House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[msmarjoribanks]

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

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.

I wish they'd gone up it.  I think they said it was used as an office, so I was thinking maybe a way up to what was the office without going through the house?

Based on location I was pretty sure that was the one.  The other two had major location issues that would have made more of a difference than price (clearly they could have made an in-budget offer on the third one) or style.

[MaKaM]

3 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

I wish they'd gone up it.  I think they said it was used as an office, so I was thinking maybe a way up to what was the office without going through the house?

Based on location I was pretty sure that was the one.  The other two had major location issues that would have made more of a difference than price (clearly they could have made an in-budget offer on the third one) or style.

My aunt and uncle lived in Glen Ellyn so it was nice to see it on TV again. I forgot how many trees there are out there. So green. My aunt and uncle lived by Lake Ellyn, so definitely no walking to the train station and the prices are, whew. This couple seemed lucky they were finding such reasonably priced places (for the area). I also really love the variety of architecture in the area--something more than endless tract colonials is such a treat.

[chocolatine]

Did my eyes play a trick on me, or did the Modesto couple get a *white* fridge installed in their new house? I thought non-stainless-steel appliances were so universally reviled that they would have been taken off the market by now. ;)

[msmarjoribanks]

6 hours ago, MaKaM said:

My aunt and uncle lived in Glen Ellyn so it was nice to see it on TV again. I forgot how many trees there are out there. So green. My aunt and uncle lived by Lake Ellyn, so definitely no walking to the train station and the prices are, whew. This couple seemed lucky they were finding such reasonably priced places (for the area). I also really love the variety of architecture in the area--something more than endless tract colonials is such a treat.

Yeah -- I'm woefully ignorant about all but a few suburbs so sometimes the Chicago suburb ones prompt me to do a redfin search out of curiosity.  I did a higher price range, admittedly, and looked at what seems to me a nice distance from the train station and town area, and there are some great older houses.  I didn't realize that was available there.

[WendyCR72]

The topic of misogyny does not belong here. Keep to the topic of the show, which is about house hunting. If there is an issue, please either use the board's ignore feature, scroll, or PM me.

Thank you.

[Pickles]

The Nashville episode on tonight. I wasn't completely focused on this, but I thought their budget was $500k but everything they looked at was in the $300k range. And they wanted a rental apartment in their house as a way to make money? Ack. I would never want to share my house like that. 

[irisheyes]

Nashville couple - I was confused too by the $500K budget, yet finding homes in the mid 300’s. If you’re saving $150K on a home, do you really need the rental?  Wouldn’t you have already made up those savings in the mortgage?  I was expecting them to go buy a half a million dollar house and crow about how they got their rental space. So, I guess only spending $370K and getting a rental unit isn’t bad.

The husband was annoying me with his “crown molding is so distracting”.  You’re not going to find a Chicago style loft in Nashville, and certainly not one with a rental unit. 

[LittleIggy]

I saw the episode about the Austin Emilys and that crack house...I mean fixer-upper they bought. I would love to see an update on that one.

[SpiritSong]

On 6/12/2018 at 7:00 PM, ByaNose said:

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!!!!

 

I've been reading people complaining about vocal fry forever, and I still have absolutely no idea what it is. I saw the Modesto episode and I don't remember anything about her voice. Is vocal fry a natural phenomenon (like a deeper voice) or some sort of affectation people use? I just assume people use their normal speaking voice. I think it would be exhausting to constantly speak in other than your normal voice.

Maybe I'm just oblivious, because it sure seems to annoy a lot of people.

Edited June 14, 2018 by SpiritSong
Modesto is not Memphis!

[SpiritSong]

9 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Did my eyes play a trick on me, or did the Modesto couple get a *white* fridge installed in their new house? I thought non-stainless-steel appliances were so universally reviled that they would have been taken off the market by now. ;)

I noticed that too and thought good for you! I actually prefer black appliances but my fridge and microwave are going to have to die before they can match my newish black stove. I'm not getting rid of perfectly good appliances because of their color.

