S05.E10: Let's Face It

[missy jo]

Why do none of these girls have self esteem? Maci, Cate and Farrah are practically begging this dudes to marry them when these guys CLEARLY, even to a viewer, have no interest.

 

 

The good news is that they'll all be divorced and ready to date by age 30!

I would assume it's because MTV is sort of in partnership with those "TRUTH" campaigns to stop smoking.

 

 

 

Every. Single. Commercial Break. has anti-smoking ads and yet most of them smoke.

 

Did she not know she would have Leah, so she became part of the trip? Or, was it just something she had to include her in for no good reason at all? I think I would have cancelled the trip.

 

 

IIRC (?), she was supposed to have Leah for the day, and meanwhile she made plans for her and Matt to go to the "love hotel" later that night. Gary then said she was welcome to keep Leah overnight as well, as long she was OK with taking her to the Dr. the next day. But she couldn't be bothered to cancel her plans or take her child to the doctor.

 

She claims Gary holds his sole custody over her head all the time, but I would do the same. Trust is earned, not given. Respect is earned, not given. And she's got a lot of making up to do.

 

So far I've seen him be generous with visitation (mostly saying yes, unless it interferes with school nights) and not harp on the fact that she's a deadbeat not paying support.

 

However, there is no excuse for either of them bad-mouthing the other parent in front of the child. I consider it a form of child abuse.

Edited June 1, 2015 by missy jo

[lexiexx]

I'm not a fan of Gary but I do think he gets too much nonsense directed at him and said about him in general. First of all, I hate it when people justify violence and bad behavior on general with the excuse that their victim " pushed their buttons". Amber is volatile and moody and had major issues and is not normal imo. She was bitching out the new guy exactly like she used to bitch out Gary. also lets consider what Amber must have put Gary through back then. She had different guys living in the house with his daughter, was on drugs, beat him up, was hostile with the baby, etc. I remember him telling her that he didn't want her boyfriend changing his kids diapers if I recall correctly. He was probably stressed out of his mind about Leah at the time. He's no prize - he has no filter and was a total asshole when baby number 2 was announced but he could be making it a lot harder for Amber to see Leah. Personally I wouldn't allow her and the new boyfriend to take my kid to a hotel or sleep over there so soon. He could easily be asking for supervised visitation. He pays for everything too. And has to deal with ambers constant bitching and attitude every time he says the slightest thing about Leah's care when she wasn't providing any of it for a long time. That would get old fast. Amber should be paying her support. She's still a deadbeat in a lot of ways. I do think she's improved but she's no prize either.

[ginger90]

He could easily be asking for supervised visitation.

 

This is how it should have been set up upon her release, imo.

[cheatincheetos]

When Farrah got hosed over that Craigslist scheme, wasn't the crew pretty quiet, save for the occasional smothered snicker?

I felt bad that she lost all that money to the completely basic wire fraud scheme, but it does call into question why anyone pays her to do lectures on her 'business savvy'.

I'm two pages too late, but here's a closer look at Cate & Tyler's house.  

 

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1101-Clinton-Ave-Saint-Clair-MI-48079/77910182_zpid/

03/11/14 Listing removed $100,000  +179% $58 CENTURY 21 Fut...

05/09/12 Sold $35,900-48.6% $21 Public Record

 

If I'm reading the sale history correctly, the owner tried and failed to sell it for about triple what it was worth just two years before?

[ghoulina]

RE: Sophia and the carseat. I agree with the poster that said she is old enough for a booster. My 5 and 7 year-olds are in backless boosters. I am guessing that's what Sophia was in. She DID have a seat belt on, and I actually remember commenting on it. Because she was sitting all the way forward, with her seat belt all stretched out, and hanging off the side at various points, so she could mess with Simon. And I WAS bothered by that. I always tell my kids their seat belts won't work if they're not using them correctly. 

[Tatum]

I felt bad that she lost all that money to the completely basic wire fraud scheme, but it does call into question why anyone pays her to do lectures on her 'business savvy'.

03/11/14 Listing removed $100,000  +179% $58 CENTURY 21 Fut...

05/09/12 Sold $35,900-48.6% $21 Public Record

 

If I'm reading the sale history correctly, the owner tried and failed to sell it for about triple what it was worth just two years before?

 

If I am reading it correctly, it was purchased in 2000 for $140K, and the owner either tried to sell it for a loss or lost in a foreclosure and the bank tried to sell it for a loss, dropping the price numerous times until it was sold in 2012 for $36K. Then, the new owner, be it C&T or this professional rehab-er, made a bunch of upgrades and renovations, and then tried unsuccessfully to flip it in 2014. The listing was likely pulled due to lack of interest and it would be better to just hang on to it and try again later than sell for another loss (because I am guessing on top of the initial investment of $36K, thousands of dollars went into rehabbing).

 

I know I read that C&T bought the house and were rehabbing it themselves, but that just does not jive with anything we've seen C&T do. Those are the two laziest people I've ever seen- even if they hired a bunch of third party contractors, for what they would spend, why would they just not buy a new(er) house with no need for rehabbing? I think that house was built in the early 20th century. Plus, I just really can't see C&T deciding to create a trust for the purpose of buying a house.

 

Given the additional information provided about the business address of the trust and the other properties held in name of the same trust, I think it's much likelier that C&T are renting this house vs moonlighting as real estate developers. As to why all the articles say they bought it, I don't know. Definitely weird.

