House Hunters - General Discussion

[cameron]

The state of Washington combined couple interesting.  She sure had one fat daughter.

[LittleIggy]

Starlight Village: I googled the development and looked at its website and some other sites about Starlight Village. Neat looking houses. I bet she didn’t get those terrazzo floors because that is a luxury option. Guess those kitchen cabinets they picked were a hideous option. 🙄 One site said it was in the middle of nowhere. The cats will love those windows. I wanted to take a pair of scissors to that ridiculous mustache. Did he say he was in home health care? 

[LittleIggy]

9 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

Thanks for that information. My son lives in South Austin and we've only visited twice since he's been there the past 5 years so I don't know the neighborhoods well at all. But 30 minutes north of Austin is NOT Austin. I live in the suburbs of New York City, actually about 30 minutes from the easternmost borough of Queens. It's like night and day. I wish they'd be more specific and say it's in Round Rock or wherever; it seems disingenuous to say it's Austin. JMHO

It’s in Leander, TX.

[buttersister]

Nashville newlyweds seemed like a battling mismatch from Married at First Sight. Most unpleasant pair of entitled assholes I’ve seen in a long time. Was she hurt by SUBWAY TILE! at some miserable point in her whiny life? Unsurprisingly there were no friends or family anywhere in sight.

[doodlebug]

6 hours ago, buttersister said:

Nashville newlyweds seemed like a battling mismatch from Married at First Sight. Most unpleasant pair of entitled assholes I’ve seen in a long time. Was she hurt by SUBWAY TILE! at some miserable point in her whiny life? Unsurprisingly there were no friends or family anywhere in sight.

She was particularly unpleasant.  She seemed so entitled and deliberately rude.  As my mom used to say, it wasn't what she said but how she said it.  They ended up with the place he liked best though, so maybe she was acting for the cameras and went overboard.  Acting like she was a martyr for 'allowing' subway tile in the kitchen as long as it was a herringbone pattern made her look like a fool.  Talk about your first world problems: her brand new home has essentially innocuous white tile in the kitchen and she feels like she's been incredibly generous to allow it.

[cameron]

27 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

She was particularly unpleasant.  She seemed so entitled and deliberately rude.  As my mom used to say, it wasn't what she said but how she said it.  They ended up with the place he liked best though, so maybe she was acting for the cameras and went overboard.  Acting like she was a martyr for 'allowing' subway tile in the kitchen as long as it was a herringbone pattern made her look like a fool.  Talk about your first world problems: her brand new home has essentially innocuous white tile in the kitchen and she feels like she's been incredibly generous to allow it.

Actually liked the husband.  Felt sorry for him.

[laredhead]

I've never heard the term "tall skinny" (was that what that style was called?), and the front/back house would be a no from the get go with me.  What if the front neighbor turns out to be a jerk, and hogs the driveway, has a junky backyard area, a dog/kids that run around everywhere, etc.  We have what I guess would be called tall skinny houses in my area now where developers are knocking down older houses on very narrow lots (40') and replacing those older, small houses with gianormous 3,000+ sf houses.  They tower over the remaining houses in the neighborhood and stand out like sore thumbs.  I guess the idea is to gradually eliminate the older houses and build a neighborhood of big houses with very little yard and most of the time, no covered parking or room for more than one or two cars. 

I didn't hear the HH's say where they worked (downtown vs. out of city), but Franklin is a drive from Nashville proper.  I liked the husband, and especially his comments about not buying a house just because it has a nice range.  She didn't mind the half windows when they were in the house she wanted, but when they were in a house she didn't want, she didn't like them.  Yeah, she was a bit over the top, and the husband said that she was very picky.  What was with her 3 steps down to the back yard?  She's young, exercise is good.  

[Vivigirl10]

"Tall skinny" = new, trendy way of saying "row house".  

I didn't know that House Hunters did such throw back episodes.  It was interesting watching a young, Vicki Gunvalson house hunt with her first husband.  She was just as ugly and unpleasant back then as she is now!  

[Ohwell]

Nashville newlyweds:  neither seemed to be that much fun but she was really bitchy.  I wanted to throw subway tiles at her.  He had a sour face, maybe because of her.

