House Hunters: Buying in the USA

[mojito]

I'd sure be interested in watching a program about the rehab of that West Virginia home.

[laredhead]

Maybe they will feature the West Virginia house on a future episode of HH Where Are They Now.  The view of the river was very nice after all of the overgrown foliage was cleared.  That could be a beautiful lawn in the future.  Of course, as usual, my mind went to how much it was going to cost to heat that huge house.  I think about those things when I watch couples yearn for those older houses and their charm.  The entry hall was lovely, but it looked like just about everything else in that house had been changed or removed over the years.  I bet they spend more than $100,000 on renovating it.

[AlleC17]

3 hours ago, mojito said:

I'd sure be interested in watching a program about the rehab of that West Virginia home.

I wish this had been an episode for HH Renovations.  Looks like they did an awesome job and I would have liked to have seen more detail.

[pep4]

Austin:

That realtor was great.  And "I guess I'm going to have to find her a house with a...soul?" brought the lulz.

The lake view 3rd house really was a good value for that area. 

[mojito]

Oahu.

What the heck is wrong with these two characters? And millenials at that. (This might be the first time I've used that word, so I'm glad to do it while writing something positive.)

She loved the extremely retro kitchen with the super old-fashioned yellow countertops (oh, and I'm talking lemon yellow) edged with silver trim (anyone remember that?) and old-school kitchen sink. No mention of granite. He was the one who seemed to think a reno was in order, and she liked the kitchen as it was. They saw another home with a nice kitchen with black appliances and laminate tops, and she liked that kitchen the most. Her biggest demand was a double sink even if they had to give up on a master suite. She didn't get that sink, but she didn't whine either. She also wanted two stories, and a view of the water, but she didn't push the issue. Really, these two were just trying to find a decent place to live with some greenery around them.

The home they purchased had kind of a bizarre side entrance where you're greeted by the washing machine and dryer and a bedroom and bathroom on the side, and you then walk through the kitchen (that yellow kitchen). They felt the rest of the house made up for the odd entrance.

They wanted something kind of Hawaiian with fruit trees. No mention of colonial or Victorian or split level or ranch or craftsman. They got the house with the funky entrance and kitchen, and it seems fixing the kitchen is not topping their list of things to change.

I don't know where HH found these people, but they should make the effort to find more of them. 

[jcbrown]

8 minutes ago, mojito said:

I don't know where HH found these people, but they should make the effort to find more of them. 

I'd like to like this more than once. It was an especially stark contrast for me because I watched this immediately after the Tennessee couple where the bug-eyed creaky-voiced woman was proclaiming that she would "rip out" perfectly good rooms in every house they saw. She was complaining that she did not get a room-sized closet all to herself, too, and was shocked, shocked! by the normal-sized (large!) closets in the homes they looked at. Producer manipulation, perhaps, but they can't make you look rich and entitled if you don't give them that to work with.

[Ohwell]

I loved those lemon yellow countertops.  They were a nice couple, very laid back.  Guess that's what living in Hawaii does to you.

[Ottis]

I cut a lot of slack to homeowners on HH, but the behavior of the Chattanooga woman was just awful. I felt so sorry for her husband. The shot of him at the end rolling his eyes, as she went on about ripping out things and updating or changing them, was priceless. Poor guy. 

Edited May 6, 2017 by Ottis

[Pickles]

The Chattanooga woman had big plans for that house they purchased. Good grief. At the end, she said they planned to add a couple of bedrooms, redo the bathrooms, etc. That will end up being over a million dollar home. They had me fooled, though. I was sure the first house was the house they bought, since it was "mid-renovation". 

[StatisticalOutlier]

Anybody else notice the dripping bathroom faucet in the Manhattan bathroom?  They used that shot in the "summary" of the apartment. 

And what was the deal with that "pantry" in one of the places?  Was that a hinged mirror in the corner or what?  I have a crappy TV and couldn't make sense of what I was seeing.

ETA:  And one of the kitchens had a refrigerator up against a wall on the right, and the refrigerator opened to the left.  That would drive me crazy.

Edited May 6, 2017 by StatisticalOutlier

[juliet73]

2 hours ago, jcbrown said:

I'd like to like this more than once. It was an especially stark contrast for me because I watched this immediately after the Tennessee couple where the bug-eyed creaky-voiced woman was proclaiming that she would "rip out" perfectly good rooms in every house they saw. She was complaining that she did not get a room-sized closet all to herself, too, and was shocked, shocked! by the normal-sized (large!) closets in the homes they looked at. Producer manipulation, perhaps, but they can't make you look rich and entitled if you don't give them that to work with.

