House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[sskrill]

NY to Austin.  Pretentious much?  He reminded me so much of the neighbor Todd from Christmas Vacation.  

I'm surprised they didn't call their son Charles.

Edited August 11, 2018 by sskrill

[msmarjoribanks]

On 8/9/2018 at 5:07 PM, KLovestoShop said:

This has to be at least 10 Millennial husbands in recent episodes who don’t want stairs.  And not only that, they don’t want to do a stitch of work on their house, be it inside or out.  “I don’t want a lawn because I don’t want to spend hours and hours cutting it.  I don’t want stairs.  I don’t want a deck if it’s real wood and I don’t want to have to refinish it.”   And what was with the MN husband and the refrigerator that was too big and cost too much in electricity?  

Another probably producer-driven scenario is the thing about wanting the exact kind of house they grew up in.  It mostly seems to be men, but once in a while it’s the woman. Do they think that living in the kind of house they grew up in will insure a happy life?  

Even more than the silly stair thing, the no work with the MN husband really struck me.  The most simple things he was like "no, can't do."  It was weird.

9 hours ago, suebee12 said:

I'm not sure I have heard the term but I do know that on Home Town, I have heard Erin say that she tries to pick colors that would have been used when the house was built. The colors are usually muted and "quiet" looking to me. So maybe the term is one this woman made up, but there are definite craftman colors.

Sherwin Williams markets paint by period.  No craftsman, but Arts and Crafts.  I like a lot of them: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-collection/historic-collection/interior-historic-colors

On Restored he talks about period/style appropriate colors too. So it makes sense to me.

[sskrill]

Oregon duplex.  I really love what they did with the space - what an improvement.  

[Rosebud1970]

New York to Austin. She was, hands down, one of the most insufferable people I've seen on this show in some time. And considering some of the people oon this show, that's saying something.

[QuinnM]

I need to co-sign the Nashville doctor’s issue with a closet off the bathroom.  No, stop it, it’s just wrong.  Figure something out.  

Edited August 11, 2018 by QuinnM

[twinks]

4 hours ago, Rosebud1970 said:

New York to Austin. She was, hands down, one of the most insufferable people I've seen on this show in some time. And considering some of the people oon this show, that's saying something.

I just knew she "needed" that house. For the price, I didn't think much of the kitchen and bathrooms. The bedrooms also looked pretty ordinary to me. The yard was gorgeous though.

[Pickles]

The Austin wife was entitled or snobby or something. Neither the husband or wife exuded any friendliness or warmth. The wife deemed one kitchen as "nicely appointed". She was too much. She had to have a pool. This was another episode where the top of the budget was one million dollars, but of course, they went over the budget AND were going to totally redo the kitchen from the sound of it---new cabinetry, counters, backsplash, etc. I am sure there were other projects in the works too. 

[ForReal]

The Austin husband was adamant about being close to work and having a style that he liked within budget, then caved in completely to what the wife wanted. It's nothing new on this show, but I was a little appalled to see a family with one child needing a 3000 sq. ft. plus house to "grow into."

[doodlebug]

16 minutes ago, ForReal said:

The Austin husband was adamant about being close to work and having a style that he liked within budget, then caved in completely to what the wife wanted. It's nothing new on this show, but I was a little appalled to see a family with one child needing a 3000 sq. ft. plus house to "grow into."

They were a couple of pretentious twits, oh so impressed with themselves.  They came across as very unlikeable.  Better they should be out in the country with plenty of room so they can't inflict themselves on the neighbors too easily.

I, too, noticed that, despite buying a house that was well above their purported budget, she was already looking at samples for new counters and cabinets in the kitchen because, it would, of course, be hell on earth to live with burgundy counter tops and cabinets with a distressed finish.

[Ohwell]

I couldn't stand the Austin couple.  There was the scene where they're sitting down and his legs are crossed and he just has to show off his sockless ankle and I wanted to punch him through the tv screen.  They were insufferable, so snobbish and entitled.   It's actually a good thing they have a large yard so the neighbors won't have to deal with them.  I do feel kind of sorry for the kid though.  

Edited August 11, 2018 by Ohwell

[KLovestoShop]

Another man who doesn’t want to work.  After they bought the house, and he was “cleaning” the pool, he made a comment to his son that was something to the effect that this was going to be his lot in life, cleaning the pool.  What a bunch of bullshit.  We’ve owned pools and they aren’t much work.  Checking chemicals takes maybe 5 minutes.  Emptying the skimmer isn’t even 5 minutes.  And if you have a pool cleaner, that does most of the work.  

