House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[doodlebug]

20 minutes ago, Bastet said:

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.

True, but, if they've gotten married, I would hope that means they're made a commitment to being together long term.  Not that there aren't many couples who don't marry but stay together for many years; but, it seems to me, that, once they've walked down the aisle, they are both on the same page about the relationship being long term.  Probably wishful thinking on my part.

[chessiegal]

Considering the divorce rate in the US is 40-50%, I don't see getting married as insuring a long term relationship. If 2 people see the home as an investment or have other reasons to buy, good for them. We don't know the whole backstory of people on this show.

[scootypuffjr]

Shallow post of the day

Black same sex couple in Chicago.  It was nice to see they both wore their hair natural - I think it's pretty and attractive, and actually somewhat unusual these days. There have been times I've forgotten that black ladies do not, as a rule, have naturally straight black hair. And did the pole dancer/crocheter wife win the genetic lottery or what? She was absolutely gorgeous, with a stunning figure to boot. Must be nice. I was happy they did not pick the first house, which I thought was beautiful - I was scared the other wife would get to knock down the walls she wanted as a compromise, and ruin all that was wonderful about that house. But they didn't choose that one, so there is someone out there who got themselves a really lovely house, and I can pretend that they kept all the original features. I was surprised at how nice all the houses were, and relatively inexpensive as well. And yes, I know a few knitters and crocheters, they can amass tremendous quantities of yarn.

Austin couple - I don't remember a whole lot about that episode; I spent the entire time staring at the cute realtor, wondering exactly how tall he was. It was very distracting, lol. As someone said, he had to be pushing 7 feet; he had to duck to walk through a doorway, which I believe the standard (don't quote me on this) is 6'8". It must be terribly hard to be so far outside the norm, finding clothes, cars, furniture etc must be difficult and expensive. I hope he is a real good realtor, but no matter how well he does, I doubt he makes as much as a basketball player or other very large athletes.  If I remember correctly, it was one of those episodes where all the houses were nice, and I did like the exterior of the one they picked, though I'm not sure it would have been my choice

[Mountainair]

The Chicago couple was gorgeous! It seemed to me like  a pole room was a bit of a crazy ask but she made it work. If I'm going to be pole dancing, exercising I'd prefer to do it in my own home instead of in front of people but her body was banging so she didn't have anything to worry about :)

The Austin couple realtor was tall- all legs was the thing I noticed. My husband is 6'4 and that guy was way taller than my husband!

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, VanSensei said:

WAIT.

 

What general manager job pays enough to afford an almost million-dollar house? Are they hiring?

Yes, they are in Oahu, so I'd be paying more yearly than college tuition for essentially, a cardboard box with a toilet and stove, but are they hiring?

I couldn’t believe that dump sold for $800,000! Remember the guys in St. Louis who bought a historic mansion for a lot less that that.

[juliet73]

The Austin realtor is 7'2. He used to play college basketball.

[msmarjoribanks]

The houses in the Austin episode were all fine, and I find them running together in my head, but I recall thinking they made a good choice for them.  

Also watched a Chicago one with a couple who met in law school (he was a lawyer, she wasn't) looking in the South Loop and getting Pilsen. I enjoyed seeing a property in Pilsen (and thought it was the obvious pick of the three).  Weird episode in that they didn't mention assessments, I don't think, and the third place the husband was so into (with tiny bathrooms and no in-unit laundry but great views) absolutely had to have very high assessments.  The first place likely would have had assessments that played into the differences too, and that plus the parking issue meant Pilsen was the only place they looked at actually in their budget, as well as the largest.

[Pickles]

The Hawaii episode last night. Omg, the prices! I knew they would be outrageous, but I was still pretty shocked to see the house they chose and the condition it was in and the price. And it was right by the freeway! And it was pretty tiny--was it 1100 square feet? Over $800k. I was wondering how they could afford it. He was a musician. She was a hotel manager of some kind (I may have that wrong). They were doing so much work on the house and then talking about building up in the future. $$$$

[msmarjoribanks]

On 5/16/2018 at 8:31 AM, doodlebug said:

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.

They replayed this recently and my DVR caught it.  You forgot that the guy ALSO was a great cook.  Heh, I had the same thought.

