House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[answerphone]

There Sunday Funday husband belongs on Project Runway ?

[BTBAM310]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

A few years ago the website "Hooked on Houses" ran an article on how HH works, something folks at TWoP knew for a long time. For some reason it got picked up by main stream media, and people were all outraged the HH was fake! It's not fake, it's staged. All you have to do is go to the production company's web site to see how to be on the show, and it clearly states you must be in escrow or have bought a house. That's hardly secret information.

I just started watching the show not too long ago, and didn't know about this. Thanks.

I'm still guessing a lot of people don't know how it works. There are a lot of stupid and/or uninformed people out there.

Edited June 7, 2018 by BTBAM310

[msmarjoribanks]

I'm sure lots of people (even smart people) don't know how it works.  I was talking about it with a friend who has watched it as a vegging after work/before bed kind of thing since well before I discovered it, and she thought they'd actually agreed that they would choose between only 3 houses and wondered why anyone would do that/what they were compensated for that.  She'd just never thought about it much or looked into it (and assumed that some people were fame whores enough to do that, even for such a limited TV appearance). She wasn't outraged when I filled her in, though.  She said "that makes a lot more sense."

When I started watching I knew they were supposed to have purchased a house already, but assumed at first they were showing houses they'd actually considered, until I realized how difficult that would be to set up (and also started reading here, of course!).

[Pickles]

The Memphis couple. I just saw the last few minutes. Her voice would drive me nuts. What did they do for a living? They had a big budget for a young couple.

[LittleIggy]

11 minutes ago, Pickles said:

The Memphis couple. I just saw the last few minutes. Her voice would drive me nuts. What did they do for a living? They had a big budget for a young couple.

She was an immigration attorney, and he was a financial planner. Yeah, her vocal fry was like fingernails on the chalkboard for me. As a former longtime Memphian, I would have picked the Chickasaw Gardens house. That is one of the best neighborhoods in Memphis. It’s beautiful there.

[doodlebug]

16 minutes ago, Pickles said:

The Memphis couple. I just saw the last few minutes. Her voice would drive me nuts. What did they do for a living? They had a big budget for a young couple.

She was an attorney dealing with immigration law and worked from home.  He was an investment banker/financial guy.  They obviously made very nice livings, but they also had previously owned a home in that neighborhood.  It was a fixer upper and they did a ton of renovation on it by themselves.  He said he put it on the market just to see what it would be worth and they got a massive offer for it two days later, so they decided to sell and buy a bigger place that didn't need much renovation with the profits.

Edited June 8, 2018 by doodlebug

[Pickles]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

She was an immigration attorney, and he was a financial planner. Yeah, her vocal fry was like fingernails on the chalkboard for me. As a former longtime Memphian, I would have picked the Chickasaw Gardens house. That is one of the best neighborhoods in Memphis. It’s beautiful there.

 

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

She was an attorney dealing with immigration law and worked from home.  He was an investment banker/financial guy.  They obviously made very nice livings, but they also had previously owned a home in that neighborhood.  It was a fixer upper and they did a ton of renovation on it by themselves.  He said he put it on the market just to see what it would be worth and they got a massive offer for it two days later, so they decided to sell and buy a bigger place that didn't need much renovation with the profits.

 

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

She was an attorney dealing with immigration law and worked from home.  He was an investment banker/financial guy.  They obviously made very nice livings, but they also had previously owned a home in that neighborhood.  It was a fixer upper and they did a ton of renovation on it by themselves.  He said he put it on the market just to see what it would be worth and they got a massive offer for it two days later, so they decided to sell and buy a bigger place that didn't need much renovation with the profits.

I messed up this quote thing, but thanks so much for the info!

[aguabella]

5 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

I'm sure lots of people (even smart people) don't know how it works.  I was talking about it with a friend who has watched it as a vegging after work/before bed kind of thing since well before I discovered it, and she thought they'd actually agreed that they would choose between only 3 houses and wondered why anyone would do that/what they were compensated for that.  She'd just never thought about it much or looked into it (and assumed that some people were fame whores enough to do that, even for such a limited TV appearance). She wasn't outraged when I filled her in, though.  She said "that makes a lot more sense."

When I started watching I knew they were supposed to have purchased a house already, but assumed at first they were showing houses they'd actually considered, until I realized how difficult that would be to set up (and also started reading here, of course!).

