Unsellable Houses - General Discussion

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think that's exactly how it works, but the houses were listed before in most cases anyway, so the home seller is getting more money than before.  

 I wonder if the houses on the show are drawn from their agents on their team, and are ones that don't sell?    

[chessiegal]

35 minutes ago, deirdra said:

Does one of the twins also act as the realtor, collecting commission as part of the closing costs?  So the twins get their input money back, half the increase in price, plus commission (higher on a higher-priced home)?

My understanding is that they have their own real estate brokerage. They say they out sell all the agents in the area. So they're both agents. I remember them saying something about selling 100 homes a year.

[chessiegal]

16 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I think that's exactly how it works, but the houses were listed before in most cases anyway, so the home seller is getting more money than before.

If you have listed with an agent and the house doesn't sell, you can wait for that agent's contract to be up, and then list with the twins brokerage. I remember them taking on a for sale by owner that wasn't selling.

[ByaNose]

Hey, Show quit it with the stupid music. I can’t hear anything. It’s bad enough that the sisters are annoying but now I have to hear all this music with the reveal.

[bilgistic]

This episode annoyed me so much! That renovation was in no way $30K. Yeah, I get that Jeff is the homeowner's brother, blah, blah, blah, but the kitchen ALONE would've been $30K! They redid the WHOLE THING! From scratch! Gah!

The PAINT ON THE TILE FLOOR in the basement was a horror. If it was "dingy", maybe clean it? And what is that going to smell like and look like when the heated floor is turned on?!? I'm shocked they didn't cut that one woman's comment about how she didn't like the white floor.

Apparently they did cut one corner in the bathroom by not adding another sink, which was dumb, but I guess running more plumbing is pricey. But maybe not creating an otherwise completely new bathroom could've saved a few bucks? I don't understand the choices they make.

They also should've focused on updating the house's facade because it screamed 1990s.

I did like the new railing inside, so there's something.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I liked the railing, but the sister's idea of making it wine storage was awful.    Painting the basement floor is going to really irritate the new homeowners when they see that.   All they needed to do was get a professional cleaning company in there, to clean everything.  I had to laugh at the woman at the open house that wanted to buy the house to rent out, and said she didn't like the painted tile color, but liked the original tile color.

If you're going to paint the tile, get the professional epoxy paint, not just roll on something that will wear off soon.   Or clean the tile and grout, and throw down a nice rug.      In the doorway, I would have left the walls plain, just the lighter color and the new railing brightened it up a lot.   

I hated the kitchen hood, the kitchen wall tile, and the overall look of the kitchen.    I don't like the mixed metal fixtures either.  

I didn't care about selling the VW van, and buying a bug. 

I liked the look of the kitchen they did for the woman who was moving to Idaho, the colors were nice, the cabinet colors and counter tops were nice, and the wall tile and color was very nice. 

 

Edited May 12, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[AncientNewbie]

In reading what people had to say I realized I watched about five episodes and retained nothing about their design sense or what they actually did. It was pleasant background noise and held my attention when I looked up, but other than the profit reveal none of it really registered.

[ByaNose]

10 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I liked the railing, but the sister's idea of making it wine storage was awful.    Painting the basement floor is going to really irritate the new homeowners when they see that.   All they needed to do was get a professional cleaning company in there, to clean everything. 

 

Yeah, clean the f’ing floors & grout. It ain’t rocket science. These sisters are horrible & beyond annoying. 

[CruiseDiva]

26 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

Yeah, clean the f’ing floors & grout. It ain’t rocket science. These sisters are horrible & beyond annoying. 

Painting the tile on that heated basement floor was one of the dumbest moves ever. I don't care what they say about tile paint--it just isn't that durable for a space that will get a lot of use, especially since there are heating elements beneath the tile. I could see that paint eventually bubbling and the whole floor will need replacing. There wasn't anything wrong with the existing floor tile that they called "dated" and a good scrubbing and freshening up the grout would. "update" it just fine. Even one of the potential buyers wasn't impressed. 

