Love It Or List It - General Discussion

[Grrarrggh]

On 7/17/2019 at 1:48 PM, topanga said:

Totally agree. My enjoyment for this shows comes from 1) Hilary's designs-- I generally like the ideas she has for spaces. Not boring, but not outlandish, either and 2) trying to guess whether the family will love it or list it. And that usually comes down to how good the family's acting skills are. 

I can't agree about Hilary's designs. Her kitchens all look exactly alike. 

[annzeepark914]

Two new episodes tonight, starting at 8:00 PM., according to my TV schedule in the Washington Post. I thought this show was over. I wonder if they've moved away from the Raleigh/Durham area. All I like to see is what Hillary can do with the house (& I hit the mute during all the in-between drama!)

[MrPissyPuppy]

3 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Two new episodes tonight, starting at 8:00 PM., according to my TV schedule in the Washington Post.

I think it's another clip show since it's showing as S7: Fan Faves blah blah blah for both episodes.   HGTV has been doing that a lot recently and it's just an old episode with some popups and interviews with the hosts - at least for Good Bones & My Lottery Dream House which are the other two I've seen recently.   I'll probably just fast forward to the reveals since I think I've seen all their episodes.   Just a way to trick people into watching/recording.  

[annzeepark914]

Well, I turned on LIOLI this afternoon and was shocked.  The featured house getting the Hilary treatment was owned by family friends back in the late 70's! I called my sister to make sure. After she watched the show, she agreed. When I had dinner at this house, the dinner table was where the current owners had their table--between the small kitchen & the huge wall of windows. A family of 5 lived in this house--3 teens & their parents. And these guys were fretting about the lack of space ☺

[annzeepark914]

3 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

A family of 5 lived in this house--3 teens & their parents. And these guys were fretting about the lack of space ☺

Make that a family of six: 2 boys, 2 girls + the parents. I love that British expression, gobsmacked. That's what I was this afternoon.

[MrPissyPuppy]

Well, they weren't clip shows and they didn't have popups or interviews - they were just straight reruns with a Fan Fave slapped in front of it to make it look new to the dvr.  First one had a very pregnant woman with two little kids and a lot of cloth diapers drying in the bathroom and second one had a guy whining about losing his one car garage which didn't have room for a car with all their junk anyway.    

[El maestro]

I like the chemistry between the hosts. They are funny and entertaining.

I don’t like the bitchiness os some of the couples in the show, usually from the partner who wants to leave.

I believe most couples have made a decision before the show.

it was funny to see the clothes and watch how the program was edited. You can see how they edited the show specially when they were looking other houses.

[foxfreakinmulder]

I had to stop watching this show because of all the drama. I would watch the beginning to see what the couples wanted then fast-forward to the end to see if they "Love it or List it". I do that with most of the fixer-upper shows, I don't really care to watch the fixing part just the reveal lol. 

[sskrill]

I didn't have HGTV for a few months so I've had a nice break from all the shows.

This week I've watched a few LIOLI and decided I still don't like this show.  I used to not like Hillary or David, now I sort of like them both - but I still can't stand the couples.   The asinine demands they put on Hillary "We need 2 extra bedrooms upstairs but don't want you taking square footage from anywhere else."  Wtf?  And the asinine demands they put on David "We want 1000 more square feet in our same neighborhood but only want to spend $50k more. Also another acre of land included in that extra $50k."

I'm also confused about why rehab shows always increase the value exponentially, but Hillary's work only adds about $5k in value to the house.   I get that the rehab shows often take the house back to the studs and rebuilt everything, but if Hillary does $100k in reno's - and completely rebuilds a 1980's kitchen, the house value only goes up by $105k.

[suomi]

1 hour ago, sskrill said:

I'm also confused about why rehab shows always increase the value exponentially, but Hillary's work only adds about $5k in value to the house.   I get that the rehab shows often take the house back to the studs and rebuilt everything, but if Hillary does $100k in reno's - and completely rebuilds a 1980's kitchen, the house value only goes up by $105k.