Years ago, dealing frequently with realtors in business situations, I was surprised how many of them hadn't figured it out, before the HGTV admissions / announcement.  These days, everybody's pretty much on to the game and not as thrilled with losing 35-40 hours of their time.

If the buyers work with their own realtor, the realtors typically try to use those homes.  Besides the compensation ($0) or lack thereof, lol, timing is the biggest problem.

They usually film 4-6 episodes simultaneously in a given metro area so they need to set everything up for those episodes, in advance.  That's why so many of these buyers supposedly live with their parents b/c their "home sold so fast", lol.  Actually, they're waiting for the film crew so they can (finally) move in to their new home!

[aguabella]

Naperville, Naperville ...

Didn't have time to comment on this episode when it originally aired but noticed a few comments after the recent replay.  

As many of you noticed, the plot didn't make sense.  Don't check out many HH homes / listings but did this one.  I doubt these people bought a new home.

Why?  Well, besides the shots with their kids running through the vacant home and playing in the cul-de-sac, like most HH properties, the home sold 6 months, at minimum, before the episode aired.  So far, so good, right?  Uh, then it was listed again, less than two months later, using the same listing photos, lol!

Either they purchased it, made minor upgrades* and tried to flip it but forgot to change the photos (doubtful) or they speculated, thinking it was underpriced.  Again, doubtful, I believe.  The (subsequent) sales price would barely cover their fees and the Naperville market was somewhat cold.

Or, they simply changed their mind, after purchase.  (It happens.)  Or, it had an undisclosed, hidden defect.  Who knows?

One thing I did notice:  the realtor who appeared had some very negative, 1 star ratings online.  Doesn't look like she was involved in this home's purchase, unless she neglected to update Zillow.  Could be she wanted to appear on HH but needed a "buyer".

What does everyone think?

It didn't sell and was pulled off the market.  The multiple pendings plus short-term purchase probably gave it that stale listing / problem house feel.  Not their home, most likely, so here's the listing:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1461-Rill-Ct-Naperville-IL-60565/4549755_zpid/?fullpage=true

*P.S.  It appears a trim piece was placed on the b/r soffit they filmed the guy demo'ing during the closing scenes.  Didn't notice any other changes.

Edited June 8, 2018 by aguabella

[aguabella]

On 5/18/2018 at 1:05 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

 

On 5/19/2018 at 5:12 PM, ZoZose said:

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.

 

On 5/29/2018 at 5:28 AM, Empress1 said:

That was her second home, right? And she was planning to rent it out? I think that was the case, and I'm guessing she had plans to keep adding rental properties to the portfolio. I assumed "Florida bath" just meant "outdoor shower." You hear "outdoor shower" used down the shore if beach houses have them.

A "florida bath" is slang for taking a dip in the pool.  During the intro, she mentioned outdoor showers and said it might be "like" having a "florida bath" for her puppy.  I believe she knew the slang but also understood a pool wasn't an option at her price range.

She continued the tete a tete with the HH realtor (not her real life realtor but whatever, lol) and HH probably cut the definition.  They love to insert these teasers to spice up (otherwise) boring episodes.  (See "Sunday Fun Car" above, haha.)

BTW, there were many posts about this episode upthread, shortly after it originally aired, if anybody's interested.

[aguabella]

18 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

I found the place they bought -- seems to be in a neighborhood called Compton Heights, not too far from Lafayette Square, which is where I was seeing some other similar houses in my quick redfin search.  The first one is still for sale, looks like it's in DeBaliviere Place. The busy street was Grand Blvd. (I will repeat my usual plea that it would actually be interesting for me if they talked about the neighborhoods and how they differ when that's a difference that affects housing prices, and just because I think it's an interesting thing to hear about when looking at cities I don't know.)

https://www.redfin.com/MO/St-Louis/3555-Longfellow-Blvd-63104/home/93691143

https://www.redfin.com/MO/St-Louis/50-Waterman-Pl-63112/home/93724355

Thanks for posting the links!

I agree with you about discussing the neighborhood differences but they're limited by the 22 minute episode.  I know, they could cut out the repetitive recaps and other extraneous info but they won't.  Why not?  HGTV / HH is the network's long-term ratings winner.  Unless and until ratings fall significantly, nothing will change.

And, another reason:  they frequently misstate locations, if/when they need to for plot purposes, e.g. commute time.  So, using neighborhood values blows that out of the water.

My problem with their valuations is that the editing, post-production is 6 months, minimum.  At that point, the prices shouldn't be considered comps.  But, they could discuss neighborhood valuations in broad, comparative terms, i.e. without specific prices.

