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House Hunters: Buying in the USA


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Oh goodness, the Bucks Country couple where the wife wanted a huge lot where she could not see other houses.  They stepped into the back yard of the house they ended up buying and she declared she could see at least 6 houses.  As I remember the lot was almost an acre in size and there were mature plantings all around the yard.  It's called plant more trees and bushes, lady.  If you can afford that house, you can afford to hire a garden service to come plant things that will grow and obscure every vestige of a neighbor's house.  Oh, yeah, and her favorite color was gray, and she ended up installing a ship lap wall and painting everything cream and gray.  A Joanna Gaines wanna be.  Overall I liked the house, but not her style.

The owners of the 3rd house were not afraid of color, and that finished basement was pretty cool.  I would probably like to hang out with them. 

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Orange County episode. The house they chose was $653K for 1600 square feet, laminate flooring, and next to a freeway. Good Lord. The husband was really not comfortable on camera - no affect whatsoever.

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I don’t get the appeal of gray walls anywhere where it snows.  I live in Michigan and if I want to see gray I can look out the window and see gray clouds, gray sky and gray snow from mid-December through whenever Spring decides to stay.  As can people in many places in the north part of the country.  Why would you then want gray everywhere inside, as well?  Seems to me it would depress the hell out of you.

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Re: the lady in NC who wanted a tiny house, I liked the house she picked (bet the cats loved the spiral staircase and loft), but I couldn’t live out in the boonies like that. She needs to get an additional dog...a BIG dog!

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26 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Re: the lady in NC who wanted a tiny house, I liked the house she picked (bet the cats loved the spiral staircase and loft), but I couldn’t live out in the boonies like that. She needs to get an additional dog...a BIG dog!

And a shotgun!  I agree, the setting was beautiful and I liked the house but if I were the daughter I'd be so worried for my mom out there in the boonies.  I think the daughter said she visits once a month or something like that. 

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2 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Re: the lady in NC who wanted a tiny house,

Wanted tiny and movable but had all kinds gee-gaws she wanted to set around and full sized appliances. Plus the daughter wouldn't sleep in a loft. Tiny was just not the way to go for her.

They didn't show what how she handled the washer/dryer in the bathroom. I looked like they just bought the unit and plunked it inside the bathroom door. It wasn't even hooked up.

I did think the setting was beautiful.  I didn't really think anything about it being unsafe.  It's not like she was on the set of Deliverance.

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It might not have been Deliverance but even in the midst of all that beauty there still might be some nutcases who would prey on a single woman out in the country.  Not to mention animals. 

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24 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

It might not have been Deliverance but even in the midst of all that beauty there still might be some nutcases who would prey on a single woman out in the country. 

Well, that would be true just about anywhere these days, even in suburban neighborhoods. I guess because I live in the boonies, I don't see it as a problem.  Haven't been eaten by a bear yet!

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I can see the appeal of gray everywhere if you don't have a design plan ready. It says "neutral but not totally boring". You can achieve the same effect with a light cream or light butter color. Like, we took the time to paint these walls so it isn't totally builder/apartment grade but it is boring to design the whole house around it (like The Property Brothers have been doing --especially since their favorite grays read as purplish on my TV).

 

/she says as she prepares to paint her TV room Hippopotamus Gray (but her living room is green, dining room orange, bedroom teal, and the rest of the house bank foreclosure cream still).

Edited by MaKaM
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37 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Well, that would be true just about anywhere these days, even in suburban neighborhoods. I guess because I live in the boonies, I don't see it as a problem.  Haven't been eaten by a bear yet!

Yeah it's a good thing you haven't been attacked by a bear yet.

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Yeah, I rolled my eyes when the daughter complained about the loft in the second place. I was like “Seriously? All you would do in that space is sleep there when you visited.” 

I was thinking more about bears and coyotes when I said get a big dog. And I’m a city person who wouldn’t want to be somewhere like that with too much “peace and quiet”! ?

Edited by LittleIggy
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Goodness gracious!  Are you all city people or something?  We don't even lock doors where I live and a security system is pretty much useless when the nearest cops are either the sheriffs or state police covering a big territory, often half an hour or more away!  We have coyotes and bears and all kinds of wildlife but I have never once feared for my life.  And I don't own a gun.  Yet I have lived to a ripe old age!