[msmarjoribanks]

7 hours ago, irisheyes said:

Nashville couple - I was confused too by the $500K budget, yet finding homes in the mid 300’s. If you’re saving $150K on a home, do you really need the rental?  Wouldn’t you have already made up those savings in the mortgage?  I was expecting them to go buy a half a million dollar house and crow about how they got their rental space. So, I guess only spending $370K and getting a rental unit isn’t bad.

The husband was annoying me with his “crown molding is so distracting”.  You’re not going to find a Chicago style loft in Nashville, and certainly not one with a rental unit. 

Everything you said.

My impression is that they didn't really want a rental unit, but an unit they could air bnb.  They said they wanted it to be convenient for tourists at one point, and mentioned meeting lots of interesting people.  Based on that, maybe the real idea was for the wife not to get another job, but do the work associated with that (plus the photography stuff she mentioned at the beginning, but which seemed to be dropped), but that's just speculation and I'm not sure why they wouldn't just say it.  In any case, if $500K with a rental unit is fine, surely low $300s without would have been in budget, so I also found that part weird.

Beyond that, they didn't seem to have researched the local housing market, and an actual house that is industrial loft style is rare enough in Chicago, I would never expect to be able to find it in Nashville, let alone one that came with an extra unit.  I wouldn't like that double lot thing, but research would have shown if it was common and in what neighborhoods. I also wouldn't assume it was easy to find a house with a rental unit, although they got it, good for them.  

[Kohola3]

5 hours ago, SpiritSong said:

some sort of affectation people use

Affectation.  Apparently they want to sound like the Kardashians.

15 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Did my eyes play a trick on me, or did the Modesto couple get a *white* fridge installed in their new house?

I know, the horror!  I am apparently the only human in North America to deliberately choose all white appliances for my new house.  

1 hour ago, msmarjoribanks said:

They said they wanted it to be convenient for tourists at one point, and mentioned meeting lots of interesting people. 

I rolled my eyes at that.  People that do Airbnb are not there to visit with the owners - most of them want nothing to do with the owners.  Even renters don't want to hang out with their landlords.

[laredhead]

With regard to the Chicago episode, I would not think there is any way that staircase would have been permitted or within a building code.  Maybe it must have been only for attic access before the attic was converted to bedrooms. There was a brief snippet showing her stepping up on a bottom stair before they toured the upstairs.  He probably won't go upstairs much because he could barely stand up straight on the second floor.  I was laughing at the realtor because every time they were critical about a feature, he would immediately turn around and steer them somewhere else with a super positive phrase.  That house was odd in so many ways, including that cheap looking 70's paneling in many of the rooms.

The hostas were lovely, and I wondered why the husband said most of them would have to go.  

[KLovestoShop]

The Nashville husband made me stabby.  I swear “industrial” came out of his mouth every ten words. And I hate to tell them but industrial lofts don’t have rental apartments.  And then, with every house he kept saying “I don’t know why she brought us here.  It’s not my industrial loft”.  Get real. 

[CruiseDiva]

I wanted to smack that Nashville wife in the face with the "help wanted" section of the local newspaper. She kept saying they "needed" rental income to help with the mortgage because she didn't have a job and then talked about building a rental unit in the back yard of that one house. How stupid was that?

[LittleIggy]

Haven’t lived there in over 20 years, but there might be some lofts down by the river in Nashville, but I’m sure they are expensive. At first, I thought they wanted a rental unit so they could have a long term tenant not for short term rentals. Why would a tourist want to be that far from the downtown scene?

13 minutes ago, CruiseDiva said:

I wanted to smack that Nashville wife in the face with the "help wanted" section of the local newspaper. She kept saying they "needed" rental income to help with the mortgage because she didn't have a job and then talked about building a rental unit in the back yard of that one house. How stupid was that?

