House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[ByaNose]

26 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

San Antonio: I loved the mid-century modern house. That courtyard with the koi pond was zen! 

Not a problem. I just don’t like the cutesy names. I don’t know why they are necessary. Is it so hard to distinguish grandparents?

To a 4 year old. Yes. LOL!!!!

[Kohola3]

7 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I don’t know why they are necessary. Is it so hard to distinguish grandparents?

Guess I'm old fashioned but I feel the same way.  And my 36 cousins had no trouble distinguishing the various sets of grandparents at any age.   

[Babalooie]

San Antonio::  The husband kind of gave away which house was theirs when they were looking at the house and he said, "When we get in here."

[topanga]

11 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

The San Antonio couple----there's no way I could have the wife as my lawyer. Her voice and the vocal fry would drive me crazy. It was especially obvious during house three when the wife was wearing the way too tight white pants. But I will say that as a couple, I did like them. No complaining about everything they saw and they were open to every house. 

I thought the husband was a tiny bit annoying.  A nice guy with a pretty good sense of humor, but he seems like a slacker. I know he's "about to open a coffee shop," but what is he doing now, when they're purchasing a home? Or did he have money saved up from his prior employment?

I hated the staged scene when the wife was packing up for work and the husband was on the floor stretching on a yoga mat. Couldn't they have been in the kitchen so he could hand her a cup of coffee on her way out the door? I just hated the image that he was on his butt chilling while she busted her ass going to court every day. 

Nevertheless, they were a nice couple that seemed to get along. 

[ECM1231]

17 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

The San Antonio couple----there's no way I could have the wife as my lawyer. Her voice and the vocal fry would drive me crazy. It was especially obvious during house three when the wife was wearing the way too tight white pants. But I will say that as a couple, I did like them. No complaining about everything they saw and they were open to every house. 

Oh, I thought even the husband had a weird case of vocal fry or at the very least, a strange way of speaking. I found both of them insufferable, though...like they were too hip for the room or something. 

[Booklady1017]

On 1/2/2019 at 9:22 PM, jcbrown said:

RIght? And then when he was pointing out the structural issues with the deck in the one they bought she looked at him and asked, very annoyed, "can you NOT be a forensic architect for one minute!?" Even though his explanation was easy to understand, a legitimate concern, and maybe be grateful that the expertise to diagnose the issue resides within your family. She was awful.

She was annoying that wife!

On 1/3/2019 at 12:13 AM, LittleIggy said:

A husband who is a forensic architect would be ideal for house hunting!

South Carolina: Nonny and Pawpaw. 🤢 I can’t stand cutesy names for grandparents.

Agreed he would be helpful.

Those type of nicknames are annoying.

22 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

The San Antonio couple----there's no way I could have the wife as my lawyer. Her voice and the vocal fry would drive me crazy. It was especially obvious during house three when the wife was wearing the way too tight white pants. But I will say that as a couple, I did like them. No complaining about everything they saw and they were open to every house. 

San Antonio: I liked them as a couple too, also because they didn’t complain about the houses a lot. I was just confused if they were previously renting or looking for a bigger house. They guy t make it clear.

21 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

San Antonio: I loved the mid-century modern house. That courtyard with the koi pond was zen! 

Not a problem. I just don’t like the cutesy names. I don’t know why they are necessary. Is it so hard to distinguish grandparents?

San Antonio: I liked that courtyard with the koi pond, but I’m personally not a fan of the mid century style.

[suebee12]

One thing I laughed about was when they were standing in a very large closet, instead of saying that it was not big enough or that the husband would have to use another closet, he looked around and said that they would have to do a lot of shopping to fill it! Finally someone who didn't need a separate room for all of their many clothes!

[kirklandia]

12 hours ago, suebee12 said:

•  
•  

Yeah, Suebee,  I get what you're saying about how annoying it is when the HH demands an enormous closet.  And won't share.  But it gets on my last nerve when the HH looks at a large house (or closet) and says "haha, I'll have to buy more furniture (or clothes) to fill it".  

