House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[sheetmoss]

RE Chicago couple

If memory serves, the first house shown, was  the house that was ren'd  in the pilot episode for Kitchen Crashers  Alison Victoria's  upcoming new HGTV series Windy City Flip

The old house  they were trying to save  collapsed  during demo and new was built

https://www.housebeautiful.com/home-remodeling/news/a7181/hgtv-star-stop-work-citation/

Edited September 15, 2018 by sheetmoss

[msmarjoribanks]

Pretty sure I know the address of the first one (built by GB Construction in 2016, on Oakley, sold for $1,298,500 this spring). Don't know if that's the same house as in Windy City Flip, but will watch for the show.

[laredhead]

I enjoyed seeing the houses in the Chicago episode.  The one that would need significant renovation to transform it from a duplex to a one-family house, would have been a challenge.   I love to get involved in house renovations and remodeling, but the husband was correct when he said it would take an architect and lots of planning for that one.  I thought their comments were funny about the miles and miles of quartz counters and surfaces in that house.  I was also enjoying the husbands choice of wardrobe colors, and was disappointed with the subdued blue/gray pants in the last scenes.

On a serious note, they were correct about desiring an outside venting range hood to eliminate cooking odors.  It's not only Indian food that is strong smelling, but anything that is fried or containing onions, garlic, etc. can permeate the house with cooking odors.  I've had those recirculating vent hoods before, and they really don't work well.  I liked the house they chose.  From what I've seen of houses within the city, having some green space and covered off street parking are very desirable things.

Edited September 15, 2018 by laredhead
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[StatisticalOutlier]

16 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Second, one of the tiny houses had a roof "too high" for solar panels. What, they are too close to the sun?

It's referring to the overall height of the house, and kicks in because it's going to be moved on the road.  If you're at 13'6", you'll be legal in any state in the U.S.  (If you're over the state's legal height limit, you have to get a special permit to be on the roads.)

I think the house he was looking at was 13'4" or 13'5", and adding solar panels would put it above 13'6".  As a practical matter, no authorities are going to notice that couple of inches on top of a tiny house going down the road, but you really don't want to be over that if you can help it because if you're under 13'6", you can assume you'll fit pretty much anywhere that doesn't have special warnings, like under certain bridges.  The results if you guess wrong can be disastrous.

And was anyone shocked that it ended up in his dad's driveway?  Yeah, I didn't think so.

[debbie311]

On 9/13/2018 at 9:48 AM, Pickles said:

I think the CA couple was a new episode. Omg, their commutes! He said his was 3 hours a day and hers was 4. I guess that is just what you put up with in the LA area. Horrible. I didn't really like any of the houses. The one they chose had zero privacy in the backyard. Houses looking down on them from all directions and really zero grass for the dogs. Thirty seven guitars. No thanks. It looked like they might be hanging them on every wall in every room. Lol. 

It's not unusual in the SF Bay Area either.  We lived in San Jose and I worked in Palo Alto, which is around 20 miles.  It could easily take one hour to go that distance, and that was on a good day.  Just too many cars and people.  And that was a few years ago, I am sure it is worse now.  Many people have super commutes from the Central Valley into Bay Area/Silicon Valley.  That's where the better jobs are but the housing prices are out of sight.  It's not unusual at all to find a home with a $1M price, even a fixer-upper, and it will get multiple offers with people going over the asking price.  Some paying all cash.  So ... people move further out where homes are more affordable and drive in. Public transportation options suck. I know to a lot of people it sounds nuts, but it's the price we pay for living here.

Edited September 17, 2018 by debbie311

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, debbie311 said:

It's not unusual in the SF Bay Area either.  We lived in San Jose and I worked in Palo Alto, which is around 20 miles.  It could easily take one hour to go that distance, and that was on a good day.  Just too many cars and people.  And that was a few years ago, I am sure it is worse now.  Many people have super commutes from the Central Valley into Bay Area/Silicon Valley.  That's where the better jobs are but the housing prices are out of sight.  It's not unusual at all to find a home with a $1M price, even a fixer-upper, and it will get multiple offers with people going over the asking price.  Some paying all cash.  So ... people move further out where homes are more affordable and drive in. Public transportation options suck. I know to a lot of people it sounds nuts, but it's the price we pay for living here.