I like it when people look at houses to reno, but I'd also love to see the follow-up.  I thought the first house was boring (things about it looked much like the one I grew up in, which was also 70s era, although our garage was less overwhelming and ours also wasn't as big). I also would have found all the outdoor stuff (the giant hot tub, pool, I think there was more stuff) a bit of a turnoff and hassle, given that I wouldn't have wanted to pay for all that.  The second one was super cute -- it's my aesthetic too (or one of them) -- but given they were only going to be there 3 years I thought the third was the right choice and offered likely the most potential for really transforming it and increasing value with some relatively easy renos.  And the yard in the second one was lacking for Spokane, whereas the third one had an amazing yard.

[twinks]

2 hours ago, Pickles said:

The Hawaii episode last night. Omg, the prices! I knew they would be outrageous, but I was still pretty shocked to see the house they chose and the condition it was in and the price. And it was right by the freeway! And it was pretty tiny--was it 1100 square feet? Over $800k. I was wondering how they could afford it. He was a musician. She was a hotel manager of some kind (I may have that wrong). They were doing so much work on the house and then talking about building up in the future. $$$$

This made no sense at all. That house didn't have anything on their wish list. Talk about a gut job! It looked as though they were totally rebuilding the house. They would have to end up way over budget of $900k.

[CruiseDiva]

1 hour ago, twinks said:

This made no sense at all. That house didn't have anything on their wish list. Talk about a gut job! It looked as though they were totally rebuilding the house. They would have to end up way over budget of $900k.

Well, the wife probably didn't see it very well with those furry false eyelashes.

[Ohwell]

52 minutes ago, CruiseDiva said:

Well, the wife probably didn't see it very well with those furry false eyelashes.

Burn! : )

[ByaNose]

Some people will pay any price to live in Hawaii. That is crazy money for a Money Pit. It looked like they ripped a lot of the rooms down to the studs. I'd like to see the after pictures. That said, they guy didn't sound that great of a singer in their intro package. How in the heck does he make a living to afford a house at that price?

Edited June 21, 2018 by ByaNose

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

Well, the wife probably didn't see it very well with those furry false eyelashes.

Those lashes were really distracting.  When they showed her applying mascara in their too small bathroom, I shouted, 'Noooo!' at the TV, they were so clumped up with goop, she could barely keep her eyes open.  Funny how some people carry that stuff to unattractive extremes.

The house they chose had virtually no redeeming features other than its proximity to the beach and her job.  I guess the reason it had absolutely nothing on their wish list is because nobody wishes for filthy carpet, an outdated kitchen, moldy showers, holes in the walls open to the outside and a freeway running through the front yard.  For once, there really was a house on this show that deserved to be called a 'gut job'.  I cannot imagine how they were able to scrape together a down payment for that place, let alone get a bank to finance the balance.  Essentially, they were paying for the lot.  It must be in one heckuva desirable area, although, what we saw of the neighborhood; ugly chain link fences, broken concrete and dumpsters, didn't look like much to me.

[LittleIggy]

That Hawaii house was about as bad as the house in Austin the two girls with the same name bought. At least they didn’t spend almost a million $ on their house.

[laredhead]

There have been a couple of people on this forum who either live in Hawaii or have lived there, maybe they can give some insight into the location of the house, and how people afford to live there if real estate is this expensive.  I do imagine that living on Ohau and so close to downtown Honolulu is more expensive, but that area did not look like an up and coming area.  

Littleleggy, I would love for this house and the Austin house to be feature on a future HHWATN episode. 

[AlleC17]

On 6/20/2018 at 6:12 PM, LittleIggy said:

I couldn’t believe that dump sold for $800,000! Remember the guys in St. Louis who bought a historic mansion for a lot less that that.

Its on Oahu.  Prices are ridiculously high here.  In some areas, places on small plots of land that are basically tear downs go for upwards of a million, and the place they bought was in  Kaimuki, which is a great location:  very close to Waikiki, Kahala and downtown Honolulu.   I am so grateful I bought my place ages ago.  There is no way I could afford to buy a house here today, and I have a decent salary. 

6 hours ago, laredhead said:

There have been a couple of people on this forum who either live in Hawaii or have lived there, maybe they can give some insight into the location of the house, and how people afford to live there if real estate is this expensive.  I do imagine that living on Ohau and so close to downtown Honolulu is more expensive, but that area did not look like an up and coming area.  

