House Hunters - General Discussion

[Crashcourse]

I know dress has gotten more casual now, but I wonder if that's the case with real estate agents, because the Salem one looked like she was ready to go horseback riding. 

[cameron]

29 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

The real estate agent in the Salem episode is with Re/Max in Plaistow, NH, about 30 miles from Salem. Her sold listings don't show the house they bought. 

I'm not seeing the third house as any kind of museum on the Visitor's web site or historic web site.

Look up the Benjamin Grant house in Ipswich, house #3.

[chessiegal]

4 minutes ago, cameron said:

Look up the Benjamin Grant house in Ipswich, house #3.

Ah, so it's not in Salem. It definitely looked like it was set up for touring.

[cameron]

5 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Ah, so it's not in Salem. It definitely looked like it was set up for touring.

Disregard my above statement about the Benjamin Grant house, my bad.  Instead look up 115 High Street, Ipswich Ma which is still for sale.  Just found it now on the internet. Try realtor.com.  They have 42 pictures.

Edited March 23, 2022 by cameron

[amarante]

5 hours ago, mojito said:

Salem, MA

Interesting homes to look at. A nice change of pace from what we usually see. 

I appreciated the third house the most, but cool things like the old kitchen just took up space, and I wouldn't have the heart to tear it out (don't know if the historic society would allow it anyway). I wanted to smack the husband for being such a scaredy cat about the basement, but I agree with him on the house in general. It was was just too....too. And dark, as well.

Anyone know about old New England homes? Were many built with the front entrance on the side of the house or had new streets built around the house made the front the side now? Was this maybe typical of homes built in the city? The house to the left was back to back (by a few feet, it seemed) with a side front door. I wish HH had zoomed out so we could see more of the arrangement of homes in the vicinity.

 

Not an expert on NE homes but there seem to be a lot of homes in that area with side entrances as there have been a few older homes on the Boston area HH which also have side entrances.

The frontage on the street is pretty narrow so perhaps it made more sense to have the front with the "yard" at the side. 

And in what universe is this a Victorian? It is a fairly standard plain New England style Colonial. The only thing Victorian is that it was built when Queen Victoria was alive. 

Not quite the same thing but I am generally stunned when realtors claim something is an "easy" fix or quote a price to renovate that has no basis in reality. There was a relatively recent show in which the bathrooms were objectively hideous - as I recall they were brown tile. The realtor said it would be easy to swap the tiles - and the reality is that if you change the tiles in a shower you destroy the waterproofing and essentially have to build a new shower - and a tiled shower is the most expensive single thing to do - could run $12,000 just for a tiled shower with proper waterproofing done by actual skilled workers and not some clown 🤡 you grab from the front of Home Depot.

Edited March 23, 2022 by amarante

[CrazyInAlabama]

1 hour ago, cameron said:

Disregard my above statement about the Benjamin Grant house, my bad.  Instead look up 115 High Street, Ipswich Ma which is still for sale.  Just found it now on the internet. Try realtor.com.  They have 42 pictures.

Good find!    I'm surprised it's only a 2 bed, 2 bath.  The main bedroom is huge, but it's still only two bedrooms,   I wondered if the barn and garage were actually guest houses, but they're nothing but bare rooms.   

Edited March 23, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[LittleIggy]

I watch the sitcom Ghosts so I was half expecting to see the cholera pit ghosts in that creepy basement! 😬

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, cameron said:

...look up 115 High Street, Ipswich Ma which is still for sale.

The pictures show exactly what we saw in the program in each room but don't address the historic kitchen. 

Zillow says it's off the market and realtor.com says "listing removed" 3/22.  One wonders if having that shown last night had anything to do with that. KInd of a big coincidence!

[Crashcourse]

Watching an episode in Denver right now, and the HH and his real estate agent buddy are yammering on and on and they sound exactly alike.  LOL.  They're kind of driving me crazy so I don't think I can stick around to see which place the guy chooses.

