House Hunters - General Discussion

[Grizzly]

Monroe, WA. That's a new twist, they want the house the other one grew up in. Why does he need projects in the house when he wants to build a Casita. That should be project enough.

[rhofmovalley]

19 hours ago, Dehumidifier said:

He said "maintenance man." He said he could transfer closer to wherever they bought. Maybe for a school system? I think they are pretty well paid.

My friend's husband is a maintenance worker for a fairly large company. He makes well over $100k per year. So yeah, it can be a pretty lucrative profession depending on one's skill level.

[LittleIggy]

Houston: Dude, there are alligators in that lake. Do not walk the dogs near it!

[mojito]

Monroe, Washington

I would not trust this guy. With little knowledge and no experience, he's way too eager to knock down walls.

I liked that she got on board with the acreage.

[Hedgehog2022]

On 1/19/2022 at 10:30 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Forget the Temecula 5 bedroom couple, look at tonight's new one moving from Florida to Houston.    They want a mansion, and one man said he can live with only 3,000 sq. ft. if it's arranged properly.   

First house is 5500 sq. ft.   

Second house is in The Woodlands.  One partner wants to gut a beautiful, lovely bathroom, and paint the brick.   He doesn't like that the mostly white cabinet kitchen has a contrasting island.    This house is huge.

Third house looks huge too.  I hate the exterior with the stone and stucco mixture. This house is so big it looks like the center of a shopping center with an atrium.   

The two men are some of the most entertaining house hunters I've seen in a long time.   I love it when they have a huge budget.   I have to laugh, one man asked the realtor if the little lake right behind their house has alligators, and she said no.    

When the one man saw the living room ceiling height, I knew he'd want the third house.  

 

I was thouroughly entertained by these two guys...they chided each other in a light hearted way. Unlike other couples who look miserable and make passive aggressive remarks constantly.

[buttersister]

Monroe: the husband seemed to be auditioning for Help, I Wrecked My House!

[pdlinda]

On 1/20/2022 at 2:05 PM, Dehumidifier said:

He said "maintenance man." He said he could transfer closer to wherever they bought. Maybe for a school system? I think they are pretty well paid.

Gee, I HOPE SO!!😄  The mortgage on that home, with ZERO $$$ DOWN has got to be HUGE!

Add to that, he didn't indicate he even had a position lined up in the new location.

I get a headache just thinking about that level of financial "pressure" each and every month!

[pdlinda]

On 1/20/2022 at 8:31 PM, Grizzly said:

Monroe, WA. That's a new twist, they want the house the other one grew up in. Why does he need projects in the house when he wants to build a Casita. That should be project enough.

 I was just curious. 

He said he was a Police Officer.  She said she was a Flight Attendant. 

They are first-time home buyers.

The salaries for those professions are widely available.  Together they must make in the neighborhood of $100K/yr,

They were approved for a$650K mortgage and the house they bought hit that mark.

How were they able to qualify for such a large mortgage?  Maybe a large down payment??

 

 

[BAForever]

1 hour ago, pdlinda said:

 I was just curious. 

He said he was a Police Officer.  She said she was a Flight Attendant. 

They are first-time home buyers.

The salaries for those professions are widely available.  Together they must make in the neighborhood of $100K/yr,

They were approved for a$650K mortgage and the house they bought hit that mark.

How were they able to qualify for such a large mortgage?  Maybe a large down payment??

 

 

I've given up trying to figure out how some of these HH afford the houses they buy, particularly 1st time buyers. They seemed like a nice couple, love that hubby wanted to build a Casita for mom. Pretty area.

[mojito]

Quote

I've given up trying to figure out how some of these HH afford the houses they buy, particularly 1st time buyers.

Hard to imagine that they use that 28% rule where your mortgage payment should only be 28% of your monthly salary before taxes. I also remember a 2.5 factor where your home price should be only 2.5 times your annual salary. 

Yikes. How does anyone purchase a $650K home if they're not making over $225K/year? 

[Hedgehog2022]

22 hours ago, buttersister said:

Monroe: the husband seemed to be auditioning for Help, I Wrecked My House!

