Chris and Amy

[chenoa333]

11 hours ago, LucyEth said:

Ember is a kid, kids make faces, I am sure that is all it is, I doubt there is anything wrong.  I find Jackson’s legs more disturbing.

Yeah.  I hope that can be fixed. 

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, floridamom said:

I wonder what Chris thinks of the grandkids jumping on/off the beds? I don't think he would want Amy to allow the children to trash the house. I'd love to hear his take on these things.

Thinking of the farmhouse and wondering whether things are better at HER house.  From what we see in the background of many of her pictures and videos . . . 

[EllaWycliffe]

I think a huge amount of the problem in the house was the kids. The place was reasonably neat when Amy was solo. The new house also generally looks fine. Not picture perfect and Amy's decorating tastes certainly aren't mine, but no piles of dirty laundry, food wrappers, and dirty dishes. The big house rarely looked bad in later episodes where the kids were gone, and the new place seems well kept. Put another way, if that's a disgusting messy abomination then my place is filthy.

[LucyEth]

12 hours ago, mythoughtis said:

I was more disturbed by the toddler with the mixer. 

Especially since Amy can barely operate it, how many times is she going to say in her videos that it is a new mixer

[AZChristian]

2 hours ago, LucyEth said:

Especially since Amy can barely operate it, how many times is she going to say in her videos that it is a new mixer

Maybe Ember and Jackson can teach Amy how to use it when they get back from the emergency room.

[BradandJanet]

I hope someone was standing near Jackson. The mixer is heavy, and he has to use a lot of arm strength to hold it up high enough so he can use it. That gets tiring pretty fast. Amy has the same problem because the stool she usually uses at the island is too low, so she has to use a lot of strength to manage the hand mixer. It's much easier leaning over the bowl to mix than reaching up to it. 

I had the same problem with blowdryers, even when bending over to use them. I found a very lightweight one that solves the problem. I doubt there's a hand mixer as light as my little dryer though. 

[Jeanne222]

I ponder on Chris a whole lot!  A good looking man with a fairly low income job having a nice, well kept home choosing Amy.  He had his motorcycle and his friends.  We really don't know anything about his family.

Looking at him in the beginning of the budding romance he seemed quite well groomed.  Now he looks messy.  Pandemic or the way it goes at Amy' s house.

I just can't see a man who obviously chose single life for many years making this huge shift in lifestyle.

At first I thought he was just an actor brought in for the show.  The only thing I come up with is the money.  He'll be set for life...I guess.

Maybe love is blind!

[Irate Panda]

51 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

I ponder on Chris a whole lot!  A good looking man with a fairly low income job having a nice, well kept home choosing Amy.  He had his motorcycle and his friends.  We really don't know anything about his family.

Looking at him in the beginning of the budding romance he seemed quite well groomed.  Now he looks messy.  Pandemic or the way it goes at Amy' s house.

I just can't see a man who obviously chose single life for many years making this huge shift in lifestyle.

At first I thought he was just an actor brought in for the show.  The only thing I come up with is the money.  He'll be set for life...I guess.

Maybe love is blind!

Well, I’m not certain Chris’ income is low or if you’re just comparing his to Amy’s.  I think he probably has a decent income, but I did wonder about the pairing.  I did wonder if maybe I had some implicit bias because Amy was a LP, but I never really thought of her looks when it came to their relationship.  For me it was because he seemed like a guy that like order in his life and Amy isn’t really known for that.  Not to mention she seemed kind of miserable (that could of been ramped up for the show who knows).

 Anyway, I think he probably enjoys the perks of the show and I’m sure being on the show probably helped his career as far as exposure/networking.  With that said, they do seem to enjoy each other company and Amy seems like an active person, so I think they probably have a good time with their outdoor activities.  He seems to enjoy her food, so it’s nice having a good home cooked meal (insert IG food video joke here).  Honestly, from afar they seem to have a nice companionship.  I do wonder how long they have lived together.  I wonder similar things with Matt and Caryn.  I think more people assume Caryn is definitely there for money (I don’t know that she is but it’s expressed more when people talk bout that pairing), but all these people from the outside seem to happy with whatever arrangements they have going on.  I didn’t necessarily expect Chris and Amy to get married though.  I just figured they half shack up, but keep their respective places.