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On May 12, 2018 at 3:26 PM, Mittengirl said:

I don’t get the appeal of gray walls anywhere where it snows.  I live in Michigan and if I want to see gray I can look out the window and see gray clouds, gray sky and gray snow from mid-December through whenever Spring decides to stay.  As can people in many places in the north part of the country.  Why would you then want gray everywhere inside, as well?  Seems to me it would depress the hell out of you.

I agree with you!  We live in Minnesota.  Grey feels cold to me and  we already live in a cool/cold climate 7 months out of the year.  

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I watched the episode with that annoying FeFe tonight (just got HGTV on my Comcast). Why did she want a tiny house if she refuses to use a ladder. And how much smaller can a vanity get?

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13 hours ago, Thumper said:

I agree with you!  We live in Minnesota.  Grey feels cold to me and  we already live in a cool/cold climate 7 months out of the year.  

I am with you Thumper.  Love Minnesota, I do - but is IS gray for a lot of the year.  I like warm colors in my house.  Especially this winter!!!  It would NOT leave.

Anyone catch Florida couple last night?  He was a chiropractor, she was a real estate agent.  His wants:  Move in ready, ranch, open spaces, no garage. Her:  Two story, defined spaces, garage, new tile and a white kitchen.....and a pool!

They were so boring and so far apart in their wishes I truly did not care how they compromised.  I was with her on the garage, though.  I live in Minnesota and I have never, nor will I ever, live without a garage.

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From about a week ago — San Francisco to Seattle couple. They moved for "tech" jobs. I'm thinking Amazon or Google, and I'm thinking that old-time residents must kind of resent the rising cost of living and traffic issues.

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8 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Microsoft and Amazon are in the Seattle area. Google is in California.

Google has campuses in both Seattle, they are currently building a much larger one in South Lake Union, and in Kirkland. Its where their cloud team and a few other divisions are located.

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On 4/23/2018 at 8:22 PM, laredhead said:

After watching the Washington, D.C. episode tonight, I know I could never live in D.C. because I don't want to have to share my house with 2 or 3 other people not related to me.  I cannot believe what people pay in rent for such small rooms.  I know they never show all of each house, but the basement in the house the buyer chose did not look like it had a window that would be large enough to allow a person to exit in case of fire.  The only window they showed was a small one high up on the wall.  The square footage upstairs was only about 1,050 sf and there was going to have to be bathroom sharing.  Also, I'm not a fan of row houses.  Have said before that they make me claustrophobic.  I wasn't impressed with any of the houses.

I'm guessing that the relationship with the girlfriend isn't progressing to marriage or live-in status anytime soon, especially since he has now rented all of the other bedrooms to guys. 

Pickles, as I was typing my review of the D.C. episode, yours popped up.  We are on the same wavelength with the D.C. episode.

 

Because the DC realtor introduced the basement as a "bonus" space instead of a "bedroom", I had the same question.  Compared the guys' heights (realtor and buyer) to the room's soffit.  (The window was installed just below the soffit.)  Based on that comparison, I believe the window's height and size comply with code.    

Hated the DC realtor's suggestion to install a temporary wall / screen, allowing the upper floor boarders access to the laundry.  To maximize income, I would have suggested the following:

Instead of taking in boarders, I'd install a stack laundry unit, if possible, in the top floor and rent that out as a separate unit.  (S/b significantly higher monthly rent.)  Residing in the bottom floor, I'd add a small kitchen, tapping into the existing plumbing, converting the bottom floor to a stand-alone unit.  The units had existing separate entrances.  Win-win!

Agree that the relationship sounded young.  There's a reason the guy wasn't fazed at the prospect of sharing his bathroom with 2 boarders ... if he isn't, uh, shacking up with the woman now, he's planning on it, in the near future!  Methinks someone was thinking with another part of his anatomy!

P.S.  The episode synopsis called DC guy a "mathematician" and he said, "I work for DC public schools".  My guess:  he's not a teacher.  So, he's not subject to their pay scale.

Edited by aguabella
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On 5/5/2018 at 5:50 PM, laredhead said:

I liked the dad in the Clearwater episode.  Finally someone saying how boring gray is.  He was knowledgeable about a house as an investment property, and made some good comments about the houses.  The 3rd house was just too small for the number of rooms they tried to squeeze into it.  Her renovation budget is totally unrealistic, but I guess if she gets her dad to do a lot of the work, it might stretch a bit.