Didn’t she say she worked in the healthcare industry (not the medical side)? HCA is headquartered in Nashville.

[MsTree]

On ‎6‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 11:43 PM, SpiritSong said:

I've been reading people complaining about vocal fry forever, and I still have absolutely no idea what it is. I saw the Modesto episode and I don't remember anything about her voice. Is vocal fry a natural phenomenon (like a deeper voice) or some sort of affectation people use?

Some people just pick up buzz words and repeat them like a tweet. 

My guess is that they don't like the way certain HHs sound...the tone of their voice.

[msmarjoribanks]

Vocal fry is a real thing. But I think we are supposed to discuss it in the chat thread and I've been wanting to go over there, so will comment further there. Personally, however, the Memphis househunter's voice didn't strike me as bothersome at the time and I don't really remember anything about other than it was quite southern (I'm currently working a lot with some people from Mississippi, so I'm used to it and like different ways of speaking, so not saying that as a negative).

I'm sure I'd do all kinds of things that would get called out if I were on the show (for example, I see no reason to dress up for house hunting and mostly did in yoga pants and a big sweater), and would probably make inane comments.

I've been DVRing the episodes and one I found on my DVR was the DC woman (late 20s, African American) who searched for a rowhouse with her mom.  I was multi-tasking a bit so missed the bit at the beginning but it seemed she was going to live with a boyfriend but her mom was helping her.  Made me wonder if the show chose that, as she and her mom were funny together and her bf (assuming he was who I think he was) seemed quiet.  If he was just going to defer to her and the mom was clearly going to be opinionated, then I bet the show was involved.

Fun episode, she chose the fixer-upper in the neighborhood she wanted (the one her mom was against), which is the choice I would have made given the options (without knowing the neighborhoods which weren't stated and assuming a good and thorough inspection without red flags and a budget to do the reno). High prices/small sq footage, but that's DC. It's another one where I would have liked to see how the reno turned out in more detail. The seemingly improperly installed skylight she wasn't apparently doing anything about would have been my biggest concern (in addition to possible unseen things). Hopefully the issues with it were not so great in reality.

[LittleIggy]

I just saw that DC episode on demand and don’t remember any boyfriend. There was the homebuyer and her parents and the real estate agent. Oh, and her dog! I would like to see how the renovation turned out, too.

[msmarjoribanks]

Oh, probably I'm an idiot.  The mother kept going on about her and Kingsley moving in, and so I assumed there was a bf I missed and thought maybe the guy I'd assumed was her dad was her bf.  (In my defense I was multi-tasking at the beginning so never really looked at the dad.)

Kingsley must have been the dog?

[slasherboy]

On 6/13/2018 at 4:23 PM, chocolatine said:

Did my eyes play a trick on me, or did the Modesto couple get a *white* fridge installed in their new house? I thought non-stainless-steel appliances were so universally reviled that they would have been taken off the market by now. ;)

I've been in my brand new home only since  December, but I purposely chose an entirely white kitchen and a white washer and dryer in my laundry room.  Builder said, "Are you absolutely sure?"

 

On 6/14/2018 at 1:43 AM, SpiritSong said:

Maybe I'm just oblivious, because it sure seems to annoy a lot of people.

You can go to YouTube and type in "vocal fry" and you'll be able to see and hear some samplings.

[LittleIggy]

10 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

Oh, probably I'm an idiot.  The mother kept going on about her and Kingsley moving in, and so I assumed there was a bf I missed and thought maybe the guy I'd assumed was her dad was her bf.  (In my defense I was multi-tasking at the beginning so never really looked at the dad.)

Kingsley must have been the dog?

Yep, Kingsley was the dog! 

If her nursing job was in Fort Worth, why was the buyer purchasing a home in Dallas?