Edited February 20, 2021 by Irate Panda

[Jeanne222]

I'm not really sure what is 'average' for a realtor salary.  We have some really hot shot realtors, real go getters, in our town and I'm sure their salaries are way above average.

On the other hand I know of several that fiddle their time away and I would say would make below average income.

I'm guessing a mediocre realtor would average about $50,000 per year give or take, good and bad years included.  That to me would be low income.   Fast food workers avg about $25,000 per year.   Right now the housing market is booming and most realtors worth their salt are raking it in.

I just don't see Chris as a go getter.  I see him more of somebody waiting for business to come to him, drop in his lap kind of salesman.

With that said I don't believe there are any benefits for real estate agents as I think they are contract workers.  Responsible for their own health insurance and pension, 4021K.

So maybe at his age this is the hen that laid the golden egg!

[LucyEth]

I wonder if Amy’s friend Deb is single.  Chris is always around when Deb is there to cook.

[Irate Panda]

39 minutes ago, LucyEth said:

I wonder if Amy’s friend Deb is single.  Chris is always around when Deb is there to cook.

Is Deb the blonde lady or the skinny lady?

 

 

***I see the blonde lady is Lisa.  I forget was Deb the one that introduced Amy to Chris or was that Lisa?

Edited February 20, 2021 by Irate Panda

[Dustbunny]

54 minutes ago, LucyEth said:

I wonder if Amy’s friend Deb is single.  Chris is always around when Deb is there to cook.

I'm pretty sure that Deb is married her partner was on that trip when Chris got pissed off that Amy didn't leave him a room key 

[LucyEth]

Neither lady is taking credit for introducing them as far as I know, it seems he was a tag along with someone at that pool party she hosted.  IDK, maybe someone else here knows.  

[EllaWycliffe]

41 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

I'm guessing a mediocre realtor would average about $50,000 per year give or take, good and bad years included.  That to me would be low income.

But that isn't actually the definition of low income in the US. Low income at the federal level is if a single person makes 12760 per year. Personally I would consider that *extremely* low, On the other hand, ziprecruiter.com says when asked what is considered a "good" salary in Oregon says 45430 is a good living wage for Oregon. Oregonlive.com says to live comfortably in Portland, you need to make 60195. 

Chris was living on his own for years in Portland and owned his own home. When I look up realtors, he seems to get pretty good reviews. And honestly, Amy isn't such a financial prize - gigolos and men who want to live off their women usually don't go for the women who are "scratching for pennies" - you want a woman who is free and easy with her money, not one who is lauded for being cheap as hell and always scratching desperately for more. 

I never thought Chris was rich, but I also never saw him as low income. He seems to very much fit in to the upper middle class circle Amy hangs with.

[ginger90]

Is West Linn in Portland? If not, Chris didn’t live in Portland.

 

[Dustbunny]

4 minutes ago, ginger90 said:

Is West Linn in Portland? If not, Chris didn’t live in Portland.

 

back when I posted the pics of Chris's house I looked up West Linn and it stated that West Linn, Oregon, is about 15 miles south of Portland in Clackamas County

I used google maps to look at his neighborhood and surrounding area and it looked like a nice place to live.

[EllaWycliffe]

If we need to be super specific, then wikipedia says "West Linn is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. An affluent southern suburb within the Portland metropolitan area, West Linn has a history of early development, prompted by the opportunity to harvest energy from nearby Willamette Falls."

 

So he lived within the Portland metropolitan area in an affluent southern suburb. Which doesn't scream low income to me. But I stand corrected Chris lived in an affluent suburb of Portland.

[BradandJanet]

I just watched the Magnolia/Mongolian beef (basically sweet and sour beef) demo. I curious what the real recipe looks like, but I don't feel like checking it. My takeaways from the video:

1. She really doesn't know enough about cooking to "wing" it. It's not necessary to be rigid about recipes, but she just sounds befuddled. 

