House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[chessiegal]

Every time I hear someone saying "where are my white cabinets" while looking at, what look like to me to be high end solid wood dark cabinets, I laugh. I was transferred in 1992, and bought a new home that had white cabinets, which was all the rage then. I was thrilled. Seems like it wasn't too many years later that dark cabinets became all the rage. So Tampa chick needed to be looking at kitchens from the early 90's.

[CherryAmes]

I felt like that when grey became the new beige and everyone and his uncle was painting every room in the house some shade of grey or another.  Who knew that the pale grey living room my mom has had since the  beginning of time would one day become chic!

[KLovestoShop]

Did not like the Tampa couple at all.  I can't stand the "where's my" stuff on so many of these shows.  Build your own damn house if you're so freaking picky.  

[jcbrown]

 

Did not like the Tampa couple at all.

Totally. Entitled divas. When she was in that white kitchen (which I hate--give me natural wood or even laquer over boring white) and said that is said "ha ha she was in Florida, be jealous," I responded that she and Florida deserve each other. Whiny twerps.

 

Edited because I forgot to add how much I wanted to slap the one daughter who stood ON their kitchen counter with her SHOES ON to retrieve something from the upper cabinets. Updated opinion: Classless whiny twerps with no knowledge of food safety.

Edited January 13, 2016 by jcbrown

[ByaNose]

I really enjoyed the Palm Springs couple. They seem like so much fun & actually enjoy each other. I'm not really into mid century modern houses or furniture but they seem to appreciate it. The condo itself wasn't anything spectacular which is a nice change of the usual HH needing everything at high value.

[SanDiegoInExile]

Palm Springs Pilot Rick and Retiree Ann make a video

[chessiegal]

Thanks for posting the video - I can easily see why they were chosen - so likeable and appeared genuine. That submission video was possibly more interesting than many of the produced shows.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

They are a sweet couple (Palm Springs), and they must LOVE House Hunters!  Give them their own show!  :-)    She has a cute wardrobe too.

 

Can't believe you can find something for under $200,000 there.  I wish they had looked at more of the cool, single family homes in Palm Springs.

[KLovestoShop]

They are a sweet couple (Palm Springs), and they must LOVE House Hunters!  Give them their own show!  :-)    She has a cute wardrobe too.

 

Can't believe you can find something for under $200,000 there.  I wish they had looked at more of the cool, single family homes in Palm Springs.

My cousin lives in Palm Springs and it's a great place for those who like the mid-century modern house.  His house is so very cool and reminds me a lot of Frank Lloyd Wright houses.  I, too, was surprised they could find anything in their price range, but they got what they wanted and needed.  They were a very nice couple.

[laredhead]

Has this couple been on HH before with their Myrtle Beach abode?  I've seen so many episodes, maybe I am imagining that they look familiar.  Yes, their audition tape tells a lot more than what we see on an episode.  I wish they would quit rehashing the previous houses after each commercial break and fill that time with new content.

[Dawning]

 

Has this couple been on HH before with their Myrtle Beach abode?  I've seen so many episodes, maybe I am imagining that they look familiar.

 

Yes, it was mentioned at the beginning of the show that they had been on House Hunters before, and I think it was Myrtle Beach. 

[laredhead]

Thanks, Dawning, I haven't seen the episode yet, so sorry about asking about something that others already knew.  I'll just go cue of the DVR and watch it now.

[tvchick]

Yes, it was mentioned at the beginning of the show that they had been on House Hunters before, and I think it was Myrtle Beach. 

I also think that they said they had been on the HH Renovations show, too, working on the Myrtle Beach house.

[SanDiegoInExile]

They are a sweet couple (Palm Springs), and they must LOVE House Hunters!  Give them their own show!  :-)    She has a cute wardrobe too.

 

Can't believe you can find something for under $200,000 there.  I wish they had looked at more of the cool, single family homes in Palm Springs.

 

PS is in Riverside County, one of the areas most ravaged by the Great Recession. Housing values dropped by as much as 50%.  It seems they bought in summer 2015 as prices were starting to recover somewhat.  The condo market has only recently started to recover.  Oversupply of foreclosed "second" homes and vacation rentals have kept prices down.

