House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[JasmineFlower]

Did I mishear with this chick in Padre Island? Beyond gushing over her daughter as if her other two kids didn't exist, am I crazy or did she specifically say they met at the restaurant she owned, but later gleefully and forcefully says she absolutely does not cook? I know some restaurant owners aren't chefs, but I can't say I've ever seen one be dismissive of a kitchen and cooking as if they don't matter.

[biakbiak]

They didn't look that different in age but wondered if the two older boys where her stepsons, so I thought it was more about she was growing up in the house. The dad seemed to be more into individual bathrooms and No one wants to share with a four year old.

[Tara1665]

She bugged. I also wanted to reach in the TV and slap her when she said she didn't mind spending her husband's money. Dude, get out now before you go broke.

[NYGirl]

I could not stand her!  She thought she was just so cute ..as she was making so many negative comments about each property that I couldn't even keep track.

 

I can't believe she named that poor little girl Troy Lynn.  (eye roll).

 

I too thought the older boys were step sons. 

 

She also said her restaurant was in the Virgin Islands...and then she doesn't cook?  WTF.

[Empress1]

She bugged. I also wanted to reach in the TV and slap her when she said she didn't mind spending her husband's money. Dude, get out now before you go broke.

I didn't like her at all, to the point where I turned off and deleted the episode after the first house. She had bitchface except when she was joking about winning re: style of house, spending her husband's money, and preferring the daughter (Troy Lynn is a dumb name, sorry) over the rest of the family. I doubt she was joking; I'd bet the sons were stepsons and she DOES favor the daughter over them. Ugh, she really bothered me.

[JasmineFlower]

They didn't look that different in age but wondered if the two older boys where her stepsons, so I thought it was more about she was growing up in the house. The dad seemed to be more into individual bathrooms and No one wants to share with a four year old.

 

Nope, everything she said suggests they are all hers. No difference at all in how she mentions them outside of gushing over the girl. They've been together for quite a while, meeting at the restaurant she owned in the Virgin Islands, and having moved away from the Corpus Christi area over 12 years ago and returning now. As much as it seems like she might be a new trophy wife, she isn't. The oldest boy (which she said "our" oldest - she said our for all of them) is 20. And then said our other boy, and then the daughter, who was the love of her life. Excuse me?

 

And I posted before the episode ended. At the end she said the middle son has his own room so he comes home does his home work, watches TV, and stays out of our hair so that's good. Just yikes woman. I'm certainly not convicting if he does her in later in life, just play the episode to show evidence of how awful she is. And I'm still thoroughly confused by anyone owning a restaurant in their lifetime being so dismissive and against the idea of cooking.

[MaKaM]

Man, I hated the Padre Island couple. They were such stereotypes of wasteful Americans. Him with his bathrooms and boats and her with her "Ooh, I hate the floor." "Ooh, I hate (insert anything under the sun)" we'll have to throw away perfectly good stuff because it isn't up to my hoity standards. Build then lady, build. Also the way you shopped for your trophy house for spoiled you, idiot husband, poor Troylynn, and poor ignored middle son reeked (and I mean REEKED) of nouveau riche. Can't buy class.

 

Next up: Troylynn as the star of Toddlers and Tiaras because you just know that type of woman is going to be re-living her youth through her daughter. Hope the older brothers don't hate little sis and will rescue her in a few years.

Edited October 15, 2015 by MaKaM

[DownTheShore]

That Padre Island couple! That woman wasn't happy with anything. When she was going through that second house with her decorator friend (who seemed to be recommending all sorts of structural changes as if there was absolutely no cost involved) , I was thinking, “Why don't you just buy a piece of land and BUILD a damn home on it! "

But I figured that they were going to get the first place because there was a huge sectional sofa covered up in the family room, which voila, just happened to still be there alomg with their TV when they “moved“ in.

I felt really bad for that son who was remaining in the house with them. If there ever was an obvious, second-class kid, that was him. Momma's gonna mould Troy Lynn into a mini-me, and as long as Daddy can play with his boats, no one is going to stop it. She's going to become a little Texas Princess.

