Snark Should Be Multiplied, Not Divided: General Show Discussion

[toodles]

I recently switched cable companies and all 13(?) seasons are on demand.  I just watched the one where Robin talks about losing her virginity to her first husband and what a mistake it was in front of HER ENTIRE FAMILY.  What a lovely thing to say in front of your children from that marriage.  

Maybe someone here remembers this, but I thought she called it her cookie.  This episode it was her purity.  I checked the board for further info but I got nuthin'.  I remember there was much discussion about what kind of cookie it was.

ANYWAY,  am I right or wrong?  Thanks.

I have Cox and the episode is called Robin's Secret.  I'm not sure about the season. My guide shows it in season 6.  It's the season of the commitment ceremony.  There is some good stuff in there.

[Sandy W]

6 minutes ago, toodles said:

I recently switched cable companies and all 13(?) seasons are on demand.  I just watched the one where Robin talks about losing her virginity to her first husband and what a mistake it was in front of HER ENTIRE FAMILY.  What a lovely thing to say in front of your children from that marriage.  

Maybe someone here remembers this, but I thought she called it her cookie.  This episode it was her purity.  I checked the board for further info but I got nuthin'.  I remember there was much discussion about what kind of cookie it was.

ANYWAY,  am I right or wrong?  Thanks.

I have Cox and the episode is called Robin's Secret.  I'm not sure about the season. My guide shows it in season 6.  It's the season of the commitment ceremony.  There is some good stuff in there.

I recall her whining that she lost her purity.  I also recall that I nearly lost my cookies with that disgusting display of her deflowering.  She cast flower petals to the floor for emphasis.

[Sofa Sloth]

4 hours ago, toodles said:

I recently switched cable companies and all 13(?) seasons are on demand.  I just watched the one where Robin talks about losing her virginity to her first husband and what a mistake it was in front of HER ENTIRE FAMILY.  What a lovely thing to say in front of your children from that marriage.  

Maybe someone here remembers this, but I thought she called it her cookie.  This episode it was her purity.  I checked the board for further info but I got nuthin'.  I remember there was much discussion about what kind of cookie it was.

ANYWAY,  am I right or wrong?  Thanks.

I have Cox and the episode is called Robin's Secret.  I'm not sure about the season. My guide shows it in season 6.  It's the season of the commitment ceremony.  There is some good stuff in there.

Just recently rewatched a rerun of that episode and felt so awful for Day’un as she described his existence as ‘the biggest mistake of her life’ in front of everyone in the family and on international tv.

All the pearl clutching, crocodile tears and hand-wringing about the regret for not saving her ‘Puuuuritty’ (for the man who has 3 other wives) while she insinuated her ex was a horrible sexual predator and portrayed herself as a poor chaste good girl; an innocent victim duped  - Bitch please!  🙄 If her ex was truly that awful, I’m not sure why she’d go on to marry the guy and pop out two more kids with him. 

The cookie reference was on a different episode I also watched recently, (season after I think) they were giving a parental talk to the teenagers on abstinence when dating? 

Edited December 29, 2019 by Sofa Sloth

[toodles]

7 hours ago, Sofa Sloth said:

Just recently rewatched a rerun of that episode and felt so awful for Day’un as she described his existence as ‘the biggest mistake of her life’ in front of everyone in the family and on international tv.

All the pearl clutching, crocodile tears and hand-wringing about the regret for not saving her ‘Puuuuritty’ (for the man who has 3 other wives) while she insinuated her ex was a horrible sexual predator and portrayed herself as a poor chaste good girl; an innocent victim duped  - Bitch please!  🙄 If her ex was truly that awful, I’m not sure why she’d go on to marry the guy and pop out two more kids with him. 

The cookie reference was on a different episode I also watched recently, (season after I think) they were giving a parental talk to the teenagers on abstinence when dating? 

Thanks for helping a COL out, sista.

