House Hunters - General Discussion

[amarante]

The Charlotte woman was delusional in terms of building "generational wealth"

You don't build wealth by moving out of a lovely relatively expensive home into a MORE expensive home. You stay in your perfectly adequate home and if you want to be a landlord (which I wouldn't want to be) you buy a relatively inexpensive house or a two family type of duplex or townhouse/condo.

Her calculations on the cost of the kind of remodels she was contemplating were pulled out of her arse. Tearing down a wall and gutting a kitchen so that it is MORE upscale than the existing one would be about $50,000. 

And her calculation of profit on the rental of their old home was also seriously whacked. She is just counting mortgage payments - what about taxes? home maintenance and repair? Insurance? Lost income if the home weren't rented every month? Damage to home by tenants?

[mojito]

2 hours ago, amarante said:

You don't build wealth by moving out of a lovely relatively expensive home into a MORE expensive home. You stay in your perfectly adequate home and if you want to be a landlord (which I wouldn't want to be) you buy a relatively inexpensive house or a two family type of duplex or townhouse/condo.

And just where do you get your knowledge from? The real world? Experience? Countless real estate experts and financial advisers?  Common sense?

She works for a mortgage brokerage! 

Edited June 9, 2022 by mojito

[amarante]

1 hour ago, mojito said:

And just where do you get your knowledge from? The real world? Experience? Countless real estate experts and financial advisers?  Common sense?

She works for a mortgage brokerage! 

From owning real estate and knowing something about economics as well as the cost of homeownership including the "projects" she was contemplating.

I am not sure what special expertise someone who works in an unspecified position in a mortgage brokerage firm would have.

The proverbial millionaire next door did not achieve generational wealth by purchasing a large home but generally by staying in the relatively modest home they bought - paying off the mortgage - and using income for other investments.

If you feel that renting a relatively expensive home and figuring that the profits are based solely on the difference between rent and your mortgage payment, I would disagree because that is a very simplistic view of the costs of property ownership and being a landlord. 

She stated that her profit would be $950 because her mortgage payment was $1500 and she could rent the house for $2500 which is a simplistic view of the actual costs of homeownership for a landlord since mortgage payments are a portion of the expenses she would have. 

Edited June 9, 2022 by amarante

[deirdra]

On 6/1/2022 at 10:49 PM, answerphone said:

 Who else wonders about some of these couples, “How long will they stay married?”

I ask myself this nearly every episode. HH should have an entire "Where are they now" episode every year to keep us apprised of which couples are still together and which had to hunt for two houses. 

Edited June 9, 2022 by deirdra

[CrazyInAlabama]

Teachers moving to Tallahassee, from Pennsylvania.   Unfortunately, even when almost everywhere is hot, Tallahassee is really hot.   She's a high school music teacher, and he's a principal.     They are job hunting, and house hunting at the same time.    He wants a 2-story, she wants a ranch, all brick.    They might want a pool, no remodeling (they bought his grandmother's house, and have been remodeling for 14 years. ).

Her budget $450k turnkey he wants a top of $350k, but with renovations it will be a lot more expensive.  

House 1- fully renovated, 2100 sq ft, $415k,  4 bed 2.5 bath, fireplace. kitchen/dining/nook the floor tile is super shiny, which means slick to me.   living room, and family room both have fireplaces.  vinyl plank except for the dining/kitchen/nook tile.   4 bedrooms all upstairs, the 3 secondary bedrooms are smaller.   

The pool has a huge crack/hole, disgusting water, so probably over $10k for pool fix, but I think it will need the pool itself replaced.    $10k won't even get started on the pool, if it needs a total replacement, and new decking, it will be over $50k I bet.  

House 2-$350k, fixer, 2 story, some brick, 2332 sq ft, some hardwoods on the first floor, and mostly carpet.  wallpaper needs to go away, kitchen cabinets need refaced, wallpaper reface and appliances, so I'm betting $15k or $20k for a new kitchen. the carpets are disgusting. total screen room around pool, and pool is further from the house.   pool looks good. stair carpet has a carpet runner on top of regular carpet.  Upstairs main bedroom is huge, with a sitting area, and a closet that's spectacular, and really huge. main bathroom needs wallpaper and carpet in front of the sink removed.   The other bedrooms are decent sized, except the guest room, it's small.  I think this house would be so over budget after they redo everything. 