2. She needs a wok or a large, deep pan for a stir fry. She has tried to cook a large amount in this small pan before, and it doesn't work. With the right pan, she could heat enough oil at the beginning to fry, instead of drowning, the poor vegetables by repeatedly dousing them in olive oil (Chinese food doesn't use olive oil anyway). I'm surprised the only escapee was a carrot. 

3. With the proper pan, she could have cooked the meat and vegetables, removed them, made the sauce directly in the main pan, and mixed everything together. That's the usual way, so why complicate things? 

4 The meat should be thinner, but let's hope it was tender. She kept trying to remember what cut of beef it was. That's bad.  

5. I had to FF through the the digression on her collection of cute measuring cups. A minute or so is fine, but don't run around looking for a cup to show. It's not that interesting.  

6. The finished dish was pretty. I hope it was good. Did she even bother to taste it? Chris is a trooper. 

7. I like Chris's comment about how they're trying to practice portion control while Amy insists the dish needs lots of rice and keeps shoveling it into the bowls. She then complains the instructions didn't make enough rice. 

8. She really needs a cameraperson so she doesn't have to keep messing with her phone. One day, the phone is going to land in a pot of sticky something.  

 

 

[Jeanne222]

If $45,000 is a good living wage then I was wrong thinking Chris made $50,000 a year.

With that income houses would be on the much smaller price scale making commissions much less!

I'm pretty confident Chris got a great deal on his home.  That's a perk of being a realtor.

Zillow will tell you it's price history.  What it sold for and what it's worth.

[Irate Panda]

44 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

If $45,000 is a good living wage then I was wrong thinking Chris made $50,000 a year.

With that income houses would be on the much smaller price scale making commissions much less!

I'm pretty confident Chris got a great deal on his home.  That's a perk of being a realtor.

Zillow will tell you it's price history.  What it sold for and what it's worth.

I read Chris sold his home for $460,000, the only reason I remember it is because in the article they referred to Chris as “Amy’s man” LOL and I thought it’s “MY MAN!”  
 

I’m going to check out the Mongolian Beef video.  Usually Amy is better with the videos that have somebody else in them.  BTW did she ever do the Cook with Amy Zoom party with essential workers?  I remember she had some of “cooking party” with some couple and she didn’t have the ingredients for the recipe.  It may also have been the first time I noticed her fondness of paprika, but I think the essential workers contest was something different. 

[EllaWycliffe]

Per an article at Hollywood Gossip, he bought his place in 2003 for 168k and recently sold it for 460k.

I don't have Chris's address so when I went to Zillow I looked him up as an agent. 2020 wasn't a good year for him - he had sales totaling 1115000, which assuming 5% commission is 55750. 2019 was much better for him, he had sales totaling 4239385. Assuming a 5% commission he made 2119269.25.  In 2018, his commission looks to have been 122875, and in 2017, his commission would have been 208145.

Now a search on google says realtor commission rates in Oregon are 6% not 5%. But lets just cut these figures in half.

2020 was shitty - 27875, a bad year for a lot of folks but still survivable.

2019 was good - 105634 - for one person thats pretty good.

2018 wasn't as good - 61437.50, but pretty livable.

2017 becomes 104072.50. Based on Chris's sales reported to zillow, 2020 sucked but he's otherwise been doing well for himself. 

I went back one more year - in 2016 at 5% commission, he made 320975. Even cutting that in half still puts him at 160453.

Now does Zillow tell the truth? I don't know. But Chris doesn't seem to be hurting for a buck. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by EllaWycliffe

[Ms.Lulu]

4 hours ago, EllaWycliffe said:

But that isn't actually the definition of low income in the US. Low income at the federal level is if a single person makes 12760 per year. Personally I would consider that *extremely* low, On the other hand, ziprecruiter.com says when asked what is considered a "good" salary in Oregon says 45430 is a good living wage for Oregon. Oregonlive.com says to live comfortably in Portland, you need to make 60195. 

