Bargain Block - General Discussion

[DVDFreaker]

The guy that does the art on the wall and the headboard is really horrible, where does he get those awful ideas from?

Edited April 15, 2021 by DVDFreaker

[CruiseDiva]

14 hours ago, DVDFreaker said:

The guy that does the art on the wall and the headboard is really horrible, where does he get those awful ideas from?

The "themes" for their decor made no sense at all. This new show is a real disappointment. The only thing that would improve those houses after they are finished would be gallons of primer and paint to cover the "art" on the walls.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The desert theme for the 50's house in Detroit was horrible.   The home flippers have no taste.   Also, did they ever address the fact that I'm sure the house was full of lead paint, needed a re-pipe, and rewire, and everything else redone?   That house should have been bulldozed, not sold to some homebuyer who will have a horrible house, with old electrical and plumbing.   Putting that paint on the inside of the basement wall won't stop any water leaks. 

Their 'artwork' was awful. 

Edited April 15, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[Grrarrggh]

This programme leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Between the "white saviour" trope and the questionable quality of the renos it just seems off.

[Suzysite]

That dining room with the glazed-over chipped paint was hideous.   I can see the new owners immediately painting over that mess.   

And who wants all that mismatched thrift store furniture they leave?   

[DVDFreaker]

I wonder why HGTV accepted the premise? If I saw what they did, I would say next!

[akg]

I really like the concept of this show but there are definitely issues. I think it would play better if they'd hired some Detroit locals instead of two white guys from Denver. And I feel like they could skip the decorating/furnishing (especially Keith's 'themes') (although I might be ok with that part if someone else was choosing colors). I was relieved to hear Evan talk about inspections and building codes in episode 2 so the homes are hopefully safe for the new owners.

Things I do like:

• improving an existing neighborhood and raising the home values for the rest of the people on the street
• restoring homes rather than replacing them with cookie cutter houses (this is assuming the final product is safe) (I like a house with character and a history)
• pricing the houses for first time home owners. I live on the other side of the state and my city could really use more starter homes like this (I know nothing about Detroit real estate so I'm taking their word on all the money stuff)
• that there have been hints that Evan and Keith have been interacting with their temporary neighbors who are excited to follow their progress through the neighborhood (I loved the woman across the street last night who asked if she could come over as soon as the realtor put the open house sign up) 

In addition to what I mentioned above, I don't like the editing. I feel like I've missed something when they just start in an almost finished house. And the two guys should not be part of the showings. That has to be awkward for the people house shopping (even if there isn't a weird self-portrait of one of them in the living room).

Does anyone know where in Detroit this is? I'm very curious how many houses they ended up flipping on this street/block. We've seen 6 homes so far, right?

 

[DVDFreaker]

On 4/22/2021 at 8:55 PM, akg said:

I really like the concept of this show but there are definitely issues. I think it would play better if they'd hired some Detroit locals instead of two white guys from Denver. And I feel like they could skip the decorating/furnishing (especially Keith's 'themes') (although I might be ok with that part if someone else was choosing colors). I was relieved to hear Evan talk about inspections and building codes in episode 2 so the homes are hopefully safe for the new owners.

Things I do like:

• improving an existing neighborhood and raising the home values for the rest of the people on the street
• restoring homes rather than replacing them with cookie cutter houses (this is assuming the final product is safe) (I like a house with character and a history)
• pricing the houses for first time home owners. I live on the other side of the state and my city could really use more starter homes like this (I know nothing about Detroit real estate so I'm taking their word on all the money stuff)
• that there have been hints that Evan and Keith have been interacting with their temporary neighbors who are excited to follow their progress through the neighborhood (I loved the woman across the street last night who asked if she could come over as soon as the realtor put the open house sign up) 

In addition to what I mentioned above, I don't like the editing. I feel like I've missed something when they just start in an almost finished house. And the two guys should not be part of the showings. That has to be awkward for the people house shopping (even if there isn't a weird self-portrait of one of them in the living room).