House 3- Ranch,$ 300k, just over 2000 sq ft, 3 bed 2 bath, ranch, hardwoods, tile, family room is nice, kitchen needs refaced cabinets, or painted cabinet doors.   guest bedrooms are nice, still with hardwoods, guest bath is OK, mainbedroom is decent size, bath is updated, but not huge, The pool is fenced, but not screened.   pool screen would be $6k to $12k.   

They pick #2, I would have picked #2 for the giant closet.  The offered $350k, and think they'll only spend $40k on remodels, I bet they go way over $40k on remodels. 

With the teacher shortages, I bet the husband could find a teaching job, and wait for a principal job to open up.   However, the music teacher wife might have a harder time finding a job.  I'm not sure how many schools have a big music department these days.    Getting recertified for teaching in Florida may not be that long a process since I bet both of the house hunters were experienced teachers, and administrators.     I'm guessing since everything else is a story line on the show, that they both had jobs, since they were already buying a house.  If they didn't already have jobs in Tallahassee, I bet they wouldn't have been so set on the locations they insisted on.   

I'm guessing that since they had the grandmother's house in PA, and lived there for so long, that they either had paid it off, or had a huge amount of equity.    

I remember when they used to do a few of those Where Are They Now episodes, but I bet there are so few people living in the same house, and still together, that they had a hard time finding enough people who were willing to be filmed.   I'm guessing that a lot of the 'we're going to remodel' people didn't change anything either. 

Edited June 9, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[mojito]

1 hour ago, amarante said:

From owning real estate and knowing something about economics as well as the cost of homeownership including the "projects" she was contemplating.

Oh my goodness. You're responding. I guess I should've used a smiley face. I thought listing really good reasons why you were correct were enough for you to see that my response was tongue-in-cheek.

My apologies if I offended you.

Edited June 9, 2022 by mojito

[buttersister]

No surprise that the Chicago catering manager chose her current neighborhood, low price and kitchen island she thought her late Dad would have loved. And I kept thinking, just go find a nearby garage that rents spaces. (I wouldn’t be happy walking around there at night alone, but you do you.)

I mostly liked the realtor, but harping on her having to whiten up the kitchen and bathroom now for resale in 5 years sounded stupid.Because it was—white cabinets could be out in 5 years. (Heh, I’ve loved mine for 20 years;-)

Also hilarious: $150 was too pricey for onsite parking in Lakeview, but not in Edgewater; the second, modern, occupied  being in the running. unit!

[LittleIggy]

Tallahassee: What if they can’t find jobs in the area? Sell the place since they are still living in PA? That closet was freaking awesome. 

1 hour ago, mojito said:

Oh my goodness. You're responding. I guess I should've used a smiley face. I thought listing really good reasons why you were correct were enough for you to see that my response was tongue-in-cheek.

My apologies if I offended you.

You should have used 😉. I was offended on their behalf! 😆

[BAForever]

9 hours ago, amarante said:

From owning real estate and knowing something about economics as well as the cost of homeownership including the "projects" she was contemplating.

I am not sure what special expertise someone who works in an unspecified position in a mortgage brokerage firm would have.

The proverbial millionaire next door did not achieve generational wealth by purchasing a large home but generally by staying in the relatively modest home they bought - paying off the mortgage - and using income for other investments.

If you feel that renting a relatively expensive home and figuring that the profits are based solely on the difference between rent and your mortgage payment, I would disagree because that is a very simplistic view of the costs of property ownership and being a landlord. 

She stated that her profit would be $950 because her mortgage payment was $1500 and she could rent the house for $2500 which is a simplistic view of the actual costs of homeownership for a landlord since mortgage payments are a portion of the expenses she would have. 

Sister owns 1 home and rents previously owned home in nice LA area Beach town. Rent is great $$, and they get multi year renters, but drawbacks. They still pay HOA dues and property tax. Pricy clean up and painting and other maintenance in between renters and if the fridge goes out, they pay to fix. Since they do it without an agent, background and credit checks on potential renters. They turn a nice profit, but definitely have expenses this HH didn't account for.

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, BAForever said:

Sister owns 1 home and rents previously owned home in nice LA area Beach town. Rent is great $$, and they get multi year renters, but drawbacks. They still pay HOA dues and property tax. Pricy clean up and painting and other maintenance in between renters and if the fridge goes out, they pay to fix. Since they do it without an agent, background and credit checks on potential renters. They turn a nice profit, but definitely have expenses this HH didn't account for.