[pakalolo]

From what I have read here and the information from my friend about land trusts, my otherwise completely uninformed speculation is this: A developer bought the house and many others in 2012 hoping to rehab and flip for big profit in 2014 but he just wasn't able to get interest from qualified buyers on them in such an economically depressed area and decided to make them available as land trusts instead of outright sales to people like C&T who have no credit or steady proven income. C&T would not have set up the land trust themselves, they probably don't even fully understand the deal they have signed and may think they own the home when it is still under the original owners name until they make the final "rent to own" style payment.

When they said they were rehabbing the home they may have just been given the OK to paint or make other small renovations, I don't think they have the taste level to design that bathroom, it was probably already done when they moved in. They seem to have very old fashioned Midwestern small town decorating tastes, lots of heavy woods, fall colors, and mass produced decorative items that line the shelves of every thrift store in America.

When did C&T say they bought the home?

[kira28]

 

Yest. 1:09 pm

From what I have read here and the information from my friend about land trusts, my otherwise completely uninformed speculation is this: A developer bought the house and many others in 2012 hoping to rehab and flip for big profit in 2014 but he just wasn't able to get interest from qualified buyers on them in such an economically depressed area and decided to make them available as land trusts instead of outright sales to people like C&T who have no credit or steady proven income. C&T would not have set up the land trust themselves, they probably don't even fully understand the deal they have signed and may think they own the home when it is still under the original owners name until they make the final "rent to own" style payment.

When they said they were rehabbing the home they may have just been given the OK to paint or make other small renovations, I don't think they have the taste level to design that bathroom, it was probably already done when they moved in. They seem to have very old fashioned Midwestern small town decorating tastes, lots of heavy woods, fall colors, and mass produced decorative items that line the shelves of every thrift store in America.

When did C&T say they bought the home?

 

If true, this is insane! C&T have made enough money to pay cash for a very nice house in their area and they are doing rent to own?  My cousin and her boyfriend at the time did a rent to own (they quit and lost their down payment and all their "rental" payments) and it is for people who have bad credit or not much money to use as a down payment. People who can't get a normal mortgage loan through a bank.  C&T have had more cash than most families with two people working (their age). Hell they make more than I do in about five years and I own my home outright (paid cash for it, fixed it up).  They could have easily paid cash for a house (considering how cheap houses seem to be in their area) and at least had a home that was totally theirs and even when the TM money dries up all they would have to worry about was paying property taxes, home owners insurance etc. But now they are stuck paying "rent" and if the guy tried to sell the house in 2014 while C&T were living there (and they didn't have the funds to buy it) they certainly don't have a stable housing situation.  They are literally no better off than they were when they were 16-17.  They have done NOTHING to improve their life. What in the hell did they waste all their money on? It appears April and Kim live in new houses (to them) so did C&T splurge and buy their parents homes  but didn't buy one for themselves? That makes absolutely no sense. Sad. They are going to crash and burn and go back to living in a rented trailer when TM is done for good.

 

Already Amber isn't paying child support, is behind on her rent.. where does all their money go?

[aurora296]

In looking at the property tax and title information on the house, it was owned by a couple named Sugars. They are local to the area and I googled around to see if indeed they are professional rehabbers and I found nothing. The mister works for the local utility company. Not sure what the Misses does. But I did run across a very sad death notice of one of their kids that when I did the math, appeared to have been Tyler's and Cate's age, so I wonder if they were friends previously. But yes, the house was purchased from the Sugars through a land trust. 

 

It is baffling that they didn't or couldn't purchase their home for cash. And $35,000 for a 1500 square foot home is CHEAP. Even in their city. Where is all their MTV money? Buying lawyers for Butch? Cars obviously. Did they buy April her home? I can't see Tyler's mom being ok with spending her sons money. In last night episode, I saw a Bunn coffee make on their counter. Aren't those a bit pricey?

 

As far as the updated bathroom. I live about an hour from Tyler & Cate and just dealt with buying and selling my homes last year. That ugly Italian brown tile was in practically every "updated" house I looked at. It must sell for cheap at Home Depot. 

Also, in their city which is St. Claire, MI, along their street going east towards the water, 99 percent of the homes are well kept up and landscaped. Some of those homes are from the late 1800's. Seems like Tyler & Cate's is the dumpiest looking one.

 

I think the original Teen Mom's 15 minutes are just about up with this last season and they are due for a rude financial awakening when they become "has beens". Well, except for Farrah. She will continue her cash flow signing on with Vivid Porn or whoever and I predict in ten years she will be a mess inside and out. Poor Sophie. She doesn't stand a chance.

Edited June 2, 2015 by aurora296

[Tatum]

 

It is baffling that they didn't or couldn't purchase their home for cash. And $35,000 for a 1500 square foot home is CHEAP.

 

In all fairness to C&T, depending on what kind of shape that house was in in 2012, it may have been a lot more than $36K that was needed for the initial investment. I've seen some houses that are bought with the intent to flip, and the amount of maintenance or environmental upgrades needed to make the house attractive to live in is not insignificant.  I would not suggest that two kids with no construction, electrical, plumbing, or carpentry experience buy a fixer upper in dire need of work. Not to mention no financial savvy at all- they could easily be taken for a ride by an unscrupulous contractor.

 

If this is a rent to own property, then I doubt the purchase price was still $35K when C&T signed the dotted line. No doubt whoever owns that trust sunk some money into the house performing all the upgrades and would expect to recoup some of that, if not make a profit.

[SPLAIN]

That's part of the beauty of these forums, IMHO.  People notice different things, and bring diverse opinions to the table. 

It sure is. I enjoy when someone here mentions something that happened on the show that I had completely forgotten about, but I don't appreciate the tone of that post inquiring why we hadn't discussed Sophia in her car seat.