 

http://www.zillow.com/palm-springs-ca/home-values/

Edited January 14, 2016 by SanDiegoInExile

[aguabella]

?? Is there another Zillow link? Am I looking at the wrong data, anyone? The link above indicates that both Palm Springs and Riverside County would be considered strong markets, beating national averages. Given the HH standard 6 month post-production period, assuming a purchase date of approx. 0715 for the Myrtle Beach/PS couple, the PS market at that time, including condos, had previously bottomed out and was trending up, according to the linked Zillow data.

In any event, b/c the markets are so different, personally, I wouldn't compare PS to greater RC. But, for the y/e 113015, both areas appear strong vis-a-vis the typical benchmark, i.e. the national average. And, likewise, the forecast for the next year indicates the same.

Did I miss a schedule or review the wrong web page? Thanks, all.

Edited January 16, 2016 by aguabella

[aguabella]

Has this couple been on HH before with their Myrtle Beach abode? I've seen so many episodes, maybe I am imagining that they look familiar. Yes, their audition tape tells a lot more than what we see on an episode. I wish they would quit rehashing the previous houses after each commercial break and fill that time with new content.

I recognized them, too, thinking it was one regular Myrtle Beach episode + a WATN segment. Sure enough, they confirmed it.

Incidentally, HH participants have told me that the producers frequently review audition tapes via youtube. Many participants neglect to remove them. They often provide much greater insight into the real life situation.

Surely you jest! More content, you say?? Scripps would have to increase their miniscule budgets to film another 10 hours (or so). (They currently shoot 40 hours to produce roughly 20 minutes of content. Yep, 10 sounds about right, to me.)

No, no, no, no ... way sayeth the producers! lololol

Edited January 16, 2016 by aguabella

[RemoteControlFreak]

Replay (apparently) yesterday of a family with six kids who moved from Kansas to Minnesota so one of their kids could be close to a gymnastics school.

 

They seem like nice people and I have no problem with moving to support your kid's future career when it's a career that has to start at a young age.

 

BUT, they were a living, breathing example of why we're destroying our planet.  

 

Let's count the ways:

1. Six kids.  Too many.  You don't live on a farm where you need the free labor and the infant mortality rate isn't what it was in 1785.  The biggest destroyer of our planet that no one wants to talk about is overpopulation.  Stop.

 

2. New McMansion.  Let's all gobble up valuable farm land to buy a ginormous house with six bedrooms, a laundry room as big as some New York City apartments, and enough granite to cause the state of South Dakota to collapse from the over-mining.

 

3. Driving miles a day in a big ole SUV to get your kids here and there.  Ah, the suburbs, where one must fire up a V-8 engine just to go out to get a quart of milk.

 

4. Bike riding without helmets. OK, maybe the TV folks made them take them off, but the roller-blading kids had helmets on while neither the kids nor the adults on bikes did.  Don't let your kids bike without a helmet and don't do it yourself.  While I'm opposed to them having all the kids, now that they have them, I don't want them to die.  And I don't want to pay higher insurance rates for your irresponsible choices.

 

ON the plus side:

 

1. They appeared to be committed to exercise and healthy eating, even if looked like they like to use disposal plastic utensils while cooking.  

2. The dad works from home, so no costly commute. 

[DownTheShore]

I thought that move was odd, though, because they weren't hinting at Olympic aspirations for the daughter, only that she ultimately wanted to teach gymnastics. It seemed strange to move away from kith and kin for that reason.

I was shouting, "You can plant trees, you know!" when the husband was complaing about the lack of screening trees in the yard of the house they ultimately chose.

I don't have a big issue with some people having larger families because a lot more have only one or two kids, or like me - none. So I think in the US it basically evens out. If you want them and can love, nurture, and support them on your own, then I have no problem with it. However, folks like the Octo-mom and the Duggars I do have a problem with. I'd donate to a fund to get their bits snipped.

[topanga]

 

I thought that move was odd, though, because they weren't hinting at Olympic aspirations for the daughter, only that she ultimately wanted to teach gymnastics. It seemed strange to move away from kith and kin for that reason.

This. I'm sure Kansas has good gymnastics schools, if the daughter's aspirations are to become good enough to make a college team and eventually coach. If she were gunning for the Olympics, I can see the family making that sacrifice to train with a particular school or coach. 

[ByaNose]

A very young & good looking couple and their million dollar (technically $940,000) home. He owns two business. One is an online retail business (something to do security) and a some residential business (whatever that is). She is a stay at home Mom for their 3 young cute kids and has a food blog. Anyway, they picked a really big house with an amazing pool in Orange County. They sort of looked like brother and sister but seems nice and happy. LOL!! My question is what did a do wrong in life that I can afford a near million dollar home? LOL!!!