Edited October 15, 2015 by DownTheShore

[camom]

 

Next up: Troylynn as the star of Toddlers and Tiaras because you just know that type of woman is going to be re-living her youth through her daughter. Hope the older brothers don't hate little sis and will rescue her in a few years.

 

We think alike, MaKaM.  I'm sure they needed a trophy room because that mom just oozed "beauty pageant mom."  Poor kid.

[chessiegal]

Could Padre Island episode producers have telegraphed the home they bought any more clearly? Only empty house except for the sectional (under a blanket), beds in the bedroonms, and flat screeens on the walls. Geesh - how stupid do yoou thnk we viewers are? And her statement at the end that the only change they had made so far was to replace the carpet - which was exactly the same color as what we saw in the walkthrough. Rightttt. She was awful. Finding waterfront lots that can have a pier/docking facilies is not that easy. You're better off getting a house that has most of you wants so you don't need to through the hassle and time of permitting and building. I can see his small boat docked at the house, but one big enough for deep sea fishing - it's probably at a mariuna somewhere.

Edited October 15, 2015 by chessiegal

[Angeltoes]

Good gravy, I wanted to smack that woman. She was an A type personality - Annoying. She turned her nose up at that gorgeous kitchen and bleated that they'd have to gut it. Spoiled princess. She needs to spend $70 to get a decent haircut. Who wants to bet that the restaurant she owned was a taco truck?

A few episodes ago I figured out which house they picked pretty quickly. Husband complained that one house didn't have enough kitchen cabinets. Realtor says "There's a big pantry right there" and points to a closed door that the husband is standing right next to. Husband says,"Oh" and doesn't open the door like any other normal house hunter would. I realized then that a lot of their personal stuff must have been stashed in there while filming.

[KLovestoShop]

When the S. Padre woman said her 4 year old daughter was the love of her life, I cringed. So, hubby isn't her love, or the two sons are tossed aside? What a nasty woman.

[Empress1]

My TiVo said Thursday's ep was about an engaged couple in Phoenix "struggling to find a home that doesn't have the Spanish & Southwestern features common in the city" and I was prepared to be annoyed (I've used Phoenix as an example of my pet peeve of when people are looking for houses that don't exist in the places in which they live), but it turned out to be an engaged couple in Middletown, CT. I liked them - they had that teasing kind of humor that I like (their realtor even said that when they were together, all he saw was "love love love"). The only thing that irked me was the woman's insistence on not having laundry in the basement. To me, laundry should go on the lowest level because if it leaks or floods, there's less damage. If your laundry is on the second floor and it leaks, you have to deal with it on two levels. She seemed scared of basements.

[DownTheShore]

I can never understand those women who are afraid of going into perfectly innocuous basements that are well-lit and uncluttered.

I lived in a four-apt building built in 1919,when I was a kid. There was only one 60W light at the entryway of the cellar for the two corridors that contained wooden-walled storage areas for each apt. Ours was in the back of the cellar and I still don't know what was or if anything was at the end of our corridor section because no light made it there. The only entrance to the cellar was from an outside wooden door that you had to lift open, like a coffin lid. Our yard was open to the unused land under the adjacent roadway bridge, that was used as a shortcut by all and sundry. Now THAT was a scary basement!

[laredhead]

Re the Padre Island couple, in the closing scene the husband said his job might take him elsewhere, but for the time being they had no complaints.  I guess not. They had a million dollar house (almost), 2 boats and who knows what other material goods, so it really would be hard to complain wouldn't it?  Oh wait, he was married to Miss Complainer of the Year, so I'm sure she will find fault with something.  It was easy to figure out they had bought the 1st house because the sectional sofa was "hidden" under a sheet.  Maybe they could have pushed it to the side and photographed the room w/o it being visible.  Wasn't that the house where the wife said she hated the tile, and yet it was still there in the reveal.  Much easier to remove the tile before moving in than after when you will have to move all of the furniture out and endure dust of the tile removal later.  I also thought her haircut looked a bit strange, especially when she was shown in a side profile. 

