Unsellable Houses - General Discussion

[Pine]

The Woodinville Home, is actually in Bothell.  Although it is closer to downtown Woodinville,  than Bothell.  Prices here, Eastside of the greater Seattle area is super high still.

Miles looks like Justin Timberlake. 

 

Edited November 27, 2023 by Pine
Correction.

[pasdetrois]

On 10/15/2023 at 6:07 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I didn't find the remodel of the venue that much of an improvement over what it used to be. 

The brunette sister did her typical hodgepodge design. Vintage-modern sounds stupid. Her choices were wrong for the building's age.

I thought I saw them remove linoleum with mastic without safety protection. Maybe they tested it for asbestos.

Also, did they actually say they "just realized" they owned that space, after owning another portion of the building for a while? How is that possible?

I just watched the two septic-house episodes. What a disaster. The sisters seemed furious and I wonder if harsh words were aimed at that elderly owner, who seemed very upset at the restaurant meeting to decide which of three options to go forward with. I wonder if she lost money on the deal, which is sad for a retiree. Based on their years of bragging about being the most successful realtors in the northwest, I assume the sisters are wealthy so I don't think they were terribly hurt by the loss.

Quote

The bright red doors with the red brick on the house didn’t go together at all. And then blue siding or something? Just no.

It's shocks me how badly they handle color. That red door with the brick clashed horribly, and the blue siding didn't work.

And the editing continuity was all over the place.

Quote

If Bonnie bought that house when her kids were young, why does she still have a mortgage and why wasn't the septic taken care of at her closing?

She may have re-financed to pay medical bills or another catastrophic need, taken out a home equity line of credit (when I got one it was recorded as a "mortgage"), or like millions of people refinanced back when it was cheap and easy to do so. She may have had lots of equity at one time, and it's tempting to tap into that.

Did they say her family once owned the property that the school is now on?

Edited December 7, 2023 by pasdetrois

[CrazyInAlabama]

Then, there are people like former friends, they refinanced up to the current value of their home at least three times.    They did a cash out refi all three times, and only stopped because the mortgage companies refused to give them the full market value.    They never spent anything on the house, unless they had to because otherwise it wouldn't appraise for full market price for the refi.   

It's called treating you house like an ATM.   

So the house that should have been paid off in 2025, at a good monthly mortgage price is now not paid for 25 more years, at a mortgage rate that is a lot higher than the original mortgage price was, because of the increased amount of the house now.    

[pasdetrois]

Exactly. During the recession, when people suddenly lost their jobs, they walked away from their homes and expensive mortgages. I remember the media showing images of neighborhoods with well-kept homes next to abandoned ones.

[CrazyInAlabama]

They're showing the septic tank house first episode again.    When the homeowner was telling Lyndsay and Leslie about the septic tank.  That it was for a four bedroom house, so she turned one bedroom into an office, she was looking everywhere but at the twins, or the camera.    She knew exactly what the house had been built with, and that it was never improved.   They may have looked into getting a new septic system, but I bet they didn't actually do it when the price was mentioned.   There is no way even one person lived in that house over the years without knowing the septic was way too small.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

New season, same dark green tile in one shower, open shelves in the kitchen, same wild black and white tile on hearth, and bathroom floor.    Boring.   Apparently the market picked up, since they have sold this one with extra profit, or they faked under pricing it for the storyline. 

I've read relatives of some previous house sellers on the show saying the house wasn't on the market before being remodeled and changed, and then supposedly sold for many thousands over 'unsellable' price.  

Edited September 7 by CrazyInAlabama

[65mickey]

Didn't like the black and white tile on the bathroom floor and hearth. Different patterns just stuck together. I thought it looked weird and distracting. But I loved the green tile in the lager bathroom shower

[GeorgiaRai]

"Weird and distracting" - I completely agree!  I didn't like it in the bathrooms, and hated it on the hearth. 

If the primary bath tile walls are various shades of black, I love them - but they looked brown to me. (Maybe it's my tv.)  And while I think it looks pretty, I don't know if I'd like having "random" tile placement - I'd constantly be wanted to slide them around into a sensible pattern.

[Orcinus orca]

2 hours ago, GeorgiaRai said:

And while I think it looks pretty, I don't know if I'd like having "random" tile placement - I'd constantly be wanted to slide them around into a sensible pattern.

That would be my issue as well!  I would end up buying a giant rug just to cover them, they would drive me batty. I have a niece like that - I had hung small nautical flags in frames to spell out the name of the cottage. She couldn't stand it and rearranged the flags so that they were evenly distributed because she couldn't stand the two "E" flags being side-by-side.

And all of that overly fussy stuff is not going to age well, I fear.  I can foresee someone gutting the rooms in a few years because they look "outdated".