[hoosier80]

The new college graduate, moving to Dallas for her nursing job (which was in Fort Worth), had a 400 or 450k budget?  I had squat when I got my first job and got a cheap apartment.  Granted, I was in retail management (damned recession - it was the best I could do with my business degree at that time).    She was a nurse anesthetist, so I had to google the starting salaries (found it for the state of TX), roughly 150k.  She had to have family helping her or had a small trust fund?  Plus, she said she had student loans to pay off.  

The townhouse was nice, but I thought it was expensive.  The single family home would have been a better investment I think, but I am not familiar with the area.

[Kohola3]

9 minutes ago, hoosier80 said:

She had to have family helping her or had a small trust fund?  Plus, she said she had student loans to pay off.  

I was flabbergasted.  There was something fishy there. 

I was a nurse for my entire career and even at the top of the pay scale there is no way I could afford a house costing that much.  Even without the student loans!

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, hoosier80 said:

The new college graduate, moving to Dallas for her nursing job (which was in Fort Worth), had a 400 or 450k budget?  I had squat when I got my first job and got a cheap apartment.  Granted, I was in retail management (damned recession - it was the best I could do with my business degree at that time). She was a nurse anesthetist, so I had to google the starting salaries (found it for the state of TX), roughly 150k.  She had to have family helping her or had a small trust fund? 

When I bought my house in 2012, I was approved for 5x my yearly income (though I refused to go that high), and only had to show pay stubs for the previous two months. I figured the Dallas HH was already working at her job when she applied for the mortgage, but not necessarily for a long time. If she's indeed making $150k/year and has good credit, her budget doesn't seem that implausible.

[Kohola3]

56 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

When I bought my house in 2012, I was approved for 5x my yearly income

Wow, times certainly have changed!  When I bought my first house in 1981 they would only approve twice my income.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Kohola3
spelling

[Ohwell]

57 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

When I bought my house in 2012, I was approved for 5x my yearly income (though I refused to go that high), and only had to show pay stubs for the previous two months. I figured the Dallas HH was already working at her job when she applied for the mortgage, but not necessarily for a long time. If she's indeed making $150k/year and has good credit, her budget doesn't seem that implausible.

Yeah, I didn't think it was that implausible to get approved for what amounts to 3x her yearly income (assuming she makes $150k).  The mystery would be how much student loan debt she has.  However, if I had been in her shoes I would have gone for a smaller townhouse or condo (not a single family home though because maintenance would be my worry) and lower price for my first home.  But that's just me. ; )  

6 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Wow, times certainly have changed!  When I bought my first house in 1981 they would only approve twice my income.

Yeah, I remember when it was 3x the income, but 5x is kinda scary. 

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, hoosier80 said:

The new college graduate, moving to Dallas for her nursing job (which was in Fort Worth), had a 400 or 450k budget?  I had squat when I got my first job and got a cheap apartment.  Granted, I was in retail management (damned recession - it was the best I could do with my business degree at that time).    She was a nurse anesthetist, so I had to google the starting salaries (found it for the state of TX), roughly 150k.  She had to have family helping her or had a small trust fund?  Plus, she said she had student loans to pay off.  

The townhouse was nice, but I thought it was expensive.  The single family home would have been a better investment I think, but I am not familiar with the area.

Actually, she said she had just graduated as a Nurse Anesthetist.  That means she already has an RN and may well have worked a year or two first. As a CRNA, her starting salary is easily at least $100,000, probably closer to $150,000.

[msmarjoribanks]

2 hours ago, doodlebug said:

Actually, she said she had just graduated as a Nurse Anesthetist.  That means she already has an RN and may well have worked a year or two first. As a CRNA, her starting salary is easily at least $100,000, probably closer to $150,000.

Yeah, that's what I assumed -- had worked, went back to school to specialize.