Littleleggy, I would love for this house and the Austin house to be feature on a future HHWATN episode. 

Kaimuki is an older neighborhood.  There are some really nice, old style Hawaiian homes in the area.  This was not one of them.  lol 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 6/21/2018 at 6:18 AM, msmarjoribanks said:

Also watched a Chicago one with a couple who met in law school (he was a lawyer, she wasn't) looking in the South Loop and getting Pilsen. I enjoyed seeing a property in Pilsen (and thought it was the obvious pick of the three).  Weird episode in that they didn't mention assessments, I don't think, and the third place the husband was so into (with tiny bathrooms and no in-unit laundry but great views) absolutely had to have very high assessments.  The first place likely would have had assessments that played into the differences too, and that plus the parking issue meant Pilsen was the only place they looked at actually in their budget, as well as the largest.

That third place was a Mies van der Rohe building!  It caught me by surprise so I couldn't tell if it was the first ones he did, at 860/880 Lake Shore, Drive, or the other ones.  Either way, it would be sooo cool to live in one of them, and I was excited to get a peek inside.  I went on an architecture tour that included 860/880, and the ground-level exterior and lobby are just breathtaking.

[irisheyes]

My cousin and his wife live in Honolulu. Even the rents are ridiculously expensive. They have a teeny, tiny two bedroom, and their rent is ridiculous. But, they post really great pictures of their hikes around the island.  So, trade-offs. ?

[LittleIggy]

Philly couple: That neighborhood (where they bought the row house) didn’t look so great to me.  Anybody from Philly familiar with it? 

[msmarjoribanks]

8 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

That third place was a Mies van der Rohe building!  It caught me by surprise so I couldn't tell if it was the first ones he did, at 860/880 Lake Shore, Drive, or the other ones.  Either way, it would be sooo cool to live in one of them, and I was excited to get a peek inside.  I went on an architecture tour that included 860/880, and the ground-level exterior and lobby are just breathtaking.

Agreed it was a great building, but not only was that place much smaller than they'd said they wanted, but I suspect the assessments would be around $2000 or more per month, so although they didn't mention it I think that would have busted the budget.

On Hawaii, I watched the recent one and one from earlier this year (Honolulu, I think), and location seems to be part of the issue with that house, as the other couple found a couple of decent places for $650K (they got one for $790K).  The eyelashes woman said she didn't think they'd find something in that neighborhood, so I assume that was a positive for her (as well as the proximity to work).  But of course I defer to the people from Oahu who know best.

Anyway, given her ridiculous need to declare every room a gut job because she didn't like some aspect of the style, it's for the best that she's not tearing out perfectly good and already re-done rooms.  Interesting they claimed the whole thing would be done in a total of 10 weeks -- I'm skeptical.

[magemaud]

I was curious about the Whitman (South Philly) neighborhood, too. Apparently it’s become quite desirable for young professionals and families. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitman,_Philadelphia

Edited June 23, 2018 by magemaud

[Empress1]

8 hours ago, magemaud said:

I was curious about the Whitman (South Philly) neighborhood, too. Apparently it’s become quite desirable for young professionals and families. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitman,_Philadelphia

South Philly is rapidly gentrifying. It used to be pretty working class and it's increasingly more yuppie. Getting in for under $200K is a good deal - odds are good they'll see their property value go up in the next 5 years. The schools in that neighborhood aren't great though.

I have a family friend in his late 50s who was raised in what is now called Graduate Hospital, which is southwest of Center City, and he grew up poor (raised by a single father after his addict mother left the family). He's a rags to riches story. He's wealthy now after college (first in his family), law school, and a very successful legal career that led him to be a named partner, and he jokes that he had no idea he could have skipped all that work and waited for his family home, where his father still lives, to skyrocket in value as it has.

[magemaud]

But wow, I just couldn’t get past the rowhouse’s complete lack of curb appeal. 

[doodlebug]

8 minutes ago, magemaud said:

But wow, I just couldn’t get past the rowhouse’s complete lack of curb appeal. 