Does anyone know where in Detroit this is? I'm very curious how many houses they ended up flipping on this street/block. We've seen 6 homes so far, right?

 

 I took a screenshot and post it for you 

On 4/15/2021 at 5:53 PM, Suzysite said:

That dining room with the glazed-over chipped paint was hideous.   I can see the new owners immediately painting over that mess.   

And who wants all that mismatched thrift store furniture they leave?   

Yeah, that was so bad, I can imagine family and friends asking the homeowners why it is not fixed or painted all the time and that would get old and tiring and seeing that gives me flashbacks of Hildi’s awful walls from Trading Spaces 

Edited April 27, 2021 by DVDFreaker

[akg]

On 4/26/2021 at 10:44 PM, DVDFreaker said:

I took a screenshot and post it for you 

Thanks! I have no idea why my google could not find that. 

I have a confession. I actually liked the chipped paint wall. I'm not sure I'd want it in my house, taking up a whole wall but I would definitely consider buying a smaller, framed version.

 

[DVDFreaker]

4 hours ago, akg said:

Thanks! I have no idea why my google could not find that. 

I have a confession. I actually liked the chipped paint wall. I'm not sure I'd want it in my house, taking up a whole wall but I would definitely consider buying a smaller, framed version.

 

Hildi, is that you? 

[akg]

18 minutes ago, DVDFreaker said:

Hildi, is that you? 

Hey! I wasn't admiring all of the things Keith was stapling to walls (I can't imagine sleeping under that wooden spiderweb), just an existing wall. And I would definitely have painted over it in that house.

[DVDFreaker]

4 minutes ago, akg said:

Hey! I wasn't admiring all of the things Keith was stapling to walls (I can't imagine sleeping under that wooden spiderweb), just an existing wall. And I would definitely have painted over it in that house.

I am kidding but I swear that Keith gets terrible ideas from Hildi 

Edited April 29, 2021 by DVDFreaker

[DVDFreaker]

Ethan continues his awful ideas, those cabinets are awful, it looks like a maze and what is with the stupid wood art work on the top of the wall in the bedroom? 

[Cetacean]

All I can think of when viewing that stuff stapled to the wall is how the heck to keep anything dusted.  What a nightmare to clean.

[DVDFreaker]

On the other house, the painting outside is ugly and the kitchen floor and backsplash is horrible 

[nb360]

I would love this show a little bit more if the buyers/developers were from the neighborhood, say perhaps, residents in the area or from someplace near Detroit trying to learn how to flip.

Or maybe, even if the current leads of the show hired neighborhood residents for demo work or for painting. Yes, that would cut into their profit but it would also be offering local residents jobs -- and houses.

Also, Shay's voice kind of annoys me, for some reason.

 

edited: Just saw akg's comment. I'm glad you said it first. I want to see African Americans revitalizing their neighborhoods. There is a "white savior" element, perhaps unintentional, that makes it hard for me to enjoy this show.

 

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by nb360
saw akg's comment

[Cetacean]

9 hours ago, nb360 said:

edited: Just saw akg's comment. I'm glad you said it first. I want to see African Americans revitalizing their neighborhoods. There is a "white savior" element, perhaps unintentional, that makes it hard for me to enjoy this show.

While that would be ideal, it isn't happening at least in Detroit and has not been the case for many, many years.  I think the fact that somebody is taking this on is admirable.  Having lived in Detroit for most of my life I applaud the effort.

And we may not be seeing the whole demo phase where there may be crews employed as well.  It seems like the "clean up, demo, and rebuild" phase goes very quickly in some cases.  We see the part where the fidgety details are happening but we may be missing a lot of the big work.

[nb360]

3 hours ago, Cetacean said:

While that would be ideal, it isn't happening at least in Detroit and has not been the case for many, many years.  I think the fact that somebody is taking this on is admirable.  Having lived in Detroit for most of my life I applaud the effort.