There is a lot to be said for more subtlety that can be accessorized and easily changed out.  Replacing tiles and flooring is a big expense.

[pwdrpuff]

Total scam. The first episode of the season wasn’t even unsellable. As far as I can tell, it was never listed.  The girls continue to use same bargain bin cheap and ugly decor in all their houses. The other big annoyance is the not so cute talking in unison. It probably stopped being cute 20 yrs ago for them. 

On 9/4/2024 at 8:12 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

New season, same dark green tile in one shower, open shelves in the kitchen, same wild black and white tile on hearth, and bathroom floor.    Boring.   Apparently the market picked up, since they have sold this one with extra profit, or they faked under pricing it for the storyline. 

 

If this is Everett, there’s nothing on the market but new builds around $1M, so it no doubt got snatched up.

[whydoiwatch]

The bathroom floor/hearth tile did not work in my opinion. It reminded me of carpet tiles, not the texture of course, but rather the random, haphazard look. I also thought the overall look of the home was dark.

I was happy for a new season of shows, but the first episode was not great.

 

 

[surfgirl]

I don't think I'm a stupid person, but I cannot understand this show and how it works. Today I watched the Woodinville episode and the numbers don't make sense..Did I miss the part somewhere where they said how much mortgage was still owed and how much the flippers put in? They said the house was originally asking $680k, then they sold it for $1,175,000, and after they took out 'their investment' there was $365k-ish as 'profit' that they split 50/50 with the owners. So the owners had a house worth $1.175k and they only pocket $185k?!? WTF kind of deal is that? A house that the father had fir seemingly decades wasn't paid off yet? There's no way those ladies put $810,000 into that place so how does the math work here? Someone talk to me like I'm 6 please. Thanks! 

[GeorgiaRai]

We're never told what the final "cash out" to seller is.

The final numbers only show the bump-up between the original asking (which should have already factored in loan payoffs, closing costs, etc.) and the final selling price, less the twins' investment.  Their "bottom line" is not total sale proceeds, just additional sale proceeds after the improvements, which is then split 50/50. 

Example using made up numbers:

$1,000,000 final sale price
-  700,000 initial asking price (all to seller, less payoffs, etc.)
-  100,000 twins' investment (paid back to twins)
= 200,000 additional sale proceeds (over and above initial asking)
 x          50% 
$   100,000 additional proceeds to seller
$   100,000 profit to twins
 

Edited September 10 by GeorgiaRai

[CrazyInAlabama]

On tonight's episode Five Days to List.   The paint a former attic room light gray, with yellowish look ceiling off white.  The gray makes the off whilte look very yellow. In the reveal the colors seemed to be better.   And could the blonde sister lay off the hats?   

On tonight's episode, I noticed that they show the homeowners comps that aren't comps at all.   Tonight's show "Honorary Junior Designer" they show a couple selling her family home which is a 3 bed/1 bath home a 'comp' that's 4 bed / 3 bath.   Not a good comp at all. 

I'm really tired of real estate agents whining about it being a tough selling market now.   They sure weren't whining about the huge profits during the low inventory, high demand years.  

Edited September 19 by CrazyInAlabama

[65mickey]

What happened to 9/18 and 9/25 shows? Is anyone watching this show?

[Orcinus orca]

17 minutes ago, 65mickey said:

What happened to 9/18 and 9/25 shows? Is anyone watching this show?

I watch if I happen to run across it.  I watched this week and it's the same old, same old.

[chessiegal]

Every day my newspaper lists "Best Bets" for tv shows for the day. Yesterday they listed Unsellable Houses as one show to watch. it's not unusual to see an HGTV show on the list. 🤷‍♀️

[Orcinus orca]

3 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Every day my newspaper lists "Best Bets" for tv shows for the day. Yesterday they listed Unsellable Houses as one show to watch. it's not unusual to see an HGTV show on the list. 🤷‍♀️

Wow. pickings are slim then.

[chessiegal]

Yesterday's "Best Bets" were: Chicago Med, Big Cats 24/7, Unsellable Houses, Chicago Fire, and Court Cam.

[Dimity]

I didn't realize there were new episodes of this show.  I lost interest a year or two ago when they started spending more time talking about their families then they did about the houses.  I don't want to sound mean but I really didn't care about a son's graduation or birthday or whatever.  A brief mention, sure, but these mentions weren't brief!  Has the show gone back to being about the houses and not about their personal lives?

[CrazyInAlabama]

No, it's still personal stuff, including tonight's nose piercing for both sisters.   They're also remodeling houses, not just remodeling and selling them like other seasons.    I'm calling the 'discovery' the kitchen cabinets are particle board bogus, and just for drama.   Who would agree to reno a house, and not look at cabinets and such to see if they'll have to be ripped out and redone. 