Right? He didn't have a clue how to do any kind of remodeling. I don't get these guys that want to do "projects" but don't have knowledge or experience in doing them. And knocking down walls can be a big problem if you knock down a load bearing wall. Do you think he has any idea what a load bearing wall is?

[WI GIRL56]

17 hours ago, mojito said:

Hard to imagine that they use that 28% rule where your mortgage payment should only be 28% of your monthly salary before taxes. I also remember a 2.5 factor where your home price should be only 2.5 times your annual salary. 

Yikes. How does anyone purchase a $650K home if they're not making over $225K/year? 

When we got married in the 70s the rule was your rent should not be more then 1 weeks pay.  I remember our rent in Chicago was about $5 more then we made in a week and people told us we were crazy to spend that much on rent.

On 1/20/2022 at 3:05 PM, Dehumidifier said:

He said "maintenance man." He said he could transfer closer to wherever they bought. Maybe for a school system? I think they are pretty well paid.

Our school system starts out at about $16 and caps them at $25.  Maybe in a larger city they make more.

 

[topanga]

On 1/19/2022 at 11:05 PM, Grizzly said:

Austin, TX. I like Kim, the realtor. Very no nonsense while trying to find compromise properties. I want to see these action figures that made Jerrold want to spend less. The condo looked really nice. The yard didn't seem big enough for their dog but maybe they could take her for a walk.

I thought the couple was cute. They bantered without being mean to each other. 
 

And the Realtor cracked me up. She had no patience for nit-picks. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 1/19/2022 at 4:12 PM, Bastet said:

First up was him wanting carpet.  Yay.  I don't care for it, but it's nice to see on HH since that hardly ever happens. 

I prefer carpet and try to be unapologetic about it, but usually fail.

On 1/19/2022 at 4:12 PM, Bastet said:

But then he wanted it because he doesn't like his feet being dirty.  Okay, but hard floors stay much cleaner than carpet with routine cleaning.

Maybe he was referring to the grit you can feel if you walk barefoot on hard floors.  You don't feel it on carpet.  Because the carpet brushes it off your feet and no doubt sends it deep into the fibers, but that's another issue.

On 1/19/2022 at 9:30 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

[Houston] This house is so big it looks like the center of a shopping center with an atrium.  

It looked just like an Embassy Suites with those little balconies sticking out over the lobby entry area.

[etexlady]

22 hours ago, topanga said:

 

And the Realtor cracked me up. She had no patience for nit-picks. 

Loved that realtor.  When the couple was bickering and she said "ok we can leave" I thought way to go.  That stopped them in their tracks and that is the place they ended up buying.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Maybe he was referring to the grit you can feel if you walk barefoot on hard floors. 

It sounded like he didn't go barefoot in the house, because he snarked at her for doing so.  I think they both just like to complain, which makes them perfect for this show.

Have any of the few HHs who wanted carpet ever said it's because they hate sweeping/mopping, and carpet hides the dirt better than hardwood?  I prefer hardwood, but "I know carpet is dirtier, but it looks cleaner, so I can go longer between vacuuming" I'd totally understand!

[Grizzly]

Marietta, GA. I just told my husband if he wants cows, it's over. Their choice makes no sense. That house is ugly.

[cameron]

9 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Marietta, GA. I just told my husband if he wants cows, it's over. Their choice makes no sense. That house is ugly.

I wish the wife would learn how to properly wear a hat.  They are not suppose to be perched on the back of your head.

[BAForever]

1 hour ago, cameron said:

I wish the wife would learn how to properly wear a hat.  They are not suppose to be perched on the back of your head.

I wondered if being on HH was the wife hoping HGTV would offer her a show- everyone else has one. Or is it Magnolia now? You know, she's an agent AND a flipper.  Quick question for my smart people. If someone says they are an "agent", does that mean they are a licensed realtor? Does this vary state to state?

[chessiegal]

3 hours ago, BAForever said:

Quick question for my smart people. If someone says they are an "agent", does that mean they are a licensed realtor? Does this vary state to state?

The requirements for becoming a licensed real estate agent vary from state to state. I'm not aware of any state that allows people to represent buyers and sellers without a license. When I retired, I took the training needed to get a real estate license in Maryland. It wasn't very hard. I passed the course easily. Our training manual for the Maryland specific rules said only 60% of folks who took the licensing exam pass. That prompted me to take the exam, which I also passed.