[AbbySez]

I have to question some of the decisions that have been made. First, the family has struggled financially for a bit. There are a lot of family members and a lot of expenses.  Was the newl puppy brought into the family adopted or purchased? Pedigreed pups are expensive. I would think that an adopted dog would serve the identical purpose and be way easier on the purse. Apparently, very little thought was put into the practicality of moving to Flagstaff. It was more important for Kody to have his dream come true than to actually plan things out. He had his dream house sketched (even though all wives did not want to live together, but spent no time on budget realities.  I know that everyone I ever knew, whether friend, family, neighbor, or third party had to sell their present home to have the money to buy another home. Not the Brown family. Not only did they buy land and rent three houses. one of the wives bought a house. All done without selling any of their Las Vegas abodes. Seems Like one wife is doing so well with her clothing sales, but what are the other wives and Kody doing?

[Kyanight]

10 hours ago, AbbySez said:

 Apparently, very little thought was put into the practicality of moving to Flagstaff. It was more important for Kody to have his dream come true than to actually plan things out. 

It's pretty much been established that it wasn't Kody's dream to move to Flagstaff, ROBYN needed to move there because her son was starting college and he has Aspergers.  This way he could live at home and still have her support, yet take college courses.  Don't even get me started on how he COULD have taken community college courses or online courses FIRST, and still lived there in Las Vegas with his family - rather than moving this entire family to a new city and state for the sake of one kid.  

As for buying the plot of land - I am still scratching my head over that one.  No electricity to the property nor water lines.....   

Other than supporting themselves via their fan based sales, I have no clue what any of them do to bring in any money.  It's mind boggling to me that even the teens don't seem to work at any businesses around town - but to be fair, they may not mention that for safety reasons.

[Elbow]

43 minutes ago, Kyanight said:

It's pretty much been established that it wasn't Kody's dream to move to Flagstaff, ROBYN needed to move there because her son was starting college and he has Aspergers.  This way he could live at home and still have her support, yet take college courses.  Don't even get me started on how he COULD have taken community college courses or online courses FIRST, and still lived there in Las Vegas with his family - rather than moving this entire family to a new city and state for the sake of one kid.  

As for buying the plot of land - I am still scratching my head over that one.  No electricity to the property nor water lines.....   

Other than supporting themselves via their fan based sales, I have no clue what any of them do to bring in any money.  It's mind boggling to me that even the teens don't seem to work at any businesses around town - but to be fair, they may not mention that for safety reasons.

Someone posted an IG from Gwen in which she indicated she had a job and, as far as I can tell, it is separate from MLM insanity, but who knows? Christine, Garrison and several of the daughters are also hawking clothing online and Janelle continues to make STRIVE posts, but I don't see how that is possibly bringing in any money. Robyn's big venture, My Sister Wife's Closet, turned into another big pile of debt and seems to now be defunct. In another thread, people were discussing Kody's involvement with gun sales. There is no way they have enough money to fund their lifestyle. And Robin & Kody just bought another 800k house this fall. Someone speculated that they were expecting a windfall that never came, but I have doubts that any of them look far enough ahead to do anything according to any expectation.

[Soaper410]

I believe they have all filed bankruptcy before.  Kody and Meri around 2004 and Christine sometime around the time the show started. Janelle filed in the 1990s. I think Robyn and her first husband did as well and there was over $1000 to Victoria Secret. 

They are all terrible with money.  But I do think parts of the FLDS culture is bleeding the beast aka ripping off the government and even to some extent corporations of all the money you can is totally acceptable and encouraged. 

Edited January 21, 2020 by Soaper410

[deirdra]

Gwen took a seasonal job (Nov 7 - Jan 3) as a chef at Arizona's Grand Canyon Railway Polar Express. Hopefully the fambly did not expect her to comp them tickets from her wages.

Edited January 21, 2020 by deirdra

[Elbow]

18 minutes ago, Soaper410 said:

I believe they have all filed bankruptcy before.  Kody and Meri around 2004 and Christine sometime around the time the show started. Janelle filed in the 1990s. I think Robyn and her first husband did as well and there was over $1000 to Victoria Secret. 

They are all terrible with money.  But I do think parts of the FLDS culture is bleeding the beast aka ripping off the government and even to some extent corporations of all the money you can is totally acceptable and encouraged. 