[Grizzly]

11 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

Watching an episode in Denver right now, and the HH and his real estate agent buddy are yammering on and on and they sound exactly alike.  LOL.  They're kind of driving me crazy so I don't think I can stick around to see which place the guy chooses.

I thought the HH should just move in with the realtor. They are flirting like crazy. And are so full of themselves. Didn't realize Denver had so much modern architecture. He bought the first place.

[Grizzly]

New Orleans, LA. They are believable as a couple. What I can't believe is he wants modern with a pool for 300k. And she's paranoid about water coming in the house but lives next to a river. They picked the cheap house with a great backyard.

[buttersister]

Oy. New Orleans couple that survived hurricane Ida are looking for a house in the area that got slammed by a tornado last night. Their current house is getting repaired and the one they bought—both in St. Bernard’s Parish.😟

[LittleIggy]

Denver: I loved the last place they looked at. And I ❤️ the HH’s dog! So cute!

[Thumper]

I enjoyed the New Orleans couple and their banter.  I loved her accent, too!

I hope their house didn’t get hit by the tornado. 😢

[Tess23]

The Salem husband is probably my favorite house hunter ever. 

[cameron]

12 hours ago, Cetacean said:

The pictures show exactly what we saw in the program in each room but don't address the historic kitchen. 

Zillow says it's off the market and realtor.com says "listing removed" 3/22.  One wonders if having that shown last night had anything to do with that. KInd of a big coincidence!

Historic kitchen are pictures 14 and 15.  The big fireplace was used for cooking and any water would have been carried in from the outside.  Use to be a docent for a historic house museum in Connecticut.

[cameron]

The Maui home buyer was certainly a "piece of work".  Tags along on family vacations for all those years.  Bet the widow really loved having him join in all those times.  

[cameron]

8 hours ago, Thumper said:

I enjoyed the New Orleans couple and their banter.  I loved her accent, too!

I hope their house didn’t get hit by the tornado. 😢

Wonder where she is from originally.  Certainly not a New Orleans accent there.

[laredhead]

The Redfin site still has all of the pictures and information posted of the Ipswich house.  I haven't seen the episode yet, but the comments here made me want to look at the pictures.  The width of the floor boards is amazing.  We will never see lumber like that again.  Absolutely gorgeous wood.  Interesting house.

[cameron]

57 minutes ago, laredhead said:

The Redfin site still has all of the pictures and information posted of the Ipswich house.  I haven't seen the episode yet, but the comments here made me want to look at the pictures.  The width of the floor boards is amazing.  We will never see lumber like that again.  Absolutely gorgeous wood.  Interesting house.

Before America declared her independence from Great Britain, any floor board wider than 16 inches was taxed because it was thought to belong to GB.  Hence, home owners would usually only put them upstairs and out of general site.

[mojito]

14 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I thought the HH should just move in with the realtor. They are flirting like crazy. And are so full of themselves. Didn't realize Denver had so much modern architecture. He bought the first place.

Full of themselves, yes. Flirting, I doubt it. They're friends and act like friends. They're so alike, right down to their voices. Great teeth, both of them.

5 hours ago, cameron said:

Bet the widow really loved having him join in all those times.  

I'll bet she was happy to have him along so she he could divert her husband's attention and she could have some peace and quiet on vacation. 

The NO couple had some pretty inexpensive choices. At first, I thought they might pick Slidell since it's become a pretty popular place to live and at the time of filming, the casino gambling was a possibility, but I believe they have since nixed the casino, so there goes the promise of new jobs.

Husband sounded as though he were definitely from--or had lived a long time in--the southern LA area. Wife might've been, too, but her accent was different. 