IA, it's confusing and I've wondered that also. Over the years I've seen some houses that increased by 15-20K over reno and a couple by 35K+. But those are exceptions to the usual very small rate of return.

Is labor a part of what the show counts as being spent or does that figure refer only to materials? As a general rule, do cosmetic improvements bring a higher rate of return than health and safety and structural changes (because those usually aren't "seen")? I should've been keeping better track of that, obviously!

As for Loving or Listing - it's the rare show when I'm not yelling at the screen "You better love it, you bitches" because I hate to move and I always like what Hillary does. She wins far more often than he does so that's a big part of why I watch.

I'm not good with mathematical concepts so I wonder about one aspect: When the owners (supposedly) fork out 100K for the reno and David tells them the value increased by 110K so now they can easily afford the new home - they could have afforded the new home anyway if their 100K had gone straight to their buy-in instead of to the reno, right? Or no? I say supposedly because I have read that the owners and the show split the reno cost 50/50. 

Anyway, "Love it, you bitches."
 

Edited October 8, 2019 by suomi
typo

[annzeepark914]

I'm the opposite. I always want them to move. So many of the houses are too small, don't have a garage, have issues that can't be fixed, etc. And, IMO, the snarky spouse/partner is the one who wants to stay. I stopped watching the entire show a while back. Now I watch until the construction starts & find something else to do until the big reveal and decision. I wonder if this show is kaput now (seems to be only reruns, nothing new)?

[cinsays]

On 10/7/2019 at 11:20 PM, suomi said:

I'm not good with mathematical concepts so I wonder about one aspect: When the owners (supposedly) fork out 100K for the reno and David tells them the value increased by 110K so now they can easily afford the new home - they could have afforded the new home anyway if their 100K had gone straight to their buy-in instead of to the reno, right? 

Yeah, I have struggled with this idea too. Plus, when they redo the house to have what these owners want/need, sometimes they make it less desirable to anyone else - like chopping a bedroom in half or making the garage into another bedroom.

[BookWoman56]

I’ve generally assumed that the reno budget is what they can pull out of savings and/or what they can get from a home equity loan. If the funds are mostly from an equity loan, then no, they wouldn’t have been able to use that money directly for a new house. 

I’m almost always in the camp of they need to move to a new house. I watched a couple of reruns today, both of which were set in Durham. The first one was a single mother with two kids, whose mother had helped her buy the house originally and since retired and moved in, so that the single mother and her mother were now sharing a bed in the master bedroom. They wanted an additional bedroom for the grandmother, larger bedrooms for the kids and a bonus room for the kids. The mom was currently using the dining room as her home office. Hilary of course revamped the kitchen, which did need a bit of refreshing. Converted the dining room into a fourth bedroom. Didn’t really address the priority items much. But I kept thinking that if Hilary had limited the kitchen renovation to just new paint, she could have used those funds for some of the items the mother considered more important. So I wasn’t in the least bit surprised that they went with the new house, which had pretty much everything except a dedicated home office; they were going to take one of the two walk-in closets in the master and repurpose it as an office. 

The other was a young couple who bought a fixer upper while the wife was pregnant, deluding themselves they would get all the renovations done before the baby arrived, which did not happen. As someone who is currently in DIY hell myself, I sympathized with the husband, who just wanted something that was move-in ready and needed no big projects to do. Hilary did a good job with the house, but there would still have been some big projects left. David was able to find a turnkey house that worked better, so the couple could spend more time together rather than losing every weekend to major DIY projects. I was very glad they opted for the new house. It wasn’t brought up on the show, but the dust and debris from DIY projects are probably not the best thing for a baby to be exposed to.