[topanga]

 

My question is what did a do wrong in life that I can afford a near million dollar home? LOL!!!

I ask myself that whenever I watch these young couples buy such nice homes! 

 

I really like the Cleveland couple--the doctor and pediatric dentist. They were nice people, both individually and together. They seem to like each other, and they talked things out when they had differences. No mean, sarcastic jabs at one another. And I loved when the husband said at the end, "It took a lot, internally, for me to reconcile this." He's such a nerd, but a cool one. And the townhouse they chose was perfect for them and their unborn child. If they have more children later, they might end up upgrading. But the other two houses were too big for them. 

Edited January 19, 2016 by topanga

[Ottis]

A very young & good looking couple and their million dollar (technically $940,000) home. He owns two business. One is an online retail business (something to do security) and a some residential business (whatever that is). She is a stay at home Mom for their 3 young cute kids and has a food blog.

 

 

We were trying to figure out if they somehow had an amazing income, won the lottery or, in California, there are 50-year mortgages and they were used to high debt, because they looked about 28. California is expensive, but you don't *have* to live in a million dollar home. They seemed reasonably grounded, though.

Edited January 19, 2016 by Ottis

[Tara1665]

Orange County couple... Did y'all know she was a food blogger and wanted a white kitchen???

[laredhead]

Orange County couple said he was in home security business and solar industry sales as well.  He was 28 or 29 and she was 27.  Many gallons of white paint certainly made a big difference in the interior appearance of that house.  She got her white kitchen.  I did not like the curb appeal of that house because all I saw when I looked at it were 3 big garage doors.  Front loading garages are one of my pet peeves, but I understand that is sometimes necessary when lots are not large.

[juliet73]

I didn't like OC wife at all!! She seemed way too entitled! B!tch,you're 27, you don't need to work and you're looking at million homes! Instead of complaining how "tight" the master bathroom is because it didn't have 2 sinks, be thankful that it's not the only bathroom in the house! I like the husband a lot. He seemed grounded and kept reminding her while she was complaining that it was functional or it is better for the kids. I'm assuming they could afford such a pricey house because he came from money (grew up in Newport Beach) and probably got money from his parents or took over his parent's business, etc.

[Bronx Babe]

"Native" New Yorkers return to look for a place in Westchester.  Husband sounded like he was trying to hide a Massachusetts accent, and either the wife or her sister (at that moment I had looked down at a magazine for one second) pronounced "yard" as though they grew up in Boston.

Edited January 20, 2016 by Bronx Babe

[Pine]

The Orange County young wife was slouching/hunched over so much, it really bugged me.  Her WHITE kitchen and food blog comments were a bit much too.  

[izabella]

Yeah, the OC wife screamed of entitled to me - so many expectations!  And I did not like the look of the white kitchen and bath cabinets - they didn't go with the rest of the decor in those rooms and looked "off" somehow.

 

And the young man with the solar industry business didn't look into those power lines before buying the house? 

[NYGirl]

Tonight's episode was so heartwarming!  The couple in Wisconsin with 5 children, 3 of which were adopted.  They were a breath of fresh air.  No annoying conflict over the style of house...no "I won", no granite, no stainless.  The only time a double sink was mentioned was when the husband said he'd like to put in a double sink in the children's bathroom.  They didn't even complain about room colors!!  How did this episode actually get aired?  TPTB must have been asleep at the switches.

 

The only complaint was room sizes and it was said so mildly we may have missed it.

 

The family was beautiful!  Husband and wife very good looking.  I was so happy for them even though I knew they'd take house #1 as soon as I saw it.

[DownTheShore]

It was refreshing to watch a show where the couple wasn't bitching and moaning about the usual suspects. Also not living in fear that the kids will trip down the stairs, since they bought them a trampoline. ;->

[aguabella]

A very young & good looking couple and their million dollar (technically $940,000) home. He owns two business. One is an online retail business (something to do security) and a some residential business (whatever that is). She is a stay at home Mom for their 3 young cute kids and has a food blog. Anyway, they picked a really big house with an amazing pool in Orange County. They sort of looked like brother and sister but seems nice and happy. LOL!! My question is what did a do wrong in life that I can afford a near million dollar home? LOL!!!