Chris was living on his own for years in Portland and owned his own home. When I look up realtors, he seems to get pretty good reviews. And honestly, Amy isn't such a financial prize - gigolos and men who want to live off their women usually don't go for the women who are "scratching for pennies" - you want a woman who is free and easy with her money, not one who is lauded for being cheap as hell and always scratching desperately for more. 

I never thought Chris was rich, but I also never saw him as low income. He seems to very much fit in to the upper middle class circle Amy hangs with.

Median income for a realtor here in PDX is ~$100K/year.  Houses in my neighborhood are going for $650K-$1.2MM with a median price point of $800K.  If Chris is making 3% (I believe 6% is split between buyer and seller realtor) a sale that's $24K per house sold.  That said, Portland is every expensive.  Making $100K makes you squarely middle class. That's not a bad place to be.

Edited February 21, 2021 by PDXlulu

[EllaWycliffe]

1 minute ago, PDXlulu said:

Making $100K makes you squarely middle class. That's not a bad place to be.

Its really not. Especially for a single guy with no kids. 

[Jeanne222]

I'm not real sure about all of those numbers.  Real estate and who gets what and how much.

Listing agents and selling agents may split the 5-6%.  Then they in turn split with the Real estate firm they work for.  I don't know but am guessing Chris worked for a real estate firm.

There are also the standard deductions for federal and state taxes and social security.

I can't really excuse his 2020 low income numbers due to the pandemic.  Several in my area say it was their best year ever.  Homes have been selling overnight and new subdivisions are springing up on every available piece of land.

I would guess with the show check Chris received he doesn't have to even think about the hustle anymore.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Jeanne222

[EllaWycliffe]

9 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

I'm not real sure about all of those numbers.  Real estate and who gets what and how much.

Listing agents and selling agents may split the 5-6%.  Then they in turn split with the Real estate firm they work for.  I don't know but am guessing Chris worked for a real estate firm.

There are also the standard deductions for federal and state taxes and social security.

I got his base numbers from zillow. I mean, I'm willing to be wrong but I don't see how a guy who recently sold his own home for 460k is a low income dude making maybe 20k for years. Based on his sale numbers on zillow, aside from 2020, he's been bringing in a pretty good solidly middle to upper middle class income. Owning a house, a car, and a motorcycle and having time for vacations is also an indicator.

16 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

I can't really excuse his 2020 low income numbers due to the pandemic.  Several in my area say it was their best year ever.  Homes have been selling overnight and new subdivisions are springing up on every available piece of land.

Chris is a man of a certain age. We don't know if he has pre-existing conditions. I know plenty of people who retired early this year or willingly chose to step back from people facing positions to be careful. He looks to have made a decent wage in years past and likely has investments and savings to fall back on. I'm not a realtor but I ran my own numbers and if my workplace hadn't been accommodating, I could have ducked out for a bit if it had been necessary. We really don't know much about Chris's health considerations.

27 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

I would guess with the show check Chris received he doesn't have to even think about the hustle anymore

We really dont know if he gets a check from the show but I think he and Caryn probably get a check. Since the show IS work, I'm not sure what the problem is. Particularly for Caryn who theoretically is an event planner since leaving her role as farm manager - Covid likely put a kibosh on her business as well. She's at a higher risk and serving as Matt's girlfriend and bedwarmer, she likely has to be careful as well and is probably grrateful for the show income. Are they supposed to be ashamed to work for a tv show?

[Jeanne222]

From $168,000 to $460,000 is quite the slide.  Chris owned and sold a $460,000 home because it grew in value over the years not because he was able to purchase a home that high in value on his income.  That growth was certainly not normal.I

Again being in real estate they often get a great deal and evidently he did.

 

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Jeanne222

[ginger90]

I saw the price sold as $435,000. , and that he bought it in 2003 for $168.000. . Whatever the case, not a bad investment. Obviously over the years he put money into it. Prior to selling he did some sprucing up as well. If he didn’t have an equity loan, he made out nicely.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by ginger90

[LucyEth]

I wonder if the real estate business is suffering in Portland these days with all the rioting and destruction of the city.  I understand it is a shit show.  Not sure I would look for a home in that area.