Had a different impression of the Clearwater father.  He probably owns his home and a couple of rental properties.  Yes, he peddles retirement investments but didn't sound as if that includes RE.  Basically, he and his daughter are in sales.  

My bias but seriously, would anyone here invest their hard-earned, life-savings with those two?  (Sorry -)  His daughter didn't use RE terminology and didn't seem to understand basic concepts.  Yes, he made a couple of obvious comments but in the end, (minor point, here) didn't his daughter purchase a 2-bedroom?  (Mistake for resale, in my world.)  If he doesn't care for gray, no worries, but that tells me he doesn't frequently tour ...

They never mentioned her father doing any construction or remodelling.  Yes, he helped install some dimestore blinds.  (Hey, they're great for light control but staging an investment home - uh, no.  Just, no)  And she'd slapped a single coat of paint on the old cabinets.  Sure, those can be painted but it's a more involved process than she realizes.  Well, that's if she wants it to look good ...

They both seemed like nice people so hope her RE plan works out.

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Clearlake, FL (a little more, belately)

BTW, a "florida bath" is slang for taking a dip in the pool, in my experience.  Wouldn't surprise me if the MN woman wanted a pool but the producers edited the word "pool" to keep us guessing and chatting about it, lol.

The realtor went along with the gag, naturally.  Didn't pull any comps but sounded like a pool was impossible in her price range and that location.

(Everybody remember the cutesy, overly made-up realtor who previously proclaimed herself the HH "star" after 1 appearance?)

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On 4/25/2018 at 5:21 AM, Kohola3 said:

They've already been purchased so I bet a lot of the original realtors (unless famewhores) refuse to be involved.

No big deal but ...

Considering the context of both the previous poster's paragraph (embedded within my post, above) and my paragraph (embedded, below) plus the fact that my example didn't include a home purchase (so, not House Hunters), I thought it was clear my sentence was referring to real estate in general, i.e. the real world.

BTW, I always post assuming others on the board understand HH is faux drama, a staged house hunt.  Besides the frequent comments about the production, HGTV admitted same, years ago.

Sorry about that ...

About your post:

Why would they "refuse"?  (Kind of a strong verb ???)  Sure, they're unpaid and it's often a 40 hour time commitment.  And, is it worthwhile to market nationwide instead of focusing on your own metro area?  Anything else?  Interested to hear from either other posters or participants ...  

Incidentally, I've met many HH participants (the realtors) in business settings and would guess that the majority of the HH "realtors" did represent the show buyers, in real life.  Not true for HHI, lol.

They're hiring a few as more over years.  The (supposed) Clearwater FL realtor's one example.  Uh, nope, she definitely didn't represent the young woman who toured with her father.

On 4/24/2018 at 7:54 PM, aguabella said:

Didn't notice the realtor but initially he seemed like a family member.  The realtors understand that some clients require many hours and might not purchase a home, in the end.  At worst, they hope for a few family and/or business acquaintance referrals.

Edited by aguabella
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Anyone see the Fort Lauderdale episode?

Nice of the wife to include her broker in the episode.  That way, they both benefit, hopefully, from the exposure!

The first decoy house:  notice how someone changed the orientation / floor plan of that home?  My guess was they flipped the entrance to avoid staring at the lovely freeway, every day!  Must have formally changed the address.

Notice how they entered from the (previous) backyard?  Walked in the (former) kitchen door?  And, wasn't that master either a single-car garage and/or the previous porch?  Or, was the family room the porch?

No, I didn't pull the listing or study the episode a second time so that's just my first impression.  Feel free to correct me on the details.  Poor acting job by the wife - she didn't realize that was the old kitchen door?  She's a realtor?  Just sayin, lol.  

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Last night's episode with the couple looking in Spokane.  Hubby hotter than he**, an Air Force pilot who loves to work on houses and built most of their furniture himself?  Where can I find one of those for me?

Otherwise, the houses they found were sorta nondescript and all in need of renovation, which is what they wanted.  I hope we get a follow up episode on them.