I'm with YouTubeTV and I have 10 seasons of HH with approximately 13 episodes per season. Lately, they've been putting out episodes labeled seasons 212 and 213. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by mojito

[StatisticalOutlier]

I've mentioned kitchen cabinets that don't go all the way to the ceiling before, and the condo the Denver guy with the porn mustache chose is a good example.  There's an empty space of about 3 inches between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling.  You can't put anything decorative up there--it's just a space to catch dust. 

And I think there's a soffit above them (the dropped ceiling thing).  They might not be able to raise the cabinets because I'm sure there are standards for how high the bottom of the cabinets needs to be for functionality, but couldn't they lower the soffit a couple of inches to avoid leaving the gap?  I can't be the only one who thinks it looks like carelessness or a mistake.

16 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Didn't realize Denver had so much modern architecture.

Apartments/condos like that are springing up everywhere in Denver.  They're revitalizing some industrial areas with them, but they're also tearing down old buildings, and by old I mean ones that are of the age to have been built near downtown when it was being settled, and are often picturesque, but not necessarily "historic."  But they're a big part of what gives a neighborhood its feel, and they're vanishing.

 

[amarante]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I've mentioned kitchen cabinets that don't go all the way to the ceiling before, and the condo the Denver guy with the porn mustache chose is a good example.  There's an empty space of about 3 inches between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling.  You can't put anything decorative up there--it's just a space to catch dust. 

And I think there's a soffit above them (the dropped ceiling thing).  They might not be able to raise the cabinets because I'm sure there are standards for how high the bottom of the cabinets needs to be for functionality, but couldn't they lower the soffit a couple of inches to avoid leaving the gap?  I can't be the only one who thinks it looks like carelessness or a mistake.

 

Most of the time I have seen cabinets with that size gap using some form of crown molding. I have crown molding of about the width between my cabinets and the bottom of the soffits.

I wouldn't particularly want even large open spaces between the top of cabinets and the ceiling because of the crap that would gather there. Granted I am not the greatest about cleaning hard to reach places which I don't access much - I had some stuff stored on the top of my refrigerator which protruded prior to a remodel and some of that stuff accumulated a layer of grime from the dust and the build up of kitchen effluents over the years. 

Anything can be done but it all costs money. You can generally tell how money was "scrimped" by looking at the kitchen particularly. Lower cabinets with doors instead of drawers. Doors that aren't full overlay. Less than ideal kitchen layouts that were cheap - e.g. islands in spaces that aren't really large enough. Often with flippers the kitchen is "opened out" but they didn't want to pay for headers and so there are columns in weird places.

[LittleIggy]

Atlanta: Single mom with seven children. Wonder what the backstory is there? She needs to get a ring on it. The boyfriend was a keeper.

[Cetacean]

13 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Wonder what the backstory is there?

And what was it with the tree phobia?  Trees have bugs?  I walk through forested areas all of the time with nary a bug investation.

I would think in Atlanta you'd want trees shading your house to make the AC run more efficiently.  Plus it's better for the climate.  Broke my heart to see that they had chopped down those beautiful old trees.

[Thumper]

6 minutes ago, Cetacean said:

And what was it with the tree phobia?  Trees have bugs?  I walk through forested areas all of the time with nary a bug investation.

I would think in Atlanta you'd want trees shading your house to make the AC run more efficiently.  Plus it's better for the climate.  Broke my heart to see that they had chopped down those beautiful old trees.

Yes, that was very weird.  And sad.

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, Cetacean said:

And what was it with the tree phobia?  Trees have bugs?  I walk through forested areas all of the time with nary a bug investation.

I would think in Atlanta you'd want trees shading your house to make the AC run more efficiently.  Plus it's better for the climate.  Broke my heart to see that they had chopped down those beautiful old trees.

I was sad and mad about the tree destruction. The house looked tacky without those lovely shade trees. 

[Crashcourse]

Before chopping all those trees down, I would have had an arborist examine them to make sure they were sturdy enough.  If they were ok, I would have kept them because the front space looked desolate without them.