[swissair100]

From other site comments, Padre Island Ep:

1. her mother actually owned the Virgin Is restaurant

2. house is already on market

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/15949-Punta-Espada-Loop-Corpus-Christi-TX-78418/28798440_zpid/

3. she is "Not the favorite aunt" according to family members ..... LOL

[KLovestoShop]

I wonder if it's the producers who tell these millennial men to sound so lazy. The Phoenix boyfriend placed so much emphasis on not wanting grass or a pool because it's too much work. We had pools, and they're not much work at all. If you have a good automatic pool cleaner, there's not much to do, except for maybe a backwash once a month, and emptying the skimmer once a week. And if you have grass in Phoenix, it's so tiny, and because of the heat, the grass grows so slow that upkeep takes very little time.

And then again, we had a transplant who just didn't get that you don't have Victorian homes in the hot Southwest. Because of the severe termite problem, and super dry desert weather, wooden Victorian houses don't work in Phoenix.

[biakbiak]

He did say he was from Illinois, pools in cold climates require more work and his point about grass wasn't just being lazy, he rightfully thought it should not exist in the climate.

Edited October 17, 2015 by biakbiak

[KLovestoShop]

My sister lives in northern Penn and her pool really doesn't take a lot of work, and she does it all on her own, since the divorce. I do understand his comment about grass in Az, but it's not reality. People who move there from back east want to bring all their plants/trees/grass with them, and that's one of the reasons why allergies are so bad there. Some communities have gone so far as to make the planting of certain things illegal due to using too much water and creating too much pollen.

[laredhead]

Back to the Padre Island episode.  I just read the description of the real estate post on Zillow - thanks for that Swissair100 - and I don't remember the HH episode mentioning anything about an elevator, two 3-car garages and a guest house.  Did I miss something while watching the show?  One would think they would have mentioned those amenities.  I guess his job has moved them elsewhere.  Gee, maybe they will be a on a future HH episode. 

[DownTheShore]

That South Padre Island home went up for sale 3 months after it was purchased.

[chessiegal]

That South Padre Island home went up for sale 3 months after it was purchased.

 

So I'm guessing her saying they hadn't done much but replace the carpets was total BS just to justify her making such a fuss about not wanting to live with other people's germs and filth in carpet when they were shown house hunting. I couldn't understand her hatred of tile and wanting hardwood floors. Seems in that environment that tile would be better.

[laredhead]

Does anyone remember what the Padre Island couple said they paid for the house?  I just looked up the price history on the house and it certainly has been on the market for a while - both times.  Maybe they added the elevator and guest house, but that would have been a lot of work in just 3 months.  There's more to this story than was shown on TV, or maybe the husband took another job elsewhere.  Normally, I'm not this curious, but a million dollar house tends to make me curious.  Chessiegal, I agree about the tile vs. hardwood floors for that environment.  There's no sandy beach right there to worry about tracking sand inside, but I still think tile would be a better choice.

[MsTree]

I lived in a four-apt building built in 1919,when I was a kid. 

1919?!?  This must be a typo...unless you're pushing 100 yrs old :)

[camom]

MsTree, I think you read it wrong.  The apt building was BUILT in 1919.

[DownTheShore]

Yes, the building was built in 1919, not me - lol. My grandmother bought it when it was new.

[MsTree]

LOL! And yes, stewedsquash, commas are our friends :-)

[DownTheShore]

Jeez Louise, you guys!

When I was a kid, I lived in a four-apt building built in 1919.

Better?

;->

[DownTheShore]

Back to the Ocean Beach episode, I just saw this post from the wife on FB:

"Thanks for watching Proud to be owners in OB III. Our cottage is on owned land. Just so everyone knows, I had to create some drama so no one would easily guess we would pick the beach bungalow. Love the area and our new OB III neighbors."

[JasmineFlower]

I think I'm boycotting House Hunters this week. I'm really, really sick of this Tiny House invasion on the network. On nights when it dominates the network I call it Tiny House Hell. Just don't get the appeal and am almost offended by many of these tiny house hunters constantly talking about how "huge" 100 sqft is. I just can't. When I watched before it was to laugh at these people and the only ones I actually enjoyed were the ones that had a doubting friend or relative along, but the network invasion is overkill.

[izabella]

The tiny house people crack me up.  There are these things called studio apartments - they've been around forever and they don't require composting toilets.