[FormerMod-a1]

While I don't like painting the floor tile, I don't think cleaning it would brighten it up, really.  Some colors are just duller to begin with add in any fading and no matter how clean the tile and grout is it's still dull.  Plus they'd have to clean it before painting it and could see that.  And if they make tile paint that can withstand hot showers, and in commercial applications (public bathrooms, showers, schools, etc), which they do, I think it can withstand a heated floor which doesn't get nearly as hot or wet.

[deirdra]

The very light grey painted floor tiles will show a lot of dirt and scuff marks. I agree with the open house visitor who said they wished it was sand-coloured.  The original was a bit darker than sand and not lovely, but mottled so as to hide the dirt.  We only saw it in an empty room, but with furniture, paint & art on the walls & an area rug, nobody would have noticed the original tile.

Edited May 6, 2021 by deirdra

[CruiseDiva]

1 hour ago, deirdra said:

The very light grey painted floor tiles will show a lot of dirt and scuff marks. I agree with the open house visitor who said they wished it was sand-coloured.  The original was a bit darker than sand and not lovely, but mottled so as to hide the dirt.  We only saw it in an empty room, but with furniture, paint & art on the walls & an area rug, nobody would have noticed the original tile.

Plus, most people would put down a rug or two, which is what we did to mask the ugly tile in our last house until we could totally change it out.

[kirklandia]

On 5/4/2021 at 9:21 PM, ByaNose said:

Hey, Show quit it with the stupid music.

My pet peeve! It appears that all the channels under the Discovery umbrella subscribe to the same cut rate copyright-dodging "original" pop music service. Familiar beats and slightly tweaked tunes, random vocalizing with occasional yelps. 
I amuse myself by picturing minimum  wage vocal artists in the studio wearing headphones and laying down those 10 second tracks, one after the other. What a way to make a living.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Tonight's new episode is interesting.   A woman wants to sell the house next door, that belonged to her mother-in-law, or maybe always was owned by the daughter.    The homeowner is recovering from a broken leg, so her hysterically funny daughter does the house tour.     The daughter always guesses $1 million for everything. 

The MIL's house previously changed to two main bedroom suites, with 3 baths total.    So one bedroom suite is being converted back to two bedrooms with the shared bath.   They're actually going to remove one of the bathrooms too, unless the contractor can talk them into keeping the third bath. 

The original kitchen didn't even have a pantry, was closed off and dark, and the peninsula is huge, and awful.    However, I don't like the color palate the sisters are choosing for the kitchen.       Lighter cabinets would be better, and a lighter counter top.   

 I hate the idea of stripping the drywall off of the ceiling between the skylights.   The after on that isn't impressive, and then they're going to paint the trusses black or dark brown.    They have to leave the metal supports on the trusses, but it doesn't look like they're still there, and that might worry some potential buyers.  They actually trimmed the metal support plates on the trusses to match the shape of the truss.   

Do they really have all of the extra furniture, and throws and knickknacks around for their sales pictures?  I know Seattle is a hot market, and always has been, so it could be that buyers overlook the crowded rooms. 

The cleaned up front yard landscaping is a great improvement.   Before you couldn't even see the house that well.  As usual, way too many sofa and chair pillows.   The back yard is much nicer.   Why did they put a big plant in the main bathroom shower?  The other two bedrooms and guest bath are nice, plus the office/bedroom are nice, but they did lose a bathroom too.   I don't like the island at an angle.    The house went for $100k over the final asking price, and almost $300 over the original price it didn't sell at, before remodeling.   I didn't like the kitchen island, and the skylight/beams didn't do anything for me either.    I really wonder if it was safe to cut the metal plates on the trusses to fit around the wood, and if that weakened them?   It is an earthquake area.  

That's just the market in that part of Seattle.   

Edited May 12, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[ByaNose]

The MIL house turned out much better than it looked before. I didn’t care for the color of the kitchen cabinets. They were too dark & had that unfinished look to them. I didn’t care for the island on an angle but it didn’t look horrible. I would gave gone with the white countertops since the cabinets were so dark. The floors turned out great with the walnut stain. Both the front & backyard were a huge improvement for little cost. Once again, too many pillows. I wasn’t shocked it went over asking because it’s HGTV. Oh! The sisters are still annoying. 