ETA: The term Realtor(TM) is a term the National Association of Realtors created for its members, and belongs to them by some means, not sure if it's a copyright or registered trademark.

Edited January 26, 2022 by chessiegal

[mojito]

Marietta, GA

Nice couple. I think they're going to flip that house and then buy that big spread that he wants. I understand he'd like to have cows.

I chuckled at her response when he mentioned "rustic" for the umpteenth time. "Oh my gosh, do you want swinging saloon doors?"

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

ETA: The term Realtor(TM) is a term the National Association of Realtors created for its members, and belongs to them by some means, not sure if it's a copyright or registered trademark.

Registered trademark (it's actually ® that goes after it, not TM, since it's registered, and the registered trademark is why the word is capitalized).

[pdlinda]

9 hours ago, cameron said:

I wish the wife would learn how to properly wear a hat.  They are not suppose to be perched on the back of your head.

I thought everything about the wife was "staged" ....the remarks and dialogue with the husband, the outfits (including the hairdos and the hats) and the poses. 

Maybe she was auditioning? (for what, I don't know)

I sold my last house 20 yrs ago so the most stunning feature of HH is that the most common average price for most of the homes shown is in the range of $600K. 

That's really a stunner to me!

[chessiegal]

5 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Registered trademark (it's actually ® that goes after it, not TM, since it's registered, and the registered trademark is why the word is capitalized).

Thanks, I knew you would know @Bastet. I found that NAR registered the term in 1949.

Quote

The terms “Realtor” and “Realtors” are collective membership marks registered with the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO). They are used to identify real estate agents whose licenses are in good standing, who subscribe to the NAR’s code of ethics, and who are dues-paying members of the NAR.

 

[NYGirl]

Kansas City tonight... The wife said their dog Phillip was from Hungaria.  

[rhofmovalley]

16 minutes ago, NYGirl said:

Kansas City tonight... The wife said their dog Phillip was from Hungaria.  

I was just about to post that.

She seems, um, "spacey". She owns her own management company? I hope she has a really great CEO. Unless she's putting on an act, which would still be ridiculous.

[Grizzly]

7 minutes ago, NYGirl said:

Kansas City tonight... The wife said their dog Phillip was from Hungaria.  

How does this woman own her own company? I hate her voice, I hate her clothes. Neither of them are dressing to impress. Unlike Samantha, who is very stylish. What are they doing to Phillip, the hat looks ridiculous. I like the house they chose but the fireplace is fine.

[Grizzly]

Akron, Ohio.  I don't hold out much hope for the girlfriend. He doesn't care to get her opinion on the house. Realtor is certainly playing the long game, sticking with him for 4-5 years. The barn house was interesting but having the garage open directly into the living space had hubby shaking his head about exhaust. House #3 had a lot of space. Be interesting to see it when he's done.

[Hedgehog2022]

On 1/25/2022 at 10:31 PM, Grizzly said:

Marietta, GA. I just told my husband if he wants cows, it's over. Their choice makes no sense. That house is ugly.

That house was hideous. And they spent $50,000  getting rid of the mold??? They will never live there. They will flip it...if someone else will buy it. I'm getting tired of these husbands that want a huge piece of property so they can have livestock. Really? Dairy cows?? Does he understand how much work cows are? Who's going to clean up the cow manure every day? Who's going to milk them every day? Wait until one of them gets sick and they have to a vet come out there for a housecall...the bills they will incur on maintaining cows, goats and chickens will be huge. Just get a dog.

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, Grizzly said:

How does this woman own her own company? I hate her voice, I hate her clothes. Neither of them are dressing to impress. Unlike Samantha, who is very stylish. What are they doing to Phillip, the hat looks ridiculous. I like the house they chose but the fireplace is fine.

She really needed a bra. I was embarrassed for the dog from “Hungaria” having to wear that hat. Samantha did look very stylish. Her hijabs were lovely.