 

Robin brought 35k in debt into the marriage. Plus, MSWC tanking. Plus, Kendra suing her for thousands in unpaid design work. Plus, six figure debt from Dayton's 2016 medical expenses. Plus, who the hell knows what. I would be very surprised if she was responsible for paying off her own debt from her fair share of the pie rather than everyone else having their shares slashed to cover her losses.

[Meowwww]

Yes, they are terrible with money.  That said, how are they getting approved for all the mortgages?  TLC must be paying them really well.  The mortgage industry is so regulated these days...there are no more sub-prime loans.  So on paper, they have the assets/ income/credit to be approved.  It boggles my mind (I’ve been in the banking industry for 25 years). 
I can imagine they have to show proof of future income in the way of show contract, etc to be approved.  Shoot, good people all over the place are being denied these days, yet the Browns keep on buying. 

[Elbow]

2 hours ago, Meowwww said:

Yes, they are terrible with money.  That said, how are they getting approved for all the mortgages?  TLC must be paying them really well.  The mortgage industry is so regulated these days...there are no more sub-prime loans.  So on paper, they have the assets/ income/credit to be approved.  It boggles my mind (I’ve been in the banking industry for 25 years). 
I can imagine they have to show proof of future income in the way of show contract, etc to be approved.  Shoot, good people all over the place are being denied these days, yet the Browns keep on buying. 

Maybe this is where Tony Who Works At A Bank comes in handy?

[ginger90]

There is also a lawsuit where Paedon and Kody are being sued for a car accident where Paedon was driving. Kody is the owner of the vehicle. Last I saw, a hearing was scheduled for January 8, 2020. Perhaps someone knows the outcome.

[TurtlePower]

9 hours ago, Elbow said:

Someone posted an IG from Gwen in which she indicated she had a job and, as far as I can tell, it is separate from MLM insanity, but who knows? Christine, Garrison and several of the daughters are also hawking clothing online and Janelle continues to make STRIVE posts, but I don't see how that is possibly bringing in any money. Robyn's big venture, My Sister Wife's Closet, turned into another big pile of debt and seems to now be defunct. In another thread, people were discussing Kody's involvement with gun sales. There is no way they have enough money to fund their lifestyle. And Robin & Kody just bought another 800k house this fall. Someone speculated that they were expecting a windfall that never came, but I have doubts that any of them look far enough ahead to do anything according to any expectation.

I still can’t believe they thought that closet thing was a good idea. I remember saying, “Who the hell is gonna want their crap?” It’s not like they’re icons like Paris Hilton. Then, they tried to put it at the Silverton casino (which I went to regularly because Bass Pro is there). Besides a small number of fans and maybe some drunk shoppers who didn’t know what they were buying, no one wanted that crap. So. Full. Of. Themselves. 

i know Janelle was linked to TMI realty, for real. I don’t see her as a go-getter agent, however. 

Meri does do well at her LuLaRags sales, using her minor celebrity status to scoot her along. I’d bet she’s squirreling a lot of it away for an escape when this shitshow ends. 

[Roslyn]

That is the million dollar question.  HOW on earth do they qualify for mortgage after mortgage?  I don't know about Arizona but around here in Pennsylvania it is very difficult to get a loan for just empty property.  I would love to see their financials.

[Sandy W]

27 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

That is the million dollar question.  HOW on earth do they qualify for mortgage after mortgage?  I don't know about Arizona but around here in Pennsylvania it is very difficult to get a loan for just empty property.  I would love to see their financials.

They may be doing what I suspect Meri did with the purchase of the BnB.  Her brother negotiated the loan for her, possibly with a private lender, who is willing to take a risky loan in exchange for a much higher rate than conventional lenders are offering.  Some private lenders are willing to take this risk because their rate of interest is much higher than a safer investment and they have the opportunity to foreclose and gain the property in the case of default.

[laurakaye]

Weren't the LV houses all balloon mortgages?  If so, doesn't that mean that while they were living there, they were making interest-only payments and eventually a huge lump sum would've been due?  How did they make those lump payments?  Or is that why they skipped town and put the houses up for sale?  What happens if you can't make that balloon payment?