Edited October 19, 2015 by izabella

[JasmineFlower]

The tiny house people crack me up.  There are these things called studio apartments - they've been around forever and they don't require composting toilets.

 

Exactly! It boggles the mind why they don't get a studio or heck, an efficiency if they want a smaller place. They keep acting like it's 3000 sqft or nothing else is available.

[chessiegal]

Exactly! It boggles the mind why they don't get a studio or heck, an efficiency if they want a smaller place. They keep acting like it's 3000 sqft or nothing else is available.

I understand what you're saying, but those options have shared walls. I HATE having shared walls as I am very sensitive to other people's noise. I don't plan to live anywhere with shared walls until I need to go to a nursing home. I think I'd go for an RV or, more ideally, a sailboat or a trawler. We have a 32 foot sailboat that we've lived in for a week at a time more than once. I swear it shrinks a foot a day when we do that.

[camom]

Those options don't all have shared walls.  I raised my 3 children in a 950 sq. ft house on a 1/4 acre lot.  Three bedrooms, one bathroom, and somehow we all survived.  I now have more sq. ft. in my townhouse that does have a shared wall.  (Once the kids grew up and moved out, I realized that I really don't like yard work!)

[Grneyedldy]

The tiny house people crack me up. There are these things called studio apartments - they've been around forever and they don't require composting toilets.

There are also trailers for those that need to travel with their homes. And they cost a lot less. And mobile homes have been around forever.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Grneyedldy

[NYGirl]

Ugh I hate Tiny House week.  The network makes it look like the be all to end all!  I feel claustrophobic just watching them.  I guess I'll be boycotting too.  That pisses me off because HGTV rocks me to sleep like a mother rocks a cradle.

[WendyCR72]

As someone else said, I fail to see the point of tiny houses. Buy a freaking Winnebago (often a similar price as these postage stamp-sized houses), and voila! Traveling home at the ready.

[JasmineFlower]

There are also trailers for those that need to travel with their homes. And they cost a lot less. And mobile homes have been around forever.

 

So, one of the things I don't like about the tiny house people is how I'm positive they would scoff at the mere idea of a mobile home, like it was so beneath them. I can think of one person I've seen who may not, but that's about it. I have zero problems with anyone living in mobile homes and if this was featuring that, the traditional ones I mean, this whole thing would seem a lot different to me. But this tiny house craze, this is a trying to be a chic fad. They act like they've come up with a brand new way to live and can't wait to spread the news about how cool it is. I think it's telling that people are starting to have problems finding places to park their tiny houses, because they don't want to look at mobile home parks as options. I doubt the shows are covering that aspect of tiny house ownership or people abandoning their tiny houses.

Edited October 20, 2015 by JasmineFlower

[DownTheShore]

I really wonder how well those tiny houses on trailers, being hauled back and forth across the country, are going to hold up? There's a reason why RVs are streamlined as much as possible on their exterior, and why welded metal is used in the framework.

And all those tiny houses built by Zach always lack closet space for hanging clothes. Yeah, there's a lot of cubbies for household crap, but even someone who doesn't have a lot of clothes has more clothes than he builds in space for. Part of that I know is due to compromises made because those fools want such a small living space.

I wonder how quickly some of those homeowners get sick of having just an upright padded bench as a sofa?

[awaken]

I liked the Florida couple- the OT and chemistry teacher. But wow, everything she said was SO stilted and scripted! Not one thing she said sounded normal. It seemed like they did 1,000 takes in each room and or she was reading from cue cards.

Every time they say price is negotiable they choose that house! That is the code word.

[JasmineFlower]

I wonder how quickly some of those homeowners get sick of having just an upright padded bench as a sofa?

 

Some people have already started abandoning or reselling their tiny houses for a variety of reasons. I'd think the number might jump in another 3 to 4 years. I think of it as how long could I have lived in my dorm room, which is about the length of being in college. That's the space they are basically dealing with.

 

I also think of people like the engaged couple in FL who went looking with her dad. They were definitely in college, possibly working at the campus radio, and they got a tiny house because they were engaged and he thought it was time he moved out of his mom's house and showed his maturity and independence, so he got his tiny house with his fiance....and parked it in his mom's yard.