[cameron]

6 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Akron, Ohio.  I don't hold out much hope for the girlfriend. He doesn't care to get her opinion on the house. Realtor is certainly playing the long game, sticking with him for 4-5 years. The barn house was interesting but having the garage open directly into the living space had hubby shaking his head about exhaust. House #3 had a lot of space. Be interesting to see it when he's done.

She probably wouldn't go along with the idea of having Sunday dinner at grandma's every weekend and going antiquing with his Mom.  And I wouldn't blame her.  Too dependent on his family IMO.

[rhofmovalley]

I presumed Akron guy's girlfriend didn't want to be on TV. Maybe the producers suggested a ridiculous "storyline" and she said nope, I'm out. I wouldn't blame her if that was the case.

Yeah, he was a bit attached to Mom and Grandma. But my son takes his grandmother to church and then out to lunch every Sunday and his spouse doesn't get upset about it. 

I actually did like that house (or maybe more the setting). The scenery, wow. I could get into seeing that view every day.

[mojito]

Akron

This guy's favorite two verbs were "love" and "hate". 

I liked that he was house hunting without his girlfriend. He expressed to his mother no current plans to marry her, so why would he have her in tow? (Got a chuckle out of his father's glee at his stating that he was not thinking about marriage at this time.) He's a different kind of guy, being close to his mother and grandmother, and unabashedly talking about antiquing. Yet he also seems regular guy-ish as well. He's going at his own pace and his own rules, which is a refreshing thing. 

I liked that barn. Not the outside, but the inside. That room over the garages really impressed me. He chose a nice place, though.

Kansas City

When the woman said, "Hungaria" I winced and wondered if she had begged HH to cut that bit from the final video. But then I thought that if you don't immediately self-correct after saying "Hungaria", you probably weren't concerned about how you came off.  😈

 

 

[Hedgehog2022]

9 hours ago, cameron said:

She probably wouldn't go along with the idea of having Sunday dinner at grandma's every weekend and going antiquing with his Mom.  And I wouldn't blame her.  Too dependent on his family IMO.

Yeah...I have to agree. That was just strange. His "girlfriend" should move on...this guy will be a lifelong bachelor. He seemed more excited to go antiquing with his mommy and MeeMaw than spending any time with his "girlfriend". 

 

[Hedgehog2022]

16 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Akron, Ohio.  I don't hold out much hope for the girlfriend. He doesn't care to get her opinion on the house. Realtor is certainly playing the long game, sticking with him for 4-5 years. The barn house was interesting but having the garage open directly into the living space had hubby shaking his head about exhaust. House #3 had a lot of space. Be interesting to see it when he's done.

I hated the house he eventually bought. It was just ugly and had too many things that needed updated/fixed and the backyard was awful...just dirt and a hodgepodge of plants and weeds. Also, little privacy with neighbors surrounding him and no fences or shrubbery to create privacy. The first house was pristine...might have needed a few cosmetic fixes but otherwise a true mid century modern. He could have put up a fence or  had some creative landscaping done to cushion his property from the street noise. The yard on the first home was beautiful.

[LittleIggy]

Akron: I’m sure the MCM house was a decoy since it was fully furnished.

[rhofmovalley]

29 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Akron: I’m sure the MCM house was a decoy since it was fully furnished.

Yeah, that one was definitely not available. I presume they asked or paid the owners to use it as a decoy.

[BAForever]

Kansas City couple. Just by looking at them, they seemed like they went together, but he was thoughtful and she seemed vapid. And, oh my gosh, the "X Factor" was annoying. She was, like,  annoying. 

[Dewey Decimate]

6 hours ago, Hedgehog2022 said:

Yeah...I have to agree. That was just strange. His "girlfriend" should move on...this guy will be a lifelong bachelor. He seemed more excited to go antiquing with his mommy and MeeMaw than spending any time with his "girlfriend". 

 

I honestly assumed his "girlfriend" lives in Canada... or is at band camp...

Absolutely nothing wrong with house hunting without her, but it would have been less suspicious if she hadn't even been mentioned at all. I do like his appreciation for older people and older styles, though! 

Did he look at one of those wood floors and call it "rustic industrial"?? What the ever-loving fudge does that mean?