My dad had a multi-family rental property and yeah, it’s not just rent - mortgage = profit. And the NC couple owned a home before - they should know that there are other expenses that come with home ownership besides the mortgage. Didn’t they pay property taxes, have to replace a water heater, call an electrician, etc. on the place?

Edited June 9, 2022 by Empress1

[snarts]

Tallahassee FL: I sure hope they did some research on educator salaries in Florida. A friend took a huge (I mean huge) pay cut moving south. Ten years later she still makes less than she did as a first year teacher in Michigan. You give up a lot for that sunshine because they do not pay or treat their educators well (principals included).  Heck, Tallahassee isn't even on the ocean!

(Late to the party) Fargo ND: Agree with many of you, not sure why she picked that area.

[AuntieDiane6]

1 hour ago, snarts said:

Tallahassee FL: I sure hope they did some research on educator salaries in Florida. A friend took a huge (I mean huge) pay cut moving south. Ten years later she still makes less than she did as a first year teacher in Michigan. You give up a lot for that sunshine because they do not pay or treat their educators well (principals included).  Heck, Tallahassee isn't even on the ocean!

Not only that, but they don't have the pensions of teachers in blue states.  The AVERAGE Florida teacher pension is $18,000!!!  In New York, it's nearly triple that!  No wonder there is a teacher shortage in Florida.  

[mojito]

11 hours ago, buttersister said:

I mostly liked the realtor, but harping on her having to whiten up the kitchen and bathroom now for resale in 5 years sounded stupid.Because it was—white cabinets could be out in 5 years. (Heh, I’ve loved mine for 20 years;-)

My thoughts exactly. I was reading just a couple days ago that people are beginning to drift away from white cabinets. An olive greenish/dusty olive is the color in vogue, I believe.  (Double ovens are also falling out of favor.) I think the cabinets in this lady's kitchen are great as they are. 

When I was looking for work, a Florida company wanted me to fly in for an interview on my own dime. Their reasoning was that people are dying to move to Florida and will do whatever it takes to get there. I passed. We have mild winters here. 

My jet-setting brother moved to Florida cold turkey, too, and now he's whining about having no money. He didn't expect to halve his past salary. Should've done more research. At least he gets to see an alligator walk across his lawn every so often. Bonus.

[Empress1]

51 minutes ago, mojito said:

When I was looking for work, a Florida company wanted me to fly in for an interview on my own dime. Their reasoning was that people are dying to move to Florida and will do whatever it takes to get there. I passed.

No offense to any Floridians, but I have zero interest in living in Florida. Humid weather year-round and alligators? No thank you. A relative lived in Orlando for a couple of years when I was a kid and we went to visit her and go to Disney World and Miami is fun for like a long weekend, but I could never live there. 

[AuntieDiane6]

14 hours ago, amarante said:

She stated that her profit would be $950 because her mortgage payment was $1500 and she could rent the house for $2500 which is a simplistic view of the actual costs of homeownership for a landlord since mortgage payments are a portion of the expenses she would have. 

$300 a month for taxes, $100? a month for insurance PLUS lawn services ... 

Edited June 9, 2022 by AuntieDiane6
Added more comments.

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

They pick #2, I would have picked #2 for the giant closet.

I don't care about big closets, so I probably would've picked #3.  When I see closets like that, I just see wasted space which could've been better used.  Although I do occasionally say I'd make that closet my office, so there's that, I guess.

It was interesting to see the Tallahassee area.  Most of the Florida HH episodes I've watched have been in either the Tampa-St. Pete area or nearer to Miami.

[MooCat Pretzel]

Let me get this straight. The Charlotte woman thinks making $950 extra a month is the ticket to buying a more expensive home for the family, doing reno on said home, and talking about how generational wealth is around the corner?! Yikes. Good luck with that.

Edited June 11, 2022 by MooCat Pretzel

[rhofmovalley]

4 hours ago, snarts said:

Tallahassee FL: I sure hope they did some research on educator salaries in Florida. A friend took a huge (I mean huge) pay cut moving south. Ten years later she still makes less than she did as a first year teacher in Michigan. You give up a lot for that sunshine because they do not pay or treat their educators well (principals included).  Heck, Tallahassee isn't even on the ocean!

(Late to the party) Fargo ND: Agree with many of you, not sure why she picked that area.

I can't imagine any mortgage company would approve them for a loan when they didn't have jobs. I have to presume their alleged unemployed status was HH producer BS. Also have to presume their current home was paid off. Because that would add to the unlikelihood of a mortgage company approving them for a loan on an additional home with no employment.