And we may not be seeing the whole demo phase where there may be crews employed as well.  It seems like the "clean up, demo, and rebuild" phase goes very quickly in some cases.  We see the part where the fidgety details are happening but we may be missing a lot of the big work.

Fair enough.

[MaKaM]

4 hours ago, Cetacean said:

While that would be ideal, it isn't happening at least in Detroit and has not been the case for many, many years. 

Probably because it would be tough for them to get loans/capital/startup-funds. It is just easier to come from richer parts of the country and set up in the poorer areas and go at it. These guys seem like hobbyists and yeah, white savior complex. Maybe because the show focuses on the ridiculous designs and the way they move their stuff in that ratty shopping cart, they don't come off as professionals who do a quick, professional, to code job and then move on to the next.

[akg]

17 hours ago, DVDFreaker said:

those cabinets are awful, it looks like a maze

And I'm pretty sure he never got around to adding handles. That's going to be super annoying after about 10 minutes.

 

14 hours ago, nb360 said:

I want to see African Americans revitalizing their neighborhoods. There is a "white savior" element, perhaps unintentional, that makes it hard for me to enjoy this show.

I thought it was interesting last night that more of the people filmed at the open house were white.

I'm curious about the eventual buyers too. Does Shea try to sell to families or are people buying them as investments? The more houses Evan and Keith get to, the higher the prices will be in that neighborhood. I'd hate for this to be step one of gentrification.

 

1 hour ago, MaKaM said:

Maybe because the show focuses on the ridiculous designs and the way they move their stuff in that ratty shopping cart, they don't come off as professionals who do a quick, professional, to code job and then move on to the next.

I really wish they'd focus more on the work involved in improving the homes. I don't care so much about the decorating or their shopping cart (and why is it always filled with things they don't really need like a giant plant or a large horn?). I want to learn more about what it takes to save these types of homes and make them livable again. I know HGTV is focused on entertainment and not education but it would be nice if this show could inspire locals (in Detroit or elsewhere) to try following Evan and Keith's plan and that would involve more screen time dedicated to the early steps.

 

[Cetacean]

2 hours ago, MaKaM said:

Probably because it would be tough for them to get loans/capital/startup-funds. It is just easier to come from richer parts of the country and set up in the poorer areas and go at it.

In this economy, starting a business would be tough for sure.  But would it be better for the neighborhoods if these guys had never come?  Have you ever been to these neighborhoons because I have.  There are some well tended homes with folks holding on beside row after row of abandoned, rat infested derelict ones.  From what we have seen (and, yes, I admit some if it might be staged) the neighbors seem appreciative of the work done.

59 minutes ago, akg said:

 The more houses Evan and Keith get to, the higher the prices will be in that neighborhood.

Which will raise the property values of the existing homes in the area and make it easier for the existing home owners to ultimately sell.  The areas they have chosen are not currently on the cusp of gentrification.

And do we know if they are rich?  I'd like to see evidence of that.  They seem to be putting any profit they make back into buying more homes.

[CruiseDiva]

42 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

But would it be better for the neighborhoods if these guys had never come?  Have you ever been to these neighborhoods because I have.  There are some well tended homes with folks holding on beside row after row of abandoned, rat infested derelict ones.  From what we have seen (and, yes, I admit some if it might be staged) the neighbors seem appreciative of the work done.

Which will raise the property values of the existing homes in the area and make it easier for the existing home owners to ultimately sell.  The areas they have chosen are not currently on the cusp of gentrification.

I've been through similar neighborhoods and have always felt bad for the homeowners whose houses were nice. Just a few derelict properties can spiral an entire neighborhood down. 

The neighbors do seem to appreciate the work being done to houses on their street. It will certainly increase property values, but will also probably increase property taxes. I hope the long time residents can afford any increase. If taxes increase, the community amenities should improve (schools, parks).