It really was a very ugly house on the exterior. I find most row houses to be kinda charming, but that one had no charm.  The interior was nice, I hope they can do something with the exterior to make it nicer.

[ByaNose]

I’m from the burbs of Philly. All the young kids who have graduated college are all moving to the city of Philadelphia. The roof top decks are all the rage. To put it in HH lingo. They are near restaurants, bars & shopping. The couple got a pretty nice row home for the price. That said, neither of them had any decor ability. Everything looked second hand. The guest bedroom didn’t look too inviting. 

[msmarjoribanks]

That first one would have taken a ton more money to renovate (I'd imagine there are electrical and plumbing issues to check out), but it seemed bigger and was just much more attractive on the exterior (I probably care too much about exteriors, but it really does sway me on houses).  But with the renos that first one was riskier and not in budget, I suppose, and if they couldn't have added another bathroom that's an issue.

I do like the ones where the HHers don't have a huge budget and are accepting of the constraints that puts in them, and so I liked this Philadelphia episode.  I was honestly shocked that Philadelphia had options below $200K for a single family rowhouse that seemed to be in a convenient, walkable, and safe neighborhood, and I think it's a good choice for them (so many young couple HHers seem to think they need a house for when they are (perhaps) in a stronger financial position later and have a larger family, when you don't have to have everything immediately, even assuming they will still want those things later).

Article on the neighborhood: https://www.coldwellbanker.com/blog/south-philadelphia-neighborhoods-should-you-buy-in-whitman/

Edited June 23, 2018 by msmarjoribanks

[Ohwell]

49 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

South Philly is rapidly gentrifying. It used to be pretty working class and it's increasingly more yuppie. Getting in for under $200K is a good deal - odds are good they'll see their property value go up in the next 5 years. The schools in that neighborhood aren't great though.

Same issue in certain parts of DC that are gentrifying--the schools aren't that great.  It's fine to move into an "up and coming" neighborhood when you're young and childless like the Philly couple.  But she kept going on and on about raising a family and when the kids are school age, they might very well have to move to the 'burbs for better schools. 

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, Ohwell said:

Same issue in certain parts of DC that are gentrifying--the schools aren't that great.  It's fine to move into an "up and coming" neighborhood when you're young and childless like the Philly couple.  But she kept going on and on about raising a family and when the kids are school age, they might very well have to move to the 'burbs for better schools. 

Yep, that's what I kept thinking. I've seen it happen in Philly many times. A couple I know with kids who are 3 and 1 just moved to the 'burbs for the schools (the husband is thrilled because his commute went from an hour and 15 minutes to half an hour; the wife works remotely). The pattern is: buy in up and coming neighborhood, live there for 3-5 years, realize they're in a school district that they don't want for their kids, do pretty well with resale (because up and coming neighborhood; they sell to childless folks like they were when they moved in), and use that to buy in the 'burbs with better schools. 

The Philly public schools are, largely, not good. (I was raised in Philly, in the city; I went to private school. I'm 4th generation Philly on one side and the first to go to private school, but the schools have declined since my great grandparents, grandparents, and father and uncle went there - actually, the high school that they all went to no longer exists. It's one of the many that were closed down.) There are some magnet high schools that are excellent (Central, Masterman - Philly's answer to NYC schools like Stuyvesant), but many of the neighborhood schools aren't good so you have to deal with that first. The schools in that neighborhood in particular aren't great. If their house budget is $200K, private school likely isn't an option for them. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they moved to the suburbs in the next 5 years. She'll probably fight it because she did seem like a die-hard Philly fan.

The exterior of their chosen house really was ugly. The exterior of the first house was much nicer, but I thought it was smart of the husband to notice the two-pronged outlets and realize there was probably a lot of work lurking there. Those row homes are old.

[laredhead]

My claustrophobia kicked in looking at the Philly row houses.  The one they bought is an end unit, so maybe a few windows on the side could help that closed in feeling.  None of them were over 1,000 sf were they?  I've lived in townhouses, but the smallest one I ever lived in was 1400 sf, so that was spacious compared to these.  I also find them dark, and you have to realize that these are filmed with TV camera lights, so they are probably very dark.  I think they have too much furniture, or the wrong size furniture, for that place judging from the final reveal scene.    