[readheaded]

On 4/27/2021 at 11:45 PM, ByaNose said:

The wall hangings were beyond ugly and it was everywhere. Baskets, Macrame & wicker mirrors in the living room & kitchen aren’t my idea of decorating. The staging on the deck was so sparse. Although, removing the railing & painting the deck did look better. The bedroom looked nice with the accent wall but again the staging was just dreadful. The bathroom update turned out nice. Of course, it sold for over asking but by only $5,000. 

I really hate the macrame wall hangings.

 

Edited May 13, 2021 by readheaded

[deirdra]

5 hours ago, readheaded said:

I really hate the macrame wall hangings.

Dust collectors.

[ByaNose]

6 hours ago, readheaded said:

I really hate the macrame wall hangings.

 

All the DIY YouTubeers make them. While I’m impressed how some are made I wouldn’t hang one in my home. They seem so arts & crafts & cheap. 

[kirklandia]

On 5/13/2021 at 7:12 AM, readheaded said:

I really hate the macrame wall hangings.

 

My son gave me a Boston Fern for Mother's Day. This child of the 60s thinks it is begging for a macramé plant hanger!

Edited May 15, 2021 by kirklandia

[65mickey]

I really liked this show in season 1. They helped homeowners make modest improvements and get the the homes sold for a nice profit. And the homes were average priced homes for the area.  I hope they are not going the way of the other shows by taking on high priced homes where peope are looking to sell for close to 1,000,000. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

In the Seattle area, finding a home for less than $500k is almost impossible any more.    The prices there have been ridiculous for many years, and it's only getting worse.    I knew someone that was offered a job Seattle, and for what they wanted it was over $1 million, and that was for a place with no yard, just a deck, and a small front yard area, and driveway.   That was at least 10 years ago, and it's only worse there now. 

Tonight's new episode (18 May) is what the seller's daughter called a "semi-hoarder house".    No, it's at least a level 3 (out of 5 being the worst), the front and back yard will cost thousands to clear out.   One bathroom hasn't been used in years, the electricity doesn't work in at least part of the house.    The deck looks shaky, and rotting.   When the women call the owner and his daughter, he blames the trash bags, and such on his daughter, his late parents, and late in-laws, and the wife.     Who thought it would be a cross over episode with Hoarders?    

This was on the market for $500k without offers (they couldn't get through the door).    They will put $100k into it, to sell for $750k.   The sisters give the man two weeks to get his stuff out, (he's moving to Idaho).   I hope 1-800-Got-Junk has a location nearby.   The seller cleared out, but left a lot of old furniture, it was donated.    I really wonder how much they cleared out of the house, and how much the seller took with him?  

 A new cast member is a cousin of the sisters.   The contractor, Jeff,  (the one with blonde/sandy hair) tells them the decks are in bad shape, which I could see from the initial walk through.  I noticed they didn't even try to open the sliders, and look at the deck.  The contractor had to put down plywood on the deck for safety.     I bet they haven't been touched since the house was built.    They do mention the shortage of lumber, and the high cost rise. 

The kitchen island will be on big, cast iron wheels.  The landscape cleanup is massive.     I love the cedar and metal railings on the deck.   I dislike the kitchen wall color, cabinet color, and the 'live edge' tile pattern.   At least they're not doing counter to ceiling tile this time in the kitchen.   I don't like the wood wall pattern in the dining room, or the main bedroom 'headboard', or the wall color they used for that either.   

Why do they always put a big glass or ceramic vase, and greenery or a plant in the main shower? 

You can actually see the house now, and the outside is spectacular.  The deck looks great.  

The seller viewing the house isn't happy.   The first remark in the kitchen is he wants to know where his microwave is.   The seller actually says he likes the house now, but I'm not sure he does. 