Overall I think Hilary’s solutions work okay when there’s sufficient space but it’s not being used effectively. But short of adding square footage, when you need an additional bedroom, there’s not much else you can do other than find a bigger house. Hilary seems to rely on turning the dining room into another bedroom, which I personally think is a mistake. The kitchen table is usually barely big enough for the family, and most of these people insist they have extended family who will be visiting, so without a dining room, is the expectation that everyone eats in the living room from a tray? I know some people don’t want a formal dining room, but I would prefer to have a house with enough bedrooms and a dining room, even if not used often, than convert a dining room into a bedroom and have very limited options for extended family dinners or parties, etc. I also sometimes scoff at those revised estimates of the house’s post-renovation value. Yes, completely updating a seriously outdated kitchen will increase the value. But half the time to me it looks more like the house has basically been decluttered and had some cosmetic changes. Nor do I understand the need to revamp functional bathrooms just because the cabinets are not this year’s color. It just feels to me as if there’s too much focus on purely cosmetic items without addressing major space limitations, and the owners are so distracted by new shiny kitchen counters they forget what they actually need. 

[MrPissyPuppy]

New season coming November 18, 2019 per this article and advertising on HGTV.   

https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/LOVE-IT-OR-LIST-IT-Returns-to-HGTV-on-November-18-20191028

[ECM1231]

4 hours ago, MrPissyPuppy said:

New season coming November 18, 2019 per this article and advertising on HGTV.   

https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/LOVE-IT-OR-LIST-IT-Returns-to-HGTV-on-November-18-20191028

No mention of where the new season will take place. I'd really like to know their location. Someone mentioned upthread that Eric will no longer be on the show; I'd often wondered how he hooked up with them.  Was he a NYC to Durham transplant and the show found him locally or did he just stay in Durham during filming?  I hope they film in a new location as I've had enough of Durham. No offense meant. 

[absnow54]

Based on the casting notice, they'll still be in the Raleigh-Durham area: https://www.hgtv.com/shows/be-on-hgtv/do-you-want-to-be-on-love-it-or-list-it-

[LizDC]

On 10/30/2019 at 2:41 PM, ECM1231 said:

Someone mentioned upthread that Eric will no longer be on the show; I'd often wondered how he hooked up with them.  Was he a NYC to Durham transplant and the show found him locally or did he just stay in Durham during filming?  I hope they film in a new location as I've had enough of Durham.

Eric was on one of the early seasons of Brother vs Brother (when they had teams). That’s where HGTV found him. 

[annzeepark914]

On 10/30/2019 at 2:51 PM, absnow54 said:

Based on the casting notice, they'll still be in the Raleigh-Durham area: https://www.hgtv.com/shows/be-on-hgtv/do-you-want-to-be-on-love-it-or-list-it-

Well that's a disappointment. I was hoping they'd move to another section of the country. And sorry to learn that Eric won't be on the show.

[MoreCoffeePlease]

I watched most of the 1st episode of this new season ... got interrupted toward the end and haven't seen the final reveal yet. I loved that last resale house that the couple looked at. It really seemed to have everything that they wanted.

I thought the wife was nice and polite when she told Hillary that she didn't like the proposed tile for the mudroom (or laundry?). A designer should absolutely want your opinion about the finishes!

What was with that "mushroom" growing from the base of the toilet?!?  Ewww. That would be enough for me to move.

I haven't watched regularly for a long time. Have really cut back on my HGTV, but the advertising for the new season got me when I was watching Rock the Block. 

I love Hillary and David. They seem to have so much fun together. She does a great job and it is fun seeing the houses that David takes them too.

Edited November 21, 2019 by MoreCoffeePlease

[topanga]

2 hours ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

What was with that "mushroom" growing from the base of the toilet?!?  Ewww. That would be enough for me to move.

I haven't watched regularly for a long time. Have really cut back on my HGTV, but the advertising for the new season got me when I was watching Rock the Block. 

I love Hillary and David. They seem to have so much fun together. She does a great job and it is fun seeing the houses that David takes them too.

I know. Gross. It was red and floral. And there were two of them. But it wasn't a flower. Was it ever addressed? I usually fast forward through the home renovation portion of the show. 