[LizBug]

Austin House Hunters:  At least with them choosing "build your own", both were able to get what they wanted.  She had the kitchen and terrazzo floors; and he got his huge bathtub.

Was amazed, though, HH visited the couple again 11 months after they chose a home and it was still a work-in-progress.

[Empress1]

The Nashville couple's realtor's eyebrows were really unfortunate.

I didn't't realize Nashville's COL was high. The wife in that couple was awful. "I HATE subway tile." "I'm not willing to go down more than 7 steps to get to my backyard. Girl, what? Unclench.

I assumed they'd go for the model home because it was the only one that was potentially near their budget.

[chessiegal]

I was watching Lakefront Bargain Hunt this morning, and my husband turned to me and remarked how pleasant the couple was and nice to each other, as opposed to that awful couple in Nashville on HH last night.

[amarante]

In defense of the Nashville woman, god help me, she wanted a backyard space in which the grassy part flowed as part of the deck/patio area. I understand this because it means the grass part of your backyard is a more functional part space.

It's not that one doesn't want to physically walk stairs - it's that a deck that is more or less level with the rest of the yard means that one seamlessly uses all parts of the deck. If you have to walk down a flight of stairs to get to the backyard, you wouldn't really use that area as well.

It's the same reason I find rooftop decks - especially those reached with spiral staircases - to be a feature that is probably not used frequently. No one is going to shlep food and drink up and back on a regular basis. 

[El maestro]

I am tired of watching the last minutes of most chapters with houses gutted out and full of boxes... “we just moved” yesterday. I wish we could see them once they are fully stablished as they used to do.

Edited August 24, 2019 by El maestro

[LittleIggy]

16 hours ago, cameron said:

Actually liked the husband.  Felt sorry for him.

Me, too. He seemed like a nice guy.

[LittleIggy]

Atlanta: I liked the friend Ben. He was like, “You can move in, it’s livable, then make changes.” I think that so often when I watch HH.

Edited August 24, 2019 by LittleIggy

[cameron]

21 hours ago, DallasGypsy said:

Austin House Hunters:  At least with them choosing "build your own", both were able to get what they wanted.  She had the kitchen and terrazzo floors; and he got his huge bathtub.

Was amazed, though, HH visited the couple again 11 months after they chose a home and it was still a work-in-progress.

Found it interesting for all her ranting about a double oven, she ended up with a single oven with a convection/microwave combination unit on top.  Had one of those type, and it is definitely not a double oven.

[Lisa418722]

Watching the Nashville episode (I grew up in the Metro Nashville area).  I felt sorry for the husband for having to deal with the wife. She just seemed to be a very unpleasant person to be around.  The husband seemed to be pretty easy-going.  When she was talking about how there were no grocery stores when they were going to the house in Franklin, I thought there are many, many, many grocery stores in the area, they just aren't in walking distance.  Franklin is in the Metro Nashville area and a lot of people drive from Franklin to Nashville every day to work. 

[laredhead]

Cameron, I thought the same thing about the double oven comments.  In fact, in one house they looked at there was a free standing range with one of those small ovens at top and a larger one on the bottom.  This is exactly what she ended up with in her house, except the top oven on the free standing range isn't a microwave as well.  When I think of double ovens, I think of full size ovens.  She won't be cooking 2 turkeys at one time in the combo she has now.  Cooking 2 turkeys at one time doesn't happen often, but that's why I DO have double ovens, and I use both during the holidays for that purpose.  

[cameron]

1 hour ago, laredhead said:

Cameron, I thought the same thing about the double oven comments.  In fact, in one house they looked at there was a free standing range with one of those small ovens at top and a larger one on the bottom.  This is exactly what she ended up with in her house, except the top oven on the free standing range isn't a microwave as well.  When I think of double ovens, I think of full size ovens.  She won't be cooking 2 turkeys at one time in the combo she has now.  Cooking 2 turkeys at one time doesn't happen often, but that's why I DO have double ovens, and I use both during the holidays for that purpose.  

I envy you.  Haven't had double ovens in the last two homes we had.  Really miss that.  Had exactly what she put in when we redid a historic property in Virginia.  GE offer a white light cooking oven with convection and microwave.  Did that option because there wasn't room for a traditional double oven.  I sure miss the double ovens.  GE still carries them.  Now they are called Advantium ovens  but they are still lacking in capacity.