[akg]

1 hour ago, Cetacean said:

And do we know if they are rich?  I'd like to see evidence of that.  They seem to be putting any profit they make back into buying more homes.

Yeah, I don't think they plan on making any money from the house sales but HGTV must be paying them something (probably not a ton yet since they're unknowns). I'm not sure how the initial budgeting would have worked though. The first house we saw them work on was from the land bank and only cost $1k plus whatever they put into it (I can't remember). They then used the money they earned to start the chain of flips. I have no idea if that first investment would have been covered by HGTV or Evan and Keith. 

Even though I have issues with the show, I do hope it does well. Maybe that will inspire some spin offs that can fix some of the complaints we have. If I were in charge, I think I'd have Evan and Keith move to a new city for season 2 and leave their set up in Detroit to a couple of natives who would continue the work with Shea.

 

1 hour ago, Cetacean said:

The areas they have chosen are not currently on the cusp of gentrification.

That was a big leap on my part. Based mostly on the white home shopper in the hat, I think. I'm not sure why but he didn't seem to fit the neighborhood or show to me so I was wondering what he was doing there. 

[Grrarrggh]

8 hours ago, Cetacean said:

And we may not be seeing the whole demo phase where there may be crews employed as well.  It seems like the "clean up, demo, and rebuild" phase goes very quickly in some cases.  We see the part where the fidgety details are happening but we may be missing a lot of the big work.

If that's true it makes it even worse. Based on just the programme, it seems as if they're doing it all on their own, aside from the sale itself. If locals are helping that's insulting. 

[akg]

I found this article on Keith's net worth from last week (I have no idea why that was worthy of a write up though).

Quote

Apart from their home renovation business, the couple also own NINE Furniture+Design in Detroit. The couple use furniture from their furniture store to stage houses that are ready to sell and should the homebuyers choose to keep the furniture, they'd had to shell out an extra $3000. [...]

[Keith] Bynum has been successfully running this business [home renovations] alongside [Evan] Thomas for more than four  years and with the earnings from his previous job in Denver, his net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million. The couple's earnings from their HGTV show is not known yet, however, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that they're up for a hike after the wild response to the series' premiere episode. 

I found the first part interesting. I wonder if that's what they were doing before the show and now include the $3k in their improvement budget to simplify things?  

From the article, it sounds like Keith and Evan started the chain of flips years ago with their own money which answers some of my questions.

Quote

The couple often purchases rundown homes for as little as $1000 from Detroit Land Bank and carry out all the renovations by themselves, sometimes hiring local help whenever needed. 

I really wish we saw some of this. Why do they think the selling point for this show is Keith's awful decorating?

And from a list of 10 Things You Didn’t Know about HGTV’s “Bargain Block”:

Quote

2. The Show Does Its Best To Work With Detroit Based Contractors

3. Keith And Evan Were Flipping Houses Long Before The Show

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by akg

[Grrarrggh]

2 minutes ago, akg said:

I really wish we saw some of this. Why do they think the selling point for this show is Keith's awful decorating?

It's almost as if HGTV execs heard viewers were bored with nearly everything being open concept white/grey shaker and said, "Hmmmm, well lets show this wacko designer experimenting on the poor! Mwhahahaha!!!" 

[MaKaM]

On 4/29/2021 at 6:04 PM, Grrarrggh said:

It's almost as if HGTV execs heard viewers were bored with nearly everything being open concept white/grey shaker and said, "Hmmmm, well lets show this wacko designer experimenting on the poor! Mwhahahaha!!!" 

Well, maybe they are hoping that if he throws enough ideas at the walls, something might stick and become the new "shiplap" for them to pimp into the ground.