So the homeowner gets the profit out of their original sales price ($500k in this case), the sisters get their $100k remodel back, and then the final sales price difference between the unsellable price, and the actual sales price ($855k,  they had over 50 showing appointments) is split between the seller, and the sisters.   They will deduct the 100K remodel budget, and split the profit between $855k and $600k, half of $255)   The next door neighbors come to the open house.   They're going to accept offers, and then on a certain date, review all of them and choose a winner.   They have five offers already. 

I thought it was interesting that the home seller blamed the hoard on the wife, daughter, and in-laws stuff inherited.    Then the daughter had blamed everything on the father from the first communication with the realtors.     I wonder where all of the junk went, or if there's some warehouse in Idaho with all of it in there?  

I really wonder if there are any other issues with that house?   It was obvious that maintenance, or repairs were never done on that house for many years.      I wonder how the buyer feels about seeing the back story on the house?  

The neighbors looked so happy at having the hoarder house cleaned up, raising the value of their property by at least 10%, or more. 

Edited May 20, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Cetacean]

On 5/13/2021 at 11:34 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Tonight's new episode (18 May) is what the seller's daughter called a "semi-hoarder house". 

That was in interesting episode and the changes, at least outside, were massive.  The after version from outside was an astounding difference.

The owner clearly had some problems, he had a very odd affect.  And, of course it was unlikely he would like the changes.  But I can see that place going for way over asking in that area with the great yard and deck.

[ByaNose]

5 hours ago, Cetacean said:

That was in interesting episode and the changes, at least outside, were massive.  The after version from outside was an astounding difference.

The owner clearly had some problems, he had a very odd affect.  And, of course it was unlikely he would like the changes.  But I can see that place going for way over asking in that area with the great yard and deck.

Yeah, the outside made a huge difference and looked great. I wasn’t crazy about the kitchen cabinet color or the backsplash. The father kind of cracked me up. A man of few words but luckily for him his daughter was looking out for him. 

[deirdra]

5 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I wasn’t crazy about the kitchen cabinet color or the backsplash. The father kind of cracked me up. A man of few words but luckily for him his daughter was looking out for him. 

I didn't like the baby poop coloured kitchen either.  The "free-edge" backsplash looked like they were cheaping out; as a regular backsplash it could have been nice.  I thought the twins were very respectful of the semi-hoarder and weren't their usual brash selves around him. I was surprised that he liked the changes as much as he did.

Edited May 20, 2021 by deirdra

[buttersister]

1 hour ago, deirdra said:

I thought the twins were very respectful of the semi-hoarder and weren't their usual brash selves around him. I was surprised that he liked the changes as much as he did.

Looked like a negotiated peace settlement.

[Cetacean]

18 hours ago, deirdra said:

I thought the twins were very respectful of the semi-hoarder and weren't their usual brash selves around him.

I don't know what they said behind the scenes but their businesslike demeanor during the walk through was very measured. I think I would have run screaming from the site just viewing the outside for the first time.  And they treated the hoarder very gently.

I hate all shows (not just this one) that are using those horrible busy tiles. It's like wallpaper - patterns are very specific to people's taste.  You could be stuck with tile and backsplashes that make your eyes cross unless your first job is to tear them all out. 

Plus they are all so much the same that in 10 years they will be broadcasting how "dated" the homes are because this crap was all the rage in the decade of the 20's.  Anything that bold will stick out like a sore thumb. 

[Pine]

I am starting to like this show more.  Just show us less home life.  Maybe I will stop by their shop next time I am in Snohomish.  

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I suspect the owner was coached by the daughter about behaving at the reveal.   I think she pointed out it was a house for sale, and no longer his, and not to complain.     I feel so sorry for the neighbors having to live next to that dump for years.    I wasn't surprised the neighbors being so happy when they talked to the sister about the clean up.    What disgusted me is that the hoarder not only didn't maintain the grounds, but there was trash everywhere.   