I was surprised they chose to list it. They seemed so proud of the renovations. Maybe that's the trick. If they're too excited, that's fake. When a couple is subdued about the renovations. they're going to stay. Hmm. I'll have to test their theory.

I love Hillary and David, too. They're mature (NOT old), and I like their banter. But because they aren't a couple, they don't have to get all schmoopy and borderline inappropriate with one another. 

[Broderbits]

I was kind of bored with the new episode. I wish they had moved to another location, the NC homes all seem alike.

Just once it would be nice to hear Hilary tell the cheapskate homeowners when they complain about not getting everything on their list: We have to spend extra money fixing ____________ because you people were too stupid to maintain your biggest investment!

[Chit Chat]

I'm always stunned by how messy some of the homes are that Hillary & David first walk into.  All some of them need is to be cleaned up and organized!  There was one episode in which an owner thought they needed a bigger house for all of their stuff.  I was screaming at the TV "pick up your mess you idiot and you'll find tons of space!"  

I'm always amazed at how much better a home looks when it's completely empty.  I wonder how many people they have that come in and pack everything up and move it.  That's a hell of a lot of work!  Do the owners pay extra if they decide to keep the furnishings that Hillary stages with, like they do on Fixer Upper? 

[ArtFossil]

On 11/21/2019 at 12:55 PM, MoreCoffeePlease said:

I watched most of the 1st episode of this new season ... got interrupted toward the end and haven't seen the final reveal yet. I loved that last resale house that the couple looked at. It really seemed to have everything that they wanted.

I thought the wife was nice and polite when she told Hillary that she didn't like the proposed tile for the mudroom (or laundry?). A designer should absolutely want your opinion about the finishes!

For me, one of the pleasures of watching Love It Or List It is imagining that all of the women (including the one on this episdode) who have this hideous vocal fry are sequestered on an island so that they cannot breed. Admittedly, I am old but I shall never understand how any woman can think that this vocal affectation is desireable.

[Grrarrggh]

2 hours ago, ArtFossil said:

For me, one of the pleasures of watching Love It Or List It is imagining that all of the women (including the one on this episdode) who have this hideous vocal fry are sequestered on an island so that they cannot breed. Admittedly, I am old but I shall never understand how any woman can think that this vocal affectation is desireable.

You mean the one I can't seem to hear on nine out of ten women accused of having it? Yeah, women who dare to speak and not sound however "we" think women should belong away from everyone. 

[annzeepark914]

9 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

You mean the one I can't seem to hear on nine out of ten women accused of having it? Yeah, women who dare to speak and not sound however "we" think women should belong away from everyone. 

You're fortunate that you can't hear these crackly voices. 

[cinsays]

Watched one this morning - don't know if it is a new one or not.

Husband, a rap/hiphop or something musician, I think, needed a studio, his wife needed a place to do furniture restoration. Hillary decided to build a shed for the wife out back and to put a room over the living room for the musician.  What?!  One of the problems with the music was that when he played he woke his year old child.  So, maybe put him in the shed away from everyone and her in the room in the house???

Did not see the end, so don't know if they loved it or listed it.  

[Broderbits]

6 minutes ago, cinsays said:

So, maybe put him in the shed away from everyone and her in the room in the house???

Furniture restoration usually involves various solvents and other chemicals you might not want in the house. It also could be a fire hazard and affect homeowners insurance unless they don't even mention it to their agent.

[cinsays]

1 minute ago, Broderbits said:

Furniture restoration usually involves various solvents and other chemicals you might not want in the house. It also could be a fire hazard and affect homeowners insurance unless they don't even mention it to their agent.

ok, that makes sense

[ArtFossil]

20 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

You mean the one I can't seem to hear on nine out of ten women accused of having it? Yeah, women who dare to speak and not sound however "we" think women should belong away from everyone. 

Fortunately, vocal fry is a learned characteristic. It's become an easy convention that can be adopted or dropped. It has nothing to do with equality, justice, power, authenticity or any attributes of feminism. "Young women, give up the vocal fry and reclaim your strong female voice" https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/24/vocal-fry-strong-female-voice

That said, if you wish to choose it, fry on.