Conspicuous consumption at its worst.

And sorry, my first attempt to quote was a big fail and I don't know how to fix it!

Edited January 6, 2019 by kirklandia

[LittleIggy]

OMG, I saw a promo for the episode next Tuesday (1-8). It was announced as being a tie-in with that new lost dog on a journey movie. The episode is going to feature a dog touring the houses with his “owners” and making voice-over comments. 🤭🤢

[Pickles]

The Dallas couple tonight. They both had the same facial features and body type. I didn't really care for either of them. She was annoying and kept saying how they were "adulting so hard" tee hee. They were young and somewhat obnoxious.

[MsTree]

2 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

OMG, I saw a promo for the episode next Tuesday (1-8). It was announced as being a tie-in with that new lost dog on a journey movie. The episode is going to feature a dog touring the houses with his “owners” and making voice-over comments. 🤭🤢

You've GOT to be kidding! If not, that sounds like a shark jump if I ever heard one.

[suebee12]

3 hours ago, kirklandia said:

Yeah, Suebee,  I get what you're saying about how annoying it is when the HH demands an enormous closet.  And won't share.  But it gets on my last nerve when the HH looks at a large house (or closet) and says "haha, I'll have to buy more furniture (or clothes) to fill it".  

Oh, I agree with you and when I added that he mentioned that they would need more clothes, I was just happy that they knew the closet was plenty big enough for the clothes they have...just so different from the ones who walk into a closet that is bigger than most people's bedroom and p*ss and moan about not having enough space. It was just so refreshing!!!

[doodlebug]

Cleveland.  I don’t really understand her aversion to wood or preference for laminate, but it was nice to see someone who didn’t have the typical wish list.  She was also very realistic about what her money could buy and the houses demonstrated why Cleveland is known for its reasonable housing priced; you get a good bang for your buck here.

All of the houses were in eastern suburbs with the house she chose in Eastlake being a little farther out from downtown but, unlike so many others on the show,  she didn’t seem fixated on that.  The Mayfield Heights house was clearly a decoy, weird layout and tiny rooms.  The show never talks about the practical issues involved in deciding where to live, but the school system in Eastlake would be the reason I would choose it over Euclid every time.

[laredhead]

The Cleveland woman kept saying she didn't like wood, but what she meant was "stained wood".  At first I thought she was being ridiculous to object to wood in a house.  I think it would have been nice for her mother or friend to have politely interjected something like "you mean you don't like stained wood, and would prefer painted wood".  Took me a few scenes to figure out her hatred of wood.  I liked the front porch on the house she bought.

[juliet73]

Cleveland ep:  She kept using the wrong terminology for her dislike of "wood".  She basically wanted white trim, baseboards and doors. Not the "oak look."  I agree with her - a lot of houses where I live are "oaked out" and it really dates the home, IMO.  We chose to paint all of ours white, not only to update the look, but to also to brighten up the rooms.  I have a friend that that painted all of theirs black for a more modern look and others that just stained everything a few shades darker.  The mom said she was coming along to advise her daughter because "there is more to buying a house than the price and the location".  Umm...those are like the two main factors, but okay.  Then she proceeds to tell the daughter she needs to replace the countertop because they are laminate.  UGH!!! 

[Empress1]

29 minutes ago, juliet73 said:

Cleveland ep:  She kept using the wrong terminology for her dislike of "wood".  She basically wanted white trim, baseboards and doors. Not the "oak look."  I agree with her - a lot of houses where I live are "oaked out" and it really dates the home, IMO.  We chose to paint all of ours white, not only to update the look, but to also to brighten up the rooms.  I have a friend that that painted all of theirs black for a more modern look and others that just stained everything a few shades darker.  The mom said she was coming along to advise her daughter because "there is more to buying a house than the price and the location".  Umm...those are like the two main factors, but okay.  Then she proceeds to tell the daughter she needs to replace the countertop because they are laminate.  UGH!!! 

I laughed when Cleveland buyer said she didn't like wood and her friend said "Wood is a common building material." I do think it's odd to prefer laminate.