She was awful!!  I didn't watch the beginning (how they met, what they wanted, etc), but did they mention why they didn't/couldn't add on to their current home? From looking at it, the "tight" rooms were the living and dining rooms. I don't know how big they were before she did the renovations, but I'm sure she cut into a lot of the Sq footage from those two rooms to make her ginormous kitchen. It's too bad they couldn't add a family room and an eating area/dining room on the back of the house. I didn't understand why they were adding rooms to the new house...because it was only 3 bedrooms? 

[jcbrown]

32 minutes ago, juliet73 said:

She was awful!!  I didn't watch the beginning (how they met, what they wanted, etc), but did they mention why they didn't/couldn't add on to their current home? From looking at it, the "tight" rooms were the living and dining rooms. I don't know how big they were before she did the renovations, but I'm sure she cut into a lot of the Sq footage from those two rooms to make her ginormous kitchen. It's too bad they couldn't add a family room and an eating area/dining room on the back of the house. I didn't understand why they were adding rooms to the new house...because it was only 3 bedrooms? 

Plus her closet in the original house with its own zip code! Having priorities where your freaking closet is the first one is fine. Not admitting it... Plus her tastes was completely stereotypical traditional crap and she seemed to feel she was a special snowflake.

Evidently, I did not like her.

[chocolatine]

I've lived in apartments that were smaller than Chattanooga wife's old closet. That closet was Kardashian level stuff.

[laredhead]

My DVR did not record the Chattanooga episode and it sounds like it was a doozy.  Was it a new one?  I have checked the HGTV schedule and cannot find it listed for another showing.

Hawaii is expensive, and from other shows I have watched about buying houses there, the buyers don't seem to be a picky as they are on the mainland.  I have noticed mismatched appliances that don't get a second glance, smaller square footage, and some of the surrounding houses seem to be of varying states of upkeep.  One show had chickens constantly running across the yards in the background.  Island living is a bit more laid back in some areas.

On another note, the guide shows there will be 4 hours of HH Where Are They Now reruns on May 9 beginning at 7:00 p.m. CST.  Set your DVR's or pop a big bowl of popcorn and either watch some of these for the first time, or see them again.  They seem to be from episodes that were first aired in 2015 and 2016.

[Pickles]

Chattanooga was a new episode. 

[Christine]

Did anyone else notice that the Honolulu couple needed to bring upwards of $250K to the closing?  I swear I saw $273K on the Rocket paperwork.

[AlleC17]

Hawaii real estate is off the charts expensive and there is not that big a variety of house styles for people to argue over.  On Oahu, you take what you can get.  lol  Less room for whining, which is a plus.  There are neighborhoods (in the more 'country' areas) where you have a mansion next door to an old home that is falling apart.  Although I am not in love with the house I have here, I am really glad I bought it over 20 years ago...I would never be able to afford to buy in my area now. 

I missed the Chattanooga episode, apparently, so will need to find in on rerun.  Thanks laredhead for the heads up (hehe) on the Where are they Now episodes...I missed most of those, so reruns would be new for me.  :-)

[chessiegal]

We made an over $550,000 down payment on the house we are in now, 5 miles south of Annapolis, MD. Doesn't have to be Hawaii, plenty of pricey markets on the mainland. Location, location, location.

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

We made an over $550,000 down payment on the house we are in now, 5 miles south of Annapolis, MD. Doesn't have to be Hawaii, plenty of pricey markets on the mainland. Location, location, location.

First off, can you adopt me? LOL!!! That's crazy money & I can appreciate that. LOL!! I'm sure every town & city has their crazy area. Of course, I think Hawaii might take the cake due to the cost of EVERYTHING. I had heard that Hawaii has shacks that people would kill to buy. They also aren't cheap shacks. I could believe when they had to bring $250K for the closing. I really thought I had misheard or was seeing things. I didn't even pay that much for my house. I'm what you call middle class poor.

[DkNNy79]

On ‎5‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 10:42 PM, chessiegal said:

We made an over $550,000 down payment on the house we are in now, 5 miles south of Annapolis, MD. Doesn't have to be Hawaii, plenty of pricey markets on the mainland. Location, location, location.

Wow!

[SmithW6079]

On 4/25/2017 at 3:12 PM, Kohola3 said:

Aren't we though?  I am always gobsmacked by people who don't want to live near a cemetery.  I would love it - nice green spaces, no noisy parties after dark, usually a gate that is locked after dark, and a haven for wildlife.