[juliet73]

I really think the Philly couple need to invest in some new/different furniture. Their oversized couch and chair made tge room look so crowded and disorganized. Plus, they had a 6 top dining table taking up too much space. There is only 2 of them, why not replace that huge set with the 4 top dining set that was in the basement?

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, laredhead said:

My claustrophobia kicked in looking at the Philly row houses.  The one they bought is an end unit, so maybe a few windows on the side could help that closed in feeling.  None of them were over 1,000 sf were they?  I've lived in townhouses, but the smallest one I ever lived in was 1400 sf, so that was spacious compared to these.  I also find them dark, and you have to realize that these are filmed with TV camera lights, so they are probably very dark.  I think they have too much furniture, or the wrong size furniture, for that place judging from the final reveal scene.    

I live in one about 1,100 sf and it's plenty of room for me and the way it's furnished it looks spacious when you walk in.  There's a couple a few doors down with the same model and they have one kid.  I've been in their home and it looks spacious as well.  But you're right, I think it's all about the furniture and perhaps the sizes and numbers of windows, but the Philly couple just had too much of the wrong size furniture. 

[msmarjoribanks]

Agreed it was the furniture.  Usually if it's well-furnished a place will look larger with furniture than when totally bare (one reason why staging can help), and this was the opposite.

[magemaud]

We only got a brief glimpse of the exterior of the Philly house they bought, but was it really an end unit or had the next door unit been demolished? I don't remember any windows on the vacant lot side. I was just distracted by the total lack of architectural details. 

Edited June 23, 2018 by magemaud

[wovenloaf]

1 hour ago, magemaud said:

We only got a brief glimpse of the exterior of the Philly house they bought, but was it really an end unit or had the next door unit been demolished? I don't remember any windows on the vacant lot side. I was just distracted by the total lack of architectural details. 

The one next to it had just been demolished. 

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, wovenloaf said:

The one next to it had just been demolished. 

Now, is that good or bad news?

[msmarjoribanks]

Watched a rerun -- drag racer from CA looking for a place in the country near Memphis with her friend from back in CA out to help.  The HHer seemed really cool, knew what she wanted, and chose it (even if I would have taken the third place she looked at, I think).  The friend was, I suspect, told to play the role of devil's advocate and unfortunately came across as kind of whiny and trying to push the HHer into something she didn't want.  Warnings about renovation were reasonable, the place she tried to push her into was clearly not a good choice for her (but since it was fake the whole thing was probably just acting), and her choice to go on and on about the country being a bad idea due to scary "wood people" was bizarre.  She must have said "wood people" about 100 times.

[aliya]

On 6/23/2018 at 12:07 PM, Empress1 said:

The Philly public schools are, largely, not good. (I was raised in Philly, in the city; I went to private school. I'm 4th generation Philly on one side and the first to go to private school, but the schools have declined since my great grandparents, grandparents, and father and uncle went there - actually, the high school that they all went to no longer exists. It's one of the many that were closed down.) There are some magnet high schools that are excellent (Central, Masterman - Philly's answer to NYC schools like Stuyvesant), but many of the neighborhood schools aren't good so you have to deal with that first. 

We lived in Philly (Univ City) when aliya jr was young. I was scared to put in him public school when we moved there, and put him in a Catholic school. However, the Catholic schools didn't offer much compared to what he had in a public school in suburban DC. Fortunately, he was in gifted and talented in the local school and then went to Masterman for middle and high school. It was a great education and pretty much on a par with the Friends schools, in my mind (and as a private school alum myself). He got into Michigan, which, as a Wolverine myself, was all I cared about. 

I've been out of Philly since the late 90's. I hear Fishtown is up and coming, tho I can't imagine buying a place there. As a mixed race couple, we were warned to say away from Fishtown and several Philly other neighborhoods (and this was the 1980's/90's, not the 1950's) by my mother's Philly friends.

[Empress1]

10 hours ago, aliya said:

We lived in Philly (Univ City) when aliya jr was young. I was scared to put in him public school when we moved there, and put him in a Catholic school. However, the Catholic schools didn't offer much compared to what he had in a public school in suburban DC. Fortunately, he was in gifted and talented in the local school and then went to Masterman for middle and high school. It was a great education and pretty much on a par with the Friends schools, in my mind (and as a private school alum myself). He got into Michigan, which, as a Wolverine myself, was all I cared about. 