[aguabella]

St Louis episode -

Had the same reaction to the description of the second house.  Noticed a couple of very fine, minute differences.  The realtor described the home as "mid-century".  Built in 1953 (IIRC), we can agree with that, right?  But, technically, it wasn't a mid-century modern, mcm.  (I know, it's a fine point.)

When they did the recap prior to touring the third house, the narrator called it a "ranch".  Personally, I'd say, "traditional ranch".

My guess:  the h/o mentioned mcm homes during the casting interviews.  They asked the realtor to find one as a decoy.  Either the realtor misunderstood and/or the producer / director failed to script it properly.  (I'm sure "Mom" just went with the flow during the tour.  "Sure, this is my son's style."  Whatever, lol.)

Then, to make matter worse, it wasn't corrected by the editing team.  They needed a reshoot or a few voiceovers to correct it.  Oops, sounds like increased costs!  Ok, they ignored it, hoping we wouldn't notice.

Make sense, guys?  (Just guessing ...)

[msmarjoribanks]

13 hours ago, doodlebug said:

She was an attorney dealing with immigration law and worked from home.  He was an investment banker/financial guy.  They obviously made very nice livings, but they also had previously owned a home in that neighborhood.  It was a fixer upper and they did a ton of renovation on it by themselves.  He said he put it on the market just to see what it would be worth and they got a massive offer for it two days later, so they decided to sell and buy a bigger place that didn't need much renovation with the profits.

Yeah, the budget made total sense given all that.

I liked the realtor a lot, she made more of an impression on me than the couple, although they seemed nice enough and well-suited.

It was a little boring to see 2 people, no challenging needs, somewhat boring wants, way more money than required for the area they were seeking.  Liked seeing the houses, though.  I spent some time in Memphis due to work some years ago and liked it, and would enjoy going back and seeing more of the neighborhoods.

[msmarjoribanks]

I just watched one (don't know if it was new) with a couple looking for a house in "rural Vermont" (really just outside Montpelier).  I went to college not too far away, so loved seeing the area and houses, and was surprised at how cheap they seemed to be even with acres of land (the first place).  All the houses were interesting and IMO appealing for different reasons.  

[Gothish520]

On 6/6/2018 at 5:14 PM, Kohola3 said:

I grew up in a house built in 1950 filled with Danish modern furniture.  Trust me, these were not warm and fuzzy places.  All that sharp angled wood - bruised galore!

On 6/6/2018 at 5:22 PM, Thumper said:

I'm with you on that.  The MCM decor (not the homes) looks uncomfortable to me. 

I think from an architectural and design standpoint, MCM is pretty cool, but as for livability, I'm not sure I would want to immerse myself in it on a daily basis.

Reminds me of one of my favorite episodes of The Odd Couple, when Felix and Oscar take turns redecorating their apartment - Felix does it in MCM on steroids, while Oscar goes for thrift-store and sidewalk chic. I have to admit that I loved the individual pieces Felix used, but again, I'm not sure I could live with it all on a regular basis!

[Ohwell]

The realtor in the Memphis episode looked like she needed to comb her hair and those outfits certainly didn't look professional at all.

[msrachelj]

20 hours ago, doodlebug said:

She was an attorney dealing with immigration law and worked from home.  He was an investment banker/financial guy.  They obviously made very nice livings, but they also had previously owned a home in that neighborhood.  It was a fixer upper and they did a ton of renovation on it by themselves.  He said he put it on the market just to see what it would be worth and they got a massive offer for it two days later, so they decided to sell and buy a bigger place that didn't need much renovation with the profits.

i didn't like them. just got bad feelings. she did not seem very lawyer like. maybe it was the voice. but i cringed! at the end when they showed her painting what looked like a perfectly nice piece of wooden furniture white. i certainly hope that was not a quality or antique item. i abhor painting wood that is not meant to be painted or is so ticked it needs an overhaul. 

[Kohola3]

47 minutes ago, msrachelj said:

...I cringed! at the end when they showed her painting what looked like a perfectly nice piece of wooden furniture white.

Wasn't that awful?  Not even sanded or prepped, just slapping paint on it!

[Ohwell]

I was horrified at the end when she was painting that perfectly nice wood!  I didn't like them much either.

[doodlebug]

3 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I was horrified at the end when she was painting that perfectly nice wood!  I didn't like them much either.

I figured it was staged for the show and she fixed it as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.