[EllaWycliffe]

28 minutes ago, Jeanne222 said:

From $168,000 to $460,000 is quite the slide.  Chris owned and sold a $460,000 home because it grew in value over the years not because he was able to purchase a home that high in value on his income.  That growth was certainly not normal.I

He owned the home for 17 years. My parents did something similar - they bought a home in 1978 for 39900 and sold it in 1994 for 180000. It's not a trick, its the reality that property is a good investment - trust me when I say my parents weren't realtors. They pulled the same trick on the next house - they bought it for 155k, made utterly no improvements to the house and sold it 350k ten years later. Hell. Zach Roloff bought his first house for 250k and sold it for 382k just a few years later and he's no real estate wizard - he was actually mocked for not getting it sold fast enough and not making as big a profit. One of the reasons real estate is pushed as an investment is that its hard to not make a profit, especially if you hold onto the property for a bit. 

 

21 minutes ago, LucyEth said:

I wonder if the real estate business is suffering in Portland these days with all the rioting and destruction of the city.  I understand it is a shit show.  Not sure I would look for a home in that area.

Good point, although I have to be fair and acknowledge by most reports the real estate scene in Portland is doing well. Personally, if I worked there, I'd be happy to have a light year selling and take the easy checks from the reality show. 

[readheaded]

33 minutes ago, EllaWycliffe said:

He owned the home for 17 years. My parents did something similar - they bought a home in 1978 for 39900 and sold it in 1994 for 180000. It's not a trick, its the reality that property is a good investment - trust me when I say my parents weren't realtors. They pulled the same trick on the next house - they bought it for 155k, made utterly no improvements to the house and sold it 350k ten years later. Hell. Zach Roloff bought his first house for 250k and sold it for 382k just a few years later and he's no real estate wizard - he was actually mocked for not getting it sold fast enough and not making as big a profit. One of the reasons real estate is pushed as an investment is that its hard to not make a profit, especially if you hold onto the property for a bit. 

 

Good point, although I have to be fair and acknowledge by most reports the real estate scene in Portland is doing well. Personally, if I worked there, I'd be happy to have a light year selling and take the easy checks from the reality show. 

I live 15 miles outside of the Baltimore City limits.  A builder is building the last of about 30 homes in a neighborhood behind ours.  Those houses sit on at least an acre, most have 3 car garages, are over 3,500 sq ft, and started at $675,000, with several selling at or above a $1 million.  Resale houses in our zip code are selling in a day for more than list price.  In short, the suburbs of a city can be very different places than the city, itself.

[estellasmum]

On 2/21/2021 at 7:06 AM, LucyEth said:

I wonder if the real estate business is suffering in Portland these days with all the rioting and destruction of the city.  I understand it is a shit show.  Not sure I would look for a home in that area.

Not in the least. The rioting mostly takes place in a smallish area of downtown at night, and has really slowed down the past few months. It doesn't affect the vast majority of Portlanders of all, much less those of us in the suburbs.  The average price of a Portland area home is almost $500,000, and houses don't stay on the market for long. It really doesn't take much effort to make a decent buck for a realtor here. One of our neighbors who was a police officer got into real estate with no prior experience, because he could make more money doing that.  West Linn and its neighbor Lake Oswego are two of the most upscale cities in the metropolitan area, and the choice of place to live for most of the Trail Blazers. For where Chris was, his (former) house wasn't worth that much, and is definitely in one of the older sections in town. 

[LucyEth]

What is this a cover for a wedding planner book?  Looks like a 12 year old made it.

[LucyEth]

Dark chocolate lava cake video with Deb.  Guess what people “it’s a new hand mixer”.  🤣

[ginger90]

[ginger90]

 

Edited February 23, 2021 by ginger90

[Irate Panda]

1 hour ago, ginger90 said:

LOL I’m sorry but Chris’ face cracks me up in this picture.  I know I snark about Amy’s cooking videos, but I do hope they are happy.

[DonnaMae]

"It's getting real people."  You need a comma there, Amy.