I watched the last few minutes of this rerun, and I remember they said the home seller was moving to Idaho.   Then when the sisters told him about the over list price, and the huge split and initial profit, he didn't seem all that happy.   Then, he said "I'll be around".    I'm guessing he's one of the people that doesn't detach from previous houses.   

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[buttersister]

Oh yeah, is house/grounds weren’t the only things that got cleaned up for airing.

[CrazyInAlabama]

"Historic Home Rescue"-  Tonight's seller tried to sell at $390k, but no luck selling, or she wouldn't be on the show.     The kitchen/laundry are dated, but I'm sure that can be changed.  A vintage home 1906 Bungalow.  The seller's mother couldn't do stairs, so they built a first floor bedroom, and bathroom  for her.  The kitchen is so 70's.   Instead of being in the big mud room, the washer/dryer are in the kitchen (they're moving to the mud room). The upstairs bath is terribly dated, but huge.   The mother had huge loans to pay off, I guess on the house.   List price $390k, $60k reno budget, goal list is $500k.   

The sisters still want a half bath on the first floor, but Jeff the contractor doesn't want even a powder room on the first floor.   Jeff wants an en suite upstairs, making two baths from the huge second floor bath.   However, I would never buy a house with no bath on the main floor.   There must be some way to do a half bath, use clearance everything, and do a decent powder bath on the main floor.    I know I will never move to Seattle, or have enough money to buy one of these houses, but if I did, then a two story house, with 2 bathrooms upstairs, and not even a powder bath on the first floor, wouldn't interest me at all.  Sorry, but hanging old windows from the porch, without a bottom anchor is not a good move. 

Inside the front door I would put one of the benches, with coat hooks for visitors.   Now the dark haired sister wants to buy the house, and have it as a rental property.  

I don't like that a dining room for a 4 bedroom house only has a little round table for four, use a rectangle, and have at least 6 chairs. 

Original list was $390k, reno $60k, and they're going to present an offer to buy, and then rent out the house.  Howe can they come up with a fair price to buy the property, when everything goes for six figures over list?   They offer $500,000, but I bet this home would have the usual bidders war, maybe all cash, so I'm not happy with the $515k.   They own the house, say there were three bidders about $500k, and paid $515k for it.  (My guess is other home buyers either weren't happy about the location, or the lack of first floor powder room turned them off.   I've lived in a two story house with the bathroom upstairs, and it's a not good).

Edited May 26, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Bee100]

What I really can’t stand is the “design” idea of hanging old windows as a screen on a porch. Windows don’t provide privacy by definition, and having something that heavy hanging from flimsy chains isn’t going to end well during the next strong wind. It reminds me of Hildi on Trading Spaces back in the day and the time she glued straw to the walls.  Totally impractical design!

[ByaNose]

3 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

"Historic Home Rescue"-  Tonight's seller tried to sell at $390k, but no luck selling, or she wouldn't be on the show.     The kitchen/laundry are dated, but I'm sure that can be changed.  A vintage home 1906 Bungalow.  The seller's mother couldn't do stairs, so they built a first floor bedroom, and bathroom  for her.  The kitchen is so 70's.   Instead of being in the big mud room, the washer/dryer are in the kitchen (they're moving to the mud room). The upstairs bath is terribly dated, but huge.   The mother had huge loans to pay off, I guess on the house.   List price $390k, $60k reno budget, goal list is $500k.   

The sisters still want a half bath on the first floor, but Jeff the contractor doesn't want even a powder room on the first floor.   Jeff wants an en suite upstairs, making two baths from the huge second floor bath.   However, I would never buy a house with no bath on the main floor.   There must be some way to do a half bath, use clearance everything, and do a decent powder bath on the main floor.    I know I will never move to Seattle, or have enough money to buy one of these houses, but if I did, then a two story house, with 2 bathrooms upstairs, and not even a powder bath on the first floor, wouldn't interest me at all.  Sorry, but hanging old windows from the porch, without a bottom anchor is not a good move. 

Inside the front door I would put one of the benches, with coat hooks for visitors.   Now the dark haired sister wants to buy the house, and have it as a rental property.  