[CrazyInAlabama]

What scares me is that have the flippers talked about lead paint removal?   Or repipes for old galvanized plumbing?   In the Indianapolis show, some of their houses are just as old, and have lead pipe water lines to the home from the city water line, and that has to be replaced.   I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of lead pipes, and lead paint in the flipper homes.    I really hated the peeling dining room, the flippers just put some clean finish over it, but someday that paint will peel off. 

Edited May 5, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[justdoit10]

They would do better if they stuck to more conventional looks.  It is great they fix up these dilapidated houses but the design choices are bizarre and some a frankly ugly.

[justdoit10]

On 4/29/2021 at 5:51 PM, Grrarrggh said:

If that's true it makes it even worse. Based on just the programme, it seems as if they're doing it all on their own, aside from the sale itself. If locals are helping that's insulting. 

They do hire only local workers to help.  Why is that insulting?   It is helping the local worker  who otherwise might not be working.  I would rather be working and getting paid than care if I am on tv.

Just now, justdoit10 said:

They do hire only local workers to help.  Why is that insulting?   It is helping the local worker  who otherwise might not be working.  I would rather be working and getting paid than care if I am on tv.  All these shows have additional help that we never see.

 

[justdoit10]

On 4/29/2021 at 6:04 PM, Grrarrggh said:

It's almost as if HGTV execs heard viewers were bored with nearly everything being open concept white/grey shaker and said, "Hmmmm, well lets show this wacko designer experimenting on the poor! Mwhahahaha!!!" 

I agree it does do a disservice to the area with some of these ugly designs.  Be more conventional, bring the house back and I am sure it would be appreciated.

[buttersister]

I started watching because it’s the old neighborhood or thereabouts. The idea of getting $1K houses and making them homes people could afford is appealing. Also, complex. Maybe these guys sink all $$$ into buying more houses, but what about people who already lived there—and their property taxes? Public services? Beats Windy City Rehab, but that’s a low bar. I’ll watch anyone over Alison.

The shopping carts in the street are bullshit. WTAF?

Keith’s vanity art projects are questionable at best. But I suppose anyone who buys the house can buy more paint. Between Keith and Mina’s mother, though, I’ll stick with my 30-year old grey and white kitchen.😂

[CrazyInAlabama]

I bet the homes are owned by the city, or a bank, and have been vacant for a long time.   

[akg]

4 hours ago, justdoit10 said:

They do hire only local workers to help.  Why is that insulting?  

By not showing us the extra help, the show is giving viewers the impression that everything was done by Keith and Evan. There are (at least) three downsides to this:

1. Letting people believe all of this work can be done by 2 men in a short amount of time for a nice profit can get viewers into trouble if they try this at home (admittedly not a huge concern here since I think most people know HGTV shows aren't reality)
2. Leaving out the local help adds to the white savior element of the show
3. The show could add to the good it's doing for Detroit if they made people aware of who their local venders are. A small business in that area (or anywhere, really) could benefit a lot from having their name included, even if it's just a quick shot of their logo

 

On 5/3/2021 at 12:43 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

What scares me is that have the flippers talked about lead paint removal?   Or repipes for old galvanized plumbing? 

I can't get detroitmi.gov to load for some reason but the 3 lines duckduckgo shows are:

Quote

In the city of Detroit, lead service lines are most likely to be found in single family homes built before 1945....

I can't remember what dates they've mentioned for their houses though. And I can't find actual addresses for zillow researching purposes.

 

11 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I bet the homes are owned by the city, or a bank, and have been vacant for a long time.   

They've mentioned the Detroit Land Bank a few times. I thought this on their About Us page was interesting:

Quote

Plus, we take our commitment to revitalization one step further with our Compliance program, requiring renovation and occupancy to improve neighborhoods and combat real estate speculation. 

 

[justdoit10]

On 5/3/2021 at 12:43 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

What scares me is that have the flippers talked about lead paint removal?   Or repipes for old galvanized plumbing?   In the Indianapolis show, some of their houses are just as old, and have lead pipe water lines to the home from the city water line, and that has to be replaced.   I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of lead pipes, and lead paint in the flipper homes.    I really hated the peeling dining room, the flippers just put some clean finish over it, but someday that paint will peel off. 