[iwantcookies]

I know this is mean...

Chris can do so much better in the girlfriend department... 

[AZChristian]

If she had a sparkling, positive personality, it might explain why he's marrying her instead of other women he has surely met and dated.  

Most of us have commented on Amy's traits that would probably send most men running off into the night.  Chris obviously sees something in her that she keeps hidden from the rest of the world.  (And I don't mean anything sexual.)  She MUST be a lot nicer to him than we've seen her be to a lot of people.  

I hope they are happy with each other.

[CalicoskiesNC]

Maybe Chris really enjoys and loves Amy.  I get exhausted with all the snark and meanness.  

[Teriacky]

Um... how can it be an “early afternoon day”, Amy?

In the Save the Date picture Chris’s expression says, “I’m humoring her”. 

[chenoa333]

28 minutes ago, Teriacky said:

Um... how can it be an “early afternoon day”, Amy?

In the Save the Date picture Chris’s expression says, “I’m humoring her”. 

 Her thoughts are much like her cooking...scattered and messy. 

 

 

 

[LucyEth]

Amy did a pre-test of her “live” the other morning because they are using a new platform.  She went on to talk about her day at the beach with Chris and Felix.  She bought pottery mugs and earrings in the little shops and showed one of the mugs.  Twice Lisa tried to show her new bracelet and Amy ignored her like she didn’t even see her holding up her arm and saying she got a new trinket.  Amy is not always nice to Lisa, I guess it has to be all about Amy.

[ginger90]

Cooking video with Jacob and Isabel:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLsKOdmlgyE/?hl=en

[Jeanne222]

11 hours ago, LucyEth said:

Amy did a pre-test of her “live” the other morning because they are using a new platform.  She went on to talk about her day at the beach with Chris and Felix.  She bought pottery mugs and earrings in the little shops and showed one of the mugs.  Twice Lisa tried to show her new bracelet and Amy ignored her like she didn’t even see her holding up her arm and saying she got a new trinket.  Amy is not always nice to Lisa, I guess it has to be all about Amy.

Just what Amy needs another mug!  Didn't we watch her pack up two million mugs during the year long move from the big house?  Get a new memory item Amy.

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, Jeanne222 said:

Just what Amy needs another mug!  Didn't we watch her pack up two million mugs during the year long move from the big house?  Get a new memory item Amy.

I used to buy souvenir mugs.  When we moved from a 3-bedroom house to a MUCH smaller casita a few years ago, having all those mugs didn't matter nearly as much as being able to have a tidy, uncluttered place.  I just kept envisioning people walking into the Goodwill store and finding mugs from places THEY had visited, and I let them go with no sadness.

Now we use t-shirts as our memory items.  Easy to store, we rotate them so each is worn on a regular basis, and when they wear out, they are easily replaced on our next vacation.  

Serious question about Amy's collection of mugs:  Does she ever use them?  Are they displayed out on shelves or hung on the wall (DUST!)?  Does she have accessible cabinet space where she can keep them, use them, and not have to dust them?  I'm much taller than Amy (4'11-1/2"), and my big problem was with where to keep them that I could reach them so they were useable, plus put away so they didn't just collect dust.  

[BradandJanet]

4 hours ago, Jeanne222 said:

Just what Amy needs another mug!  Didn't we watch her pack up two million mugs during the year long move from the big house?  Get a new memory item Amy.

Well, she's collecting measuring cups that have handles and look like teacups or sort of. That's probably a more challenging search than one for mugs, so it may be a better hobby. 

[LucyEth]

The “live” was tonight.  Didn’t watch the whole thing but Jacob and Izzy will be at Amy’s tonight.  She invited her kids over for dinner.  She went on to say that Jer, Auj and kids would be there to see Jacob but he would probably see Tori and Zach tomorrow morning.  I wonder if it bothers Amy and Matt at all that their twin sons are on the “outs” or their wives are at the very least.  

[ginger90]

[DonnaMae]

How nice.  She was 'talking' a walk.  Why does she never proof before she posts?????