Edited August 24, 2019 by cameron

[Kemper]

Channel surfing yesterday and landed on HGTV; which I usually avoid on weekends.  Full of marathons of hundred-times-at-least-shown-Fixer Upper, The Brothers (who I don't mind as much as other "Family" personalities on the network) or flip shows.  But.  I came upon a half-hour episode of a house hunter show called ...I can't remember!  Selling New Orleans? 

The realtor was a full-of-herself-diva; I can't remember much about the couple because.. the house porn was fabulous!  Couple looked at several houses, all seemingly historic, two in the historic section.  They bought a "chateau" out in the countryside.  The side story was a house that had been on the market as "sell by owner" for about a year.  It had great bones but was filled to the gills with furnture and knick-knacks.  The realtor and her team decluttered and staged the house (and did some painting), listed it and I think sold it.  Not sure.  But.

I loved this show; maybe because I like old homes, especially in historic areas.  Anyone else seen this?  The realtor really was off-putting.

[TVForever]

44 minutes ago, Kemper said:

Channel surfing yesterday and landed on HGTV; which I usually avoid on weekends.  Full of marathons of hundred-times-at-least-shown-Fixer Upper, The Brothers (who I don't mind as much as other "Family" personalities on the network) or flip shows.  But.  I came upon a half-hour episode of a house hunter show called ...I can't remember!  Selling New Orleans? 

The realtor was a full-of-herself-diva; I can't remember much about the couple because.. the house porn was fabulous!  Couple looked at several houses, all seemingly historic, two in the historic section.  They bought a "chateau" out in the countryside.  The side story was a house that had been on the market as "sell by owner" for about a year.  It had great bones but was filled to the gills with furnture and knick-knacks.  The realtor and her team decluttered and staged the house (and did some painting), listed it and I think sold it.  Not sure.  But.

I loved this show; maybe because I like old homes, especially in historic areas.  Anyone else seen this?  The realtor really was off-putting.

Never heard of it- must of been one of those pilots that didn’t get picked up that HGTV likes to throw in at random times without notice. I would have loved to see it, but thanks to the network’s sorry OnDemand offerings, I’ll probably never get to.☹️

[kirklandia]

In my world, "tall skinny" is a latte.

[athousandclowns]

On 8/22/2019 at 3:07 PM, edie3 said:

Dating myself, but it remind me of the Patridge Family.

He did say he was a caregiver so the primary colors and kitchen  mismatch tiles and cupboards  will be good to open preschool. 

[KLovestoShop]

What is it with so many younger guys who are so freaking lazy that they want totally carefree houses?  The only thing the Santa Clarita husband wanted was a condo with enough space to roast coffee???  Really?  He has a toddler who really should have a nice yard to run around in, not to mention a dog, but he had to have his condo with an HOA so he didn’t have to take care of the property.  We seen some weird things on this show, but the need for a coffee roasting area is a new one.

[LittleIggy]

34 minutes ago, KLovestoShop said:

What is it with so many younger guys who are so freaking lazy that they want totally carefree houses?  The only thing the Santa Clarita husband wanted was a condo with enough space to roast coffee???  Really?  He has a toddler who really should have a nice yard to run around in, not to mention a dog, but he had to have his condo with an HOA so he didn’t have to take care of the property.  We seen some weird things on this show, but the need for a coffee roasting area is a new one.

Weirder than a place for your hotdog machine? 😆 I don’t think a kid needs a whole room, besides his bedroom, for toys, but a yard to play in would be important if you have a small child (and a beagle!) and are buying a house.

Edited August 27, 2019 by LittleIggy

[laredhead]

I disliked the condo that the Santa Clarita couple bought.  The A/C compressor is on the front porch!  I don't know how hot it gets there or how much the A/C would be used, but those things are noisy even if it's a newer, quieter model.  There were also toys out there on that postage stamp of a porch.  Not attractive at all.  I guess there was a garage in back, but we never saw that.  That place was also only about 1500 sf if I remember correctly.  I guess they have taught their child to negotiate stairs because we didn't hear about how dangerous the stairs were.  Personally, I would have bought the house and removed half of the hard surface in the back yard and given the child and dog a place to play outside.  That is so much easier than hauling a kid and dog to the play ground, even if it's only a few blocks away.