 

I visited San Jose for the first time about two months ago.  Good thing it was for business because I couldn't have afforded it otherwise, lol.  A few years ago I visited Los Gatos and I initially thought, "oh what a nice, quaint town"--until I saw the Maserati dealership on the main street.  I saw a nice little craftsman house for sale and out of curiosity I took a flyer--it was $2.4 million.  My eyes almost popped out of my head. 

Edited September 17, 2018 by Ohwell

[edie3]

The couple with the long commutes.  Her voice!  I almost had to stop watching it.  My ears are still bleeding.

[KLovestoShop]

Again, I’m getting so sick of these young couples where the man complains about having to do upkeep.  The LA couple were pretty decent, but I had to scratch my head when the husband said a place might be too swanky for them.  

With that said. I was surprised to see the wife with the old time braces.  I didn’t think they made the braces with the rubber bands anymore. 

[LittleIggy]

3 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

Again, I’m getting so sick of these young couples where the man complains about having to do upkeep.  The LA couple were pretty decent, but I had to scratch my head when the husband said a place might be too swanky for them.  

With that said. I was surprised to see the wife with the old time braces.  I didn’t think they made the braces with the rubber bands anymore. 

OMG! Her braces with the rubber bands were such a distraction. I kept focusing at her mouth! ITA, I didn’t think they made those kind anymore. Wonder if she had to wear one of those head gear things at night?

Boston area: It was refreshing that the couple said that the kitchen was functional even though the husband didn’t like it. They were going to eventually reno it. I’m sick of HHs who say a place isn’t move in ready just because they don’t like the cabinets or tile in the kitchen or whatever.

[CruiseDiva]

9 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

Again, I’m getting so sick of these young couples where the man complains about having to do upkeep.  The LA couple were pretty decent, but I had to scratch my head when the husband said a place might be too swanky for them.  

With that said. I was surprised to see the wife with the old time braces.  I didn’t think they made the braces with the rubber bands anymore. 

I didn't notice the braces, but nearly fell off my chair laughing when they both dissed the "barn" door on the closet.

[suebee12]

I really enjoyed the Boston episode! I liked all three houses and would have had a hard time choosing between them. The basement in the second house was cave-like but when my son and family lived in Boston for a semester, the house they rented had a stone cellar like that. It was interesting to say the least. I think I would have picked house #1 and not worried about a swimming pool. How much time is there for enjoying it during the short summer season and if they really wanted a pool there was time and space to add one at a later date. All in all, a fun episode with a nice couple willing to compromise and think wisely.

[laredhead]

I also liked the Boston episode, and would have chosen #1 because of the kitchen and the extra acreage.  Redoing a kitchen can cost almost as much as a pool, but if the husband is super handy, they can probably cut the cost of a kitchen renovation by a significant amount.  All I could think of on all 3 houses was how much it was going to cost to repaint them every few years.  That was a lot of wood on those houses.  I really liked that there was no competition between them about closet space, etc., and the wife was even agreeing to let the husband do whatever he wanted with the basement area.  None of the usual snark about telling him he couldn't have a "man cave", a pool table, or whatever the men usually want to put in the basement.  Hope HGTV finds more people like this to feature.  

[chessiegal]

Cleveland couple: We need 2 living spaces so we can throw the kids in there and not be bothered by them. 1) So why did you have kids? 2) And decide to have 4? The youngest was still in a high chair. You can't leave a toddler unsupervised. Twits. And don't get me started om the Dad spending hours sitting on a toilet with a laptop;

[LittleIggy]

I can boil water and make al dente pasta, and I can do really good scrambled eggs. Besides that, I’m not much of a cook so could someone clue me in to why the preference for gas stoves?