So many questions.  It's frustrating because these people seem to have zero concept of money and budgeting, just doing whatever the heck they want, and as of yet have not seemed to suffer any consequences from their stupidity.

[Roslyn]

32 minutes ago, Sandy W said:

They may be doing what I suspect Meri did with the purchase of the BnB.  Her brother negotiated the loan for her, possibly with a private lender, who is willing to take a risky loan in exchange for a much higher rate than conventional lenders are offering.  Some private lenders are willing to take this risk because their rate of interest is much higher than a safer investment and they have the opportunity to foreclose and gain the property in the case of default.

 

16 minutes ago, laurakaye said:

Weren't the LV houses all balloon mortgages?  If so, doesn't that mean that while they were living there, they were making interest-only payments and eventually a huge lump sum would've been due?  How did they make those lump payments?  Or is that why they skipped town and put the houses up for sale?  What happens if you can't make that balloon payment?

So many questions.  It's frustrating because these people seem to have zero concept of money and budgeting, just doing whatever the heck they want, and as of yet have not seemed to suffer any consequences from their stupidity.

That's just it. I've always been confused about the whole balloon mortgage thing.  On the show they were originally trying to scramble and buy on one side of that little gated community.  They wanted in a house before Logan left for uni.  There were 2 near completed houses and two empty lots.  Mona set them up with a Mortgage broker lady who came back quickly and told them that they were all approved...however it was a "private lender" as Sandy mentions.  The popper was that they needed 40% down payment each.  So with a 450,000 housex4...that's a whole lot of guacamole!! The loan lady said that it is very unusual for the same financing to be used on 4 lots on one street.  She also said that "this kind of loan isn't one you want to stay in for long, you need to refinance with a conventional mortgage" I always thought THAT was the balloon mortgage opportunity.  But then one of those four lots sold and it was no longer viable for them because it wasn't 4 spots and in no way could they do 40% down on each lot.

Then they were all teary eyed when Mona told them that was the only way because of the speed they were trying to move at.  If they took their time they could get their credit cleaned up for a conventional mortgage.  I have never understood how they got Robyn qualified, but I wonder if maybe her mortgage was different from the others because she had three different names on her credit...oops...she didn't mean to try to hide anything... 🙄

Then they shifted their plan to the other side of the same little gated area to the cul de sac where they did build.  That's when they all did the "earnest money" deal giving them 30 days to come up with a pre-approval letter from potential lenders for the builder to start building.  THEN they had the scramble to get all their ducks in a row for the real approval for mortgage financing.

Who honestly knows tho...maybe in the end, the only financing that they could get in that timeline was other balloon mortgages.  However...if that were so, wouldn't they just then spend the next few years refinancing with a reasonable mortgage...then fast forward and Christine is getting another mortgage in Flagstaff.  Since her house was on the market the longest (and I think sold for the least amount) she was stuck pulling two payments out of her budget for a full year. Yet there she was in Flagstaff with social media photos of her Lexus in the driveway...

[Sandy W]

It seems that there was some "creative financing" going on in the purchase of the LV properties.  If you look at the "Property History" on their homes, an interesting pattern evolves.

4039 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/12/2012 - $402,990 / sold 8/3/2012 - $436,384

4023 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/11/2012 - $402,990 / sold 7/27/2012 - $440,500

4034 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/5/2012 - $402,990 / sold 7/27/2012 - $437,509

I wasn't able to find data on the other home.  

Possibly, there were last minute upgrades that caused the prices to escalate from the price the builder originally negotiated with them, but it does seem peculiar that at least 3 of the homes had an eventual sale price approximately 10% over the original price. 

[Mahamid Frauded Me]

1 hour ago, Sandy W said:

It seems that there was some "creative financing" going on in the purchase of the LV properties.  If you look at the "Property History" on their homes, an interesting pattern evolves.

4039 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/12/2012 - $402,990 / sold 8/3/2012 - $436,384

4023 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/11/2012 - $402,990 / sold 7/27/2012 - $440,500

4034 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/5/2012 - $402,990 / sold 7/27/2012 - $437,509

I wasn't able to find data on the other home.  