KLvestoShop, I totally agree with your observation that we are seeing more and more people who don't want to lift a finger to do anything towards maintaining a house.  He's going to be in big trouble when a light bulb needs changing.  

[amarante]

Santa Clarita is hot as hell so the A/C will be going all the time. 

As others have posted, their choice for a family is inscrutable - Even in the townhouse world, there are places that have a small backyard rather than a front entrance - I don't even know what to call it with no privacy. In California, most people want SOME area in which to sit out because it's pleasant to do so most of the time.

As someone who grew up in an urban area, I don't think a toddler and a small dog need a huge yard to run around in because a toddler isn't running around that much and doesn't need space and in a planned development you can take the kid and dog to the park and the benefit is they also have other kids to play with. When they are older they can take themselves to the park with their friends and a big plus if there is a walkable pool in the development for recreation.

While I understand that kids have much larger and more toys than in the past because toys are much cheaper than they were years ago because of cheap imports, I also don't understand why toys aren't confined essentially to the bedroom. You keep a supply of toys in the living room and these are put away in an attractive basket or wall unit when necessary. 

The free standing home was so extreme in terms of its obviously decoy status. In reality I was not be interested in a home that had remained vacant for several years after the death of an elderly person and used solely as storage by the estate. I would assume minimal maintenance had been done - and not just cosmetic stuff. That kind of remodel needs to be done by either a professional flipper or people who have significant expertise and DIY experience because any kind of remodeling in Southern California is three times as expensive as anywhere else - ask me how I know because I just finished a gut remodel of my LA home :-).

I don't mind people who know they don't want to do maintenance and opt for a townhouse lifestyle. I have no interest or desire in doing so and so factoring in the cost of landscapers would be a factor. It's really only exterior landscaping that is at issue since anything inside your condo or townhouse the owner is responsible for doing so whether it's a single family home or a high rise condo (using extremes), the owner either needs to do it themselves or hire someone to do it.

The only time I roll my eyes is when an affluent couple moans about maintenance or how difficult it would be to clean the home. There was a Utah couple where they bought a home that was about $1.3 million dollars and the wife kept complaining about how hard it would be to clean the larger home. AS IF she didn't have a housekeeper or maid coming often and doing the major cleaning :-). Similarly with pools and landscapes - I personally don't know anyone who doesn't use a pool service or have a gardener for that stuff as part of their normal expenses. Hell my middle class parents back in the day had a gardener to do our postage size front yard in Brooklyn as did everyone else on the block 🙂 - in defense of my father he was extremely handy and did everything to maintain the interior 🙂 

Edited August 27, 2019 by amarante

[amarante]

6 minutes ago, amarante said:

Just now, amarante said:

6 minutes ago, amarante said:

double post - delete

Edited August 27, 2019 by amarante

[edie3]

did anyone else notice that the wife mentioned the dog before the child?

[Pickles]

2 hours ago, edie3 said:

did anyone else notice that the wife mentioned the dog before the child?

Yes! I thought that was odd. Maybe because the dog was sitting with them (I think)? 

[amarante]

I saw what was probably a rerun of a young couple who were moving out of her parents' home in Mason - and the woman wanted desperately to stay in Mason and evidently Mason is a more expensive area than there $200,000 budget could afford.

I rarely take the banter and bickering of couples on the show seriously - the "it's my closet" or one party showing no willingness to accept any compromise but I thought the dynamics of this couple were really off.

It was quite strange as they had been going out for eight years but only married for two months and she wasn't willing to live with him until marriage (or he had put a ring on it). She seemed to answer every question and, as I posted, I rarely think the dynamics of a relationship depicted on a half hour show are realistic, but I couldn't imagine how same element of the dynamic wasn't realistic.