[Cetacean]

13 minutes ago, Crashcourse said:

If they were ok, I would have kept them because the front space looked desolate without them.

Yes, but you know...........bugs.

She irritated the crap out of me.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I wouldn't want to have trees close enough to fall on the house, Atlanta area does have tornadoes, and bad weather seems to love to hit Atlanta.     I wouldn't worry about bugs, but falling branches, or trees.   At least the house was big enough for the kids to have nice rooms.

The Denver house, with the very modern house was nice, but I don't like flat roof areas where it gets so much snow, or occasional deluge, and have to worry about the roof and other areas draining quickly.  

[chessiegal]

Soft pine trees are the problem in the Atlanta area. I had one fall on my house during a regular old thunderstorm when I lived there.

[Cetacean]

Just now, chessiegal said:

Soft pine trees are the problem in the Atlanta area. I had one fall on my house during a regular old thunderstorm when I lived there.

Those were not pines, they were deciduous trees.

[Grizzly]

Lancaster County, PA. Babies buying houses. Makes me feel so old and underpaid. What makes her voice so annoying? Is it an accent or her cadence? I couldn't really watch.

[chessiegal]

1 minute ago, Cetacean said:

Those were not pines, they were deciduous trees.

I was pointing out deciduous would not be a problem but pines would - should have been more clear.

[rhofmovalley]

31 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

Lancaster County, PA. Babies buying houses. Makes me feel so old and underpaid. What makes her voice so annoying? Is it an accent or her cadence? I couldn't really watch.

She...speaks...soooo...slowly...

[ByaNose]

32 minutes ago, rhofmovalley said:

She...speaks...soooo...slowly...

Just watched it. When she was going over the houses (in the car) with her cell phone it took her forever to get a sentence out. I thought it was just me because I’m a little tired but it’s nice to get confirmation that it was her. It’s was a slow and concise speaking pattern. I also thought it was because I’m so old and they were mere babies. LOL!!!!

[sskrill]

2 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Lancaster County, PA. Babies buying houses. Makes me feel so old and underpaid. What makes her voice so annoying? Is it an accent or her cadence? I couldn't really watch.

I'm struggling to get through it right now.  I could not be in her company for more than 3 or 4 minutes.  She seems like a pain in the ass.  But maybe I'm just old and cranky.

[cameron]

Lancaster home buyers.  When the show first started; I thought that she was his Mother.  Very old looking for being 24.  Just finished watching the episode and my take on Emily is that she either has a speech impediment or is somewhat mentally impaired which would account for her speech pattern.

Edited March 25, 2022 by cameron

[Cetacean]

I gave up on finishing that one.  Not only was her speech pattern difficult to hear but the pitch was like a pin in my ear.

We have so many of these woman (not being sexist but it is rarely the men) that speak in way that is annoying to me.  Makes me want to tape myself to see if I sound odd.  I know I don't do the Kartrashian vocal fry or the upspeak because I am too old to have picked that up.  But I may be annoying as well!

[Dehumidifier]

51 minutes ago, cameron said:

Lancaster home buyers.  When the show first started; I thought that she was his Mother.  Very old looking for being 24.  Just finished watching the episode and my take on Emily is that she either has a speech impediment or is somewhat mentally impaired which would account for her speech pattern.

She seemed to speak more naturally (and quickly) in the few spots where she was giving her own thoughts rather than reciting one of the standard producer fed lines. 

[mojito]

Lancaster County

Imagine being 30 years old with $40K or more in college debt, unable to purchase a home in this market because you can't save enough for a down payment or you get outbid for homes by cash buyers. You might really find yourself re-thinking your decision to go to college after watching this young couple. You're probably making more than this guy does, but the couple got an early start and they saved. 

I chuckled when the wife claimed that the husband is "very mature for his age". And she's 2 years older, a cougar at 24. Nice couple. Hope things go well for them.