Are you talking about Mina?  They do buy some real hell holes and some are from the city.  They do a better job of showing what they have to do to even bring the house up to being sellable.

[akg]

I'm avoiding cleaning my house today (translation: this will probably be a long post) so went down a wormhole of trying to find some of these houses listed online. I found a couple of websites for Shea (zillow, her own, her agency?) but her Sold listings don't include anything we've seen and clicking around Zillow in their price range near Livernois and 8 Mile (mentioned here) didn't bring up anything I recognized.

Based on the $3,000 offer for furnishings, this house (I love the green) is probably Keith and Evan before the show (also this house ($2,500 for furnishings), this one ($1,500), and maybe this one (I'm very annoyed there are no interior pictures so we can see more of Keith's work)) . The realtor was Ashley Mann, however (who is white and the cynical side of me wonders if someone at HGTV realized how bad it would look for all of the people on camera to be white and suggested they replace Ashley).

I found this article (She works in Detroit’s mortgage industry — but she could still barely get one for her own home) to be very interesting (definitely more interesting than Keith's decorating). The She of the title (Diamond DeYampert) bought one of K&E's houses but had to jump through a ton of hoops to get the mortgage finalized. 

Quote

When we spoke in December 2020, the couple had six houses under contract, evidence of their solid craftsmanship and design as well as the high demand for housing at that price range in the city. Many of those sales, however, were being held up at various points in the mortgage process. [...]

Thomas and Bynum showed us finances for seven recent homes sales; the average closing time was over 90 days. According to realtor.com, the national average is 50 days. These delays have stressed their business, which requires them to sell homes to fund their next rehabs. [...]

Thomas and Bynum will often field multiple offers at or above asking price, only for it to appraise for thousands of dollars less — one home on Asbury Park appraised for $20,000 lower than the offer. DeYampert agreed to pay $103,000 before her home appraised for $88,000. Since lenders finance mortgages for homes’ appraisal prices, either the buyer has to make a higher down payment or the seller has to lower the price. To keep their sale, Thomas and Bynum are often forced to do the latter. [...]

Thomas and Bynum are exploring other options. In two cases for people who couldn’t get a mortgage, they’ve offered land contracts — Thomas and Bynum keep the house notes and the buyers make mortgage payments directly to them. It’s bad for cash flow, since they don’t get a lump sum payment, but overall have been a great alternative in select cases for both them and the buyers. They’re also in talks with Quicken Loans about developing a new loan product that bridges the appraisal gap. 

There's more but those are the sections most relevant to the show. Again, I wish they were including more of the behind the scenes stuff like this. The way they're filming now makes everything seem super easy. And this would be a great way to educate HGTV viewers on redlining and other barriers Black people face when trying to buy a home.

Edited May 6, 2021 by akg

[MaKaM]

The all black main floor and the gold zebra stripes -- dear god. Talk about tacky and tasteless design. And all the brushmarks on the cabinets shows that it was definitely not a professional job. And the stupid wall feature.  I think I am done with this show. I don't really like the two guys and I really don't like their "design". I feel sorry for anyone that buys the house. Giving the flip or flop vegas team a run for their money. The only thing I liked on it was the outside paint color.

[justdoit10]

Tacky and tasteless design is being kind.  That would be quite the  contest for a winner with the Vegas tacky ones.  If their premise is to attract buyers and sell houses, surely even they have to understand it has to be more appealing to the masses and that gold striping nonsense wasn't it. I don't know what they are trying to prove being so far off the map.  Do they look at other comps in the area and what sells?  I am surprised these houses sell unless the buyer already knows they are going to change it.