And she had an odd phobia against prefab tub/showers. Not admittedly those are down market but that wasn't her issue - she felt they were harder to clean and were moldy. Which is actually the complete opposite of a tiled bath or shower. A poorly constructed shower is more likely to become moldy because of water intrusion and for sure grout and tile is much more difficult to keep clean than smooth surfaces of an insert. The irony was that she had swapped the insert for a really hideous cheap tile job which I can 100% predict is not waterproof because it is difficult to fully integrate waterproofing after the fact - I just finished a remodel with tiled showers and read about waterproofing quite a bit to avoid water intrusion disasters which are not uncommon.

They didn't wind up in the Mason completely crap home but oddly wound up with the one with a basement for him.

[ehall1052]

Re Santa Clarita couple: If she said “cookie cutter” one more time, I was going to scream. What do you expect from a condominium community? Of course they are going to look exactly alike. I agree with everyone else; they picked the worst one. If I had to have a condo, I would have picked the third one. At least it was stand-alone and had a little area for the boy to play. 

[ECM1231]

17 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

What is it with so many younger guys who are so freaking lazy that they want totally carefree houses?  The only thing the Santa Clarita husband wanted was a condo with enough space to roast coffee???  Really?  He has a toddler who really should have a nice yard to run around in, not to mention a dog, but he had to have his condo with an HOA so he didn’t have to take care of the property.  We seen some weird things on this show, but the need for a coffee roasting area is a new one.

YES!!! I was really incensed by that lazy hipster doofus and wanted to post about it but it was late at night and my phone was charging downstairs.  This seems to be a concern of a lot of the young homebuyers these days. Did they not grow up having to do any lawn chores?  I honestly can't believe that is the house they chose. I know the green belt/park was super close but there is nothing like a yard for a dog and a young child to run around in, as you said.  Not to mention just chilling in the backyard, throwing some burgers on the grill, entertaining, etc.  

7 hours ago, laredhead said:

I disliked the condo that the Santa Clarita couple bought.  The A/C compressor is on the front porch!  I don't know how hot it gets there or how much the A/C would be used, but those things are noisy even if it's a newer, quieter model.  There were also toys out there on that postage stamp of a porch.  Not attractive at all.  I guess there was a garage in back, but we never saw that.  That place was also only about 1500 sf if I remember correctly.  I guess they have taught their child to negotiate stairs because we didn't hear about how dangerous the stairs were.  Personally, I would have bought the house and removed half of the hard surface in the back yard and given the child and dog a place to play outside.  That is so much easier than hauling a kid and dog to the play ground, even if it's only a few blocks away.

KLvestoShop, I totally agree with your observation that we are seeing more and more people who don't want to lift a finger to do anything towards maintaining a house.  He's going to be in big trouble when a light bulb needs changing.  

Agreed. That was my immediate thought as well. And from what I recall the house was under budget, too. I think about 60K under budget and that would go towards fixing the house to their taste.

[Kenzie]

3 hours ago, ehall1052 said:

I would have picked the third one. At least it was stand-alone and had a little area for the boy to play. 

Every once in awhile I get really surprise by a homeowner's choice and this was one of them. The "green area" was minuscule, the size and paving cheapened the whole look of the place and it had an air conditioner sitting there like a sore thumb. I also thought house #3 was the best choice.

[chessiegal]

Looks like HH has brought the narrator back but not the annoying and redundant recaps and no he wants/she wants in the beginning.

[buttersister]

Repeat of Billings Montana couple. She who WOULDN’T compromise on location, did. But then, she’s married to a guy who said a hundred times he wanted a hidey-hole. Hidey-hole. You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

Edited August 28, 2019 by buttersister
Even autocorrect didn’t want to say hidey-hole.

[LittleIggy]

New Jersey: Wasn’t that the same real estate guy they had a couple of weeks ago for another Rahway couple? I liked this Jersey couple, too. The bedrooms in the house they picked seemed small, but it had the garage they wanted and the nice yard. BTW, I hope that young woman was getting court-ordered child support for the baby. 

[topanga]

2 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

New Jersey: Wasn’t that the same real estate guy they had a couple of weeks ago for another Rahway couple? I liked this Jersey couple, too. The bedrooms in the house they picked seemed small, but it had the garage they wanted and the nice yard. BTW, I hope that young woman was getting court-ordered child support for the baby. 