 

It's definitely not you, ByaNose.  Some people would call the husband someone who "won the vagina lottery"!  A study, completed several years ago, estimated the wealth of various cities.  The #1 city, the husband's hometown:  Newport Beach.  BTW, it wasn't #1 in CA - it was #1 in the U.S.!

 

According to the episode, he was running a couple of small internet businesses from home.  No offense to him but that sounded like something you'd do to keep busy and augment your trust fund.

 

If it makes you feel any better, they made a major mistake, IMHO.  I hope they plan on making this their forever home b/c they may have significant problems at resale. 

 

Sure, experts differ on the power line issue.  The studies don't really matter b/c many buyers won't even consider a power line home.  It's not unusual for them to sit on the market in both good times and bad.

 

I consider a seller's buyer pool like a pie chart.  Any time you eliminate one slice / segment / wedge of the pie, i.e. the buyer pool, you need to lengthen your days on market estimate.  JMHO

 

Yes, like others, I was surprised that he didn't, for the safety of his family, at minimum, read the studies himself to check out the power line issue.  Whatever, dude!  Life is good in the OC, right?

Edited January 20, 2016 by aguabella

[topanga]

 

Sure, experts differ on the power line issue.  The studies don't really matter b/c many buyers won't even consider a power line home.  It's not unusual for them to sit on the market in both good times and bad.

I guess I don't understand this. Were the power lines especially low or in his backyard? Because I live in a city, and we have power lines (for electricity, cable, telephone, etc) running in front of our houses, behind our houses, sometimes in between. I don't even notice anymore because that's just the way it is. 

 

Was there something different about their situation? Was there a safety issue?

[aguabella]

I guess I don't understand this. Were the power lines especially low or in his backyard? Because I live in a city, and we have power lines (for electricity, cable, telephone, etc) running in front of our houses, behind our houses, sometimes in between. I don't even notice anymore because that's just the way it is. 

 

Was there something different about their situation? Was there a safety issue?

 

Don't know if you saw the episode but yes, the power lines were directly above their beautiful, backyard pool. 

 

The safety issue, itself, is n/a - doesn't even matter.  It's the perception of a safety issue to members of their suburban buyer pool that matters.

 

As an urban, city resident, you would have an entirely different buyer pool, if/when you sold a home. 

 

Hope that makes sense.  Sorry if I wasn't clear, above.

Edited January 20, 2016 by aguabella

[topanga]

 

 

The safety issue, itself, is n/a - doesn't even matter.  It's the perception of a safety issue to members of their suburban buyer pool that matters.

As an urban, city resident, you would have an entirely different buyer pool, if/when you sold a home.

Hope that makes sense.  Sorry if I wasn't clear, above.

Thanks for the explanation. Yes, I saw the episode, but I didn't realize the power lines were as close as they were. Yes, I would worry that they might come down during a bad storm and fall into the pool. In which case, you probably wouldn't be in your pool anyway. Still, you wouldn't want that to happen.

 

Maybe one of them will eventually contact the City (town) about this. When they have downtime from running their online businesses and blogging. I'm not saying they don't work. I'm just jealous because they work from home and can afford a million dollar home in OC.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

 

I really like the Cleveland couple--the doctor and pediatric dentist. They were nice people, both individually and together. They seem to like each other, and they talked things out when they had differences. No mean, sarcastic jabs at one another.

 

They were cute.  I liked how he told the story of how they met. Very sweet.

[KLovestoShop]

Those power lines were those super, big lines and not the kind that you see in so many neighborhoods in the country.  While many cities are now burying their lines, older neighborhoods still have them.  

 

I cringed when I saw the OC couple painted their cabinets white.  They were  beautiful, and probably high end, cabinets that they just white washed.  And what kind of food blog does one write that you need white cabinets?  And who reads these silly blogs.  Food blogs are a dime a dozen as so many of the younger generation seem to do this.  I guess they got the idea from the movie Julie and Julia.  

 

Liked the Wisconsin couple and as we used to live there for many years, I'm familiar with the area.  Brookfield is considered an upscale neighborhood and I was surprised they got such a decent house for that price.  Many areas of Brookfield have neighborhoods with houses that start at $500K.  

[aguabella]

This is the concern about power lines, i.e. the potential for emissions / radiation.

 

http://www.safespaceprotection.com/electrostress-from-power-lines.aspx  

 

 

Opposing studies exist but many believe they were commissioned by the power companies.  (And, the website linked above is marketing some type of remediation product.)  So, who knows???