[LittleIggy]

5 hours ago, msrachelj said:

i didn't like them. just got bad feelings. she did not seem very lawyer like. maybe it was the voice. but i cringed! at the end when they showed her painting what looked like a perfectly nice piece of wooden furniture white. i certainly hope that was not a quality or antique item. i abhor painting wood that is not meant to be painted or is so ticked it needs an overhaul. 

Me, too. I was like WTF? I don’t understand why a couple that age would be talking about that being their “forever home.” How boring. Anyway, after seeing the episode about the Orange County house hunters (glad she got her pool), it’s clear you get more bang for your house buck in Memphis and St. Louis.

[Ohwell]

9 hours ago, doodlebug said:

I figured it was staged for the show and she fixed it as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.

But why mess it up in the first place?  Plus, how difficult would it be to clean the white paint off without damaging the veneer?  I don't know, just wondering.

[msmarjoribanks]

13 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Wasn't that awful?  Not even sanded or prepped, just slapping paint on it!

That was my thought -- I don't think that's how you paint cabinets!

I prefer stained wood myself, but am not bothered by them painting cabinets white if that's their preference, as presumably there's nothing special or unique about them.  What I don't like is painting original wood detailing on a house white when that wasn't the original style.  And I realize even that is a taste difference, but it makes me sad since it can't be undone (at least not without a lot of difficulty and maybe not at all).  When I was last looking I saw a beautiful old house with amazing original detailing, and the realtor selling it said the last people to look at said they were planning to paint all of that detailing and I'm pretty sure they are the ones who ended up taking it. Oh, well.

[msmarjoribanks]

I just watched the Orange County one but wasn't paying close attention. The choice seemed super obvious and they didn't make it clear why that one would be lower priced compared to the others -- unless it was smaller and I missed it.  

I find that unless the houses are really interesting or I'm especially interested in the specific location, I prefer the ones where the HHers know they will have to make compromises for their budget and are open to that.  Also, the houses they then look at tend to end up more interesting to me (maybe because I think of a housing search as involving various tradeoffs and imperfections).  So (despite my lack of attention, heh!) this was more interesting than Memphis for me for that reason.

The St Louis houses made that one a good one, IMO, in part because was happy to learn you could get that kind of real estate for those prices there.

[msrachelj]

20 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Wasn't that awful?  Not even sanded or prepped, just slapping paint on it!

the no prep was stupid but even thinking of  painting nice wood is blasphemy!! 

7 hours ago, Ohwell said:

But why mess it up in the first place?  Plus, how difficult would it be to clean the white paint off without damaging the veneer?  I don't know, just wondering.

i agree. not all that easy to fix. no class. money but no class.

[aliya]

Binge watching now. I currently live in Iowa and enjoyed the Des Moines episode; the HO's voice grated, though. I'm 'not from arrund here' and can sometimes find that Midwestern whatever accent annoying. 

The couple in Kansas didn't bug as much as I thought. I'm not sure I see a big difference between 10 and 20 acres, but OK. I wouldn't want to live with a lot of projects (which is why I bought move-in ready), but he's an engineer and if he actually does them in a timely manner, OK. I liked that he wanted to teach his boys how to do stuff. 

I'm watching the woman in the DC area now. I haven't seen pearls like that on a young woman since Barbara Bush was first lady.  I'm from DC and have relatives there. Every now and then, to amuse myself, I look at housing costs there and remember why I decided to stay in Iowa. Oh goodness - she's looking in Herndon? Does she work in Northern Virginia? That's a hike into DC. 

[Samantha Stevens]

33 minutes ago, aliya said:

Binge watching now. I currently live in Iowa and enjoyed the Des Moines episode; the HO's voice grated, though. I'm 'not from arrund here' and can sometimes find that Midwestern whatever accent annoying. 

The couple in Kansas didn't bug as much as I thought. I'm not sure I see a big difference between 10 and 20 acres, but OK. I wouldn't want to live with a lot of projects (which is why I bought move-in ready), but he's an engineer and if he actually does them in a timely manner, OK. I liked that he wanted to teach his boys how to do stuff. 

I'm watching the woman in the DC area now. I haven't seen pearls like that on a young woman since Barbara Bush was first lady.  I'm from DC and have relatives there. Every now and then, to amuse myself, I look at housing costs there and remember why I decided to stay in Iowa. Oh goodness - she's looking in Herndon? Does she work in Northern Virginia? That's a hike into DC. 