I don't like FL either, but for different reasons 😛. Plus, I don't like large bugs and flying insects.

Edited June 9, 2022 by rhofmovalley

[NYGirl]

Chicago caterer really annoyed me...she wanted the world for her $200,000.  Her realtor was ok but he  talked about selling down the road like 10x in that one episode.  Again with the white cabinets..ugh.  I am thinking they're moving away from white.

[CrazyInAlabama]

14 hours ago, buttersister said:

No surprise that the Chicago catering manager chose her current neighborhood, low price and kitchen island she thought her late Dad would have loved. And I kept thinking, just go find a nearby garage that rents spaces. (I wouldn’t be happy walking around there at night alone, but you do you.)

I mostly liked the realtor, but harping on her having to whiten up the kitchen and bathroom now for resale in 5 years sounded stupid.Because it was—white cabinets could be out in 5 years. (Heh, I’ve loved mine for 20 years;-)

Yes, I watched a bunch of the Saturday reruns on OWN, and the 2015-2016 episodes have a lot of white kitchen, some brown cabinets, but the 2010-2011 ones all demand dark brown. 

However, if a new buyer really likes the floorplan, the price, and the only issue is the color of the kitchen cabinets, reface them, pick the finish and door/drawer style you like, and maybe change the hardware out.    It's so much cheaper than ripping out a usable floorplan, and much faster.   

I will say when house shopping I consider resale, even if I think I'll be there forever.   

[StatisticalOutlier]

2 hours ago, NYGirl said:

Her realtor was ok

I disagree.  He thought she should buy a house with a kitchen she doesn't like and live in the house with a kitchen she doesn't like so that when she later sells it, it will be more marketable because people want white cabinets.  A couple of things:  As noted above, nobody knows if white cabinets will still be popular when she decides to sell, so she could very well live with a kitchen she doesn't like for years, only to have to change it anyway when she sells?  What kind of advice is that?  It makes me wonder about his real estate savvy.

But more importantly, don't most people buy houses primarily to live in?  Sure, some people get a starter home they don't love, but I assume they don't buy something they hate if there are other options out there they can afford and don't hate.  I would think a place that makes the buyer as happy as possible would be the real objective.

[Dehumidifier]

2 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I disagree.  He thought she should buy a house with a kitchen she doesn't like and live in the house with a kitchen she doesn't like so that when she later sells it, it will be more marketable because people want white cabinets.  A couple of things:  As noted above, nobody knows if white cabinets will still be popular when she decides to sell, so she could very well live with a kitchen she doesn't like for years, only to have to change it anyway when she sells?  What kind of advice is that?  It makes me wonder about his real estate savvy.

But more importantly, don't most people buy houses primarily to live in?  Sure, some people get a starter home they don't love, but I assume they don't buy something they hate if there are other options out there they can afford and don't hate.  I would think a place that makes the buyer as happy as possible would be the real objective.

Was he really an agent or was her friend playing the part of an agent?

[chessiegal]

2 hours ago, Dehumidifier said:

Was he really an agent or was her friend playing the part of an agent?

Did they give his first and last name in a chyron? If so, it's easy enough to see if he's a licensed agent.

[Grizzly]

San Antonio, TX. The realtor ain't playing the Goldilocks game. Agree that a stall shower won't cut it. I was fine with all the kitchens and actually liked the small one in #1. I would not put the TV over that fireplace that she wanted her dad to do at the end.

[chessiegal]

1 minute ago, Grizzly said:

I would not put the TV over that fireplace that she wanted her dad to do at the end.

Agree. Dad says - you'll need to buy a bracket. Umm, there was no cable outlet over the fireplace - needs more than a bracket.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Anybody else singing, "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never ever let you forget you're a man..."?

[LittleIggy]

San Antonio: When I saw that the HH’s name was Enjoli, I couldn’t get that song from the old Enjoli perfume ad out of my head: “I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan, and never, never let you forget you're a man. Cause I'm a Woman”.  I was just a kid when they used to show it, but I guess it made an impression! 🤣

4 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Anybody else singing, "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never ever let you forget you're a man..."?

I just posted something similar! 😂

[ECM1231]

Darn, I'm old enough to remember that Enjoli perfume commercial, but didn't make the connection. 