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The tiny house lady.  I could not live ALONE out there in the boonies.  It would be one thing if she were married or had a family or roommate, but to be so totally alone and isolated - no.  I can imagine how pitch dark it must be at night.

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On 5/12/2018 at 10:57 AM, BlossomCulp said:

I am so sick of gray!  I like it as a colour, in moderation, but I've reached a point now where no house I live in ever for the rest of my life amen will have gray walls anywhere!

 

On 5/12/2018 at 11:02 AM, Kohola3 said:

I guess there are grays that are better than others but I have to agree, I am tired of seeing it. Is gray the new off white?  It's so cheerless!

 

On 5/12/2018 at 4:26 PM, Mittengirl said:

I don’t get the appeal of gray walls anywhere where it snows.  I live in Michigan and if I want to see gray I can look out the window and see gray clouds, gray sky and gray snow from mid-December through whenever Spring decides to stay.  As can people in many places in the north part of the country.  Why would you then want gray everywhere inside, as well?  Seems to me it would depress the hell out of you.

Add me to the list of people who find gray walls unacceptable.  I actually liked gray ten years ago when I lived in a hot, sunny climate, and before it became ubiquitous.  Now I live in a climate with long, cold, gray winters... and there's no way I would ever paint any walls gray.

On 5/12/2018 at 9:20 PM, MaKaM said:

I can see the appeal of gray everywhere if you don't have a design plan ready. It says "neutral but not totally boring". You can achieve the same effect with a light cream or light butter color. Like, we took the time to paint these walls so it isn't totally builder/apartment grade but it is boring to design the whole house around it (like The Property Brothers have been doing --especially since their favorite grays read as purplish on my TV).

 

I think walls painted a light butter/cream color are beautiful, and work well with both white and natural wood trim.

Edited by AnnaRose
failed to proofread
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3 hours ago, debbie311 said:

I can imagine how pitch dark it must be at night.

It is.  And the stars are so spectacular.  And you sleep so well without traffic noise.  Couldn't pay me to live in a city.  And I live alone as well.

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I’m not surprised the couple from London chose the money pit. Mattais (sp?) probably lets her walk all over him. Wonder where they are staying while the place is gutted and renovated? I adored the Craftsman house. It was gorgeous and even had an adorable guest house to rent out.

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7 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I’m not surprised the couple from London chose the money pit. Mattais (sp?) probably lets her walk all over him. Wonder where they are staying while the place is gutted and renovated? I adored the Craftsman house. It was gorgeous and even had an adorable guest house to rent out.

There was a brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when they saw the second house when she said "There's not anything for me to do!" and he looked like " ... Oy." And his eyes bugged out in the third house when she started talking about knocking down walls. I got the impression that he really was not into the renovation they'd done on their London home at all.

The third house was the smallest (she kept saying things were tight and I was like, yeah, that would happen in 3/2 1000 square feet) and had the worst view AND was a money pit. And they only live in LA half the time, so by the time the renovation is done they'll have to go back to London. 

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I actually didn't mind them. Did anyone else notice the brand new range in the third kitchen? Kinda' a give away that was their house! I sure would like to see what they come up with...this would have been a great Renovation show.

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4 hours ago, Empress1 said:

There was a brief, blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when they saw the second house when she said "There's not anything for me to do!" and he looked like " ... Oy." And his eyes bugged out in the third house when she started talking about knocking down walls. I got the impression that he really was not into the renovation they'd done on their London home at all.

The third house was the smallest (she kept saying things were tight and I was like, yeah, that would happen in 3/2 1000 square feet) and had the worst view AND was a money pit. And they only live in LA half the time, so by the time the renovation is done they'll have to go back to London. 

And I’m so sure they’ll be building that guest house! ?

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The pilot and flight attendant looking near Boston? 

Sorry, that was NOT an Austin Healey Sprite with bugeyes (or a frogeye).  It was a '67 so probably a Mark IV, and they stopped the bugeye (Mark I) in '61.  I had one, my first car, and it was wonderful - unreliable as hell but a great, fun car.  The windows bolted on, never knew when the brakes would go out (carried brake fluid at all times), and driving on a freeway could be quite an adventure.

Just reading a new bio of Robin Williams that stated he drove a vintage Austin Healey which was stolen.  Don't know if that was a 3000 or a Sprite, but the Sprite could easily be lifted up by several men.  Came home once to find mine parked sideways in my driveway.