[doodlebug]

9 hours ago, laredhead said:

The Cleveland woman kept saying she didn't like wood, but what she meant was "stained wood".  At first I thought she was being ridiculous to object to wood in a house.  I think it would have been nice for her mother or friend to have politely interjected something like "you mean you don't like stained wood, and would prefer painted wood".  Took me a few scenes to figure out her hatred of wood.  I liked the front porch on the house she bought.

She said she didn't like wood, but she did like a wood grained brown laminate floor, so I don't think it was just the color she didn't like.

[LittleIggy]

On 1/6/2019 at 1:53 AM, MsTree said:

You've GOT to be kidding! If not, that sounds like a shark jump if I ever heard one.

Maybe that promo is just a promo and not a real episode since there wasn’t an episode like that tonight. I hope so! 

I was prepared to dislike the Jersey DJ and his fiancée (beauty room 🙄), but they seemed like a nice couple.

Edited January 9, 2019 by LittleIggy

[Kohola3]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I was prepared to dislike the Jersey DJ and his fiancée (beauty room 🙄), but they seemed like a nice couple.

They were quite reasonable, I must say.  No exclamations of horror and I liked when he admitted that while he liked the look of a Cape Cod he never thought through what the inside would be like on the second floor.

[Empress1]

I fell asleep on the Jersey couple but I thought she was gorgeous.

[Vivigirl10]

How did Drewski land that gorgeous wife?!  They were cute and reasonable.  

[topanga]

1 hour ago, Kohola3 said:

They were quite reasonable, I must say.  No exclamations of horror and I liked when he admitted that while he liked the look of a Cape Cod he never thought through what the inside would be like on the second floor.

 

38 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

I fell asleep on the Jersey couple but I thought she was gorgeous.

Yes. She (Starr?) was a bit of a complainer, but she was so beautiful and generally pleasant, I couldn’t bring myself to dislike her. I’ll bet she gets away with many things in life because of her looks. 

I was also prepared to hate the home-boy DJ boyfriend with the red hair and blue eyes, but I ended up really liking him. 

[CouchTater]

I just watched the single mom in Cleveland this morning.  I really liked her, her mom, and the best friend.  I'd totally house shop with them!

I like the "normal" house hunters like these ladies.  No weird aversions, astronomical budgets to which I can't relate, etc.  Although her fixation on wood (and misuse of the word) was a bit much after a while.  I loved when the best friend noted that wood is a common building material.  Hee.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I saw the dog portion, and it was separate from the house hunt.   However cute it was, I still don't like the tie-in to movies, just show the ad all of the time the way they were doing.   

[juliet73]

The NJ fiancée reminded me of a younger Jennifer Lopez - both her looks and her voice.  I was ready for the DJ to be "Vanilla Ice" - thankfully, he was not.  I liked that he thought everything was move in ready (whether it was or not).  He was definitely a glass is half full kind of a guy.  

[Pickles]

The Orange County wife made it clear she had zero interest in a kitchen. She does no cooking. They grill. Kind of interesting, but I cannot imagine being so disinterested in that space. 

[topanga]

On 1/3/2019 at 12:13 AM, LittleIggy said:

South Carolina: Nonny and Pawpaw.

The other day, I was watching the College Football National Championship game with my son. He asked me which team I was rooting for. I really didn’t care about either team, but I thought about this couple and their strong Clemson pride, so I rooted for Clemson. 

[scootypuffjr]

18 hours ago, Pickles said:

The Orange County wife made it clear she had zero interest in a kitchen. She does no cooking. They grill. Kind of interesting, but I cannot imagine being so disinterested in that space. 

It was kind of refreshing, though. We've seen more than one wife demand a chef's kitchen even as they brag about not knowing how to cook. At least this one was honest, lol. My mother and I liked the second house best and were surprised they took the first, smallest one without a garage, even if it was the closest to the beach. There's not much difference between 5 and 8 miles, really, you're not walking either way.