I've been out of Philly since the late 90's. I hear Fishtown is up and coming, tho I can't imagine buying a place there. As a mixed race couple, we were warned to say away from Fishtown and several Philly other neighborhoods (and this was the 1980's/90's, not the 1950's) by my mother's Philly friends.

Fishtown is indeed up and coming. I have a (white) friend who lives there, and frankly she wouldn't live there if it weren't. She was raised in Rittenhouse. I'm Black and got the same advice about Fishtown when I was a kid in the 90s (and I had no reason to be there). It's still very white but the financial demographics are changing.

On 6/23/2018 at 4:11 PM, Ohwell said:

I live in one about 1,100 sf and it's plenty of room for me and the way it's furnished it looks spacious when you walk in.  There's a couple a few doors down with the same model and they have one kid.  I've been in their home and it looks spacious as well.  But you're right, I think it's all about the furniture and perhaps the sizes and numbers of windows, but the Philly couple just had too much of the wrong size furniture. 

Yeah, they needed to start over with their furniture. Sometimes your old stuff doesn't work with your new place. It reminded me of a woman I knew who moved to Manhattan from suburban Jersey and all her furniture was too big for her new place. Her new bedroom was small and her bed was not, and it was crammed in there VERY tightly. You could maneuver in the room but it was very tight.

[TVForever]

13 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

Watched a rerun -- drag racer from CA looking for a place in the country near Memphis with her friend from back in CA out to help.  The HHer seemed really cool, knew what she wanted, and chose it (even if I would have taken the third place she looked at, I think).  The friend was, I suspect, told to play the role of devil's advocate and unfortunately came across as kind of whiny and trying to push the HHer into something she didn't want.  Warnings about renovation were reasonable, the place she tried to push her into was clearly not a good choice for her (but since it was fake the whole thing was probably just acting), and her choice to go on and on about the country being a bad idea due to scary "wood people" was bizarre.  She must have said "wood people" about 100 times.

I remember that episode. That "woods people" thing was laugh-out-loud stupid.

[msmarjoribanks]

Another rerun -- Columbus, OH woman looking for a place with her male friend to help out.  She wanted a Victorian, probably a condo, and a walkable neighborhood.  Budget of under $200K.  Saw one small condo in the style she wanted and, I think, the neighborhood she was focused on (Victorian Village) at the top of her budget, and then two houses that seemed much bigger with yards (one with no parking, one with two outdoor lots).  Both vintage, but not Victorian, pretty renovated, she obsessed about supposed cosmetic issues that could have been easily changed.  I was positive throughout that the condo was the one she had gone with, and it was.

Real issue seemed to be that she wanted the one neighborhood and the other two were not walkable.  I don't know Columbus, but the other neighborhoods were Olde Towne East (seriously, Columbus?) and some place not identified but "just east of Italian Village," so maybe Milo-Grogan?

Based on the places shown, the first neighborhood was way more expensive than the other two, and the others were non starters because she didn't like the neighborhood.  I get the interest in showing how price varies between neighborhoods (but if so they should be more upfront about it and at least some of the reasons that might be), but where she was set on a neighborhood I would have been interested in seeing other options that were also in that neighborhood or other neighborhoods she would have considered (walkable, I guess).  (Looking at that Walk Score website, Victorian Village has a walk score of 83 and is supposedly the 9th most walkable neighborhood in Columbus, Olde Towne East is 71 and 29th, and Milo-Grogan is 44 and 83rd, which makes me think that Columbus has an insane # of neighborhoods or they are counted weirdly and, more relevantly, that there might have been other locations that would have made more sense for her besides the ones shown, like maybe Italian Village which is supposed to be 3rd best.)*  The place she got was okay, but seemed small and weirdly put together (huge bedroom with lots of charm and a fireplace and bay window, small living room -- I would say flip the two except you come into the house in the living room, so it wouldn't work for the bedroom). It would have made more sense as a pick if I'd seen other options in the neighborhoods she was really considering.

 *For what it's worth, my current neighborhood -- Lincoln Square -- is supposedly an 82 and 38th best in Chicago and there's nothing not walkable about it.  My old neighborhood was 91 and 14th best and it was no more walkable in reality.  So I am talking these with a major grain of salt!