 

[cinsays]

4 hours ago, cameron said:

Lancaster home buyers.  When the show first started; I thought that she was his Mother.  Very old looking for being 24.  Just finished watching the episode and my take on Emily is that she either has a speech impediment or is somewhat mentally impaired which would account for her speech pattern.

yeah, i was thinking maybe she had had a stroke or some kind of brain injury at some point because she seemed just off but intelligent and nice.

nice that they were able to have saved so much at such a young age

[qtpye]

32 minutes ago, mojito said:

Lancaster County

I chuckled when the wife claimed that the husband is "very mature for his age". And she's 2 years older, a cougar at 24. Nice couple. Hope things go well for them.

 

Yeah, she is really robbing the cradle. 

Meanwhile, men my age (37) are dating 20 years old women and never think twice about it.

Edited March 25, 2022 by qtpye

[cinsays]

4 hours ago, cameron said:

Lancaster home buyers.  When the show first started; I thought that she was his Mother.  Very old looking for being 24.  Just finished watching the episode and my take on Emily is that she either has a speech impediment or is somewhat mentally impaired which would account for her speech pattern.

yeah, i was thinking maybe she had had a stroke or some kind of brain injury at some point because she seemed just off but intelligent and nice.

nice that they were able to have saved so much at such a young age

[cinsays]

Just watched an episode last night that annoyed me.

In Georgia, the wife, a psychologist,  wanted to be near her mom, wanted a haunted house and didn't care if her husband had to drive 2 hours to get to work.

And the dogs, the vizslas, which she had to mention half a dozen times like it was something important.

Could not stand her, seemed to talk down to her husband. 

[qtpye]

On 3/23/2022 at 12:22 PM, rhofmovalley said:

I'm pretty sure the third house in Salem is actually a museum. The blurred plaque probably indicated that.

Must have been short on decoy houses.

I always wondered why the hell anyone would sign up to be a decoy house.

You have crew and HH tramping through your house for days just for the honor of being one of the 'rejects".

Also, this show is notoriously cheap, so I doubt they are well compensated.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think the Lancaster PA woman was just not good at reciting the producer's prepared lines.  She sounded fine in the spontaneous talking heads.  

I think the third Salem house is just historic, and that's why the plaque was blurred.    I'm wondering if it's being marketed as a lunch or breakfast place?   Or some other business?    It didn't seem big enough with only two bedrooms, unless you could turn the two bedrooms into four, or something similar.    I'm usually not creeped out by basements, but that one was creepy.  

Edited March 25, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[chessiegal]

2 hours ago, qtpye said:

You have crew and HH tramping through your house for days

My stepdaughter lives across the street from a decoy house in a New Orleans episode. She said filming inside and out took about 4 hours.

[cameron]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I think the Lancaster PA woman was just not good at reciting the producer's prepared lines.  She sounded fine in the spontaneous talking heads.  

I think the third Salem house is just historic, and that's why the plaque was blurred.    I'm wondering if it's being marketed as a lunch or breakfast place?   Or some other business?    It didn't seem big enough with only two bedrooms, unless you could turn the two bedrooms into four, or something similar.    I'm usually not creeped out by basements, but that one was creepy.  

If you blow up the first picture, it shows the plaque with the date and the original name of the house.  

[rhofmovalley]

8 hours ago, qtpye said:

I always wondered why the hell anyone would sign up to be a decoy house.

You have crew and HH tramping through your house for days just for the honor of being one of the 'rejects".

Also, this show is notoriously cheap, so I doubt they are well compensated.

Not to mention having to listen to the house hunters talking producer-fed crap about your home and its decor.  Or maybe you're the house they pretend to really want so they say nice things.

Either way, my OCD self who hates dirt being tracked in would never agree to such an arrangement.  And I'd just go OFF if one of the house hunters got into my tub or shower with their nasty, dirty shoes on or let their dog get on my bed or kitchen counter. Gross.