Maybe when I'm retired and don't need practical transportation, we'll get another.

Figured they go for the house that was closest to work.

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The Watertown condo was certainly a teensy bit closer than the cute fixer in Waltham, but Watertown and Waltham are right next to each other!  So why was the wife whining about an hour and a half commute from Waltham?  And the condo had no garage for his precious car (at least not that I noticed).

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On ‎5‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 9:06 PM, ZoZose said:

I also wondered what on earth a "Florida bath" is. She seemed to want it to be a dedicated bathroom outside of the house? Or in the garage? They were a pleasant enough duo but that was odd. 

I liked the couple looking for architecturally significant mid-century modern homes in Palm Springs. I was so fascinated by the homes they looked at that I Googled Wexler, Eichler and Krisel and read up a bit on their unique characteristics. Very interesting and quite lovely homes. I was sure they'd pick the first one (which was the cheapest but my favourite) when there was a solitary bed in one room and what appeared to be cell phones charging by the fireplace but I was surprised they picked the third one which wasn't a true mid-century modern at all but a new modern home built with some MCM characteristics. Still, nice couple. A bit of whining about using their old furniture in the new house which was clearly producer driven as it was obvious that a mix of old and new furniture would be fine. 

Catching up very late here (and I haven't even seen the episode), but a lot of Florida homes have a landscapers bathroom with a toilet and shower in the garage or a shed that were supposed to be for the landscapers to use and clean up.  Maybe THAT's a Florida bath?  Although I never heard it called that, always a landscapers' bathroom

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On 5/18/2018 at 4:05 PM, TVJunkee said:

Catching up very late here (and I haven't even seen the episode), but a lot of Florida homes have a landscapers bathroom with a toilet and shower in the garage or a shed that were supposed to be for the landscapers to use and clean up.  Maybe THAT's a Florida bath?  Although I never heard it called that, always a landscapers' bathroom

It really could be. That makes perfect sense. Or maybe it's a bathroom for use when you're out at the pool so you wouldn't have to trek through the house with wet feet/swimsuits. It wouldn't need to be called a Florida bath though cause that type of bathroom could exist anywhere so I dunno.

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I liked all the houses the Richmond VA engaged couple looked at. The bathroom in the second house was GORGEOUS. I liked the third one a lot and at $100K under asking they could have easily finished the basement, but I think it wasn't quite in the neighborhood they wanted.

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On 5/22/2018 at 9:54 AM, Ohwell said:

The house the Richmond couple chose was fine.  I'm not a fan of older houses with "charm" because all I see is future money pit. 

I agree, and what bugs me even more about people who look for older houses on this show, they *always* want things that older homes weren't built with, like open floorpans, kitchen islands, walk-in closets, and ensuite bathrooms. The Richmond couple were no exception.

Did anyone else catch that they bought the house together, but the woman isn't moving in until they're married? If someone is that old-fashioned about cohabitation before marriage, it seems odd that they would buy real estate together. Is she paying half of the mortgage on the house, plus the rent on wherever she's currently living?

Edited by chocolatine
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I’m currently watching an episode about a Minnesota couple, and the husband is dead set on not being too far away from a hockey rink and also wants to build one in his backyard. Also, he keeps going on about how important it is to get a newer house because the WiFi will flow better through the house. 

I’m a hockey nut myself, but this guy is driving me crazy. His wife seems normal, and I have no idea what the hell she sees in him. He’s not quirky, just an annoying butthole of a human being. All I can do is pray for her. No idea how she puts up with him.

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32 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

I would love to see an update on that Owego Victorian. It has such potential as a B&B (or a money pit). 

Oh, me too! My mom grew up in Owego and we would visit relatives there when I was young, so I made sure to watch the episode (not that I recognize anything since it's been 20 years since I've been there). I was glad I did so because I loved that house. The details -- the moldings,  floors,  staircase,  trim, windows, etc. -- were just amazing. But it definitely could be a money pit as well, so I hope it turns out well for them and is worth the significant time and money they'll need to invest. I definitely would love to see it when they're done. 

Here's the Zillow link. You can see pictures of it from when it was still furnished, before they began to gut it. I rather suspected that huge bathroom doubled as a laundry room. 

Edited by Dawn
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