That said, it drove me crazy (although I guess was due to what she'd actually purchased) that she gave her list of desires, the realtor insisted she knew exactly what she wanted, and then proceeded to show her two places that were over budget (one $68K over budget, and if she knew it was over-priced and would come down nearly $50K potentially, she should have said), and another place that was not in the location she wanted and a SFH, which she didn't want (and with a yard and pool she apparently did not want).  I find it hard to believe there wouldn't have been some less than $400K condos to show.  (Yeah, yeah, I know that part is fake.)

She probably makes a good income, but has a brand new job and is young enough that I would not assume she has a prior sale to have a good downpayment or a lot saved, so the realtor pushing her to way exceed her budget bugged me.  

Also, I question the wisdom of moving to a brand new city you don't know at all and know no one in and immediately buying a house at the top of your budget, especially when you are single so could compromise on space for a while.  Why not live there for a year and figure out where exactly you want to live, where your real social life ends up being, what the commuting situation is like, that you don't end up hating your job, etc.  Heck, figure out what real expenses are.  I hope it works out, but the whole thing rang warning bells.

[LittleIggy]

Still wonder why buy a house in Dallas but commute 30 minutes to Fort Worth. Any D-FW people who could shed some light on this. I’ve heard that Dallas traffic is awful.

[msmarjoribanks]

Saw that single girl in Iowa one.  I thought she was pretty sensible and aware of what she liked/what mattered to her vs. what you are supposed to want/what's in style, so I liked her.

The yard, yeah, my first thought is if you don't want to do it, hire someone, but I get thinking it's my yard, I should be able and willing to keep it nice, and I think that was her feeling.  Some think it's wrong to farm out responsibilities like cleaning and yard work and just don't feel comfortable doing that (however, I am not one of those people).

That kitchen she ended up with would have driven me crazy (I thought her friend was saying it WASN'T functional, and the HH was too apt to ignore that and see the positive), but if she knows she doesn't care that much about a big kitchen, makes sense to spend the money on other things.  Long-term that could be a "combine the kitchen and dining to get more space" kind of house, but she wasn't someone who needed it perfectly renovated before moving in rather than waiting 'til she's lived there a while and decides if she needs some major reno and saves up the money.

I thought her desire for carpet was great, and her friend's "carpet is inherently filthy" thing weird. (I wanted hard wood, but was completely on the HH's side -- if you like carpet, it's fine, not disgusting, for heaven's sake!  I mean, I have rugs, and I don't think they are somehow disgusting.)

[Empress1]

18 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

Yeah, that's what I assumed -- had worked, went back to school to specialize.

That said, it drove me crazy (although I guess was due to what she'd actually purchased) that she gave her list of desires, the realtor insisted she knew exactly what she wanted, and then proceeded to show her two places that were over budget (one $68K over budget, and if she knew it was over-priced and would come down nearly $50K potentially, she should have said), and another place that was not in the location she wanted and a SFH, which she didn't want (and with a yard and pool she apparently did not want).  I find it hard to believe there wouldn't have been some less than $400K condos to show.  (Yeah, yeah, I know that part is fake.)

She probably makes a good income, but has a brand new job and is young enough that I would not assume she has a prior sale to have a good downpayment or a lot saved, so the realtor pushing her to way exceed her budget bugged me.  

Also, I question the wisdom of moving to a brand new city you don't know at all and know no one in and immediately buying a house at the top of your budget, especially when you are single so could compromise on space for a while.  Why not live there for a year and figure out where exactly you want to live, where your real social life ends up being, what the commuting situation is like, that you don't end up hating your job, etc.  Heck, figure out what real expenses are.  I hope it works out, but the whole thing rang warning bells.

I agree. In her shoes, I'd have rented a reasonably nice but inexpensive one-bedroom for a year and saved/paid down my loans as I got to know the city. I think that's good advice for anyone who is moving to a new city - if you don't know it, take the time to get to know it so you can establish your rhythms, favorite neighborhoods, etc. I would never just up and buy a place in a city I didn't know at all. I mean, I imagine a nurse anesthetist can work anywhere - what if she ends up hating Dallas?