Well, except for the dead coming back to life and the ghosts.

[Kohola3]

9 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

Well, except for the dead coming back to life and the ghosts.

I'd prefer that to the neighbors I have.

[camom]

I watched the music teachers in Colorado last night (my TV said it was new).  I thought the couple was fine but the realtor's voice got on my last nerve.

[AuntiePam]

4 hours ago, camom said:

I watched the music teachers in Colorado last night (my TV said it was new).  I thought the couple was fine but the realtor's voice got on my last nerve.

Yes!  So high-pitched.  I hope it was her natural voice and not something she's doing on purpose.  On the other hand, I feel bad for her if it IS her natural voice.

The D.C. woman from a couple episodes got on my last nerve with her feng-shui comments.  I'm no student of the philosophy, but I doubt it's possible to determine feng-shui after just a few moments in a house. 

I did have to laugh at her comment when she walked in the door of the first house:  "Is this the house?"  What?

[DkNNy79]

St. Petersburg couple:

If I were to live in Florida with 3 kids I would've opted for the house w/ a pool.  But I will say that I really liked what they did to the house they purchased.  Really loved the furniture that they had, very pretty.  Turning the sun room into the dining room really worked. I thought the wife was really pretty.

[mojito]

St. Petersburg

In their price bracket, this couple seemed to have few choices. A home on a floodplain (which they purchased) and a home at a bus stop. Made me wonder about the 2500 (can't remember the number) sq ft home they had in CA that she spent so much time cleaning. Where was this house? I found myself wondering about the state of their finances.

It would be nice to know that they were able to get enough equity from their CA home (if they owned it) to pay cash for their FL home and could comfortably start anew. 

I liked the dining room in the sun room idea. 

[Pickles]

I wonder if the Florida couple had rented in CA and this was their first home purchase? Maybe they said. I did not pay close attention.

[topanga]

21 hours ago, AuntiePam said:

 

The D.C. woman from a couple episodes got on my last nerve with her feng-shui comments.  I'm no student of the philosophy, but I doubt it's possible to determine feng-shui after just a few moments in a house. 

I did have to laugh at her comment when she walked in the door of the first house:  "Is this the house?"  What?

I wonder if she even knows what it is. She commented on two houses with good feng shui, and they both had 2nd floor staircases that led directly to the front door. I remember a few years ago, a house hunter said her Chinese mother always insisted that stairs leading to the front door were always bad feng shui.

[KLovestoShop]

Loved the Phoenix couple as it was such a touching story.  The husband, growing up in what looked like a yurt, was so proud that he could finally afford a lovely home for his family.  And the wife wasn't overly picky and had honest expectations.  I was thrilled for them when the right house basically fell into their laps, for a great price.   How great it must feel to be the first in both their families to own a house.  

[Babalooie]

10 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

Loved the Phoenix couple

YES!  They were so humble and appreciative.

[Kathcart]

Saw the very beginning of an episode where the husband and wife were announcing their style preferences. The husband liked modern; the wife liked ... I forget. Not modern. About modern she said "Modern is disgusting."

Really, woman? "Disgusting"? That's just stupid. I changed the channel.

[DkNNy79]

22 minutes ago, Kathcart said:

Saw the very beginning of an episode where the husband and wife were announcing their style preferences. The husband liked modern; the wife liked ... I forget. Not modern. About modern she said "Modern is disgusting."

Really, woman? "Disgusting"? That's just stupid. I changed the channel.

How obnoxious!

I really hate the combative couples.  I get it, you have different style preferences, but its like they have a chip on their shoulder where if they're shown a house that is not their style they get so snotty.  Be a little open minded

[chocolatine]

Tampa episode: I can't believe they passed on the gorgeous updated craftsman. It was $100k under budget (and $105k under what they ended up spending), so they could have hired contractors to build a garage and they'd still have been under budget). They claimed the new build they ended up getting was craftsman "style", but it was nowhere close.

The wife annoyed me with her insistence on carpet in the bedrooms - a large area rug accomplishes the same thing and is easier to clean. And then, in a five-bedroom, 3300-sf house, she complained about the lack of dedicated office space. There are four guest bedrooms - pick any one of them as your office.

[laredhead]

Chocolatine, I also loved the updated true craftsman house in Tampa, but it may not have been in a desirable location.  I kept wondering what was wrong with it because it looked beautiful and had been redone with some wonderful updates.  The husband said the large yard with trees could not be found in new construction and he's correct.  They bought a new build, with a small yard in a treeless subdivision, yet I couldn't stop thinking about how nice the first house seemed to be during the tour.  Maybe someone from Tampa on this forum could shed some light on this.    