I don't like that a dining room for a 4 bedroom house only has a little round table for four, use a rectangle, and have at least 6 chairs. 

Original list was $390k, reno $60k, and they're going to present an offer to buy, and then rent out the house.  Howe can they come up with a fair price to buy the property, when everything goes for six figures over list?   They offer $500,000, but I bet this home would have the usual bidders war, maybe all cash, so I'm not happy with the $515k.   They own the house, say there were three bidders about $500k, and paid $515 for it.  

Yeah, they just happen to have the winning bid. Shocking! Not. The dinky dinning room table was a joke. A nice 6 seater would have been more impressive. I agree that you need some type of powder room on the main floor. Half the mud room and add a small powder room for the homeowners and any potential guest. It could have been done. The kitchen was nice but I kept noticing a crooked backsplash tile right behind the faucet. The fake window was stupid. It looked like lite bright with white peg lights. Also, the outside hanging windows look like an accident to happen. Once again Lyndsay was beyond annoying. Leslie is less annoying which isn’t saying much. Jeff the contractor looks like he wants to shoot himself half the time having to listen to these numnuts half the time. 

[buttersister]

That’s BS. And why I didn’t watch these two in the beginning (or last night;-)
As Yoda would say, the annoying is strong in these two.

ETA: Did you know they are twins??

Edited May 26, 2021 by buttersister

[ByaNose]

5 minutes ago, buttersister said:

That’s BS. And why I didn’t watch these two in the beginning (or last night;-)
As Yoda would say, the annoying is strong in these two.

ETA: Did you know they are twins??

No. I didn’t know they were twins. Although, if you show people your forehead it proves you are one. 

[jennblevins]

It appears they agree with y’all about the dining room, because the house is available on AirBnB and there’s now rectangular a 6-person table. 

[deirdra]

21 hours ago, jennblevins said:

It appears they agree with y’all about the dining room, because the house is available on AirBnB and there’s now rectangular a 6-person table. 

But they still have that puny "island" in the kitchen despite the fact that there is plenty of room for a one bigger than a cutting board.

Edited May 29, 2021 by deirdra

[bilgistic]

Episode 9 still isn't available on the HGTV Go app, which I watch via my Firestick and my mom's DirecTV login. So I'm mad I can't snark on the episode with y'all!

[CrazyInAlabama]

So the former rental apparently had zero maintenance during it's 25 year time of renting to only two tenants?   I had to laugh when the homeowners, and the sisters realized that someone had put some crooked door from the living room to the former garage space.    The $10k worth of wood rot was awful.  I think they should move the short water heater to the storage/laundry space.     I'm glad Jeff put in the bathtub combo turning the 1/2 bath into a full bath.   

How are the sisters going to carry passengers on the VW Bug?   Strap them to the rooftop?   I like seeing the scenery, but I don't care about their family photos.      

I hate painting a brick fireplace. They might be able to make up some of the budget hits, if they don't put some intricate wood design from the fireplace mantle to the ceiling.     Smart move to use white subway tile in both baths.  I wouldn't waste money on a wooden lip in the bonus room.    I also would have put the water heater with the laundry, put up a wall, and just vinyl plank there. and add a folding table for laundry.  There's no garage or shed, so you need somewhere for storage too.     I would have made the bonus room into half office, half laundry space.  

I don't know why there's any anguish over the extra $10k into renovations, everything has been going well over asking, and Silver Lake is a nice area. 

If they say First Time Buyer again, I'll scream. 

 The outside looks so nice now.   It's so wrong that the owners let the house deteriorate that much.   The kitchen looks so much better, and the storage a big improvement. The main (aka master) bedroom is still small.  The laundry is nice, but I would never put carpet that close to the washer/dryer.    So, as usual, sells for $108k over asking.   

