Cheap Old Houses - General Discussion

[iMonrey]

Anyone else watching this on HGTV? The hosts are Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein, they apparently started an Instagram account for old (1900 or earlier) houses for sale under 150K and now it's a TV show. 

It's pretty interesting although I've yet to completely warm up to the hosts. It's certainly informative, architecturally. 

The format is just as stilted as other HGTV shows. They feature two old houses for sale, then visit someone on their Instagram account who has already purchased and rehabbed an old house. 

They also have this strange gimmick at the end where they vote on which of the two old houses  they saw at the beginning of the show . . . wins? I don't get this part. It's not as if they are buying either of them. And if it's a decision about which to feature on their Instagram account they don't specify it. For all I can tell it's just a decision about which they liked better. It's odd. It feels like something HGTV mandated because all of their other shows end with some kind of decision.

[Grrarrggh]

Wonderful house porn, but the hosts are a bit annoying, especially the husband. And the premise of "picking" a house at the end is stupid. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I tried to watch this, and had to give up.   The show simply didn't interest me.    

I know someone who lived in Richmond, Indiana, and she said there was a good reason the featured house was so cheap.  

Edited August 25, 2021 by CrazyInAlabama

[CruiseDiva]

I watched a few of the shows and thought, "What's the point?" The old house porn is interesting, but then nothing happens. Boring.

[Ms Lark]

I'm watching. I like her better than him. She seems to know her stuff and gets pretty excited about things. I like looking at the old houses and seeing the potential, but I'd also like to see a nice restoration of at least some of them. I'm not sure about their mission, though. Are we supposed to run over and buy one of the houses? Are they still for sale?

I've lived and loved old apartments and houses in my past. They are a lot of work that I can no longer handle. I'm old and am now enjoying the modern appliances in my current space. It's nice to see young people still loving the old places, though.

[FoundTime]

She's a little too excitable for me, and I hate the fake *gasp* "oh no! What is this?!" cuts to commercial. (Good Bones does that too.) I think it would be more interesting to go in-depth with the "finished" house that's featured on IG. That would give us more of a before and after kind of arc. But I dunno, I might be brainwashed by now, since that is the path so many HGTV shows take (and, I suspect, why I've found it such reliable comfort viewing during the pandemic).

[quirkygal]

I agree with what many of you have pointed out.

The thing that gets me is the constant "oh you can save so much money doing the work yourself" of it all. And yes that is a cost saving strategy but only if you already have the tools, equipment, and know how to do the work safely. Replacing electric panels, rewiring a house, and installing modern HVAC systems is not something most of us can safely do.

In fact most of these homes probably need all new plumbing too and possibly septic systems.

Mess up these things and you'll be up to your eyeballs in debt, sewage, and fire damage.

I prefer the term realist to cynic. 🤪😊

[iMonrey]

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 I think it would be more interesting to go in-depth with the "finished" house that's featured on IG. That would give us more of a before and after kind of arc. But I dunno, I might be brainwashed by now, since that is the path so many HGTV shows take (and, I suspect, why I've found it such reliable comfort viewing during the pandemic).

The problem is that these remodels take years. That one lady said it had been ten years and her house still wasn't finished. So there's not a lot out there to choose from. You can't really do a "before and after" on a house that takes ten years or more to remodel. They no doubt try to visit remodeled old houses that they photos of before the remodeling too place but those are probably limited in number too. The impressive ones, anyway.

So I guess what they're choosing at the end is which house to feature on their Instagram, but why can't they post both? I'm not aware that Instagram has any limits.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I bet these houses need everything redone, re-pipe, total rewire, sewer and water pipes, septic tank, I'm sure a lot need central AC and heat which includes duct work, insulation, and everything else.    I find the estimates for rehab to be ridiculoulsly small. 

[Cherpumple]

I really like this show so far, since it satisfies my inherent nosiness of driving by old houses and wondering what they look like inside. I don't mind that it doesn't feature a full renovation, because it lets my imagination run wild, especially for the houses that have mismatched time periods inside; I start arguing with myself about whether I'd keep the adorable 1950s bathroom and the 1920s butler pantry, or return everything to the Victorian originals.

My one concern is that I'm not sure it's wise for them to point out all the valuable original fixtures that are sitting around in these abandoned (or at least uninhabited) homes. It's just asking for trouble.

[Pine]

It is better watching without the sound.  The host's are just way too annoying, especially her.  Sorry.  Otherwise, I love seeing the old homes.  I just recently sold my 1920 home that had been in our family for almost 50 years.  It took us a whole year to make sure everything was done and fairly period and comfortable.  And of course we kept it up the entire time we owned it too.  It was only as bad as some of the Cheap Old Houses featured when we bought it.  15K 50 years, ago sold for 2M in 2021, 60' x 100' lot.

[MarthaEllisanne]

Love the old house porn, but often have to mute because of the woman's voice. I've heard worse on these shows, but sometimes she ramps up the vocal fry and it is like fingernails on chalkboard. Perhaps HGTV should spend some money on vocal coaches for these young women.

[Grrarrggh]

10 hours ago, MarthaEllisanne said:

Love the old house porn, but often have to mute because of the woman's voice. I've heard worse on these shows, but sometimes she ramps up the vocal fry and it is like fingernails on chalkboard. Perhaps HGTV should spend some money on vocal coaches for these young women.