[Mittengirl]

I often wonder, when the agent says the buyer can add a garage, upper story, etc., if they are certain that it is allowed by code, or are just saying it is possible from a building standpoint.   That lot may not have been big enough to build his three car garage, especially depending on how it would be placed on the lot and how wide of a driveway he wanted.   When you add in any required setbacks it could become a huge chunk of land.

[juliet73]

20 hours ago, chocolatine said:

Tampa episode:

 The wife annoyed me with her insistence on carpet in the bedrooms - a large area rug accomplishes the same thing and is easier to clean. And then, in a five-bedroom, 3300-sf house, she complained about the lack of dedicated office space. There are four guest bedrooms - pick any one of them as your office.

YES!!! I can't believe she was complaining because he wasn't willing to give up his space for her office. There were 4 other bedrooms she could choose from!!!!  I hated her! I liked him though. He seemed like a really nice guy and pretty much had nice things to say about everything. Even the rooms he didn't prefer, he still said something positive about them. 

[ByaNose]

I liked the Tampa house chosen but not the color. The whole house was light blue. It looked like a playhouse. The husband and wife were both nice enough. He was your everyday guy with a solid job. He was a stud without being an a**. She was a little to particular about the office space but like everyone else has mentioned that there plenty of bedrooms to choose from. I really like the model home they looked at. It was huge and had every upgrade that you dream about. That said, I wonder how many people by the model home with every upgrade? If I had the money I would. I really like the ceramic floor that looked like hardwood. I seriously didn't even know that was available. I need to go Lowes or Home Depot more often. LOL!!!

[msrachelj]

On 5/16/2017 at 2:29 AM, chocolatine said:

Tampa episode: I can't believe they passed on the gorgeous updated craftsman. It was $100k under budget (and $105k under what they ended up spending), so they could have hired contractors to build a garage and they'd still have been under budget). They claimed the new build they ended up getting was craftsman "style", but it was nowhere close.

The wife annoyed me with her insistence on carpet in the bedrooms - a large area rug accomplishes the same thing and is easier to clean. And then, in a five-bedroom, 3300-sf house, she complained about the lack of dedicated office space. There are four guest bedrooms - pick any one of them as your office.

thank god. she wanted to rip out the original vintage bath. i could see changing the shower area as that was already redone. but if  you are lucky enough to have original nice looking working features in your 1930's home, please don't destroy it.

[DkNNy79]

On ‎5‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 2:29 AM, chocolatine said:

Tampa episode: I can't believe they passed on the gorgeous updated craftsman. It was $100k under budget (and $105k under what they ended up spending), so they could have hired contractors to build a garage and they'd still have been under budget). They claimed the new build they ended up getting was craftsman "style", but it was nowhere close.

The wife annoyed me with her insistence on carpet in the bedrooms - a large area rug accomplishes the same thing and is easier to clean. And then, in a five-bedroom, 3300-sf house, she complained about the lack of dedicated office space. There are four guest bedrooms - pick any one of them as your office.

I do like the updated craftsman.  Some things were a little weird.  I didn't like that there was only 1 bathroom upstairs for 4 bedrooms I believe?  It was huge, but I think it would've been better to have 2 smaller bathrooms.  Also the master off the kitchen was a little weird.  Was the bathroom part of the master bedroom or was there a separate bathroom for guests to use?

True they could've built a 3 car garage but that would've taken up a lot of their backyard space.

I think taking the new construction that they could pick out the finishes...etc probably worked best for them.  In the end I thought the house looked great, but over budget.

[laredhead]

The woman in the Springfield, MA episode last night got on my nerves.  She didn't want to go over $250,000 but expected to get things you would not expect in that price range.  Her husband was a bit more realistic with the budget expectations.  I admired the fact that they wanted to foster children and needed a large house, but she didn't want a large yard which to me would be an asset when you have several young children.  Maybe I'm being too hard on her and she was the episode's designated whiner by the producers.  

Anyone familiar with Springfield, MA because those houses seemed large for the prices shown.  The 2nd house had to be a school, and maybe it belonged to a friend of the wife because she worked with abused children and there was evidence of a lot of children in that housee.  All I could think of as they toured it was how much it cost to heat that place in the winter.