Yes, I liked the couple especially the boyfriend. He was funny and sarcastic, but he seemed like a nice guy overall. Stage hand at a Broadway theater—that’s an occupation I hadn’t seen on this show before. And she works at a home improvement store. She must be a good manager. It sounds like she might own the home they’re leaving since her daughter will continue to live there. And now they’re purchasing a 385,000 house? Good on them. 

[LittleIggy]

I forgot about her working at Lowe’s or Home Depot. Bet she gets a nice employee discount. No wonder she was eager to do projects! His job is a union (yay!) job so he makes good money.

[SanDiegoInExile]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Looks like HH has brought the narrator back but not the annoying and redundant recaps and no he wants/she wants in the beginning.

A very welcomed happy medium.

[Ohwell]

Rahway, NJ guy seemed drunk or stoned to me at times.

[WI GIRL56]

I liked the New Jersey couple.  And the projects that she wants to do could be done at her leisure.  It was not necessary for their immediate comfort.  I thought they picked the best house to meet their needs.

[juliet73]

Austin: The kitchen and bath at the end were so ugly!  Almost as ugly as his mustache! Thinking of his mustache, no one will ever be kissing him on the cheek - they might lose as eye! Even going in for a hug could be risky!

Nashville: The wife was a complete b!tch.  Definitely putting her in my top 10 of horrible buyers.  I wanted to push her off the balcony. The husband seemed okay.  I don't see their marriage lasting very long.

I agree with everyone else about the Santa Clarita condo. I hate when no backyards are justified with "there's a park down the street."  It's not the same.  At all.  It's a lot easier to open the backyard to let the children and pets play outside all day in a fenced yard vs going to a park for a little while.  I can guarantee that lazy, selfish, coffee roasting douche of a dad is never going to take his son to the park. 

Edited August 28, 2019 by juliet73

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Santa Clarita new build townhouse was awful.    That back 'patio' is super tiny, and it's right next to all of the neighbors.    I hope the coffee roasting routine was another phony ploy from a house hunter, because I don't think a coffee roaster on that back patio is going to be very neighbor friendly.    He was also the one who wanted an HOA.   My HOA rules include the no business rule, which is standard, but also nothing noxious that impacts neighbors, and I bet his HOA rules say that's a no-no too. 

Edited August 28, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama

[doodlebug]

10 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The Santa Clarita new build townhouse was awful.    That back 'patio' is super tiny, and it's right next to all of the neighbors.    I hope the coffee roasting routine was another phony ploy from a house hunter, because I don't think a coffee roaster on that back patio is going to be very neighbor friendly.    He was also the one who wanted an HOA, my HOA rules include the no business rule, which is standard, but also nothing noxious that impacts neighbors, and I bet his HOA rules say that's a no-no too. 

I agree, I find it hard to believe that the average HOA is going to be ok with someone roasting coffee on their front patio when the units are so tightly clustered. And, even though I like the smell of coffee, if I was one of his neighbors, I'd be complaining about the odor if it was a frequent thing.

[laredhead]

CrazyInAlabama, the patio was the front entrance, not the back.  That's what made it really unattractive to me.  You walk up to the house and are greeted with a giant A/C compressor, kids toys, and a coffee roaster all in what looked like a miniscule "porch" (using that term loosely).  I can just imagine how inviting that will be when most of those compressors are running.  Ugh!    

[txvoodoo]

On 8/22/2019 at 2:25 PM, ECM1231 said:

I wish they'd be more specific and say it's in Round Rock or wherever; it seems disingenuous to say it's Austin.

It's par for the course, though. They'll say "Dallas" and something will be 30-45 mins outside of Dallas. Ditto, well, everywhere. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I thought there was also a strip back porch with a railing, and the neighbors were right there too?    Or I got two townhouses mixed up.   

[CruiseDiva]

Last night's HHs in Raleigh, NC... the wife was a major bitch. I felt so sorry for her husband. He appeared to be such a nice guy. 

Why, oh why, would they need a dedicated guest room for his mother who comes to visit for what sounded like a month or so each year? The rest of the year the room would be unused. Just set it up as an office/den with a daybed or sofa sleeper for when it's needed for a guest. Use your imagination, people!

I was surprised that the best house, the one they chose, was right under the airport's flight path. You do get accustomed to the noise, but still it's not ideal.