[ByaNose]

I’m so glad they were able to determine that the potential buyer would be <insert  any generic type of buyer> because the house might not have sold. Whew! A disaster averted. I also figured out the owners were slumlords for over 25 years. So they were shocked that the house was a wreck because they never stopped by in between their two renters they had? Yeah! They should be arrested. Overall, the house turned out really nice. I even liked the kitchen. Small but very functional. I think Jeff deserves hazard pay having to work for the twins (in case you didn’t know it. They are twins. You can thank me later), and also have it aired on HGTV. He must want to put the nail gun to his head after every renovation. 

[deirdra]

16 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I also figured out the owners were slumlords for over 25 years. So they were shocked that the house was a wreck because they never stopped by in between their two renters they had? 

And they apparently didn't even stop by after the last tenants moved out.  They must have thought that it would be easy to sell it "as is" in that deteriorating state.  Nope.

Edited June 2, 2021 by deirdra

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm wondering if the owners were renting to relatives?   And just didn't want to admit that they trusted the renters to keep the place up, or tell them when something went wrong?     My guess is the 'bonus room' with the door off the living room (purple walls) was used as another bedroom, so the place was packed full of people.   

I bet they didn't have a property manager, and just had one or two people renting, and they sublet rooms, or moved in more relatives or friends.    I've known some people who let a relative rent from them, and found out that they should have checked on the rental a lot more often.    I don't think there is any way that two tenants in 25 years would happen in a regular tenant/landlord situation.    Having only two tenants in that period makes me think that it was a family situation, where the owners either bought cheap, and never fixed up much, or it was a family home, and they allowed a relative to live there for a lot of years, and trusted the tenant to take care of the place. 

 I'm wondering if there was a lot of clean up before the tour at the beginning too?   The fact that the owners didn't even know there was that odd door between the living room, and the former garage showed me that they hadn't been in that house for a lot of years.  Did the sisters or owners say that the owners were still local?    It looked like a really nice neighborhood, so I bet the neighbors were hoping that the place would get fixed up.    

[buttersister]

Crazy in Alabama, you could be right about the relative renters, which for future use, should be added to the list of loaning money to relatives.

But no sale, sisters. The owners hadn't been inside that dump the same way HH don't always own one of the houses they look at. Oh look! A door! Right. And who called 1-800-JUNK, because it wasn't the renters. But most of all, isn't a landlord responsible for upkeep or necessary improvements say, to avoid ROT? 

[ByaNose]

I know it’s done but I can’t believe people would rent to people or people willing to rent in a house like that. Who knows what condition it was in 25 years ago. Yup! This didn’t pass the stink test. Actually, I’m sure the house was plenty stinky just as the homeowners were. It sounds all sorts of illegal to me. The funny thing was how some of the potential buyers were gonna use it as a rental, too. I wonder if the area is a bad area no matter the (high) price tag. Does anyone know the location his house was? 

[CrazyInAlabama]

They said on the show, it's in Silver Lake, part of Everett.       

I think the renters were family, and I bet the sellers lived out of town, and didn't even inspect or visit.     I do know a couple of situations where someone rented for over 10 years, but the odds of getting two rental situations for 25 years was not believable.   

 I'm guessing that the 'renters' were relatives, and not real tenants, or maybe a relative with a life estate, who did nothing to maintain the house.    I bet that the original 'tenant' wanted them to buy the house, then there was a life estate for a companion, or other relative, and since they didn't own the house, the tenants did nothing.    I also bet the purple room off of the living room was for another bedroom.   I wouldn't touch a house with a short, squatty water heater, I would have moved it into the laundry room area, and walled it off with a door to the main part of the house, or to the room, and used the other part as an office.   I didn't like the multipurpose laundry room, or the TV room idea.   I hated the fireplace color too.  

 I wonder how much it cost the owners to get the junk crews to clean out the house, and clean up the yard?   I don't think there is any way that house was really a rental.    

The episode with Jeff's sister, the shower with the mismatched tile looked good, but the grout looked rough.   I'm guessing that they were filming, and filmed the finished house before it really was.  