55 minutes ago, laredhead said:

I also liked the Boston episode, and would have chosen #1 because of the kitchen and the extra acreage.  Redoing a kitchen can cost almost as much as a pool, but if the husband is super handy, they can probably cut the cost of a kitchen renovation by a significant amount.  All I could think of on all 3 houses was how much it was going to cost to repaint them every few years.  That was a lot of wood on those houses.  I really liked that there was no competition between them about closet space, etc., and the wife was even agreeing to let the husband do whatever he wanted with the basement area.  None of the usual snark about telling him he couldn't have a "man cave", a pool table, or whatever the men usually want to put in the basement.  Hope HGTV finds more people like this to feature.  

The first house was my favorite too. 

[Kohola3]

People who are addicted to gas stoves claim they are better because you get instant response to changes in the flame. So when you turn off the burner on an electric stove it retains the heat for a while whereas turning off the gas causes things to cool off more quickly. I've always cooked on electric and I've always had good results so I don't really care. But those who swear by gas just refuse to use anything else.

[biakbiak]

3 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Besides that, I’m not much of a cook so could someone clue me in to why the preference for gas stoves?

Gas stoves respond quicker when your adjust the temp, you can do things directly on the flame and in many places they are cheaper to operate because of the cost of gas versus electricity. With induction burners the first one doesn’t apply but induction is also a lot more expensive than regular electric stoves. 

[chessiegal]

Gas stove fan - easier to control heat level. Have used both, gas all the way.

[Empress1]

9 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Gas stove fan - easier to control heat level. Have used both, gas all the way.

Completely agree. I have a gas stove, my mother has electric. I vastly prefer to use gas. It's easier to control the temperature.

Cleveland episode with a family of 6. I thought they would go for the over-budget house, and the husband wanted to, but they went for the needs-cosmetic-fixes split-level. I found it refreshing that they held off on doing renovations for a year or so while they got their feet under them.

[doodlebug]

11 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Cleveland couple: We need 2 living spaces so we can throw the kids in there and not be bothered by them. 1) So why did you have kids? 2) And decide to have 4? The youngest was still in a high chair. You can't leave a toddler unsupervised. Twits. And don't get me started om the Dad spending hours sitting on a toilet with a laptop;

I dunno, I kinda like it when parents are ok with letting the little darlings out of their sight for a while.  I am tired of seeing people looking for open concept spaces so they can watch the kids watching TV n the family room while they are cooking a meal.  My parents seemed to like us pretty well but didn't feel the need to be in the same room as us 24/7.  They plan to be in that home indefinitely and the little one won't be a toddler for very long.  They didn''t say they were going to ban the kids from the rest of the house, just that they wanted them to have a place for their toys. Giving kids some breathing space for play sounds like good parenting to me.

As for the hubby sitting on the toilet using the laptop, ugh, no.

I've also had both gas and electric stoves.  I am no kind of cook, but I agree with those who prefer gas.  It's easier to tell how hot it is, it gets to the ideal heat instantly, and doesn't take as long for the burner to cool off, either.

[Kohola3]

4 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I found it refreshing that they held off on doing renovations for a year or so while they got their feet under them

Agree.  It takes time to really get a feel for a place and what you'll need vs. what you want.  I waited a whole year in my new place to make any real changes.  As long as appliances are in good working order, you don't need to change them out immediately because you don't like the color. 

You may find that the location of a room may dictate something completely different than you thought based on the position of the sun at different times of the year. When I designed my house I had a sunroom planned for the NE side of the house facing east. My neighbor kindly pointed out that with the change in position of the sun, that meant baking hot sun in the summer and not much in the winter. I flipped the design and now I have a nice pleasant room even in very cold weather because the sun warms it.

And I always think gas has an unpleasant smell which is why I avoided a gas stove.