Possibly, there were last minute upgrades that caused the prices to escalate from the price the builder originally negotiated with them, but it does seem peculiar that at least 3 of the homes had an eventual sale price approximately 10% over the original price. 

Wetbars dont come cheap.  

[ginger90]

1 hour ago, Mahamid Frauded Me said:

Wetbars dont come cheap.  

And blinds.

[Galloway Cave]

and washers and dryers for two laundry rooms.

[Kyanight]

15 hours ago, Elbow said:

 

And purebred puppies.

[Elbow]

And a salon's entire monthly stock of hair products.

[Kyanight]

And racks and racks of ugly Lularoe rags.

[Soaper410]

I'll never be over Mary with 5 bedrooms and a wetbar....with 2 people living there and none of them drinking alcohol. 

[Kyanight]

4 minutes ago, Soaper410 said:

I'll never be over Mary with 5 bedrooms and a wetbar....with 2 people living there and none of them drinking alcohol. 

The sense of entitlement is amazing.  And Robyn makes Meri look humble.  She sleeps in most of the morning and expects the kids to either fend for themselves or someone else to take care of them while she snoozes.  She doesn't work unless she is now hawking lularoe along with the rest of the crew (doubtful).  Not to mention I know someone who knew her as she was growing up and she always WAS entitled and demanding and temperamental. 

[Joan of Argh]

10 hours ago, Sandy W said:

It seems that there was some "creative financing" going on in the purchase of the LV properties.  If you look at the "Property History" on their homes, an interesting pattern evolves.

4039 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/12/2012 - $402,990 / sold 8/3/2012 - $436,384

4023 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/11/2012 - $402,990 / sold 7/27/2012 - $440,500

4034 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/5/2012 - $402,990 / sold 7/27/2012 - $437,509

I wasn't able to find data on the other home.  

Possibly, there were last minute upgrades that caused the prices to escalate from the price the builder originally negotiated with them, but it does seem peculiar that at least 3 of the homes had an eventual sale price approximately 10% over the original price. 

I can't help but think that TLC might have helped with the LV cul-de-sac purchases.

IIRC TLC helped the Duggar family build their monster house.... Maybe TLC thought the cult-de-sac was worth the $$$ for the potential drama.

I'm secretly hoping that TLC will help Kootie with his plague palace, custom kitchen and industrial sized refrigerator 😁

 

[outtahere]

I don't think TLC believes the Browns are worth that much of an investment.  Don't you think we are looking at the the end of the series, there doesn't seem to be that much left to tell.

[Sandy W]

7 minutes ago, outtahere said:

I don't think TLC believes the Browns are worth that much of an investment.  Don't you think we are looking at the the end of the series, there doesn't seem to be that much left to tell.

They have been the authors of their own misfortune.  Some divulge so much of their personal lives on social media in an attempt to connect with a following to become "influencer$", that their activities are old by the time they air the episodes.  Other times they sell their stories to People magazine in their thirsty pursuit of the almighty dollar.

Prime examples of this would be Mariah and Audrey's engagement, which we knew about nearly a year ago and the show teasers are now hinting about "another wedding" coming up.  Another would be the birth of Maddie and Caleb's new baby.  People magazine covered the birth 5 or 6 months ago and they are just now going to announce the pregnancy next week at the Christmas gathering.

They can't have it both ways, either go radio silent on their present day lives or TLC needs to step up their game and produce a raw and real reality show.  They could do it documentary style and edit out the mundane boring bits and have episodes show within a week of the actual scenes shot.  Maybe I'm being over-optimistic, but an 18 month gap between events and the airing is boring.

[Absolom]

A week is probably too quick except for extraordinary situations, but they could do a couple of months more easily.  I have no idea why they are dragging the seasons out so long except for some odd issues going on with scheduling in that they are juggling shows to what they think is their advantage.

[Kohola3]

9 hours ago, Sandy W said:

They could do it documentary style and edit out the mundane boring bits and have episodes show within a week of the actual scenes shot. 

But then......dead air.

[Kyanight]

21 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

But then......dead air.