Edited October 3 by CrazyInAlabama

[kirklandia]

The current real estate market is definitely challenging here in the PNW.  I don't know if that explains why the twins are having such a hard time maintaining the concept of the show this season.  
Did I just stumble into an episode of Love It or List It?  Not Loving It.  And I really don't want to tour million dollar new-builds.

Edited October 5 by kirklandia

[CrazyInAlabama]

So, on tonight's new show 10/09/2024, "Sell With a Kiss" Season 5, Episode 6

Leslie is sad because her son Kyler, got into a heavy equipment apprenticeship that takes five years.    And if he gets in the union as a journeyman, will be making a ton of money, in a career he's been interested in since he was a baby.    She acts like he's not going to have phone calls, or video calls and she'll never see him again.    

Then when the sisters are talking about the sellers' townhouse, they keep raving about the $400 a month HOA fee.  It covers a ton for the homeowners, but they talk as if all HOAs cover the same things, but they don't.     I seriously didn't realize you could get anything decent in Seattle for $350,000. 

(Kirklandia contributed context to that, as Lynnwood is Seattle adjacent, and much more reasonable.  Always nice to get more information from someone who explain better than the show cast does.  ).   

As usual, the staging is multiple layers of unneeded stuff.   The rooms aren't huge, and the mass of furniture, and decor items, make the rooms look tiny.  

I wouldn't even look at this house after seeing the photos.  They put stuff all over the kitchen counter tops, emphasizing the lack of counter space.   Baskets nailed to the walls, lots of wall hangings, all make the rooms look cluttered. As a buyer I would wonder how much repair I would have to do to fix the many holes from the useless wall decor items.     

Edited October 11 by CrazyInAlabama

[kirklandia]

"I seriously didn't realize you could get anything decent in Seattle for $350,000."

The condo they featured is not in Seattle. It is in Lynnwood, a much more affordable (less desirable) community farther north.

In August, the median sales price of a condo in Seattle was $520,000. In Lynnwood it was $302,500. 

Edited October 11 by kirklandia

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm watching the rerun of the Unsellable Disaster (septic tank failure) that was the two part episode from last seas.   I wanted to see what the homeowner and her daughter said about the house.   

Owner said septic was for the five bedrooms, not admitting that there was never a permit, and original septic tank that was homemade, and only originally rated for two bedrooms andbathrooms  That was an absolute lie.  How can the sisters say the owner didn't know?   She lied right to their face.   I wonder what else was covered up about that house?  

And why were the sisters and septic company talking about replacing the septic tank?   City sewer was already in the street in front of the house, no way the city would let a replacement septic be installed. 

Edited October 17 by CrazyInAlabama

[Orcinus orca]

The episode last night was....odd.  And the doctor/client was the most  unenthusiastic person I have ever seen.  It was like she was praising lettuce or something.  And the only word she was able to come up with was "amazing" but in a totally flat tone.

[chessiegal]

27 minutes ago, Orcinus orca said:

The episode last night was....odd.  

I agree. Have they run out of "unsellable" houses and are now the house hunting in Seattle show?

[kirklandia]

Yeah, that househunting doctor had absolutely zero affect. 
The twins have run out of houses to flip? No more "extra" profit to split? So they flip the premise of the show.
Now they are buyer's agents. Doing their renovations after the house is sold.
Then, after $60K+ of renovations to the bathrooms and laundry room, the buyer wanted the twins to "style" the rest of her new home?  I'm not buying it.

They filled it with furniture that wasn't hers and with decor from their store. Which will have to be removed so she can move in her own stuff.

sheesh.

 

Edited October 17 by kirklandia

[Pine]

They are still a bit too goofball.  But, I have been thinking of hiring them to redo my kitchen, and bathrooms without a big remodel.    Will let you know if I have them over.   I am happy to see them do remodels.

[Pine]

Okay the latest episode was pretty cringeworthy.  The couple seemed really, really fake.

[LexieLily]

Newest episode. If I was Bob I would have been furious that Leslie/Lyndsay not only used but broke my tools to make a sign for my store. 

Considering he didn't talk much during the house reveal and when he did he gave noncommittal answers, I don’t think he liked the end results.

[LoveIsJoy]

I always have a hunch that there is prior approval given when these shows decide to craft a personalized “surprise” featuring the homeowner’s personal possessions.    And it was no surprise to me that the couple wasn’t looking for a smaller house.  I figured they just wanted a renovation to their property.  

I agree, Bob didn’t seem very impressed with the reveal.  It was better than the before (anything would’ve been better than that carpet and igloo shower in the bathroom), but I wasn’t that impressed either, tbh.