 

Well, more and more towns are checking their ordinances about these things and enforcing them since many have rules in place already. I read about it earlier in the year when these started airing, I so hadn't realized this was a thing. Can you imagine being the neighbor to the mom? Would you be happy about a structure in the backyard? What if you were trying to sell your house and someone had all that going on next door? Definitely some challenges that I would think make people get tired of living in the small spaces, even more than just the tiny space.

[Mittengirl]

I saw one Tiny House episode where they did buy what was basically a fifth-wheel. It even had the lofted area over the hitch and a couple of slide-outs. The major difference was that the exterior was clad in wood.

Another episode finally made mention of one question I always had - transport. They mentioned having to hire a professional mover to drive the house to its destination. And the cost of moving it to future destinations. I believe the cost was about $5,000 to move it. And I think they mentioned moving at least once a year. That would go a long way towards paying rent somewhere. Or towards buying a truck that could haul it.

[MsTree]

I blame MsTree. I got what you meant, so I must speak Jersey comma's even though I am a North Carolinian. Ha!

Guilty as charged! :-)

I must be losing my Jersey comma connection (Toms River) after living out west for the last 32 yrs.

[truther]

We watched most of last night's Tiny HH and it was silly.  The couple -- two women relocating to California from Hawaii -- were actually very enjoyable.  But their whole house hunt consisted of finding fault with these tiny houses.  The closet was too small, the loft was too small for her king mattress, there wasn't enough room for a sofa, etc.  It utterly defeats the purpose of having a show about tiny houses if the hunters are simply going to complain that they're not as big as real houses. 

[Empress1]

I liked the Florida couple- the OT and chemistry teacher. But wow, everything she said was SO stilted and scripted! Not one thing she said sounded normal. It seemed like they did 1,000 takes in each room and or she was reading from cue cards.

Every time they say price is negotiable they choose that house! That is the code word.

I kept thinking "Wow, they are terrible actors." The OT was a little over the top and schtick-y, and she was wooden. They are just not good on camera, I think. It did bug me that they chose the two-story house because he said he'd had four knee surgeries - I'd think that's something they (she) should take a little more seriously, particularly as they get older. I know they're young, but his knees aren't going to improve with age.

 

I ain't watching Tiny Houses. (I have a season pass to regular and renovation, but tiny houses is categorized separately so it's not recording). I am all for keeping space manageable and culling possessions; I am someone who doesn't like a lot of stuff and the ten years I spent in NYC means I don't need much space. But tiny houses seem pretty trendy and elitist, frankly. I completely agree with JasmineFlower that these tiny house people would turn up their noses at living in trailers because of the stigma attached to them - even though trailers are more practical than tiny houses. There are lots of practical ways to downsize and live in less space than to take on a twee tiny house.

[awaken]

I also think of people like the engaged couple in FL who went looking with her dad. They were definitely in college, possibly working at the campus radio, and they got a tiny house because they were engaged and he thought it was time he moved out of his mom's house and showed his maturity and independence, so he got his tiny house with his fiance....and parked it in his mom's yard

Yeah...seriously, guys, ever hear of an apartment if you need to move out and be more independent? Possibly in the same town as mommy if you don't want to be separated?

. It did bug me that they chose the two-story house because he said he'd had four knee surgeries - I'd think that's something they (she) should take a little more seriously, particularly as they get older. I know they're young, but his knees aren't going to improve with age.

e.

I agree. All because of her obsession with break-ins. Thieves break into two story houses as well. That what an alarm system is for.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Re the Padre Island couple, in the closing scene the husband said his job might take him elsewhere, but for the time being they had no complaints.  I guess not. They had a million dollar house (almost), 2 boats and who knows what other material goods, so it really would be hard to complain wouldn't it? 

 

But it was in Corpus Christi, where the weather is beyond miserable.  Humidity of a million percent every day, and everything rusts within 5 seconds of being exposed to the air.  No, actually, plastic will take a couple of weeks to rust.

 

And the wind blows incessantly, which would be nice if it were a cooling breeze, but it comes off the Gulf of Mexico and is like being slapped with a wet rag.

 

It's nirvana for a fisherman (like her husband), or someone who enjoys wind sports.  But anybody else who lives there, I have to question their sanity.