[LBS]

1 hour ago, msmarjoribanks said:

*For what it's worth, my current neighborhood -- Lincoln Square -- is supposedly an 82 and 38th best in Chicago and there's nothing not walkable about it.  My old neighborhood was 91 and 14th best and it was no more walkable in reality.  So I am talking these with a major grain of salt!

Hey neighbor! I lived in Lincoln Square for 10 years!  Great walkable neighborhood0!  It should be ranked way higher.    

Edited June 25, 2018 by LBS

[doodlebug]

9 hours ago, msmarjoribanks said:

Another rerun -- Columbus, OH woman looking for a place with her male friend to help out.  She wanted a Victorian, probably a condo, and a walkable neighborhood.  Budget of under $200K.  Saw one small condo in the style she wanted and, I think, the neighborhood she was focused on (Victorian Village) at the top of her budget, and then two houses that seemed much bigger with yards (one with no parking, one with two outdoor lots).  Both vintage, but not Victorian, pretty renovated, she obsessed about supposed cosmetic issues that could have been easily changed.  I was positive throughout that the condo was the one she had gone with, and it was.

Real issue seemed to be that she wanted the one neighborhood and the other two were not walkable.  I don't know Columbus, but the other neighborhoods were Olde Towne East (seriously, Columbus?) and some place not identified but "just east of Italian Village," so maybe Milo-Grogan?

Based on the places shown, the first neighborhood was way more expensive than the other two, and the others were non starters because she didn't like the neighborhood.  I get the interest in showing how price varies between neighborhoods (but if so they should be more upfront about it and at least some of the reasons that might be), but where she was set on a neighborhood I would have been interested in seeing other options that were also in that neighborhood or other neighborhoods she would have considered (walkable, I guess).  (Looking at that Walk Score website, Victorian Village has a walk score of 83 and is supposedly the 9th most walkable neighborhood in Columbus, Olde Towne East is 71 and 29th, and Milo-Grogan is 44 and 83rd, which makes me think that Columbus has an insane # of neighborhoods or they are counted weirdly and, more relevantly, that there might have been other locations that would have made more sense for her besides the ones shown, like maybe Italian Village which is supposed to be 3rd best.)*  The place she got was okay, but seemed small and weirdly put together (huge bedroom with lots of charm and a fireplace and bay window, small living room -- I would say flip the two except you come into the house in the living room, so it wouldn't work for the bedroom). It would have made more sense as a pick if I'd seen other options in the neighborhoods she was really considering.

 *For what it's worth, my current neighborhood -- Lincoln Square -- is supposedly an 82 and 38th best in Chicago and there's nothing not walkable about it.  My old neighborhood was 91 and 14th best and it was no more walkable in reality.  So I am talking these with a major grain of salt!

There are a lot of neighborhoods in Columbus because it is rather large and sprawling.  Columbus is the largest city in Ohio by virtue of the fact that, back in the day, the city annexed a lot of its suburbs.  There are only one, maybe two, rings of suburbs around the city before you hit farmland.  So, many of the neighborhoods were originally smaller towns/suburbs that got eaten by the city years ago and each area often has its own little 'town center' because of it.  The city of Columbus contains triple the area of the city of Cleveland.  The city of Columbus has more than twice the population of Cleveland, but is not nearly as densely populated.  Meanwhile, the metropolitan area of Cleveland, which has a lot of suburbs has about 2.8 million residents while that of Columbus has about 1.9 million people.

I remember that episode and one thing that wasn't really clear from the show was just how far apart the various neighborhoods were while still being within the city.  Most people looking for a house aren't looking in such a large radius.  Victorian Village has some beautiful homes, but it's not what I think of as walkable.  It is one of the more densely populated areas because the lots are fairly small and a lot of the homes have been divided into apartments, but I wouldn't say it has a lot of shopping or restaurants.  People in Columbus, probably because of the sprawl, hop in their cars and drive when they need to shop or want to eat out.  Not a ton of public transport, either.

Edited June 26, 2018 by doodlebug

[LittleIggy]

Ballroom dancer couple: I like episodes where all three houses are vacant so there is an element of surprise. They picked the house I liked. The fireplace in the bedroom was awesome. Husband’s remark about staircases and luggage reminded me of an Everybody Loves Raymond episode.