[CruiseDiva]

8 minutes ago, justdoit10 said:

Tacky and tasteless design is being kind.  That would be quite the  contest for a winner with the Vegas tacky ones.  If their premise is to attract buyers and sell houses, surely even they have to understand it has to be more appealing to the masses and that gold striping nonsense wasn't it. I don't know what they are trying to prove being so far off the map.  Do they look at other comps in the area and what sells?  I am surprised these houses sell unless the buyer already knows they are going to change it.

I looked at the article mentioned above by akg and there are photos of a couple of the guy's rehabs that look very nice--and normal--compared to the tackiness of what they are doing on HGTV.

[justdoit10]

9 minutes ago, CruiseDiva said:

I looked at the article mentioned above by akg and there are photos of a couple of the guy's rehabs that look very nice--and normal--compared to the tackiness of what they are doing on HGTV.

Any guess why they are showing the tacky decor?

[CruiseDiva]

11 hours ago, justdoit10 said:

Any guess why they are showing the tacky decor?

To grab attention? That would be my guess ☺️

[akg]

They mentioned the plumbing! And that they'd have to replace it when they discovered it wasn't all copper. Which I'd have thought they would have noticed from a tour of the basement. But they completely missed the lack of electrical panel so maybe they couldn't get down there?

Considering they do so much shopping at the Habitat ReStore, I was very annoyed they just destroyed everything in the kitchen. Some of the cabinets looked fine and should have been donated (the trashing of usable but no longer wanted/needed is one of my biggest pet peeves with these types of shows).

Keith went full Hildi with that wall of trees. I would hate to be the person taking all of that down and then trying to patch holes. It's ok to leave a wall blank if you run out of money. 

And, from my zillow hunting:

• They walked past this (pre-show) house with their shopping cart
• Last night's calm minds house doesn't show K&E's sale (way too much pink)
• Cozy cottage
• Boho
• Mod house (is now a rental)

I know zillow isn't the most trustworthy source but the inconsistencies in what is updated on K&E's listings is weird. I also haven't been able to find pictures from episodes anywhere so I can't search for more.

17 hours ago, justdoit10 said:

Any guess why they are showing the tacky decor?

My guess is someone at HGTV thinks that's what their viewers want. Especially considering how much more time the decorating/Keith gets compared to the practical/Evan side (why did we have to watch them meditating?). I disagree but may not be their target audience.

 

[justdoit10]

2 hours ago, akg said:

They mentioned the plumbing! And that they'd have to replace it when they discovered it wasn't all copper. Which I'd have thought they would have noticed from a tour of the basement. But they completely missed the lack of electrical panel so maybe they couldn't get down there?

Considering they do so much shopping at the Habitat ReStore, I was very annoyed they just destroyed everything in the kitchen. Some of the cabinets looked fine and should have been donated (the trashing of usable but no longer wanted/needed is one of my biggest pet peeves with these types of shows).

Keith went full Hildi with that wall of trees. I would hate to be the person taking all of that down and then trying to patch holes. It's ok to leave a wall blank if you run out of money. 

And, from my zillow hunting:

• They walked past this (pre-show) house with their shopping cart
• Last night's calm minds house doesn't show K&E's sale (way too much pink)
• Cozy cottage
• Boho
• Mod house (is now a rental)

I know zillow isn't the most trustworthy source but the inconsistencies in what is updated on K&E's listings is weird. I also haven't been able to find pictures from episodes anywhere so I can't search for more.

My guess is someone at HGTV thinks that's what their viewers want. Especially considering how much more time the decorating/Keith gets compared to the practical/Evan side (why did we have to watch them meditating?). I disagree but may not be their target audience.

 

Some of it is so impractical and ugly.  Who wants to go to bed and get stabbed in the head with a branch?  Considering they watch the budget what is wrong with fresh paint and pictures?   He ruins rooms by going overboard.  