[Ohwell]

Orange County:  I would have taken the second house, too.  In addition to being the smallest and no garage, I didn't like the layout of the outside of the first house.  

However, if I'm not mistaken, the first one was in Orange County, and I thought the other two were in San Diego County?  If so, maybe they just wanted an Orange County address.

[edie3]

Orange County, she got on my nerves.  She was just too "rad" about kitchens and not cooking.  We heard you the first time.

[LittleIggy]

5 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Orange County:  I would have taken the second house, too.  In addition to being the smallest and no garage, I didn't like the layout of the outside of the first house.  

 

Plus only one bathroom. It was funny when the 15 year old daughter gushed about her loft, but the shot of it made it look like a storage area.

[Kohola3]

Chicken keepers were a nice couple, not much in the way of high drama.  Even when complaining it wasn't overblown and it was nice to hear him say that they could use what was there and change things over time.  So often the buyers act like a place is totally dysfunctional unless the gutting takes place before the move.  Just because appliances don't match or aren't the same color doesn't mean they can't be used for cooking. 

[Ohwell]

Chicken keepers seemed nice enough but I'm annoyed by these young chicken people, like it's a hip "thing" nowadays.  I wouldn't want to live next to them. 

[Kohola3]

4 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I wouldn't want to live next to them. 

As long as there is no rooster they aren't really that annoying.  Pretty quiet for the most part.  And the eggs are so much better for you.  And, no, I don't have any but have lived next to them.

[Ohwell]

5 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

As long as there is no rooster they aren't really that annoying.  Pretty quiet for the most part.  And the eggs are so much better for you.  And, no, I don't have any but have lived next to them.

I was assuming they had a rooster, but maybe they don't.  I still think it's more of a hipster thing to do for a lot of young couples nowadays.

[chessiegal]

You only need a rooster if you are planning on raising chickens. Hens don't need a rooster to lay eggs.

[juliet73]

I didn't care for the wife of the chicken couple.  I hate when wives don't seem to care about low ceilings, etc when their husbands are tall.  Her non stop complaining about the tudor was annoying.  But if it had a brick fireplace, she would be okay with it?  

Orange County ep:  It was refreshing to have such a short introduction.  They met at a bar, now onto the houses.  They didn't waste time explaining what they liked about each other or their wishlists, etc.  Neither one of them mentioned what they did for a living.  I was especially interested since they lived in San Clemente, Honolulu, Australia and now back to S Cal - all expensive.  I can understand 10 miles to be the beach being too far.  Not "Arizona" far as the wife mentioned, but 5 miles to the beach is an easy bike ride, 10 miles is not.  It was nice to hear them not wanting an updated high end chef's kitchen since they "grill everything", but I would still think they would care about storage and/or counter space.  After he's done installing "her" pool, he should build an outdoor kitchen. 

[topanga]

11 hours ago, edie3 said:

Orange County, she got on my nerves.  She was just too "rad" about kitchens and not cooking.  We heard you the first time.

This. She and the husband tried to be funny--"we can turn this into a bedroom," but the humoroften fell flat. Where do you wash your friggin dishes or store leftovers, geniuses? 

Another "joke:" I guess they'd already decidied to add on a pool eventully, but the on-screen debate was that the wife wanted a pool, and the pool-builder husband didn't want to bring his work home with him. The wife seemed mean though when she kept saying, 'Oh, we will have a pool.'

5 minutes ago, juliet73 said:

Orange County ep:  It was refreshing to have such a short introduction.  They met at a bar, now onto the houses.  They didn't waste time explaining what they liked about each other or their wishlists, etc.  Neither one of them mentioned what they did for a living.  I was especially interested since they lived in San Clemente, Honolulu, Australia and now back to S Cal - all expensive.  I can understand 10 miles to be the beach being too far.  Not "Arizona" far as the wife mentioned, but 5 miles to the beach is an easy bike ride, 10 miles is not.  It was nice to hear them not wanting an updated high end chef's kitchen since they "grill everything", but I would still think they would care about storage and/or counter space.  After he's done installing "her" pool, he should build an outdoor kitchen. 