[LittleIggy]

I just saw the Cape Girardeau episode with the 2 kitchen/2laundry room woman. I read the older posts about it, and agree with everybody. Why on earth did they need a house that big? Bet she bugged hubby to hire a cleaning woman.

[CruiseDiva]

8 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I agree. In her shoes, I'd have rented a reasonably nice but inexpensive one-bedroom for a year and saved/paid down my loans as I got to know the city. I think that's good advice for anyone who is moving to a new city - if you don't know it, take the time to get to know it so you can establish your rhythms, favorite neighborhoods, etc. I would never just up and buy a place in a city I didn't know at all. I mean, I imagine a nurse anesthetist can work anywhere - what if she ends up hating Dallas?

Renting a nice townhouse, condo or apartment would have made more sense. One thing not mentioned was the HOA on the over budget townhouse she bought. Plus, she had very little in the way of furniture.

I had to laugh when she talked about her friends from Augusta, GA visiting her because "it's only a two hour flight from Atlanta." True, but it's a two hour drive from Augusta to the airport in Atlanta or a very expensive fare if you fly from Augusta. I know this because I live near Augusta.

[ByaNose]

7 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

Renting a nice townhouse, condo or apartment would have made more sense. One thing not mentioned was the HOA on the over budget townhouse she bought. Plus, she had very little in the way of furniture.

I had to laugh when she talked about her friends from Augusta, GA visiting her because "it's only a two hour flight from Atlanta." True, but it's a two hour drive from Augusta to the airport in Atlanta or a very expensive fare if you fly from Augusta. I know this because I live near Augusta.

Yeah, people always think their friends are going to fly in every weekend. They might do it once but then life gets in the way. I agree I would have done a rental for a year or so to see if you like the place and/or state you are living in. I'd love to know where she got all the money to begin with. That's serious coin.

[msmarjoribanks]

Watched Puyallup (from earlier this year).  I have family in the Pacific NW, so was interested for that reason.

I thought it was transparently obvious from the beginning that they were going to take the vintage place in town.  In fact, I bet they decided to buy and sell when that place went on the market.  The other two were completely wrong based on the location they said they wanted.

Yet another where I'd love to see the final product, although I imagine they will be working on it for years (which is how I'd do it).

[TVForever]

On 6/15/2018 at 2:34 PM, msmarjoribanks said:

Oh, probably I'm an idiot.  The mother kept going on about her and Kingsley moving in, and so I assumed there was a bf I missed and thought maybe the guy I'd assumed was her dad was her bf.  (In my defense I was multi-tasking at the beginning so never really looked at the dad.)

Kingsley must have been the dog?

If I remember the episode correctly, the mother kept going on about how she wanted her daughter to have a “ family home” that she could grow into, instead of a townhouse. I think she even touted a room as a possible future nursery. That’s probably why you’re thinking a boyfriend was involved. But the daughter was focused on her friends, her cute little dog, and a townhouse that she could maintain. She mostly rolled her eyes at her mother’s “future family” spiel.

[topanga]

The Salt Lake City couple was interesting. The wife was cute and seemed a little quirky and unique. The husband was funny and pretty cute—he looked like the love child of an NFL offensive lineman and a lumberjack.

Nothing mind blowing about their home choices—I was actually more intrigued by the two of them. They met on social media, and the husband implied that he used to be somewhat a player, but his wife made him ‘change his ways.’ I hope that’s true. They really seem to like each other, so I hope those crazy kids make it. 

I do wonder if they’re Mormon. How many people from Salt Lake City actually are? I feel like I’m being prejudiced by assuming the religion of everyone from Utah.

[Empress1]

Black same-sex couple in Chicago looking for a house. One of them wanted two rooms for her pole-dancing fitness hobby AND for crocheting. How much space does yarn take up? Can't you just get some baskets and keep it moving? I mostly liked her because she wasn't down with the open floor plan, but a crochet room struck me as silly.