[msmarjoribanks]

12 hours ago, Empress1 said:

Completely agree. I have a gas stove, my mother has electric. I vastly prefer to use gas. It's easier to control the temperature.

Cleveland episode with a family of 6. I thought they would go for the over-budget house, and the husband wanted to, but they went for the needs-cosmetic-fixes split-level. I found it refreshing that they held off on doing renovations for a year or so while they got their feet under them.

I thought they would go for the third one too, and it was my favorite (given their needs), but the wife was really practical about budget, which is great.  And agree that holding off on renovations until they can comfortably afford them is great.  There are a few things I want to do to my relatively new-to-me house, but short of something like floors (which are a hassle to do after you move in) or a paint color you absolutely hate, I'm a huge fan of waiting several months at least anyway.  I also never understand why so many HHers think they can't possibly live in an imperfect place for a year or so and have to do everything right away. I think having projects to look forward to is fun, and it also makes the budgeting a lot easier.

[chessiegal]

Natural gas and propane have odorants added in case of a leak. Once the gas is burning, they are consumed and can't be smelled. If you can smell them, your range is not working properly.

[Kohola3]

But I can smell the gas as the burner lights and I have smelled it in various homes.  I wouldn't have a gas range because of that.  Maybe I just have an acute sense of smell or something.

[Thumper]

34 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

But I can smell the gas as the burner lights and I have smelled it in various homes.  I wouldn't have a gas range because of that.  Maybe I just have an acute sense of smell or something.

Yes, I know what you mean by this.

[chessiegal]

We have propane that fuels our furnace, water tank, and stove. It's an underground tank we have filled about twice a year. Maybe my JennAir range is special, but I never smell gas when I light a burner. In my last house I had a builder grade GE range using natural gas - same thing - no odor when lighting a burner. Even if I got a whiff for a second, I'd take it over electric. 

[LittleIggy]

Both the Boston area and Cleveland couples were going to wait on big renovations. A refreshing change from “We have to immediately gut this kitchen!”

Clearwater, FL: They picked the house I liked the best. The guest house was neat. Bet one of the daughters will move in there.

[msmarjoribanks]

On 9/19/2018 at 2:11 PM, suebee12 said:

I really enjoyed the Boston episode! I liked all three houses and would have had a hard time choosing between them. The basement in the second house was cave-like but when my son and family lived in Boston for a semester, the house they rented had a stone cellar like that. It was interesting to say the least. I think I would have picked house #1 and not worried about a swimming pool. How much time is there for enjoying it during the short summer season and if they really wanted a pool there was time and space to add one at a later date. All in all, a fun episode with a nice couple willing to compromise and think wisely.

I liked all too, although for me I liked #3 the least. I personally would love the second, but I get why it wasn't right for them (and was thinking that even when they were looking at it).  I was rooting for the first, which I thought was really charming (and I also would have gone with the preferred kitchen and dealt with the pool later), but I'm sure they made a good choice for them.  A nice and agreeable couple.

[KLovestoShop]

The Pittsburgh couple were refreshing with their attitude.  None of the "Where's my....." or "I need....".  

And, the agent was my agent when we moved here a few years ago.  

[chessiegal]

11 minutes ago, KLovestoShop said:

The Pittsburgh couple were refreshing with their attitude.  None of the "Where's my....." or "I need....".  

And, the agent was my agent when we moved here a few years ago.  

Well that's cool that you know the agent! I thought the couple were nice too. Professional; ballroom dancers are amazing athletes.

[LittleIggy]

How did that couple afford two houses (Nashville and Pittsburgh area)?

[chessiegal]

Evidently professional boxing and singing pay well or moms and dads are underwriting.

[doodlebug]

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

How did that couple afford two houses (Nashville and Pittsburgh area)?

It didn’t look like either house was hugely expensive. Pittsburgh has really affordable housing as we saw with their house there costing under 200 grand.  I’ll bet the combined value of both houses is less than a shack on the west coast.