I've noticed that some of the newer episodes don't do the long recaps after commercial breaks. That gives us more time to see the houses. And we still do the recap at the end before the HHs decide on their home. 

[Ohwell]

34 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

You only need a rooster if you are planning on raising chickens. Hens don't need a rooster to lay eggs.

In the intro they showed them with baby chicks but it was unclear what, if anything, they were doing with them.   

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, juliet73 said:

I didn't care for the wife of the chicken couple.  I hate when wives don't seem to care about low ceilings, etc when their husbands are tall.  Her non stop complaining about the tudor was annoying.  But if it had a brick fireplace, she would be okay with it?  

Orange County ep:  It was refreshing to have such a short introduction.  They met at a bar, now onto the houses.  They didn't waste time explaining what they liked about each other or their wishlists, etc.  Neither one of them mentioned what they did for a living.

Husband was in the swimming pool industry, hence all the mention of pools.

[Empress1]

On the shallow, the wife and the realtor in the chicken couple episode had bad hair. Needed trimming and the blonde on both was too brassy, and the wife's was growing out. They did seem like a nice couple though. The Tudor they looked at was tiny.

[Ohwell]

10 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

On the shallow, the wife and the realtor in the chicken couple episode had bad hair. Needed trimming and the blonde on both was too brassy, and the wife's was growing out. They did seem like a nice couple though. The Tudor they looked at was tiny.

Their hair looked fried, like it needed deep conditioning and back to the original color.  And yes, trimming, although I blame Gwyneth Paltrow for that style, lol.  I saw her recently on some late night talk show and her "hair" (I'm assuming she has extensions) looked like it had been fried and blow dried to death.  

[Booklady1017]

On 1/9/2019 at 12:07 AM, LittleIggy said:

Maybe that promo is just a promo and not a real episode since there wasn’t an episode like that tonight. I hope so! 

I was prepared to dislike the Jersey DJ and his fiancée (beauty room 🙄), but they seemed like a nice couple.

The NJ couple was better than many other HH and HHI couples I have seen.

On 1/9/2019 at 11:40 PM, Pickles said:

The Orange County wife made it clear she had zero interest in a kitchen. She does no cooking. They grill. Kind of interesting, but I cannot imagine being so disinterested in that space. 

The Orange County wife was such a princess. Ok fine she doesn’t cook, but she didn’t have to keep making a point of it and it’s silly that she would say that she wouldn’t use a kitchen even if she doesn’t cook. What about items like yogurt, milk, fruits and salad fixings in the fridge. And it was annoying how she kept on harping about the pool too. She was so annoying.

On 1/10/2019 at 6:29 PM, scootypuffjr said:

It was kind of refreshing, though. We've seen more than one wife demand a chef's kitchen even as they brag about not knowing how to cook. At least this one was honest, lol. My mother and I liked the second house best and were surprised they took the first, smallest one without a garage, even if it was the closest to the beach. There's not much difference between 5 and 8 miles, really, you're not walking either way.

And I didn’t like that she complained 10 Miles was too far from the beach. Did they only pick that house for that reason. The husband seemed nice but she was a real pain.

[Booklady1017]

On 1/10/2019 at 7:28 PM, Ohwell said:

Orange County:  I would have taken the second house, too.  In addition to being the smallest and no garage, I didn't like the layout of the outside of the first house.  

However, if I'm not mistaken, the first one was in Orange County, and I thought the other two were in San Diego County?  If so, maybe they just wanted an Orange County address.

I think they just wanted the house in Orange Co. because of the address, proximity to the beach. It was probably more her doing than his.

12 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Chicken keepers seemed nice enough but I'm annoyed by these young chicken people, like it's a hip "thing" nowadays.  I wouldn't want to live next to them. 

I don’t get the whole chicken keeper thing, even with having fresh eggs.

[msmarjoribanks]

On 1/10/2019 at 6:28 PM, Ohwell said:

Orange County:  I would have taken the second house, too.  In addition to being the smallest and no garage, I didn't like the layout of the outside of the first house.  