True.  Because the wives only see each other at Christmas and Thanksgiving unless it's for the camera.  ::snort::

[DakotaJustice]

12 hours ago, Joan of Argh said:

I can't help but think that TLC might have helped with the LV cul-de-sac purchases.

IIRC TLC helped the Duggar family build their monster house.... Maybe TLC thought the cult-de-sac was worth the $$$ for the potential drama.

I'm secretly hoping that TLC will help Kootie with his plague palace, custom kitchen and industrial sized refrigerator 😁

 

No way.  TLC isn't gonna help the Browns succeed. They want the crash and burn. 

[Roslyn]

On 1/21/2020 at 11:27 AM, Sandy W said:

It seems that there was some "creative financing" going on in the purchase of the LV properties.  If you look at the "Property History" on their homes, an interesting pattern evolves.

4039 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/12/2012 - $402,990 / sold 8/3/2012 - $436,384

4023 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/11/2012 - $402,990 / sold 7/27/2012 - $440,500

4034 Wild Eagle Circle - listed 7/5/2012 - $402,990 / sold 7/27/2012 - $437,509

I wasn't able to find data on the other home.  

Possibly, there were last minute upgrades that caused the prices to escalate from the price the builder originally negotiated with them, but it does seem peculiar that at least 3 of the homes had an eventual sale price approximately 10% over the original price. 

Those dates are really weird.  I only looked at Zillow for #4039 (Christine's) and it listed a sale dated 10/12/2010 for $625,000. Yet the date when the show filmed the closing of 12/21/2012 lines up with Christine getting her house closed right before Christmas with the cost of $443,315 and listed again when they moved to Flagstaff 7/11/2018 at $675,000.

I don't get how it sold for $625,000 when it was just an empty lot when we first saw it on the show, or why your numbers align with it selling in the summer of 2012. Would that have been the "earnest money" stuff when they were putting money down and the first estimates of building etc.  I thought that was all up in the air until the official date of closing, which would have been the Dec date.

[Fosca]

Maybe because in 2010, the real estate bubble hadn't burst yet in Vegas, so the lot was worth more?

[Sandy W]

1 hour ago, Roslyn said:

Those dates are really weird.  I only looked at Zillow for #4039 (Christine's) and it listed a sale dated 10/12/2010 for $625,000. Yet the date when the show filmed the closing of 12/21/2012 lines up with Christine getting her house closed right before Christmas with the cost of $443,315 and listed again when they moved to Flagstaff 7/11/2018 at $675,000.

I don't get how it sold for $625,000 when it was just an empty lot when we first saw it on the show, or why your numbers align with it selling in the summer of 2012. Would that have been the "earnest money" stuff when they were putting money down and the first estimates of building etc.  I thought that was all up in the air until the official date of closing, which would have been the Dec date.

It's possible that the 10/12/2010 figure of $625,000. is for the 4 individual lots that the Brown's builder bought from the developer and for some reason, just shows as one parcel instead of 4 lots.

[deirdra]

Zillow does allow property owners to modify the data on their site; at one point Janelle's house address was listed as being on "Rockstar Crescent", not Wild Eagle. It never made sense to me that the value of the raw land in 2010 was higher than after the homes were built, but the developer may have done it to fool Kody into thinking he was getting a fantastic deal on the houses.  Though Sandy W's explanation occurred to me too.

The current values of their houses average ~$575,000.

Edited January 22, 2020 by deirdra

[smarty]

Every house in the little Wild Eagle subdivision has the same price of $625,000 listed for the lots in 10/2010 - even the four houses in the circle on the opposite end not owned by the Browns.  It must have been when the builder bought the land and subdivided it.  

[DakotaJustice]

I dimly recall that on the Clark County property records site, that $625k represents the purchase of the raw land for the entire cul de sac but don't quote me 🙂

Edited January 22, 2020 by DakotaJustice

[Twopper]

22 hours ago, Galloway Cave said:

and washers and dryers for two laundry rooms.

also 2 dishwashers.  

 

21 hours ago, Soaper410 said:

I'll never be over Mary with 5 bedrooms and a wetbar....with 2 people living there and none of them drinking alcohol. 