Edited June 3, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[NYGirl]

Not crazy about the laundry room doing double duty

[readheaded]

4 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I know it’s done but I can’t believe people would rent to people or people willing to rent in a house like that. Who knows what condition it was in 25 years ago. Yup! This didn’t pass the stink test. Actually, I’m sure the house was plenty stinky just as the homeowners were. It sounds all sorts of illegal to me. The funny thing was how some of the potential buyers were gonna use it as a rental, too. I wonder if the area is a bad area no matter the (high) price tag. Does anyone know the location his house was? 

My ILs owned a rental property in MD that had no running water and had long-term tenants.

[justdoit10]

On 6/1/2021 at 9:59 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

So the former rental apparently had zero maintenance during it's 25 year time of renting to only two tenants?   I had to laugh when the homeowners, and the sisters realized that someone had put some crooked door from the living room to the former garage space.    The $10k worth of wood rot was awful.  I think they should move the short water heater to the storage/laundry space.     I'm glad Jeff put in the bathtub combo turning the 1/2 bath into a full bath.   

How are the sisters going to carry passengers on the VW Bug?   Strap them to the rooftop?   I like seeing the scenery, but I don't care about their family photos.      

I hate painting a brick fireplace. They might be able to make up some of the budget hits, if they don't put some intricate wood design from the fireplace mantle to the ceiling.     Smart move to use white subway tile in both baths.  I wouldn't waste money on a wooden lip in the bonus room.    I also would have put the water heater with the laundry, put up a wall, and just vinyl plank there. and add a folding table for laundry.  There's no garage or shed, so you need somewhere for storage too.     I would have made the bonus room into half office, half laundry space.  

I don't know why there's any anguish over the extra $10k into renovations, everything has been going well over asking, and Silver Lake is a nice area. 

If they say First Time Buyer again, I'll scream. 

 The outside looks so nice now.   It's so wrong that the owners let the house deteriorate that much.   The kitchen looks so much better, and the storage a big improvement. The main (aka master) bedroom is still small.  The laundry is nice, but I would never put carpet that close to the washer/dryer.    So, as usual, sells for $108k over asking.   

I didn't like the poop colored painted fireplace either and while the color of the house on the outside was better, it still had blah curb appeal to me.  A better door color, window boxes or contrasting trim would have made it pop better.

 

Edited June 3, 2021 by justdoit10

[MartyQui]

I noticed when the owners came back that all of the moss on the stone wall in front of the house was gone...do you powerwash that off?

Letting that house deteriorate so much was a crime.

The laundry in the middle of the bonus room was kind of dumb...who wants to sit and listen to your washer and dryer run?  Mine is in a little closet, so it cuts the noise some.

Also, their idea of Sleek and Sophisticated is pretty different from mine!

[CruiseDiva]

1 hour ago, MartyQui said:

I noticed when the owners came back that all of the moss on the stone wall in front of the house was gone...do you powerwash that off?

Letting that house deteriorate so much was a crime.

The laundry in the middle of the bonus room was kind of dumb...who wants to sit and listen to your washer and dryer run?  Mine is in a little closet, so it cuts the noise some.

Also, their idea of Sleek and Sophisticated is pretty different from mine!

That washer/dryer in the corner of the bonus room was one of the stupidest uses of space I've seen on HGTV. I couldn't believe they took the wall down and then put the "laundry" right in the larger room that had carpeting on the floor--they should have put it in the original smaller room which then could have been used for storage as well. There would have still been plenty of room in the original configuration for play time and TV watching in what was probably originally used as a bedroom.

[deirdra]

11 hours ago, justdoit10 said:

A better door color, window boxes or contrasting trim would have made it pop better.

The lack of contrasting trim or contrasting anything made it characterless and uninviting. If I saw that boring box I'd keep on driving.

How do you hear the TV while the washer & dryer are running? At least put them in a closet so you can close the door.  The "bonus" room had a door to the outside.  It would have made more sense to put tile or vinyl on the floor, bring the hot water heater inside to lower the gas bill and turn the area near the door into a "mudspace".  That way there is no carpet to soak when the appliances overflow or the kids and pets track in mud, rain & snow. 

Edited June 3, 2021 by deirdra