Edited December 1, 2019 by ArtFossil

[Grrarrggh]

On 11/30/2019 at 7:08 PM, ArtFossil said:

Fortunately, vocal fry is a learned characteristic. It's become an easy convention that can be adopted or dropped. It has nothing to do with equality, justice, power, authenticity or any attributes of feminism. "Young women, give up the vocal fry and reclaim your strong female voice" https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/24/vocal-fry-strong-female-voice

That said, if you wish to choose it, fry on.

I just think a lot of women are accused of it when they're not actually doing anything to their voices. Just speaking as their vocal chords intended them to do. 

[MoreCoffeePlease]

Saw the episode where the couple bought a foreclosure, did a little bit of work, but the layout was really weird on the 1st level. I still don't understand one of the doorways and halls.

House was so charming from the outside and seemed to be in a beautiful neighborhood.

Loved what Hillary did with the kitchen, but the main living space / family room, seemed a bit formal to me. I liked having the extra cabinetry there, and seating and a table, but I just couldn't picture the young boys hanging out there.

I'm surprised they said they were going to list it. The last house that they saw was too dated. I liked the new build they looked at (1st house I think), but it didn't have a 3-car garage. I would have told the husband they maybe they could have a shed on the property.

[Grrarrggh]

2 hours ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

I'm surprised they said they were going to list it. The last house that they saw was too dated. I liked the new build they looked at (1st house I think), but it didn't have a 3-car garage. I would have told the husband they maybe they could have a shed on the property.

The last house was a location pick I think. It backed up onto a park and was near a lake. 

[Chit Chat]

Did anybody catch the newest episode this week?  It featured the young couple with the kids, and they had the climbing wall in their house?  I liked what Hillary did with their home, but they ended up listing it.  I don't blame them though.  They got a house close to some walking trails, etc.   I wonder if they were able to sell their home.  The climbing wall will more than likely come down so as to free up some space.  That's one of those things that's so specific to certain buyers, but maybe someone liked it!  

The other thing I noticed with these shows is how most homes have adequate space in their kitchens - IMO - but is always "too small" for the owners.  This house had a bit of a wonky layout with the pantry, but I didn't consider her original kitchen small.  Seems like people want huge kitchens these days.  Are they really cooking and entertaining that much?  Mr. Chat and I have moved a lot over the course of 35 years and my fondest memories are of the smaller homes we had in which we stuffed about 12 people into a kitchen/dining room combo for the holidays!  I don't know how we did it, but we made it work.  Of course when we first started out, interest rates were about 18%, so all you could afford was a box!!  What some of these people consider small would've been a dream to me in the early 80's!

[Grrarrggh]

1 hour ago, ChitChat said:

The other thing I noticed with these shows is how most homes have adequate space in their kitchens - IMO - but is always "too small" for the owners.  This house had a bit of a wonky layout with the pantry, but I didn't consider her original kitchen small.  Seems like people want huge kitchens these days.  Are they really cooking and entertaining that much?  Mr. Chat and I have moved a lot over the course of 35 years and my fondest memories are of the smaller homes we had in which we stuffed about 12 people into a kitchen/dining room combo for the holidays!  I don't know how we did it, but we made it work.  Of course when we first started out, interest rates were about 18%, so all you could afford was a box!!  What some of these people consider small would've been a dream to me in the early 80's!

Yes! I'm so sick of the "unless it's one room" people can't A) entertain B) raise children C) talk to anyone. 

Edited December 5, 2019 by Grrarrggh

[Eeksquire]

Also, not for nothing, but if all you have is one giant room and your kid needs quiet to do their homework, then you cannot watch tv or have a podcast or music on while you cook dinner.  There's no acknowledgement that sometimes separate is a GOOD thing.  And I would bet that most of these people entertain once a year at the holidays.  It's ridiculous.