Another over-indulged couple who think too highly of themselves.  

[Ohwell]

I have never owned a pool so I don't know how difficult they are to clean, but that guy looked and acted like he'd make a big deal out of changing a light bulb. 

[Lady J]

On 8/9/2018 at 6:07 PM, KLovestoShop said:

This has to be at least 10 Millennial husbands in recent episodes who don’t want stairs.  And not only that, they don’t want to do a stitch of work on their house, be it inside or out.  “I don’t want a lawn because I don’t want to spend hours and hours cutting it.  I don’t want stairs.  I don’t want a deck if it’s real wood and I don’t want to have to refinish it.”   And what was with the MN husband and the refrigerator that was too big and cost too much in electricity?  

Another probably producer-driven scenario is the thing about wanting the exact kind of house they grew up in.  It mostly seems to be men, but once in a while it’s the woman. Do they think that living in the kind of house they grew up in will insure a happy life?  

Yes, if they can play video games.

[msmarjoribanks]

On 8/11/2018 at 8:53 AM, ForReal said:

The Austin husband was adamant about being close to work and having a style that he liked within budget, then caved in completely to what the wife wanted. It's nothing new on this show, but I was a little appalled to see a family with one child needing a 3000 sq. ft. plus house to "grow into."

This annoyed me -- I couldn't believe she was insisting on the ginormous place that was inconsistent with his basic desires, including something that should have been important to the whole family, not having a crazy commute.  But he caved, so whatever.  I thought the first one seemed to fit their needs really well and the last one was cool enough that I might have been tempted, but no, they went with the pointlessly large one that was farther away. 

[msmarjoribanks]

I just watched a rerun from Jan 2017 -- young couple in Portland who wanted to be close enough to bike to work, needed a place for chickens and lots of crafty hobbies.  Wife hated fireplaces (they got a place with two nice fireplaces and she said "it seems like everyone loves fireplaces but me"). I found them refreshing after the NYC to Austin couple, since they had a modest budget for Portland and seemed to understand what that meant and were happy and excited about places (and closets and kitchens) that so many HHers would sneer at.  I so much prefer this kind of episode.

[CruiseDiva]

On 8/10/2018 at 11:56 PM, LittleIggy said:

Guess their psychic powers didn’t tell them that their budget wouldn’t get them much in the OC. ?

I was really surprised that two psychic mediums from Australia were moving to the US. From what I found online, "The Visa Waiver Program enables nationals of certain countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa, if certain requirements are met."

However, "In general, a person who wishes to immigrate to the United States must have a petition approved by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services before applying for an immigrant visa. The petition is filed either by a qualified relative or a potential employer at a USCIS office in the United States."

Obviously they were planning to live in the OC long term so they must have gotten permission to immigrate to the US. Someone must have decided that CA needed two more fruits and nuts :)

[BTBAM310]

On 7/25/2018 at 8:55 PM, LittleIggy said:

New Orleans: Wow, the fiancée really annoyed me. I can’t stand those HH women who walk into a big closet and tell the man that this is perfect for her stuff.

She was totally over the top annoying.

What kind of a dog name is Baby Colston??? Every time they said it, I wanted to throw my remote at the screen.

[Kohola3]

2 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

I don't know if it was him taking a break or having a breakdown.

Nervous breakdown?  I wonder if he looked inside and saw all of his belongings in a jumbled heap on the floor after taking a couple of turns.  Or maybe he realized he has no place to park the darned thing because there are so many zoning laws it will be breaking.  Or that there is a bridge coming up he cannot clear.  Or it's the thought of sleeping on a shelf on which he cannot even sit up.  Or he's getting 3 miles to the gallon dragging around the behemoth.

[juliet73]

Atlanta ep: I loved the house they chose!  I thought it was weird though at the end when the dad was making the daughter a grilled cheese.  They all sat at the dining room table even though she was the only one eating.  It was a very awkward scene, IMO.

NY to Austin:  They were both horrible - her especially.  Besides being completely unlikeable, they both had drippy personalities.  I doubt they have any friends.

[Kohola3]

Oh, geez, it's the two kitchen, two laundry room bitch.  Couldn't grab the remote fast enough.

[LittleIggy]

Lexington, KY: On first glance I thought Billie was the mother. ? 

[chessiegal]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Lexington, KY: On first glance I thought Billie was the mother. ? 

Or grandmother!

[Kemper]

9 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Oh, geez, it's the two kitchen, two laundry room bitch.  Couldn't grab the remote fast enough.