Well, the USS Not Drinking Alcohol has sailed.   They had to build Meri a house that would match up with the others;  I don't think she would have been allowed to build a 3bed, 2 bath house even if she wanted.

[Joan of Argh]

This made me laugh... I was snooping around for LLR info and came across this person who was thrilled that her uhaul truck ruined all her LLR inventory because she got more for it than the $5 she'd been trying to unload them for. 

Loved the follow up comment: "Winner winner, chicken dinner!"  😋

 

[Sofa Sloth]

I don’t know how true this is but here goes anyway - I saw a post on a sister wives FB page from someone with a (loose lipped) friend who works at TLC (as a production assistant on shows LPBW and Sister wives). Friend confirmed that the majority drama is all contrived for TV and in particular that Meri’s neighbors never had any problem with her and the police call was fake, neighbors were nice and actually all signed releases for the storyline, something just fell through with Meri wanting that rental and so they manufactured the draaama. 🚨👮🏽‍♂️ The friend told her the adult Brown’s make $15,000 each adult per usual episode and up to $45,000 each individually for some (weddings? Births? Tell nothings?). She said they don’t actually struggle for money at all, but they like to appear they do for the show...

[DakotaJustice]

2 hours ago, Sofa Sloth said:

I don’t know how true this is but here goes anyway - I saw a post on a sister wives FB page from someone with a (loose lipped) friend who works at TLC (as a production assistant on shows LPBW and Sister wives). Friend confirmed that the majority drama is all contrived for TV and in particular that Meri’s neighbors never had any problem with her and the police call was fake, neighbors were nice and actually all signed releases for the storyline, something just fell through with Meri wanting that rental and so they manufactured the draaama. 🚨👮🏽‍♂️ The friend told her the adult Brown’s make $15,000 each adult per usual episode and up to $45,000 each individually for some (weddings? Births? Tell nothings?). She said they don’t actually struggle for money at all, but they like to appear they do for the show...

$15k to $45k each per ep isn't really very much money. There aren't many episodes each year, and out of that they would have to pay federal/state income taxes as well as social security taxes. 
 

ETA and just a thought about the episodes TLC style - they might not even get paid for every episode. You know the long episodes that then are split into two? 

Edited January 23, 2020 by DakotaJustice

[Sofa Sloth]

6 hours ago, DakotaJustice said:

$15k to $45k each per ep isn't really very much money. There aren't many episodes each year, and out of that they would have to pay federal/state income taxes as well as social security taxes. 
 

ETA and just a thought about the episodes TLC style - they might not even get paid for every episode. You know the long episodes that then are split into two? 

Good points!  Based on that, I figure they must bring in (about or just under)  1 million per year collectively (before taxes) from just TLC alone (without all their scammy MLM stuff and other ‘businesses’).  It does explain why they keep getting mortgages as that’s a decent annual wage even spilt 4 ways. 

[Sandy W]

4 minutes ago, Sofa Sloth said:

Good points!  Based on that, I figure they must bring in (about or just under)  1 million per year collectively (before taxes) from just TLC alone (without all their scammy MLM stuff and other ‘businesses’).  It does explain why they keep getting mortgages as that’s a decent annual wage even spilt 4 ways. 

It is a decent wage and when you consider there are only (ha) 10 dependent kids and that Robyn's 5, Christine's 3 and Janelle's 2 would work in their favor at tax time, it seems to me a good income.  I'm sure that TLC picks up part of the cost of trips and weddings and that some of the venues and services used, such as bakeries, give a discount for product placement...maybe even the expensive cars they all seem to drive.

One thing we can be sure of, the Brown's will use every angle available to them.  It still wouldn't warrant putting oneself in a position of public ridicule and microscopic analysis of every act of stupidity they either commit voluntarily or behave like trained monkeys and follow a script.

[DakotaJustice]

21 minutes ago, Sofa Sloth said:

Good points!  Based on that, I figure they must bring in (about or just under)  1 million per year collectively (before taxes) from just TLC alone (without all their scammy MLM stuff and other ‘businesses’).  It does explain why they keep getting mortgages as that’s a decent annual wage even spilt 4 ways. 

You mean split 5 ways, right? 