 

And FTR, "Padre Island," where they were, is in Corpus.  "South Padre Island" is a resort town about a 200 mile drive south of there, near Brownsville and the Mexican border.

 

And y'all are missing it by not watching Tiny House Hunters, for the last two nights, anyway.  The guy in Columbus, Ohio, who was ostensibly looking for a tiny house, looked at one those ridiculous 150-square-foot things on wheels, but also a 650-square-foot farm house 15 minutes from downtown, and a "micro-condo" in the hip neighborhood downtown near his work.  That's infinitely better than three stupid "real" tiny homes.  But best of all, he was really funny, as was his friend. 

 

Looking at the storage cabinet in the 150-square-foot tiny home:  "Where will you keep your sheets and towels?"  "Sheets go on the bed, towels go on the floor."

 

At the micro-condo, looking at the carpeted bed area with some rags hanging from the ceiling to separate it:  "Look, it comes with a dojo!"

 

At the post-purchase party:  "Dude, you've got to get some dishes.  I'm making the guac in a coffee mug." 

 

And catch the realtor laughing when the friend is trying to close the frozen-shut window.  Possibly my favorite house hunters ever.  Too bad it was on Tiny House Hunters, which really is shun-worthy.

 

The couple relocating from Hawaii to Escondido, California, bought what's known as a "park model" in the RV park world.  It wasn't called that on the show, but it's a mobile-home type building that gets moved to a permanent foundation in an RV park, 400 square feet.  They're very popular among the "snowbird" crowd in Arizona, and some of the giant RV parks there will have a ton of park models, with actual RVs interspersed among them.  I think they're very practical, but they enjoy no hipster cred.

 

The one they got was pretty cute, and had a loft.  The down side is that you have to lease the space it's on, like a mobile home.  (And it was a LOT more than her delusional $200/month budget in Southern California.)  And you're living in an RV park.  But every place I've ever been that has park models has been a very well-kept RV park, often limited to people over 55, and vastly nicer than just about any actual mobile home park I've ever seen.

 

I think I know the park they were in, and it's not quite as resort-like as the ones in Arizona, but it's very nice.  She paid something like $60,000 for it, and the lot rent was something like $600/month (pardon my dementia), which is pretty cheap living in that part of the country.  It's noisy as hell, though, being right on the freeway.  But they claimed they could get used to it.

[izabella]

And y'all are missing it by not watching Tiny House Hunters, for the last two nights, anyway.  The guy in Columbus, Ohio, who was ostensibly looking for a tiny house, looked at one those ridiculous 150-square-foot things on wheels, but also a 650-square-foot farm house 15 minutes from downtown, and a "micro-condo" in the hip neighborhood downtown near his work.  That's infinitely better than three stupid "real" tiny homes. 

 

I liked those guys, too, and was glad he chose a normal apartment to buy.  It was more spacious than some of the $1M+ apartments we see on HHI in Paris, for example, and, again, no composting toilet!!!  He'll also be very, very glad he bought an apartment instead of that tiny house when it comes time for him to sell his place.  He got an excellent location, which other buyers will love, plus a place with a real kitchen.  Resale value is a thing, buyers!

 

I always like the Tiny House Hunters who are looking for small places to live, rather than those trendy little Tiny Homes which are more "cute" than functional.  RV's have more comforts and space than those things.

[proserpina65]

Those beach house setting where they bought their house, which I've seen similar on other shows as well, seem awful to me.  Yes, they're right near the beach, but your neighbors are right on top of you in all directions.  There is very little outdoor space, and there is absolutely NOTHING landscape-wise between the houses or even in front, just rows of houses.  Not a leaf or a flower to be seen, much less a bush or tree to give you some semblance of privacy.  It looks like some kind of shanty town rather than any beach cottage I'd want to live in.

 

I guess it must be nice enough since the wife actually seemed happy to get a place in the community, but all those neighbors on top of me would drive me crazy.  Maybe I'm just used to lake cottages where there are plenty of trees, flowers and landscape.

That closeness is the price you often have to pay for being on the beach.

[proserpina65]

Everything from stabbings to underwear snatching.

And Sheldon catching weird Nebraska germs from Penny.