I could understand the wife of the Kansas couple's fears about the pond. Those boys were young. It aggravated me how dismissive he was of her concerns.

The DC woman was so proud of her ancestry, I would've thought she knew the dishes in that museum were pewter, not silver. I would've wanted a lot of the same things in my house that she did though if money were no object. I don't ever see me wanting to downsize!

[Ohwell]

37 minutes ago, aliya said:

I'm watching the woman in the DC area now. I haven't seen pearls like that on a young woman since Barbara Bush was first lady.  I'm from DC and have relatives there. Every now and then, to amuse myself, I look at housing costs there and remember why I decided to stay in Iowa. Oh goodness - she's looking in Herndon? Does she work in Northern Virginia? That's a hike into DC. 

I remember that episode and I think she said she works in DC.  Yeah, good luck with the traffic, and metro is pretty bad right now.

[MemphisHouseHunter]

Hi, 

Memphis house hunter here. I’m a lot more patient with other house Hunters after going on the show and understanding the editing process. I contact HGTV last year about covering a fundraiser home tour in my neighborhood, with proceeds going to a shelter for homeless families. One thing led to another, and we ended up on House Hunters.  We sold a house we had purchased as a foreclosure quickly after listing it, and we had an expedited house hunt. 

As to painting the wooden desk: I bought it almost 10 years ago from a thrift store while in school. It’s been a great desk for me, but my new house is lighter (old house had natural trim and this is already painted) and I wanted a lighter desk to go with it. My husband and I have often fixed up pieces for neighbors, and the show wanted to capture that. I told HH I was open to painting my desk, I’d rather reuse a piece than to buy MDF from Ikea. They covered the craft budget to buy chalk paint from a local antique store. I’d always wanted to try the chalk paint, and what you see on camera is the first time I’d ever used it. I was pretty nervous. With chalk paint, there is no need to sand, prep, or prime, rather you wax it when you’re finished painting. 

 

As to my voice: I’m someone who doesn’t even like listening to her voice on voice mails, so I get you there. However, this policing of women’s voices is misogynistic  and ageist. It’s been going on for decades, and I think this piece really captured the history of voice criticism, vocal fry, and valley girl upspeak. I think we should all be kinder to ourselves and each other. 

 

https://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/vocal-fry-and-other-speech-trends-2.htm

[doodlebug]

7 hours ago, MemphisHouseHunter said:

Hi, 

Memphis house hunter here. I’m a lot more patient with other house Hunters after going on the show and understanding the editing process. I contact HGTV last year about covering a fundraiser home tour in my neighborhood, with proceeds going to a shelter for homeless families. One thing led to another, and we ended up on House Hunters.  We sold a house we had purchased as a foreclosure quickly after listing it, and we had an expedited house hunt. 

As to painting the wooden desk: I bought it almost 10 years ago from a thrift store while in school. It’s been a great desk for me, but my new house is lighter (old house had natural trim and this is already painted) and I wanted a lighter desk to go with it. My husband and I have often fixed up pieces for neighbors, and the show wanted to capture that. I told HH I was open to painting my desk, I’d rather reuse a piece than to buy MDF from Ikea. They covered the craft budget to buy chalk paint from a local antique store. I’d always wanted to try the chalk paint, and what you see on camera is the first time I’d ever used it. I was pretty nervous. With chalk paint, there is no need to sand, prep, or prime, rather you wax it when you’re finished painting. 

 

As to my voice: I’m someone who doesn’t even like listening to her voice on voice mails, so I get you there. However, this policing of women’s voices is misogynistic  and ageist. It’s been going on for decades, and I think this piece really captured the history of voice criticism, vocal fry, and valley girl upspeak. I think we should all be kinder to ourselves and each other. 

 

https://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/vocal-fry-and-other-speech-trends-2.htm

Thanks for coming here and clarifying.  It's got to be daunting to go online and find strangers critiquing your life.  Your new home looks beautiful, I hope you both enjoy it for many years.

ETA: Thanks for reminding us that society is much harsher in criticizing women than men.

Edited June 10, 2018 by doodlebug

[msmarjoribanks]

Just watched Kansas, and I wish they'd given an explanation for 20 vs. 10, although really there might not have been one, just that's what he grew up wanting or the house they actually bought had 20.  Also, if the budget was really $500K, the "$510K, over budget!" thing was silly, pricing it at $510K usually means they'd certainly take $500K, unless it was some super hot market which I doubt it was. And they got the house they bought at $40K under listing, so they knew that.