[msmarjoribanks]

12 hours ago, doodlebug said:

I remember that episode and one thing that wasn't really clear from the show was just how far apart the various neighborhoods were while still being within the city.  Most people looking for a house aren't looking in such a large radius.  Victorian Village has some beautiful homes, but it's not what I think of as walkable.  It is one of the more densely populated areas because the lots are fairly small and a lot of the homes have been divided into apartments, but I wouldn't say it has a lot of shopping or restaurants.  People in Columbus, probably because of the sprawl, hop in their cars and drive when they need to shop or want to eat out.  Not a ton of public transport, either.

That's helpful information.

The show portrayed it as if Victorian Village was really walkable and perfect for her, and the others not at all (which may well have been the case).  You had no idea where any of them were.  Your point about their being lots of neighborhoods and the other places being pretty far away makes me think they could have identified other condos (houses might have been above her price range) in neighborhoods that were more similar.  I like that better, since you get the sense that the HHer might actually have been comparing the places in real life, it's more like what that person's real trade-offs would have been.

10 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Ballroom dancer couple: I like episodes where all three houses are vacant so there is an element of surprise. They picked the house I liked. The fireplace in the bedroom was awesome. Husband’s remark about staircases and luggage reminded me of an Everybody Loves Raymond episode.

Yeah, I thought that third one was clearly the best too, although of course the most expensive (but in budget, even if barely!).  

[ByaNose]

11 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Ballroom dancer couple: I like episodes where all three houses are vacant so there is an element of surprise. They picked the house I liked. The fireplace in the bedroom was awesome. Husband’s remark about staircases and luggage reminded me of an Everybody Loves Raymond episode.

They had a pretty healthy budget but the houses they looked at were kind of dumpy. I think they lived somewhere in North Jersey. I was surprised they couldn't find something new-new with that budget.

[Empress1]

23 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

They had a pretty healthy budget but the houses they looked at were kind of dumpy. I think they lived somewhere in North Jersey. I was surprised they couldn't find something new-new with that budget.

She said that one of the things she liked best about living in Jersey is that you could look over and see NYC, so yeah, north Jersey - that wouldn't be true in south Jersey (it's the Philly skyline you can see there!). And the closer you get to NYC the pricier things get, so yeah, I wouldn't expect them to have something totally new.

I kept thinking "Bruh, you're a professional dancer. You move for a living. You can walk up the stairs!"

[Empress1]

Louisville same-sex couple Dave and David (I forgot which one was which) bought a place that I hope they follow up with. They had something like $350K in their renovation budget (all-in budget was $900K) and it was a complete re-do, which the younger husband didn't seem that interested in but the older husband won out. Their affect on camera bugged me a little - they were very flat, and I think they just weren't comfortable being filmed. Very curious to see how their house turns out though! Those old homes in the neighborhood they were looking at were gorgeous.

[scootypuffjr]

Yes, they couldn't go wrong; all the houses were gorgeous. I like episodes like that, the worst is when I don't really like any of the choices, lol. They ended up choosing my favorite, it had fantastic bones and the problems were mostly cosmetic from what I could tell. For what it's worth, I believe the dark haired, younger husband was David.

[msmarjoribanks]

$900K in Louisville seemed like they'd have unlimited choices.  I liked the one they picked (the only one in their target neighborhood), but would have liked it better if it had been for Renovation and we'd gotten to see the renovation.

Also watched a rerun, in Peoria, couple with 3 daughters, husband wanted to be near a family farm.  Wife wanted a princess house, husband wanted to stay in budget and pick something practical.  They ended up with the only one in budget.  I loved the first place, which was only a bit over budget, but the location was wrong for them (it was in Pekin). Wife had a bit of an unnecessary overreaction to the idea that one or two of their daughters would be on a different floor from them in one of the places, but I can't recall for certain if it was the middle one (I think so) or the one they actually bought.  My thought was that the two older girls, who were 8 and 7, younger one was 4, could certainly share a room now, if they really didn't want to be on a different floor, and soon enough the different floor would be a positive.

Edited June 27, 2018 by msmarjoribanks