[CruiseDiva]

59 minutes ago, justdoit10 said:

Some of it is so impractical and ugly.  Who wants to go to bed and get stabbed in the head with a branch?  Considering they watch the budget what is wrong with fresh paint and pictures?   He ruins rooms by going overboard.  

The open house visitors must be coached to oooo and ahhh over that crap. All those people can't love tacky "decor" can they?

[OFDgal]

2 hours ago, justdoit10 said:

Who wants to go to bed and get stabbed in the head with a branch?  

Exactly what I thought! Who wants a bed where you can't lean against the headboard? And who wants a self-portrait of him hanging in your wall? I think I'm done with this show. Gave it a shot but I don't really like them, I hate the "designs" and their work (especially the paint strokes on those black cabinets as someone above posted) seems sloppy.

[justdoit10]

2 minutes ago, OFDgal said:

Exactly what I thought! Who wants a bed where you can't lean against the headboard? And who wants a self-portrait of him hanging in your wall? I think I'm done with this show. Gave it a shot but I don't really like them, I hate the "designs" and their work (especially the paint strokes on those black cabinets as someone above posted) seems sloppy.

His designs get more bizarre.  On the "black" house he should have stopped at  the fireplace with the wallpaper and it would have looked nice but no he had to add the gold stripes and red curtains to turn it into an LSD trip. At first it was ok,  I'll watch and now I find myself yelling at the tv and saying  WTF are you doing ?  Stop.

[CruiseDiva]

2 hours ago, justdoit10 said:

His designs get more bizarre.  On the "black" house he should have stopped at  the fireplace with the wallpaper and it would have looked nice but no he had to add the gold stripes and red curtains to turn it into an LSD trip. At first it was ok,  I'll watch and now I find myself yelling at the tv and saying  WTF are you doing ?  Stop.

That room looked like the entry to a bordello. I watch HGTV shows for the entertainment. This one is not very entertaining and I'm just not enjoying it.

Edited May 7, 2021 by CruiseDiva

[justdoit10]

15 minutes ago, CruiseDiva said:

That room looked like the entry to a bordello. I watch HGTV shows for the entertainment. This one is not very entertaining and I'm just not enjoying it.

Bordello is a great description.  The end results of these houses  leave you scratching your head.

[OFDgal]

10 hours ago, justdoit10 said:

His designs get more bizarre.  On the "black" house he should have stopped at  the fireplace with the wallpaper and it would have looked nice but no he had to add the gold stripes and red curtains to turn it into an LSD trip. At first it was ok,  I'll watch and now I find myself yelling at the tv and saying  WTF are you doing ?  Stop.

Watching him put those circular pieces of wood on the wall, I was thinking that to get rid of that ugliness you would have to cut that part of the wall out.  He put too many nails in each piece to be able to remove them any other way. 

[blixie]

Quote

Things I do like:

improving an existing neighborhood and raising the home values for the rest of the people on the street

restoring homes rather than replacing them with cookie cutter houses (this is assuming the final product is safe) (I like a house with character and a history)

pricing the houses for first time home owners. I live on the other side of the state and my city could really use more starter homes like this (I know nothing about Detroit real estate so I'm taking their word on all the money stuff)

that there have been hints that Evan and Keith have been interacting with their temporary neighbors who are excited to follow their progress through the neighborhood (I loved the woman across the street last night who asked if she could come over as soon as the realtor put the open house sign up) 

Yeah I was super leery of this show being two white guys when I thought they were from the area, knowing they are from Denver makes it worse. BUT I think this show is still a huge cut above the majority of HGTV shows in that it at least shows Black home buyers, and is completely focused on a black neighborhood, and making these homes affordable instead trying to up class the homes in way that gentrifies the entire neighborhood (like the mom/daughter in Indiana). Having said that they deserve better than the hyperactive design mind of this guy. Woof individual elements of his are good ideas but then he uses a bunch of conflicting ones all in the same house. YIKES. Also of course it would be terrible if HGTV is once again supporting subpar construction on this show.