The house they got actually would have worried me the most, since the issues with it were things that suggested water damage and potentially a need for a new roof (and one obvious thing to ask about/mention is the age of the roof and prior repairs, but yes that's not something usually addressed on the show).  Husband wanting and being handy enough to do projects is one thing, a new roof being a project is not something I'd think was a good idea to handle in-house. But new roof (if needed) also could be a negotiating chip in getting the price down, and they seemed to be addressing the water damage themselves otherwise (I assume that's related to the ending "so far no mold"). Mostly I just find it unrealistic that they wouldn't talk about that issue and make sure they got information even before making an offer (apart from the inspection process).

What I didn't get about the pond thing is that the wife seemed to think that the pond in view with the first property was fine, since not on their property, but the ponds on their properties would be death traps.  If you can tell the boys not to run over to the pond just across the property line, then surely you could tell them not to go into the pond on their own -- don't know why they'd obey the one and not the other.

Anyway, could see both sides in this one in that I wouldn't want a million major projects but do think the husband wanting to do them with the sons was great. And I like high ceilings/was with the wife on that one.

[ehall1052]

I just watched the episode with the couple from Orange County. None of the houses stood out to me, but they did buy the nicest one. I don’t think the couple was married and they first got together as roommates then it grew to something more. Then I changed the the channel and a commercial came on for Theraworx Relief and the lady, Nakisa was on it! They used her name so I’m sure it was the same lady. Her hair didn’t seem to have as many gray streaks in it.  It was a medication for muscle cramping relief and Dr. Drew Pinsky was the spokesperson. So coincidental!

[MakingBacon]

1 hour ago, ehall1052 said:

I just watched the episode with the couple from Orange County. None of the houses stood out to me, but they did buy the nicest one. I don’t think the couple was married and they first got together as roommates then it grew to something more. Then I changed the the channel and a commercial came on for Theraworx Relief and the lady, Nakisa was on it! They used her name so I’m sure it was the same lady. Her hair didn’t seem to have as many gray streaks in it.  It was a medication for muscle cramping relief and Dr. Drew Pinsky was the spokesperson. So coincidental!

Now it makes it sense. I was going crazy when I was watching the show because I knew her from somewhere. I just thought she was someone I went to school with but didn’t really know. I guess I saw her on a commercial.

Honestly, I didn’t really care for any of the houses. I would have taken the house with the wacky duel sunrooms because I would love to have a space like that. The couple didn’t seem like a couple. It seemed like they were still in a roommate relationship. There just didn’t seem to be any heat between them. 

[NYGirl]

Ok so I noticed there was a marathon yesterday so I had the TV on before I went out.. watching a couple of them.  There was one..I believe in Des Moines Iowa, a single girl looking for a house with her friend for "moral support".  The first house had a very tiny kitchen where you couldn't open the fridge all the way ..same with the oven door.  The friend, in her infinite wisdom says:  "oh it's so cute.  kitchens don't have to be functional".  I was like.."whaaaaaaa??????  Idiot".  Then she says "well don't not pick a house because of the giant yard".  The house buyer was a single girl ..who was going to do that maintenance?  I just shook my head.

Oh..guess which house she chose?

[aliya]

12 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

Anyway, could see both sides in this one in that I wouldn't want a million major projects but do think the husband wanting to do them with the sons was great. And I like high ceilings/was with the wife on that one.

I forgot about the high ceilings thing. I understand the husband's point about heat/cooling, but gee, dude. Really? He didn't seem like a bad guy, but he was awfully close to being a Hank Hill - and not in a good way. 

eta - single Iowa girl.  When I first came to Iowa, I rented a house with a big yard. I called a yard service company. They did the grass in the summer and the snow in the winter. Problem solved. It seems to me if you can buy a house, you can get a yard guy.

Edited June 11, 2018 by aliya

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, NYGirl said:

The house buyer was a single girl ..who was going to do that maintenance?

Her, or the gardener she hired if she didn't feel like it?

If someone doesn't want a yard - they don't garden, they don't hang out outside, so what's the point - I get that, but the notion that being a single woman makes yard maintenance more of an issue than it is for any other homeowner strikes me as odd. 

[Empress1]

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

Her, or the gardener she hired if she didn't feel like it?

If someone doesn't want a yard - they don't garden, they don't hang out outside, so what's the point - I get that, but the notion that being a single woman makes yard maintenance more of an issue than it is for any other homeowner strikes me as odd. 