Is that the one that was on last night?  Her budget: $900,000; his budget: $600,000?  One of the worst House Hunter women ever.  Two kitchens..how many houses have that?  She wanted a neighborhood; he wanted to be out in the country.  He wanted to be close to work; but he apparently traveled a good bit of the time.  She wanted a ranch, he wanted something "stately" or some such.  At least he wasn't obnoxious; unlike the wife.  That poor realtor.

And was anyone surprised when she got what she wanted?  But I had to have a grudging admiration for her playing the guilt card; she said she wanted to be in a neighborhood for "safety" reasons due to his travel.  He caved.  But contrary to her earlier comments about not wanting to have one of the kids sleeping in the basement (or downstairs rooms)...the daughter was indeed sleeping downstairs.  But Mommy got two kitchens (sort of)..her ranch..her pool (almost forgot that one) and a couple of other things I have forgotten.

Sorry if I have gone on and on since this was probably a rerun and has been discussed before.  It is kind of refreshing that House Hunters still has the ability to surprise and/or disgust me.  Even Mr. Kemper (who was half asleep) hated her.

[Kohola3]

1 minute ago, Kemper said:

Is that the one that was on last night?

Yep. And it was a rerun and there was a flood of hate for her the first time it was discussed.  She was one of the worst.  So dismissive to her husband who seemed like a fairly nice guy.

[ForReal]

I hadn't seen it before, but I turned it off when she mentioned two kitchens. She was unbearable.

[LittleIggy]

Bakersfield: They sure we’re asking for a lot for the budget they had. The two sons looked old enough to be moving out pretty soon unless they were going to college locally.

[MsTree]

To the agent from Bakersfield: Who the heck are you hiring to build a pool for $7500?!?  You're lucky if that buys you a spa, never mind a pool! 

You are doing your clients an injustice by totally misleading them on the cost of building a pool.

[ByaNose]

I missed the first few minutes of the show. I thought the older lady was the young woman's mother. It wasn't until the end that I realized they were a couple. Yup! I'm clueless. The house was okay but it needed a lot of work. I'd be curious to see the after reno. They had a big wish list but a pretty small budget (can't recall what that was) and, it looks like it needs serious work.

[Empress1]

24 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

I missed the first few minutes of the show. I thought the older lady was the young woman's mother. It wasn't until the end that I realized they were a couple. Yup! I'm clueless. The house was okay but it needed a lot of work. I'd be curious to see the after reno. They had a big wish list but a pretty small budget (can't recall what that was) and, it looks like it needs serious work.

Their budget was $275K. I'm guessing that Bakersfield is on the lower end where COL is concerned in California.

I was side-eyeing her because she's a life coach (life coaching requires zero credentials so it always sounds like snake oil sales to me), but they were a sweet couple and her husband was handsome.

The pool in the second house looked great. I would LOVE a pool. The yard in the house they picked did have room for a pool but it seems like it'll be a while before they could put one in.

[Babalooie]

On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 1:04 AM, MsTree said:

Who the heck are you hiring to build a pool for $7500?!?

Right.  We know how high the cost of living is in CA, even in Bakersfield.  As I learned from the Scott/Laci Peterson case, Bakersfield is a farming community.  I live in a farming community in N. Florida and our medium sized pool cost $27K with another $6K for a screened enclosure, so YES, that $7500 quote was ridiculous unless they want to build a huge above-ground pool.  That price could probably get you a good one of that type, maybe even with a deck around it.

Edited August 17, 2018 by Babalooie

[laredhead]

5 bedroom houses are hard to find, and when the realtor found one, but the square footage was only about 2,000 sf, I thought all the rooms in that house were going to be small.  Sure enough, as soon as the bedrooms were viewed the buyers' comment was that the bedrooms were small.  It's called math, people.  The more rooms you jam into a set space, the smaller the rooms are.  One of my pet peeves about HH's on this show.  Their budget wasn't very large for all of their wants.  I agree that a couple of those kids look like they might be leaving home for college soon.  Why not let some of them share a bedroom for a couple of years?  As for the pool requirement, a person in my neighborhood is having an in-ground gunite "plunge pool" built and it's costing $15,000.  I think the only pool you can get for $7,500 would be one of those above ground pools which I don't think that's what they had in mind.  They need to lower their expectations a bit.  