[Broderbits]

14 hours ago, Eeksquire said:

And I would bet that most of these people entertain once a year at the holidays.  It's ridiculous.

Agreed! HGTV homeowners/house hunters all seem to be living some fantasy life they saw in a magazine.

[Grrarrggh]

4 hours ago, Broderbits said:

Agreed! HGTV homeowners/house hunters all seem to be living some fantasy life they saw in a magazine.

No, some fantasy life they saw on HGTV!

[mom2two]

It seems that almost all the new episodes everyone is listing.   Is this just a  way to get a good contractor to fix up your home with your home equity so that you can sell it?

[Broderbits]

6 hours ago, mom2two said:

 Is this just a  way to get a good contractor to fix up your home with your home equity so that you can sell it?

I believe that's why many of these homeowners go on the show.

This last episode it seemed like David thought $250k was not enough money for him to waste his time. Plus, I don't understand why the youngest boy couldn't share a room with one of his brothers instead of mom.

[topanga]

6 hours ago, Broderbits said:

I believe that's why many of these homeowners go on the show.

This last episode it seemed like David thought $250k was not enough money for him to waste his time. Plus, I don't understand why the youngest boy couldn't share a room with one of his brothers instead of mom.

I agree. And I think at least one of the boys is over 18. So for sure, he’d be sharing with his younger brother. 
 

And I read an article stating that about 75% of people stayed in their house. But this season, it seems like most of the homeowners are choosing to list. 

[NUguy514]

13 hours ago, mom2two said:

It seems that almost all the new episodes everyone is listing.   Is this just a  way to get a good contractor to fix up your home with your home equity so that you can sell it?

Completely.  The total intransigence the mom had last night to any of Hilary's ideas made it really clear she didn't want to stay in that house and was just trying to sabotage Hilary so that she could claim she needed to sell to get what she wanted.  Her attachment to that stupid pantry?  Please.  Refusing to allow the extra bedroom?  Whaaaatever.  She wasn't even trying to hide it.  I will say, though, that I can't imagine the show isn't aware that this is the homeowners' goal.

[Grrarrggh]

29 minutes ago, NUguy514 said:

Completely.  The total intransigence the mom had last night to any of Hilary's ideas made it really clear she didn't want to stay in that house and was just trying to sabotage Hilary so that she could claim she needed to sell to get what she wanted.  Her attachment to that stupid pantry?  Please.  Refusing to allow the extra bedroom?  Whaaaatever.  She wasn't even trying to hide it.  I will say, though, that I can't imagine the show isn't aware that this is the homeowners' goal.

Not really. Taking away that pantry and not adding the same amount of storage was stupid. Making it a four bedroom house sounds nice, but not when the bedrooms are so small they can barely hold a full-size bed. 

[NUguy514]

12 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

Not really. Taking away that pantry and not adding the same amount of storage was stupid. Making it a four bedroom house sounds nice, but not when the bedrooms are so small they can barely hold a full-size bed. 

Nah, she was being overly obstinate.  The fact that she wouldn't even let Hilary finish her explanations told me this was predetermined.

[topanga]

5 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

Nah, she was being overly obstinate.  The fact that she wouldn't even let Hilary finish her explanations told me this was predetermined.

She was annoying, but I’m glad she didn’t whine about, ‘Hilary didn’t give me XYZ. I hate homeowners who do that. Nah, B, you just weren’t willing to pay for XYZ. 

[MoreCoffeePlease]

Young couple with a child who have a cute little "doll-house" type home and need more space.

They were not overly annoying! I'm glad that Hilary is honest with homeowners and validates them, telling them that $90,000 is a lot of money, but then tells them that their wish list is unrealistic. You want a garage? That will take your entire budget!!! (And where exactly was a garage supposed to go?)

Too bad the laundry and pantry couldn't have been switched. I'm assuming they didn't have the money to move the plumbing.

[Rococco1296]

I used to watch the show with my husband all the time. Now, he can't stand it.  I can't either. 

