & even more out of date. Sort of the like that sickening feeling I get when I see those wallpaper borders popular in the late 80s - early 90s.

Edited by deirdra
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18 hours ago, Mannahatta said:

This season I've only been watching the first few minutes where the sellers show the house and the last few minutes where we see the results. (Thanks CrazyInAlabama for filling in what happens in between!) I think it was their Eng-lish-As-A-Se-cond-Lan-guage style of talking that was getting to me.

Yet, even with my 10 minute viewing time these two manage to annoy. This episode they managed to replace all the dated trends of the 70s with the soon to be dated trends of the 20's. Count me in as someone who would find those loudly patterned tiles nerve wracking. Plus their color schemes can be jarring - especially in regard to fireplaces. I thought the orange brick of the fireplace clashed with the rest of the living room trim, but I guess I should be grateful they didn't paint the mantel a shiny grey. As for their staging - it always reminds me of an old Pier One showroom - which would be fine if you wanted your home to double as a store. 

I think another reason I'm not enjoying the show as much this season is that the prices reflect today's supercharged housing market. I much prefer the fantasy of thinking that if I were to ever leave my area I could still find a bargain in another state. Guess those days are over......

The prices in the PNW have been huge for a few years now.  Living in the PNW, I use to daydream of buying something for a lot less in Idaho, or Texas, but, now those prices are quickly coming up to PNW prices as people flock to Idaho and Texas from states that have high taxes and prices.  JMHO of course. 

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4 hours ago, deirdra said:

The twins seem to use remnants of Christina's tiles from ~5 yrs ago, so they already look dated, and then they choose not-quite-matching other tiles and bold paint colours to make the room look busier & even more out of date. Sort of the like that sickening feeling I get when I see those wallpaper borders popular in the late 80s - early 90s.

It’s funny you mention wallpaper borders.  Somebody on HGTV used one today or yesterday.  It was on either Unsellable or Good Bones.  I only saw the reveal, so I had no time to be incredulous.  It was very different from the borders of yore.  It wasn’t to my taste, but it didn’t suck.

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3 hours ago, Pine said:

The prices in the PNW have been huge for a few years now.  Living in the PNW, I use to daydream of buying something for a lot less in Idaho, or Texas, but, now those prices are quickly coming up to PNW prices as people flock to Idaho and Texas from states that have high taxes and prices.  JMHO of course. 

I haven’t watched the reruns of the old Flip or Flop for a few years.  I wonder how her choices have aged.  

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Since they do the houses as a flip, they don't age well.    As Sean Conlon on The Deed: Chicago said, flip houses are trendy, and people want the latest geatures, and don't want classic and long lasting.   With regular remodels you want more neutral and lasting remodels where you don't have to rip out and redo portions in a few years.   

I would never be the market for one of their remodels/flips, because I wouldn't buy a house that had to be redone to even live with it.    

I think this week was a miss.  It sold for list, barely any added money to split, and no talk about multiple offers, or bidding wars.     I dislike so much of the tile this week.     The staging was too much, as always.  

I've noticed in my area a lot of the way over asking sales are falling through.   I suspect that buyers don't realize that when you make a contract for way over asking, that the mortgage company will only lend on the appraised price.   The price you pay over that is on you.  Locally, there are mortgage companies that say they finance for the deal as all cash, but that's to the seller, the buyer still has to pay cash for the overage.    Waiving inspections in my view is ridiculous.   

Edited by CrazyInAlabama
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On 7/7/2022 at 4:22 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I think this week was a miss.  It sold for list, barely any added money to split, and no talk about multiple offers, or bidding wars.     I dislike so much of the tile this week.     The staging was too much, as always.  

Sales are starting to soften, not necessarily listing prices, but, not as many multiple bidding wars.   Buyers tend to forget that if the house is valued at less than what you offered, you are responsible to pay that difference in cash.  

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That was episode 13 of Season 3, if it was the engineer one with the sunken living room.   They're showing a marathon Saturday July 16th, with this one at 8 pm Central, and some from Season 2 and Season 3.   I guess it was the season finale.    

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HGTV is showing reruns this morning.   I actually watched "A Contemporary Cleanup", its the house that was hoarded full, from Season 2, episode 8.    The owner, Stan,  really hates everything the sisters did, and you can tell.    I'm betting that the hoard was a lot of his junk, and there's a warehouse in Idaho, that's full of his junk.  I'm sure some of the other homesellers weren't thrilled, but they hid it better.  Did they ever show the garage?  Or is that where a lot of the junk went?  

Edited by CrazyInAlabama
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Season 4 Episode 1 will be on HGTV on Sunday, 10 September, 8 pm Central, 9 pm Eastern.  There's a new contractor.     There are supposed to be 13 episodes this season.   It was supposed to be aired starting Sunday 23 July, but was bumped for the Scott McGillivray/ Brian Baeumler Renovation Resort Showdown. 

The real estate market is still hot, and has been for years in the Seattle area, but I noticed the last couple of homes on season 3, sold for listing price, instead of the humongous sale prices over listing that happened before that.   The house prices in Seattle have been very high for years, but they're not selling for the prices over list the way they used to.    

Edited by CrazyInAlabama
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I’m stuck out of town with an auto repair so have been watching a marathon of this show. Not watched it previously. I love blue so have no kick with that as a choice. They do so much tile work…..that’s so expensive and yet I don’t find their tile choices all that appealing. I hate most of the staging tchotchkes they place in the house. The sisters are also getting on my nerves. 

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New episodes tonight.  I watched the first one and am half way through the second.  They actually ended the ep with a no sale, and then follow-up chyron of sold for no profit.  No loss either, it was a break even on their investment.  The house did look really nice, but they cited all the changes in the market (and we know it's been all over the place, with changing interest rates, and depending on when exactly filmed, etc).  