I loved the older home they looked at but it did need work - the carpet was fugly. One of them said it looked like vomit and she wasn't wrong. They ended up in a new build, as I suspected they would.

[Ohwell]

Chicago woman was really serious about her pole dancing.  She was pretty good at it.  I figured they'd take the new build.

[LittleIggy]

7 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Chicago woman was really serious about her pole dancing.  She was pretty good at it.  I figured they'd take the new build.

She was teaching a class so I guess it was more than a hobby. Their little dog was so cute. Liked their pick.

Edited June 19, 2018 by LittleIggy

[msmarjoribanks]

The two rooms for her hobbies was silly, as there was no reason they couldn't both be in one.  I figured that was in there for drama and she'd decide the same thing.

I liked her too because of the anti open concept and because what she wanted was what I tend to like (Bronzeville has amazing and affordable vintage and they didn't do it justice with what they showed).  Based on what they showed I thought the second place was the right choice and was pretty sure that's what they'd go with.  The first needed too much rehab.  Also loved the dog and thought it was great that they acknowledged the small front yard was sufficient in that he (or she) was a tiny little guy.

[LittleIggy]

That real estate agent in Austin was seven feet tall! ?Poor guy must hate showing really old homes with low ceilings. 

I liked the place they picked but hate poured concrete floors. Give me hardwood any day of the week. That yard was small but there was enough room for a grill to barbecue and a place for a table.

[Empress1]

The guy in the Austin couple was very good-looking, but did I hear they'd only been dating a year? Seems like a big step to buy a place together at that stage of a relationship.

I don't like concrete floors either, and I never like the mosaic tile backsplash. It felt even busier to me with the black counters, for some reason. But the layout of the house was great.

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, Empress1 said:

The guy in the Austin couple was very good-looking, but did I hear they'd only been dating a year? Seems like a big step to buy a place together at that stage of a relationship.

 

I was thinking the same thing. A year seems a bit early for buying a house together. Hope they stay together.

[chessiegal]

57 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

I was thinking the same thing. A year seems a bit early for buying a house together. Hope they stay together.

Hope they found a good real estate attorney to write up their contract.

[doodlebug]

5 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Hope they found a good real estate attorney to write up their contract.

Well, she was an attorney, though not a real estate specialist, so she probably knew someone.  I cannot imagine what would motivate anyone to jointly purchase a home with someone they’ve known for only a year without a marriage license, too.

[Ohwell]

Austin couple.  I didn't really care about any of the houses, I was too busy looking at the boyfriend, and even the tall real estate guy was cute.   

I hope there's a backstory that we don't know about and they actually were planning a wedding.  Otherwise, like others have said, it made no sense to purchase a home together.  I think in the intro she said they had been living in her place but it was too small, so they should have just rented a larger apartment for the time being until they were sure they wanted to get married. 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

I cannot imagine what would motivate anyone to jointly purchase a home with someone they’ve known for only a year without a marriage license, too.

So long as they do the documents properly, dealing with the house isn't any more of a mess if they split up than it would be if they divorced.  A year is a year; if it's hasty to buy a house together after only dating for a year (which, I agree), it's hasty to get married and buy a house together after only dating for a year.

[rhofmovalley]

On 6/19/2018 at 9:35 AM, Empress1 said:

Black same-sex couple in Chicago looking for a house. One of them wanted two rooms for her pole-dancing fitness hobby AND for crocheting. How much space does yarn take up? Can't you just get some baskets and keep it moving? I mostly liked her because she wasn't down with the open floor plan, but a crochet room struck me as silly.

I loved the older home they looked at but it did need work - the carpet was fugly. One of them said it looked like vomit and she wasn't wrong. They ended up in a new build, as I suspected they would.

One of my friends crochets and you would not believe the amount of yarn this man has. It takes up an entire wall of the living room. Every time he starts a new project he buys yarn instead of checking to see if he already has the color and texture he needs.