I just watched the one with the mother and son who wanted four bedrooms.  Hilary:  Here's how I can give you four bedrooms.  Homeowner:  No!  I need a king size bed (and no adult bedmate)!  Even though it means I will continue sharing with my 7-year-old son!  But I'm still a good mom!  Me:  *twitch*

The show definitely has to be fake because it's totally illegal for a 7 year old boy to share a bed with his mother.  CPS would have charged her.

And while we're on that topic, what is so horrible about kids sharing bedrooms and bathrooms?  I can understand if there are significant age differences or gender differences of course, but, oh, they need a playroom and a bonus space in addition to the den and living room? If I see one more family that insist on each child having their own bathrooms ...  One homeowner who was love it said it best "First World Problems!"

I agree with a poster who said something about not being sure if they were watching Hoarders or LIOLI.  

Bottom line:

Teach your kids to share and put their toys and junk away.

Get rid of junk.

Get more organized.  Try thinking outside the box a little.  Develop a routine.

Be grateful for what you have because there were a lot of people who have a lot less or nothing at all!

If they move they're just going to trash that new house too.

[Broderbits]

7 hours ago, Rococco1296 said:

If they move they're just going to trash that new house too.

As I've said many times before, the catastrophic clutter in these homes is most likely producer driven. The majority of these families don't really need to move to a house with twice the square footage; what they really need is for Hilary to repair the problems caused by their neglected maintenance.

I really enjoyed last night's episode with it's focus on accessibility. The front ramp addition/porch was beautiful.

[chessiegal]

8 hours ago, Rococco1296 said:

The show definitely has to be fake because it's totally illegal for a 7 year old boy to share a bed with his mother.  CPS would have charged her.

First, how would CPS know? Second, I am unaware of any laws on the books anywhere that dictate sleeping arrangements within one's home.

[Chit Chat]

On 12/24/2019 at 9:36 AM, Broderbits said:

I really enjoyed last night's episode with it's focus on accessibility. The front ramp addition/porch was beautiful.

It was good to see them focus on a couple who needs an update for everyday living, instead of the ever so tired "we need more room to entertain" line.  It was interesting to see how she "hid" the wheelchair-friendly ramp in the front of the house.  The owner got a beautiful front porch too!  There are many families out there who are dealing with these types of issues, so it's nice to see some fresh ideas on how to renovate one's house to accommodate family members who use a wheelchair, walker, etc.  

I'm guessing that this is one in which the owners were going to "love" from the start.  The changes were specific to them, so I don't think they would've gone through all of that and then sold it.  They did lose their garage, but it didn't look like they were using it to park the car anyway.  I usually watch the intro for the show then FF until the reveal.  I can live without the drama in the middle!

[jcbrown]

On 12/24/2019 at 7:36 AM, Broderbits said:

As I've said many times before, the catastrophic clutter in these homes is most likely producer driven. The majority of these families don't really need to move to a house with twice the square footage; what they really need is for Hilary to repair the problems caused by their neglected maintenance.

I really enjoyed last night's episode with it's focus on accessibility. The front ramp addition/porch was beautiful.

I really enjoyed it, too! And I agree about the porch/ramp thing Hillary did.

On 12/25/2019 at 8:43 AM, ChitChat said:

It was good to see them focus on a couple who needs an update for everyday living, instead of the ever so tired "we need more room to entertain" line.  It was interesting to see how she "hid" the wheelchair-friendly ramp in the front of the house.  The owner got a beautiful front porch too!  There are many families out there who are dealing with these types of issues, so it's nice to see some fresh ideas on how to renovate one's house to accommodate family members who use a wheelchair, walker, etc.  

Definitely nice to see people who actually had needs that were not being met other than shoe storage, mammoth closets for eleventy tons of crap, and the much beloved folding counter for laundry (I have never in my life had that so I don't really get the requirement--do they not have beds to toss the clothes on and then fold them?). I wish they did more interesting stuff like this episode.