Did I understand correctly that they plan to take a bedroom and turn it into a master bathroom?  That will then make it a 4 bedroom house?   

[preciousperfect]

3 hours ago, laredhead said:

Anyone familiar with Springfield, MA because those houses seemed large for the prices shown.  The 2nd house had to be a school, and maybe it belonged to a friend of the wife because she worked with abused children and there was evidence of a lot of children in that house.  All I could think of as they toured it was how much it cost to heat that place in the winter.  

Springfield is a very depressed area. We drive thru once a year because they have an awesome fair every summer. Other than that, not sure what else goes on there.

[mojito]

Quote

The woman in the Springfield, MA episode last night got on my nerves.  She didn't want to go over $250,000 but expected to get things you would not expect in that price range.  

She seemed to have watched a few hours' worth of HGTV so she could declare some things "dated" but not enough to spot some of the other dated things. 

Ugh. She didn't care about the back yard because she doesn't like being outdoors. I can't imagine even being friends with a person who didn't like being outdoors. At least, not a healthy person.

Edited May 18, 2017 by mojito

[Gurkel]

On 5/17/2017 at 10:03 AM, DkNNy79 said:

I think taking the new construction that they could pick out the finishes...etc probably worked best for them.  In the end I thought the house looked great, but over budget

I was impressed by the things the husband was able to do on his own--adding the beams, doing the kitchen backsplash, etc. But $36,000 for tile floors? Sheesh

[ITALIA]

On ‎5‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 11:21 AM, DkNNy79 said:

How obnoxious!

I really hate the combative couples.  I get it, you have different style preferences, but its like they have a chip on their shoulder where if they're shown a house that is not their style they get so snotty.  Be a little open minded

That blondie was a TOTAL bitch and a major control freak. I feel sorry for her fiancé.

[MsProudSooner]

How long with the Long Island couple live in that house with all the stairs after their baby comes?  If the value of the house goes up as much as they think it will, they'll be gone before the baby is a year old!

[laredhead]

Italia and MsProudSooner, are y'all talking about tonight's episode?  The one I saw was in Nutley (New Jersey?) and was about an engaged couple looking for a house to entertain their large families.  Sometimes I swear the TV listings don't match what is really being televised and I have missed some episodes.  I'm bummed that my almost new DVR box overheated and had to be disconnected which means I have lost all of the things I had recorded (for the 2nd time in 3 months) including several episodes of HH & HHI.  I hope I can find them on the HGTV site after the new box arrives in a couple of days.

[AuntiePam]

2 hours ago, MsProudSooner said:

How long with the Long Island couple live in that house with all the stairs after their baby comes?  If the value of the house goes up as much as they think it will, they'll be gone before the baby is a year old!

I don't usually yell at the TV, but I was yelling at them.  Who's going to keep those steps free of ice and snow?  Was that the only access? 

I think they bought it to flip and I wish them luck.  They were a nice couple.   The New Jersey couple was nice too.

[chocolatine]

@laredhead, there were two new episodes tonight (at least in my area) - Huntington/Centerport, Long Island at 8, and the Nutley, NJ one you saw at 10.

LI episode was a young married couple with a baby on the way, and they picked a house with great water views, but situated on the side of a hill with a bajillion stairs to even get into the house. They paid $500k and are putting in another $150k in renovations, and are claiming it'll be worth $900k afterwards. I'm a little skeptical given what I know about the area (I happen to be moving to that very area shortly, won't be buying right away though). The place is not that close to the water, it just has the views because it's so high up.

Nutley fiancée was annoying, but I liked the house they picked, it had great curb appeal and outdoor space.

[ITALIA]

10 hours ago, laredhead said:

Italia and MsProudSooner, are y'all talking about tonight's episode?  The one I saw was in Nutley (New Jersey?) and was about an engaged couple looking for a house to entertain their large families.  Sometimes I swear the TV listings don't match what is really being televised and I have missed some episodes.  I'm bummed that my almost new DVR box overheated and had to be disconnected which means I have lost all of the things I had recorded (for the 2nd time in 3 months) including several episodes of HH & HHI.  I hope I can find them on the HGTV site after the new box arrives in a couple of days.

I was talking about the couple who were looking for a house in Westchester, NY.

[mojito]

North Shore of LI.

That renovation would've had to include some mechanical system to move people and items up those stairs. Kids, groceries, and oops. Slipped on the ice and sprained my ankle. No, no, no. The view just wasn't that good. (And that leaning telephone pole was such a detractor.) I don't remember if I ever felt so strongly about someone picking the wrong home.