And the yard wasn't even that big. It wasn't acres. Women can mow lawns. I used to work with a woman who was one of four daughters and her chore growing up had been mowing the lawn, so she was the one who mowed the lawn when she and her husband bought their first house.

[Kohola3]

12 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

Women can mow lawns.

Nearly 70, single woman, do my own lawn, garden, and snow shoveling - with a shovel, no snowblower for me.  Maybe she grew up, as I did, doing that sort of thing as part of her chores.

[ehall1052]

14 hours ago, MakingBacon said:

The couple didn’t seem like a couple. It seemed like they were still in a roommate relationship. There just didn’t seem to be any heat between them. 

I agree. He even sounded a little sarcastic towards her.

[msmarjoribanks]

16 hours ago, MakingBacon said:

Now it makes it sense. I was going crazy when I was watching the show because I knew her from somewhere. I just thought she was someone I went to school with but didn’t really know. I guess I saw her on a commercial.

Honestly, I didn’t really care for any of the houses. I would have taken the house with the wacky duel sunrooms because I would love to have a space like that. The couple didn’t seem like a couple. It seemed like they were still in a roommate relationship. There just didn’t seem to be any heat between them. 

She looked super familiar to me too, and I never watch commercials so have been googling trying to figure it out with no luck.  I guess it could be a commercial. 

[msmarjoribanks]

On 6/9/2018 at 4:54 PM, aliya said:

I'm watching the woman in the DC area now. I haven't seen pearls like that on a young woman since Barbara Bush was first lady.  I'm from DC and have relatives there. Every now and then, to amuse myself, I look at housing costs there and remember why I decided to stay in Iowa. Oh goodness - she's looking in Herndon? Does she work in Northern Virginia? That's a hike into DC. 

This is the last one I watched, and I enjoyed it because it was so ridiculous.  Re Herndon, it said she worked in downtown DC, but also that she traveled a lot and lots of people are able to work at home part time some of the time now, so could be being near Dulles was useful and that her desire to be closer to DC is more social, who knows.  Anyway, she didn't seem that bothered by the location so I guess it was worth the tradeoff.

I sometimes take classes at a local library (with a great historical collection) that has a bunch of them and also, apparently, DAR meetings, and recently a young woman walked in thinking we were the DAR meeting and she was like a dark-haired version of the HHer, so that amused me even though I expect the actual DAR has more of a variety of types.

The focus on her family being here since the 1600s so she wants an old house, maybe even 100 years old! was a little bit of a disconnect, as was her focus on old so colonial and then looking at colonial style (or sort of colonial style) houses built in the 1920s and 1940s (which are simply using the style in the same way a colonial built today could be) -- but then I think she realized it was the just look she wanted and so went with the 1992 place, which seemed to make sense for her, although it was a different style, obviously.

Anyway, I thought she made the right choice for what she really wanted, since she clearly wanted space over location, and the first one was probably too large and going to be much more work.   I also am sympathetic to wanting a charming old house (I did too) and space for certain things (I would have loved a library, although I didn't end up wanting the size of house I would have needed to get a real one, and wasn't willing to trade location for space to that extent anyway).  The back yard in the house she got was nice, also.

[juliet73]

21 hours ago, MakingBacon said:

The couple didn’t seem like a couple. It seemed like they were still in a roommate relationship. There just didn’t seem to be any heat between them. 

 

7 hours ago, ehall1052 said:

I agree. He even sounded a little sarcastic towards her.

In the beginning segment, I thought it was strange that he said "she was the most outgoing person he's ever met!" because she seemed very monotoned.  Honestly, both of them had drippy personalities.  So I guess he must have been being sarcastic.

[LittleIggy]

The Modesto couple seemed nice, although I was getting sick of her saying “cozy.” ? 

I thought sellers usually painted the walls something neutral in order to facilitate a sale. Those rooms were painted terrible colors.  And black trim? ::shudder:: 

[msmarjoribanks]

Yeah, those colors were crazy.  Guess the sellers didn't want to bother.

Choice seemed reasonable for their needs/wants, especially if they might have more kids.

Wife also thought everything was "nice," but I appreciated that she was generally focusing on the positives in all of them.  Granted, I'm sure I'd sound like a babbling fool if I had to try to express opinions on everything I saw when house hunting and knew I was being filmed (I'd probably just get tongue tied, which is why I wouldn't be a good choice, among other reasons).  They did seem like a really nice (heh) couple.

[msmarjoribanks]

Watched rerun that I hadn't seen before, Cincinnati dietician.