However, if I'm not mistaken, the first one was in Orange County, and I thought the other two were in San Diego County?  If so, maybe they just wanted an Orange County address.

Me too, I thought the second was the obvious pick.  It's not like you are walking to the beach regularly at either 5 or 10 miles.  I guess if the one has a 5 mile bike ride and the other has no good bike route it might matter.

I also suspect it was address or schools or something.

[msmarjoribanks]

12 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Chicken keepers seemed nice enough but I'm annoyed by these young chicken people, like it's a hip "thing" nowadays.  I wouldn't want to live next to them. 

Yeah, it's kind of a hipster thing.  You have to live somewhere it's not going to be an issue for people.

That said, I kind of like the idea (have thought about it but not seriously -- my city allows it, but I know it's not for me, happy enough just buying eggs from a local farm). A friend of mine in the 'burbs has more seriously considered it.  So long as there is no rooster should not be an issue.  I'm just going to focus on trying to have a great garden.

6 hours ago, Empress1 said:

On the shallow, the wife and the realtor in the chicken couple episode had bad hair. Needed trimming and the blonde on both was too brassy, and the wife's was growing out. They did seem like a nice couple though. The Tudor they looked at was tiny.

I thought they were a nice couple.  Agree about her hair, but I liked her personality.  I actually preferred the house that was her style (the ranch), and think it would have been cheaper overall, although I get a privacy fence is expensive (weirdly so, I was shocked the first time my old condo association priced it out, and am lucky the place I bought when I moved had one already). The Tudor was cute but too small.

[LittleIggy]

OC: I agree about the wife and the kitchen. She just ended up looking stupid.

[suebee12]

A couple of thoughts...I loved when the tall guy "struggled" to get into the shower by stepping over the toilet...why not just slide the doors the other way and get in from the "back end" of the tub? The doors do slide in both directions!

And I just finished watching the Lottery House(set in upper NY state) and HH that was in Merritt Island, FL. It surely felt like they switched the episodes! The Lottery episode had a budget of $200,000(she won $5 million) and the HH episode had a budget of up to $2 million! I heard the FL couple talk about down-sizing...yeah, right. The smallest house they looked at was almost 5000 sq. feet and the one they finally chose was over 7000 sq feet!!! Heck, the one closet was probably as large as my whole apartment! Money or no money, why do 2 people need all that space? Oh, wait....for entertaining! Again, another homeowner that wanted chickens...wonder if she will really take care of them or have someone do it for her? Sorry but even tho' they seemed like a nice couple, they had more money than sense! On the other hand, the lottery winner just wanted a water view and plumbing!!! She said she could update the rest. Such a different attitude between the two buyers.

[Babalooie]

Florida chicken couple:  I was reading an article on The Sopranos when this show started, and that was all I could think about the entire time.  I pictured Tony and Carmela house hunting.  AJ is all grown up now and selling real estate.  I hope that the chicken house is predator-free.  An hour and a half away from the Merritt Island house, my  grandchildren are on their third set of chickens.  They finally figured out how to hot wire to keep predators away.

Edited January 12, 2019 by Babalooie

[laredhead]

The Florida couple "downsizing" was a trip to how the top 1% live.  There certainly seem to be a lot of houses in that price range, and all in the same style in Cocoa, Florida or near by.  I laughed when the son was demonstrating the disappearing glass doors, and then said let's get back inside to the A/C.  I wonder just how many days of the year you can really open those doors to let in fresh air.  Florida gets hot, and the humidity is high as well.  A bit of bickering between the husband and wife, but they've been married 41 years, so I guess that works for them.  I liked the 3rd house best, but none of them really appealed to my style.  My style is how the other 99% live. 

I think that was a very temporary place for the chicken coop.  In addition to being too small to contain those chickens full time, what were those pink filled bags all around the coop?  It was also in a sunny spot, which isn't going to be good for the chickens in the hot Florida weather.  I hope that was just for that one scene and she wasn't planning to leave those chickens there. 

Edited January 12, 2019 by laredhead
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