 

In the meantime, buyers' negative perceptions create enough uncertainty in the market that it's not uncommon for power line homes to sit on the market for months on end or more - even during upcycles. 

Edited January 21, 2016 by aguabella

[chessiegal]

 

Food blogs are a dime a dozen as so many of the younger generation seem to do this.  I guess they got the idea from the movie Julie and Julia.

Or Pioneer Woman, who is now laughing all the way to the bank.

[paloma58]

Am I the only one bothered by how different PW is on TV versus her blog. She was delightfully snarky when I first found her blog, and she is ghastly on her show. And then her blog had some recipe that she unapologetically dumped a can of cream of celery soup into something. What happened to making bechamel? It is not that hard. So much combining, so little cooking..sorry for the digression

[SpiritSong]

 

 

It went on the market in 2012 for $499,000, and is still for sale, with the price dropped down to $299,000

It was originally listed for $629,000! And with $14,000 in property taxes!

 

i'm always amazed at the property taxes in NJ. And that house has an HOA fee of $184 a month. For what, exactly? It's not a condo with shared roof, etc or a building with a lot of amenities. It's a single family home, so that seemed like a pretty high fee to me.

Edited January 21, 2016 by SpiritSong

[Peanutbuttercup]

I'm uncertain, could anyone tell if the couple from last night in Aurora CO had a college student in the family? Maybe?

[Patti Jean]

I'm uncertain, could anyone tell if the couple from last night in Aurora CO had a college student in the family? Maybe?

I know, right? I don't think they mentioned a college student. At least more than 100 times.

[DownTheShore]

@SpiritSong - I'm guessing the HOA goes toward maintaining the lakeside beach area, paying for lifeguards, etc. if it's considered a private community.

[izabella]

I'm always perplexed by people who want to live right on a golf course.  I would hate that.  Stray golf balls, golfers tromping around while you're trying to have your morning coffee in the nice yard, and continual golf lawn maintenance with loud mowers and trimmers.

[NYGirl]

I'm uncertain, could anyone tell if the couple from last night in Aurora CO had a college student in the family? Maybe?

I am not so sure since they didn't give her a place to sleep!!

[Mittengirl]

I liked the Colorado couple. At least they realized that their 19 y.o. might want/have to live at home and were planning for that, unlike some who give no thought to room for a young adult who may return to the nest.

Also, I cracked up when husband mentioned something looking beachy and wife said, "Yeah, but we live in the mountains." They seemed like a very pleasant couple and didn't give the producers much to work with. I definitely got the feeling that her wanting a continent, rather than an island, was producer induced.

[truther]

I'm always perplexed by people who want to live right on a golf course.  I would hate that.  Stray golf balls, golfers tromping around while you're trying to have your morning coffee in the nice yard, and continual golf lawn maintenance with loud mowers and trimmers.

You couldn't pay me.  I've played on courses like that and let's just say I know from first-hand experience that when a stray golf ball hits the roof of a house the resulting bang! is surprisingly loud.  I also know, from first-hand experience, that it hurts like a mother to get hit by a stray golf ball.  No way I'd ever let my kids out in a yard adjacent to a golf course.  To say nothing of the noise, obscene comments, intrusion and general unpleasantness that would result from having people wheel through your back yard all day long.  Awful.

 

On another note, really liked the NC couple from last night.  It was one of the few times where their complaints matched ours almost perfectly.  On the house they ended up buying, for example, my wife took one look at the fireplace and said "ugh, that's bathroom tile!" and then the HH husband said the exact same thing 5 seconds later.  

[Empress1]

I liked the Colorado couple too. The daughter was still in college so would very likely be coming home for breaks, holidays, and summers - it made sense that they'd plan to have a place for her to sleep. I assumed them mentioning it so often was out of pride, which I thought was sweet.

Was the Wilson, NC episode new? I liked that the realtor and husband were clear on the fact that sprawling open floor plans don't exist in homes built in the 20s. The houses were so cheap! They didn't see anything over $130K.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Empress1

[Pickles]

The Wilson, NC episode was a rerun. I agree about the houses being so inexpensive!

[NYGirl]

I'm still wondering about that couple in NJ last night.  I hated that kitchen and the fact that they couldn't even open the refrigerator doors, let alone get a  mattress up those steps.  Yay historic property (rolling my eyes)