It's really not THAT much. They just know how to work the system. I think they financed the Plague Dog land purchase using the accrued equity in their Vegas homes - and that's where any profit from selling the homes went, to pay down the HELOCs. 
It would still be a good income except they are living large and in an area that has a high cost of living (of course coming from Silicon Valley, I think their homes sound like bargains but I know I'm in a different world here!!)

I don't know the tax rate in Arizona but I'm guessing they're paying around 30% in income taxes. I'm also not a tax expert, but based on my sister's tax experiences (she has a small business, not an MLM but still a small business) the ballyhooed "write-offs" are overrated. Meri is now in the highest tax bracket - single with no dependents. Meanwhile Kody and Robyn are riding high with 5 deductions and Married. Betcha that's one of the reasons ol'Robyn didn't want Dayton living in a dorm.

This is all just my own opinion but I know we have tax experts here 👍

Edited January 23, 2020 by DakotaJustice

[Sofa Sloth]

53 minutes ago, DakotaJustice said:

You mean split 5 ways, right? 

It's really not THAT much. They just know how to work the system. I think they financed the Plague Dog land purchase using the accrued equity in their Vegas homes - and that's where any profit from selling the homes went, to pay down the HELOCs. 
It would still be a good income except they are living large and in an area that has a high cost of living (of course coming from Silicon Valley, I think their homes sound like bargains but I know I'm in a different world here!!)

I don't know the tax rate in Arizona but I'm guessing they're paying around 30% in income taxes. I'm also not a tax expert, but based on my sister's tax experiences (she has a small business, not an MLM but still a small business) the ballyhooed "write-offs" are overrated. Meri is now in the highest tax bracket - single with no dependents. Meanwhile Kody and Robyn are riding high with 5 deductions and Married. Betcha that's one of the reasons ol'Robyn didn't want Dayton living in a dorm.

This is all just my own opinion but I know we have tax experts here 👍

Aha yes 5 ways. I forgot Kodouch! 
 

Again good points. I’m sure the legal marriage to Robyn was not just about the adoption but also the ongoing tax benefits. They sure know how to maximise the system but I guess that’s polygamy 101, taught from birth 😉 Weird that Kodouch didn’t legally marry Christine or Janelle in the past as they had more dependants, but I’m sure old Mare would never have allowed it. I’m curious if part of Janelle and Meri’s old beef was that issue too, as Janelle doing the family finances, would have been looking at practical ways to scrimp funds. Janelle was super pissed at Meri’s announcement she was handing the legal marriage to Robyn, as she’s probably been suggesting it swap to the others with more dependants for years (and we know she’s pissed that Meri always took a quarter share despite one dependant). 

Meri would have demanded the 45k from TLC at least once to blubber on about the catfishing.  Robyn’s probably got it for the births both times as well. I wonder if they spilt that between 5 when it’s compensation for their personal storyline? My guess is no. 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Sofa Sloth
Typo

[smarty]

10 hours ago, Sofa Sloth said:

 The friend told her the adult Brown’s make $15,000 each adult per usual episode and up to $45,000 each individually for some (weddings? Births? Tell nothings?). She said they don’t actually struggle for money at all, but they like to appear they do for the show...

This fits with what I'd guessed they'd make.  $15,000 per adult per episode at 13 episodes a season = $975,000.  ($15,000 x 5 x 13).  Split that into 4 families means each wife's household gets $243,750 a year.  That would cover their $4,000 a month house rent they've chosen.  

Interestingly, Season 12 shows they had 24 episodes.  if they were paid $15,000 each for 24 episodes they earned $1,800,000 for that season. 

[DakotaJustice]

I just know way too many regular people living way beyond their means, using credit cards and personal loans to fund their too-lavish lifestyle - Leasing BMWs & Teslas, pricey apartments (they don't have any savings to buy a home), eating out regularly, expensive clothes, frequent traveling, etc. 

I think that's how Kody & Ko are doing it. Even if they're grossing $1 million a year, they're burning through it really quickly. If they were really doing well they wouldn't have liens on their properties (there were multiple liens on Robyn's Vegas house, many for piddly poo amounts). Having liens for money owed to me means no liquidity.