First, wow, Cinci seems cheap.

Second, perfect example of my complaints about the neighborhood thing.  She wanted a neighborhood it seemed she couldn't quite afford (Hyde Park), saw one in a close by neighborhood that was a bit cheaper (Oakley) and had most of the things she wanted with a few flaws (kitchen, only one bath), saw one in the target that was above budget and still right on the highway, and then saw a third neighborhood (Westwood) that was WAY under budget.  (Seems like the first two are established neighborhoods, the first one cheaper, and right next to each other on the same side of town -- maybe like your Lincoln Park and Lakeview in Chicago, except way cheaper.  The third seems like it's up and coming (or gentrifying) and has stuff to do, but not quite there yet, and surrounded by less desirable areas -- maybe like, I dunno, Pilsen in Chicago.)  This is really probably an unavoidable thing given that it's only 22 mins and you only see three houses, but I like seeing like to like when the huge difference in what money buys is due to neighborhood (which we can't really see), I would think two places in Oakley and maybe the one in HP to see that it's not affordable would be good, as she's going to be picking between what's available there.  Because in real life, if you decide to broaden a search to a neighborhood you aren't sold on, you are going to be sure to look at multiple houses there -- if the place she saw was $140K, I'd bet there was really amazing stuff available in her budget. But of course she probably never looked there or wasn't interested in looking there.

On the other hand, now I have a better sense of Cinci neighborhoods (to a tiny degree anyway), so maybe this is more thinking aloud than complaining! Mostly I just want them to identify the neighborhoods and how that relates to price, and they did that here, so I withdraw the term "complaints."

[aliya]

On 6/10/2018 at 10:02 PM, Bastet said:

Her, or the gardener she hired if she didn't feel like it?

If someone doesn't want a yard - they don't garden, they don't hang out outside, so what's the point - I get that, but the notion that being a single woman makes yard maintenance more of an issue than it is for any other homeowner strikes me as odd. 

My 41 yr old son doesn't want to do lawn work (we both live in the same townhouse community) so I get it's not a male/female thing. It just drives me nuts when they look at a big yard and say, "How am I going to do this?" If you don't want to do it, no problem, hire someone. If you like mowing and weeding, but the yard is too big for you, that's fine, too. It's just like they always make them say this stuff without thinking through it. When I rented the house with the lawn and hired someone, I was happy to have someone do it. When I bought my place, I knew I didn't want to deal with a lawn and that, being a homeowner, I'd probably want to spend my money on other stuff, so I picked a place where the condo association takes care of most of it and I only have a teeny bit of lawn area with plants in front of my place. I didn't cry about it, I just knew what I wanted and looked at for that kind of housing without wasting my and my agent's time.

[ByaNose]

On 6/7/2018 at 10:33 PM, Pickles said:

The Memphis couple. I just saw the last few minutes. Her voice would drive me nuts. What did they do for a living? They had a big budget for a young couple.

Just watched. Major (and, so annoying) vocal fry. OMG! That said, I wouldn’t go on tv because people would have a field day with my voice. It ain’t vocal fry but annoying nevertheless. LOL!!!!

Edited June 13, 2018 by ByaNose

[LittleIggy]

The couple buying in that Chicago bedroom community: What was up with that staircase? That was so freaking weird! I can’t even imagine why it was like that. And the fake brickwork. ?Was their dog Jack an Italian Greyhound? I had a sweet IG named Claudia for almost 17 years (from puppyhood). She died 6 years ago, and I still miss her every day.

[Empress1]

On 6/12/2018 at 12:41 AM, LittleIggy said:

The Modesto couple seemed nice, although I was getting sick of her saying “cozy.” ? 

I thought sellers usually painted the walls something neutral in order to facilitate a sale. Those rooms were painted terrible colors.  And black trim? ::shudder:: 

The paint in that house was awful, but I was glad they picked the bigger house. 1000 square feet with three people, including a growing (adorable) daughter, seems too small - it was likely smaller than the rental they were in. I was sad that he didn't get his gas stove though!

[msmarjoribanks]

Floral Park -- I wish it had been on Renovations, as I'd like to see how that house turns out (and what it costs).

They called the first and third in budget and the middle one not, but I bet the one they got won't be once it's done.  Doesn't make it a bad choice, as then they get exactly what they want, but just seemed a bit wrong given the extent of renos they thought (reasonably, in this case) it needed.

As an aside, the benches near the fireplace were super weird.