[Grizzly]

Huntsville, AL. Do they make military uniforms that fit her? And what does she need a huge house for? DeAndre will be 18 soon. He seems like a good kid. Poor boy has inherited his mom's booty. Peach's saving grace is she doesn't want a white kitchen. The house is nice but I still don't know what she's doing with all of it.

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Huntsville, AL. Do they make military uniforms that fit her? And what does she need a huge house for? DeAndre will be 18 soon. He seems like a good kid. Poor boy has inherited his mom's booty. Peach's saving grace is she doesn't want a white kitchen. The house is nice but I still don't know what she's doing with all of it.

How was her name spelled? Da Peachez or something like that? 

[Kenzie]

5 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Huntsville, AL. Do they make military uniforms that fit her?

Funny, I found myself wondering the same thing. It's not so much a case of size as shape. I wonder if she had to have her uniforms custom made to fit?

2 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

How was her name spelled? Da Peachez or something like that? 

It was La Peachez.

[cameron]

8 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Huntsville, AL. Do they make military uniforms that fit her? And what does she need a huge house for? DeAndre will be 18 soon. He seems like a good kid. Poor boy has inherited his mom's booty. Peach's saving grace is she doesn't want a white kitchen. The house is nice but I still don't know what she's doing with all of it.

She should stop wearing skin tight dresses.  You could see the outlines of her underwear in dress #2 and she looked like a stuff sausage.  Doesn't have the body shape to carry off those kind of dresses.

[Cetacean]

I admit it was totally shallow but I was so appalled at her dresses that I didn't even notice the homes.  I thought the son was a really handsome kid and seemed very down to earth.  I suppose living on different bases around the world probably made him pretty mature.  

SIgn me up with not having a clue why she insisted on the huge square footage.

[Pj3422]

1 hour ago, Cetacean said:

 

SIgn me up with not having a clue why she insisted on the huge square footage.

IKR? She’ll be an empty nester before she knows it, and NOBODY entertains in their closet. 

Also, who names their child La Peachez? Does she have a brother named Da Herb? (Yeah, I’m old)

[Cetacean]

4 minutes ago, Pj3422 said:

IKR? She’ll be an empty nester before she knows it, and NOBODY entertains in their closet. 

And while I sympathize, to a point, about wearing a uniform for her whole life and loving to have clothes, how in the world could she accrue enough to fill a closet the size of my living room?  I, too, wore uniforms for my career but in no way did I feel the need to buy five million outfits when I retired.  And if all of her wardrobe is made up of that skin tight t-shirt material, how much room can it take?

[mojito]

12 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Huntsville, AL. Do they make military uniforms that fit her?

Since retiring, she has purchased a house in Georgia, and now this one in Alabama. She's had plenty of time to pack on more weight. 

12 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Poor boy has inherited his mom's booty.

Fortunately,  not her hips as well. Wide hips on a man is a curse.

3 hours ago, cameron said:

She should stop wearing skin tight dresses.  You could see the outlines of her underwear in dress #2 and she looked like a stuff sausage. 

I think most people should. And skinny jeans, too. You could see the RE agent's navel, and it wasn't even an outtie!

Yet another woman who flaunts her need for more closets because she entertains there. How impressive!

She stated she didn't want a white kitchen because of all the cleaning involved. I guess the other 2500 square feet of house is okay to keep clean. At least she's retired. She'll have time for that. 

I kept wondering, what with her need for all that space and to be far from neighbors and have a pool, why she wouldn't just move further out from the city.

1 hour ago, Pj3422 said:

Also, who names their child La Peachez? Does she have a brother named Da Herb? (Yeah, I’m old)

You and me both. Imagine the two of them being reunited and shaking their groove thing together. Yikes.

I recently saw the name "Jerkayla" or something like that. 

[Crashcourse]

If my parents had named me "La Peachez," I would have changed my name, gotten my own place as soon as I was legally able to do so.  Seriously.

[Crashcourse]

5 hours ago, Pj3422 said:

Also, who names their child La Peachez? Does she have a brother named Da Herb? (Yeah, I’m old)

I'm dead. 🤣

[mojito]

1 hour ago, Crashcourse said:

If my parents had named me "La Peachez," I would have changed my name, gotten my own place as soon as I was legally able to do so.  Seriously.

And don't forget to sue them, too!