He said he was an iron worker in addition to boxing. That seems like a Pittsburgh kinda job and one that would have regular hours. I wonder if, with a baby coming, she wasn’t going to be cutting back on her singing career so he was going to be working more at a regular job.

i thought she was really pretty but, from the snippet we heard, her singing career is unlikely to be very lucrative.  Not a very good singer, IMO.

[KLovestoShop]

One thing they were smart to do was to stay out of Allegheny County.  The property taxes where they purchased, in Beaver County, are half as much as in Allegheny.

i liked the house they purchased and I think it would have great resale potential if they wanted to sell in the future.  

I agree with Doodlebug----her singing left a bit to be desired.  

[Ohwell]

I fell asleep after seeing the first two Pittsburgh houses.  Which house did they choose?  (Although with my luck they probably chose the 3rd.)

I liked the couple but I have to agree that her singing didn't impress me.  Nashville attracts loads of talented singers, so if her singing career is the only reason they're keeping the Nashville house, they might want to rethink that pretty soon. 

[doodlebug]

22 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I fell asleep after seeing the first two Pittsburgh houses.  Which house did they choose?  (Although with my luck they probably chose the 3rd.)

I liked the couple but I have to agree that her singing didn't impress me.  Nashville attracts loads of talented singers, so if her singing career is the only reason they're keeping the Nashville house, they might want to rethink that pretty soon. 

They went with the first one, the ranch.  It looked like they did some very sensible and nice renovations to it.  Removed a couple of extraneous walls, got rid of the wallpaper, got hardwood floors.

[Ohwell]

7 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

They went with the first one, the ranch.  It looked like they did some very sensible and nice renovations to it.  Removed a couple of extraneous walls, got rid of the wallpaper, got hardwood floors.

Ok, thanks!

[msmarjoribanks]

Chicago rerun I'd seen before.  That's the one where they bought in the first building I owned a condo in.  At the time I sold (late 2002), I would have loved to buy one of the bigger ones in the complex, but none were available.  It's for the best, but interesting to see them on TV.  Of course, they were presented as the vintage place, since built in around 1992, gasp!  I bought in that building in 1998, so it seemed pretty new then.  I was glad they noted the nice floors, since they really were lovely.  Also my place had nice cabinets and amazing parking for Chicago -- I had a 2/1 and had one indoor, one outdoor space (and no car) plus extra garage storage. That place also had nice loft-like details in general. Negatives, small bathroom, and I could hear everything from my upstairs neighbors, and I recall when I first moved in they were obsessed with the Titantic soundtrack -- blast from the past.

When I lived there the building was definitely not energy efficient, so funny that was the husband's thing.

[msmarjoribanks]

I enjoyed the Pittsburgh episode, but co-sign what Doodlebug said above.

I assume they must be renting or Air BnBing the Nashville place at least part of the year.

[jcbrown]

As someone who was a long-distance commuter for ~25 years (2 hours per day minimum), I scoffed at the Mississippi guy claiming  15 minutes was just too far from work. I get it, he's an ER doc, so maybe it was true, but I still scoffed.

[Empress1]

What is with young, healthy-looking people who are afraid of stairs? And the wife not even wanting to replace carpet bugged me.

I agree, @jcbrown - 16 minutes isn’t far. It just isn’t. Even if he is an ER doc, odds are good he’s not required to live 5 minutes from the hospital.

Did the toddler have a real drill at the end?

[Kohola3]

An ER doc is not like a specialist who is on call and has to run to the hospital at the drop of a hat.  He has scheduled shifts just like the nursing staff does.  So that whole drive thing was just bogus.

[Pickles]

I thought the Mississippi guy was a family practice doctor. Maybe I misheard.

[doodlebug]

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

I thought the Mississippi guy was a family practice doctor. Maybe I misheard.