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My DVR didn't record the latest one! So I just finished watching S4:E11 (according to my guide). Well, I didn't actually watch it as much as fast forward to the finish line. The house was unsellable for $405,00, was renovated for $100,00, listed for $550,000, and received an offer of $580,000. They did a nice enough job but I was baffled by their decision to remove the  doors off the bedroom closet. That's an even worse idea than open shelving in the kitchen.

I would love for HGTV to have a show highlighting designs that tackle the practical issues of storage, privacy, accessibility, ease of cleaning, and ways to lower the cost of heating and cooling. It would be a very reality based show with ceiling fans, window screens, TVs, shades, curtains, and maybe even the latest in security systems. There would be no white furniture. I think I would enjoy such a show. 

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Watched both new episodes - hadn't bargained for two hours - and liked them both, but the sisters' clowning is getting to be too much, as is the phrase 'You guys' which, if I took a drink every time they said it, I'd be drunk before the second hour.  And if I hear Leslie say, "You guyses" again, well, I'll need to be drunk to continue watching.  Lose the phase, ladies.  Please.  I'm begging.

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My captioning and ears picked up them saying, "Your guys'", which isn't a thing and definitely isn't how one makes "your" possessive. "Your" is sufficient. Both women were maniacal throughout the two episodes. It made me so anxious.

I hated the house in the second episode. The homeowner had converted the laundry to a pantry. Lyndsay and Leslie removed the pantry, so they sold a two-bedroom, two-bath home for $580K, and it didn't have a laundry room? Insanity.

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So after the $100.000 renovation the house sat on the market for 13 weeks and was sold under listing price? The sisters got their money back and I assume they receive a commision on the sale The homeowners lost big time on this because they had at least 3 maybe 4 months of a mortgage payment on this house. They should have gone with option 1, let Leslie and LIndsay stage the house and sell it for their origional price. They could have done some minor repairs and cosmetic updates on this house and got it sold.  Anyone who invests $100,000 in renovations to sell a house in this market is nuts. 

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I have to say that I'm enjoying "the market" reversing on them and other real estate brokers and investors. I've been waiting for it, and I hope what we're seeing is a sign of a huge crash to come. Exorbitant prices for housing isn't sustainable. Our rent went up $400 over 13 months from August 2022 to August 2023. It's criminal, and it needs to be regulated.

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Was house #2 the one that was isted for $550,000 and sold for $580,000 the one that Leslie said she could see it for a first time Homeowner? It amight have been on another episode. But it was an equally expensive home. I almost chocked when she said that. What first time homeowner can afford the down payment on a $580.000 house let alone the monthly payments including taxes and insurance? I've seen doctors on house hunters looking for a first home and they balk at paying over $400,000. I know the salaries on the west coast are higher than other parts of the country but I'm still shaking my head at this. 

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My town is now allowing multiplexes to be built in neighborhoods zoned for single family dwellings. The idea is more affordable homes in an insanely expensive real estate community. Those "affordable" townhomes and duplexes will be sold for at least $800K. The big multiplexes owned by foreign investors will charge at least $2000 for rent for a one-bedroom apartment.

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$580,000 in it's market sounds right.  If you go just a few miles South, Bothell area, it would make at least $850.    Older tract homes from the 1960's/1970's with no improvements have sold in the last 90 days for $950.  Redone $1.2 million and up.  

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On 9/13/2023 at 10:07 AM, 65mickey said:

Was house #2 the one that was isted for $550,000 and sold for $580,000 the one that Leslie said she could see it for a first time Homeowner? It amight have been on another episode. But it was an equally expensive home. I almost chocked when she said that. What first time homeowner can afford the down payment on a $580.000 house let alone the monthly payments including taxes and insurance? I've seen doctors on house hunters looking for a first home and they balk at paying over $400,000. I know the salaries on the west coast are higher than other parts of the country but I'm still shaking my head at this. 

Yeah, she said first-time buyer. I yelled at the TV over that, too.

In the spring/summer before we ran out of time to give notice on our lease, my boyfriend and I were looking for a 2BR/2BA house in the metro Charlotte area. There's very, very little "inventory" under $200K. One house in east Charlotte listed at $180K was literally a burned-out hull touted as an "investor's special". We simply can't afford anything more than about $175K on our wages and with interest rates what they are. We're really hoping things turn around next year, because our corporate landlord is an actual stack of demons in a trench coat.

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On 9/14/2023 at 7:19 PM, Orcinus orca said:

Have they both lost weight? Those guyses (see what I did there?) faces both look thinner to me.

It will be interesting to see how the changes in the housing market will influence their future suggestions.

I, too, noticed a weight loss.

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The sisters did address the housing market situation in the most recent episode:

"The prices are so exasperated now."

Buyers and sellers (and some viewers) are exasperated. But prices?  Perhaps she meant exacerbated?

Edited by kirklandia
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Jeff (gonna miss your common sense) got the heave ho and  in-house contractor Owen is their hammering dude. 

Justin, the dark haired twin's spouse is now a fixture on the show, pun intended.  

He is a jack of all trades...mopping up mistakes, doing grunt work, bearer of bad news( septic tank/ sewer problems in a tease).

The blond's teen son was laying flooring in another episode.

TH stated that buyers were taking 5...10...15 walkthroughs before pulling the trigger means soft soft market at the time of filming..

Walking through 15 times seems far fetched..must be bringing in every family member and their dog in for a look see.

Spoiler alert: Butt crack sofa. $3K of sherpa ugly.

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