[Nysha]

Why do bedrooms need to be huge, anyway? I can understand wanting a larger master bedroom since a lot of married couples have king-sized beds and you need dressers and stuff for 2 people, but one kid does not need a lot of space. Having raised 5 kids, I see the need for them to have their own rooms once they're in their teens, but that room does not need to be the same size as the living room.

[Empress1]

11 minutes ago, laredhead said:

5 bedroom houses are hard to find, and when the realtor found one, but the square footage was only about 2,000 sf, I thought all the rooms in that house were going to be small.  Sure enough, as soon as the bedrooms were viewed the buyers' comment was that the bedrooms were small.  It's called math, people.  The more rooms you jam into a set space, the smaller the rooms are.  One of my pet peeves about HH's on this show. 

Mine too. Somebody looks at a 1500-square-foot house with 4 bedrooms and complains that the rooms are small. Of COURSE they're small! The space is small!

[juliet73]

I thought the Bakersfield couple were completely delusional.  Considering she's a "life coach" she wasn't the most positive person.  And she NEEDED the office because she works from home.  I doubt her "clients" come to the house so I can't imagine why she needs a separate room for her "job".  They wanted a 5 bed, 3+ bath CRAFTSMAN (ugh!) with white kitchen cabinets, a pool, a large backyard, etc for under $275K!  In California!  I know Bakersfield isn't Beverly Hills, but I would think it would be difficult to find all those requirements in most towns across the US.  Plus, the house must come completely move in ready to their taste They do not want any added expenses or want to do any work. Painting - a few weekends and a couple hundred bucks or having to remove a built in - a couple of hours and free!  Seriously?!  They were beyond annoying!

I agree about the $7500 for a pool.  Unless they are getting an above ground and helping with the labor (LOL! yeah, right!), that price is just as far fetched as their wishlist/budget!

[LittleIggy]

Yeah, I did a spit-take at $7500 for a pool! “Life Coach” is pretty much on par with being a shaman, IMO. ?

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Yeah, I did a spit-take at $7500 for a pool! “Life Coach” is pretty much on par with being a shaman, IMO. ?

Yeah, the shaman person never gets old. I don't know what's worse. The person saying they are one or the people who are gullible enough in hiring one.

[Kohola3]

2 minutes ago, ByaNose said:

Yeah, the shaman person never gets old.

Would you want to take life advice from someone so clearly out of touch with reality?  I think not.

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, ByaNose said:

Yeah, the shaman person never gets old. I don't know what's worse. The person saying they are one or the people who are gullible enough in hiring one.

One of my best friends saw a life coach for a bit. My feelings about life coaching have been on the record for a long time so she knew I thought it was bullshit even though I didn't say it to her. (My thing is, either pay a professional with real credentials and training who will help you do the work, or get your most plain-spoken friend or relative to tell you about yourself. Don't pay some random person whose only "credential" is a willingness to get in your business - you don't have to pay people for that!) I wanted her to get help for the problems she thought she had; I did not want her to get taken. After a couple of months she stopped seeing the life coach and started seeing a psychologist and she was like " ... Okay, I get it."

Edited August 16, 2018 by Empress1

[KLovestoShop]

A good spa or whirlpool cost more than $7500.  Who was that idiot trying to kid?  I watch a show where they build pools, and an average pool runs $50,000 for a very basic, small pool that’s pre-shaped, fiberglass.  When my sister was getting bids for her pool, one guy came in at $125,000 for a salt pool with a liner, heater and not much decking.  To say the least, he was kicked to the curb.  Her pool cost nothing near that, but she was lucky because a friend did the concrete work for cost.  But there’s no in ground pool that runs $7,500.  Maybe she was talking about those round above ground pools

[Mrs. Hanson]

On 8/7/2018 at 10:51 PM, KLovestoShop said:

I fell down 10 stairs when I was 11 years old and I wasn't traumatized.

I fell down 10 stairs when I was 19 but, to be blunt, I was drunk and it did not stop me from other stairs or drinking in the future.

On 8/9/2018 at 9:49 PM, chessiegal said:

The psychic mediums tonight - I kept thinking of the happy dance the producers must have been doing when they got their audition tape. Oh goody - a pair of nut cases. :)

I thought the same thing - I knew where it was going with a lot of talk of "feelings" and "vibes."

[doodlebug]

On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 1:04 AM, MsTree said:

To the agent from Bakersfield: Who the heck are you hiring to build a pool for $7500?!?  You're lucky if that buys you a spa, never mind a pool! 

You are doing your clients an injustice by totally misleading them on the cost of building a pool.