Why? So they can prove, more than they already do, that women must change while men are allowed to remain how they are? I think too many women accused of having a vocal fry don't, they just have a somewhat deeper, scratchy voice. 

[Kenzie]

1 hour ago, Grrarrggh said:

Why? So they can prove, more than they already do, that women must change while men are allowed to remain how they are? I think too many women accused of having a vocal fry don't, they just have a somewhat deeper, scratchy voice. 

 

1 hour ago, Grrarrggh said:

Why? So they can prove, more than they already do, that women must change while men are allowed to remain how they are? I think too many women accused of having a vocal fry don't, they just have a somewhat deeper, scratchy voice. 

People on radio and TV news often take vocal coaching to make their speech more pleasant. I stopped watching this show because of her vocal fry and I only watch Christina On the Coast using Closed Captioning for the same reason.  I'm not sure why vocal fry is so much more common now - even the guy on Vacation House Rules has it - but it can be a big enough irritant to make people stop watching a show that would normally appeal to them.

 

[Grrarrggh]

2 hours ago, Kenzie said:

People on radio and TV news often take vocal coaching to make their speech more pleasant. I stopped watching this show because of her vocal fry and I only watch Christina On the Coast using Closed Captioning for the same reason.  I'm not sure why vocal fry is so much more common now - even the guy on Vacation House Rules has it - but it can be a big enough irritant to make people stop watching a show that would normally appeal to them.

The thing is I don't think all these people do have a "vocal fry". I think others are just imagining it and some of the worst are using it as an excuse to not like certain women. It's a kissing cousin to the old accusation of women being shrill. 

[iMonrey]

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Love the old house porn, but often have to mute because of the woman's voice. I've heard worse on these shows, but sometimes she ramps up the vocal fry and it is like fingernails on chalkboard. Perhaps HGTV should spend some money on vocal coaches for these young women.

Right there with you. The tours through old homes feels like a cross between Ghost Hunters and some kind of time travel show. But jeez . . . Elizabeth needs to turn the enthusiasm level down from 11 to about five. She can't just shriek in orgasmic delight at every corner. OH MY GOSH!!!! IT'S ANOTHER SQUARE ROOM!!!!!!! I mean, take a chill pill lady. 

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The thing is I don't think all these people do have a "vocal fry". I think others are just imagining it and some of the worst are using it as an excuse to not like certain women. It's a kissing cousin to the old accusation of women being shrill. 

It's not, though I used to think that too and somebody had to point out to me exactly what "vocal fry" was because I wasn't hearing it. And then after I understood what it was I couldn't un-hear it.

To be fair, I think for a lot of women, their voice just naturally drops into the back of their throat when they are not speaking with enough force. But I agree with the opinion that if you are going to be on TV or other media with sound you need to correct it, because it is very triggering. 

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 I'm not sure why vocal fry is so much more common now 

People used to train for these kinds of jobs and they don't anymore. You can look at any TV show or any film made before 2000 or so and you will not hear anyone with vocal fry because any acting coach or voice coach would have it nipped in the bud on Day 1. But people don't take voice training anymore and the trend is to sound "natural" rather than to project like you would if you were a theater-trained actor. 

[pasdetrois]

I've watched the first episode and am hoping it's production encouraging these two to act like cheerleaders, and that they will tone it down. I appreciate that they are normal-looking folks, not bimbos, and know their stuff.

I had one of those 1940s/50s pink sinks in my 1920s Craftsman bungalow, along with pink and gray tile, and ripped them out to put in a Craftsman-style bath. (Bathroom sprung a leak and was fixin' to drop through the rotten floor) I tried to donate the old stuff but nobody wanted it. It was in great shape, too.

The houses on the episode had been well-preserved, which makes all the difference in the ability to save them somewhat affordably. And the market drives the finances. Old houses are no longer in fashion where I live - everyone wants HGTV.

Finally, it's very true about the time and expense to save one. It has taken me 30 years and I'm still at it, due to cost and time.  My bugaboos have been asbestos in tile, old wires behind my beloved original plaster, original wood windows, and no insulation anywhere in the house. And when I'm gone, it will get torn down.

Having said that, take a look at this couple: one of them works fulltime, one is building a social media business, and together they are doing all the work to restore a farmhouse, quite quickly: https://farmhousevernacular.com/category/the-house/

They are also on YouTube.

Edited September 12, 2021 by pasdetrois

[RoxiP]

On 8/25/2021 at 4:21 PM, CruiseDiva said:

I watched a few of the shows and thought, "What's the point?" The old house porn is interesting, but then nothing happens. Boring.

My thoughts exactly. 

[CountryGirl]

On 9/13/2021 at 12:18 PM, RoxiP said:

My thoughts exactly. 

Ditto. I was thinking that they might do a few episodes of "picking" houses and then have episodes renovating them, but nope, just looking at old houses. 

And I love looking at houses, so you would think I would like the show more, but yet, I don't love it.

[CruiseDiva]

5 minutes ago, CountryGirl said:

Ditto. I was thinking that they might do a few episodes of "picking" houses and then have episodes renovating them, but nope, just looking at old houses. 

And I love looking at houses, so you would think I would like the show more, but yet, I don't love it.

The screaming gives me a headache, but I do enjoy looking at the old houses so I've been watching it with the sound muted.

Hopefully this is a one season show and it will be replaced with something better. A show with people actually renovating those old houses would be far more interesting and entertaining.