He did say he was a Family Practitioner, but, in the shots of him at work, it looked like he was in an ER, but maybe its an Urgent Care. In rural areas, non-ER docs often do shifts at Urgent Cares or ERs due to shortages, it's really good money compared to office practice.   Most Family Practitioners don't wear scrubs at work, either.  Maybe he does a lot of obstetrics (some Family docs do) and has to go out at random hours to do deliveries.  I'm an OB and definitely looked at proximity to the hospital when I was house hunting years back.  Time is sleep.  However, even I, who used to do 20+ deliveries a month, would have no problems with a 15 minute commute.  It's great that he is close enough to sneak home for lunch with his wife and kids; but it was expecting a lot that they could find a house within the same radius.

[Empress1]

I have a family friend who is a surgeon who keeps an apartment within walking distance of the hospital (his house is about half an hour away without traffic) for very early scrub-in times because as @doodlebug says, time is sleep. My commutes have ranged from 20 minutes, which I considered short, to 90 minutes, which made me miserable. 15 minutes is nothing.

[laredhead]

So far, no one has commented on what a downer the Vicksburg wife seemed to be.  I don't think she cracked a smile during the entire episode.  Maybe a 2 year old and a 3 month old had sapped her energy, but she was certainly not looking like she was enjoying the house hunt at all.  I would have been ticked off at a real estate agent showing me a house that was way above the stated budget as the third one was.  Of course, this is all fake, and the agent was probably trying to get some free advertising for the house.  In real life, a client would have most likely already looked at the house on-line and known the asking price, and would have refused to go see it.  The house they chose was a good fit for them.

[KLovestoShop]

8 hours ago, Empress1 said:

I have a family friend who is a surgeon who keeps an apartment within walking distance of the hospital (his house is about half an hour away without traffic) for very early scrub-in times because as @doodlebug says, time is sleep. My commutes have ranged from 20 minutes, which I considered short, to 90 minutes, which made me miserable. 15 minutes is nothing.

My next door neighbor is an ER doc and his commute to the next county is at least 40 minutes on a good day. In winter when the roads stink, and driving the hills, it could go an hour. 

[msmarjoribanks]

13 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

An ER doc is not like a specialist who is on call and has to run to the hospital at the drop of a hat.  He has scheduled shifts just like the nursing staff does.  So that whole drive thing was just bogus.

I just figured he was used to no commute.

I live about 6 miles from work and have a 45 min commute unless I bike.

I think the garage and yard things were made up quirks for HHers.

Vicksburg is super hilly -- I've had a reason to go to MS a lot lately for work and so have been checking out all the sites my ancestors fought at during the CW (for the North) and Vicksburg is one.  I did a lengthy run through the park and wow, hilly (I'm in Chicago so my tolerance for hills is, granted, low).

[BTBAM310]

On 8/14/2018 at 8:58 PM, LittleIggy said:

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

I know I'm really late on this, we're way behind on HH and just watched this last night...

When I fast forwarded through the intro I said to my girlfriend who wasn't paying attention:  "It's a female couple - oh wait, never mind, it's a mother/daughter."

Billie looked like Alice from The Brady Bunch. She wore some hideous outfits, especially the brown blazer at the end. I thought it looked like her wife shopped at a high end clothing boutique, and she shopped at Sears.

On 8/14/2018 at 7:17 PM, juliet73 said:

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.

That was a very awkward scene, and they were a very awkward couple. He seemed like a young Richard Lewis.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I didn't like the Vicksburg houses.   I'm sure that they could have found a single story, not very far from the hospital, and with a decent yard also.    I also wouldn't like what will happen when there is a huge thunderstorm, and water comes roaring down that hill behind the house.    With their budget I'm sure I could find a bunch of houses that were a better fit for the family.    

[jcbrown]

No comments on the Tennessee couple who were going to build a "catio"? They seemed nice enough, though I did not appreciate the explanation that they have never just gone to a restaurant without being cheapskates. Couldn't believe they were able to get that duplex for $75K, even with all the work it needed.