That floored me.  Maybe an above-ground pool could be built for that price, but the smallest,simplest in-ground pool would be a bargain at $20 grand here in the Midwest; I can only imagine what it would cost in California.

I know it was supposedly their first home, but in what universe were these people living prior to now to make them so delusional as to what the amount of money they had to spend was going to enable them to buy?  Once again, I live in the Midwest, one of the least expensive places to purchase a home and $275,000 isn't going to buy 5 bedrooms, fully updated, move-in ready with an inground pool here, either.

Edited August 17, 2018 by doodlebug

[Tony]

Wow, Bakersfield is ridiculously cheap for California. These two nitwits have a tiny budget but insist on it completely be move-in ready (ie. no painting), have 5 bedrooms so each of their children (several whom looks like they're pushing 30 yo) can have their own bedrooms, 3 full baths so the kids don't have to all share, and a freaking pool.

On top of that, the incredibly annoying wife had to have her own office so that she could run her life-coaching business (huge roll eyes).

[LittleIggy]

SC: I hope they intend on painting those ugly blue walls. Did they say what the wife did for a living? Horses are an expensive hobby.

[doodlebug]

38 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

SC: I hope they intend on painting those ugly blue walls. Did they say what the wife did for a living? Horses are an expensive hobby.

She was a podiatrist and her husband was a veterinarian, so I think they had a pretty nice combined income.

[Diane M]

I liked the SC couple with the little boy.  They chose the house I would have picked for them.  I think they planned to do some work (like painting) after they moved in.  I hope that pond was well stocked with fish.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 8/14/2018 at 7:46 PM, Kohola3 said:

On 8/14/2018 at 7:40 PM, stewedsquash said:

I don't know if it was him taking a break or having a breakdown.

Nervous breakdown?  I wonder if he looked inside and saw all of his belongings in a jumbled heap on the floor after taking a couple of turns.  Or maybe he realized he has no place to park the darned thing because there are so many zoning laws it will be breaking.  Or that there is a bridge coming up he cannot clear.  Or it's the thought of sleeping on a shelf on which he cannot even sit up.  Or he's getting 3 miles to the gallon dragging around the behemoth.

This deserves a place in some sort of Hall of Fame.

I laughed at the suggestion that the guy was taking a break, because only an insane person would take a break on the shoulder of an interstate, never mind Interstate 95.  And then I realized it's a tiny house person, so yeah, taking a break on the shoulder of I-95 could seem like a good idea.

I've discovered a new channel on my satellite called AWE, which has some house-hunting type shows.  Watching them has made me realize that as much as the format of HH annoys me, with its manufactured conflicts and budget nonsense, it apparently kind of works for me for some reason.  Maybe I'm just used to it. 

Or maybe it's because the properties on AWE are super expensive, which I usually don't find that interesting (except for the pool).  Or that it's often just one person and the realtor, so no banter.  Or that they make the buyer guess the price of the house, which HH thankfully does not--I do have to give them credit for that.

[laredhead]

I'm wondering if the colors in the South Carolina house were the homeowner choices.  As we know, the houses chosen have already been bought at the time of the final airing of the show, so maybe they painted the walls those bright colors, or were happy with the colors.  They didn't say anything about the wall colors which HH's usually do if they don't like something.  That's going to be a wonderful place for that little boy to grow up, and fishing with his dad will give him some good memories.  I noticed no hysterics on the part of the mom about the dangers of a pond on the property, and the little guy was looking good on that horse at the end of the show.   

[BTBAM310]

On 7/27/2018 at 9:43 AM, doodlebug said:

They were dull, dull, dull.  The wife wanted hardwood floors, open concept and a white kitchen.  Shocking!  Neither one of them was able to muster much emotion about the search.  They were as exciting as watching paint dry.

During each HH, as soon as the third house tour is done  my girlfriend and I try to guess which house they pick. This episode, I thought "I don't really remember the first two houses and need to wait for the recap at the end." That's how dull and forgettable they were. The only things that stood out were his awful haircut and ridiculous "beard".

[stillhere1900]

On 8/11/2018 at 7:53 AM, ForReal said:

 but I was a little appalled to see a family with one child needing a 3000 sq. ft. plus house to "grow into."

"appalled"  Why ?

[laredhead]

I think there are more HH Family episodes this week.  My DVR did not have anything scheduled to record tonight, but the TV Guide said it was a new episode of HH.  When I checked the the DVR subject list, it indicates it's an HH Family which I have set to not record.  Ugh.  I can't believe their ratings are good enough for this type of HH.