Those eyeglasses were something! Really too large for her face. I was impressed that her college friend had already owned her home for 7 years. She made good points but Enjoli was having none of it. It's crazy how much cheaper the San Antonio market is compared to Austin. My son's smaller ranch sold for almost 3x that amount last year. Crazy hot market, but it seems to be like that in so many areas these days.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I enjoyed Enjoli, and her friend was very sensible.   I would have gone for one of the bigger yards, and hired a mowing service.    Tiny back yard = neighbors very close by usually.  Bigger yard is better resale too.    Another factor they didn't mention is flood hazard, some place near San Antonio have flood issues.    I'm hoping if she actually did get a mount for the wall TV, that she hired a pro to put it up, and run the cable in the wall.    Amateurs  shouldn't try that, and don't hire some person who advertises on a telephone pole, about cheap TV wall mounts.   It's definitely a case of you get what you pay for. 

[Dehumidifier]

12 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Did they give his first and last name in a chyron? If so, it's easy enough to see if he's a licensed agent.

I undid my delete to check. They did and he is an agent, since 2016. Before that he was in the restaurant business.

https://www.atproperties.com/agents/5223/jp-martins

[Dehumidifier]

17 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I disagree.  He thought she should buy a house with a kitchen she doesn't like and live in the house with a kitchen she doesn't like so that when she later sells it, it will be more marketable because people want white cabinets.  A couple of things:  As noted above, nobody knows if white cabinets will still be popular when she decides to sell, so she could very well live with a kitchen she doesn't like for years, only to have to change it anyway when she sells?  What kind of advice is that?  It makes me wonder about his real estate savvy.

Even if she would have to have white cabinets to sell wouldn't it be better to install them then when they would be fresh and new, and not showing five years of wear and tear.

It was a bit puzzling as to why he was so sure she would be selling in five years. She bought an adequately sized apartment in an area she loved. If she stayed single, why should she sell?

[Empress1]

39 minutes ago, Dehumidifier said:

Even if she would have to have white cabinets to sell wouldn't it be better to install them then when they would be fresh and new, and not showing five years of wear and tear.

It was a bit puzzling as to why he was so sure she would be selling in five years. She bought an adequately sized apartment in an area she loved. If she stayed single, why should she sell?

Even if she married, they could live there for a bit or she could rent it out. I had the same thought - I was like “did she SAY she wanted to sell?”

[chessiegal]

I think the real estate agent was doing his job of pointing out positives, negatives, resale value. He did seem to overdo the resale a bit.

[Dehumidifier]

22 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

Even if she married, they could live there for a bit or she could rent it out. I had the same thought - I was like “did she SAY she wanted to sell?”

He is going to be bugging her to take her profit and move to a 2 bedroom, then a 3 bedroom, then a house.

[mojito]

11 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

It's crazy how much cheaper the San Antonio market is compared to Austin.

I was stunned, too, considering that SA is the second largest city in Texas!

[amarante]

When I think of San Antonio real estate, I think of Armando Montelongo who was one of the scammer flippers who had a show on all of the money you could make from flipping homes. Those shows proliferated from 2005 until the housing market crashed. There were a few of them but they actually made their money with "seminars" and selling information on "how to flip" much like the real estate courses that were run by one of our ex politicians. :-)

I had read that the San Antonio is a very affordable city - at least in comparison to other places and real estate prices reflect that although like other markets still going up.

Another show in which these insanely low prices for remodeling projects were seeming pulled out of someone's arse. I don't know in what universe one can get floors redone with ANY surface for $200 as the real estate agent suggested. Similarly you can't paint kitchen cabinets for $200 as you can't just slap a coat of paint on them because it will peel and chip almost immediately. 

I don't understand why she wanted a single family house. She would have been much better off in a townhouse as she was chiefly interested in the interior and only wanted outdoor space adequate for a grill. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

They're having a marathon of recent HH episodes on HGTV, apparently the theme is 'people who need separate homes, before they end up on a crime documentary".       Like the one where the mother is chipping in on the Phoenix condo or townhouse with her son, and whines about him not being married in every house showing.   

Then, the Creaky vs. Garden State episode, where they've moved to a bunch of states, so since they'll probably move in a year or so, they want to buy.  She wants a place with creaks and ghosts, and he wants high tech.   His budget is $500k, and her budget is $750k.   

The woman looking for a family home for herself and her five kids moving from San Diego to Charlotte, NC, and wants five bedrooms, or more, all on the top floor.  She demands a bedroom or other space just for her plants.  In the end she's going to have the kids share bedrooms.  In the second house, there's a huge master suite she calls too small, and the other bedroom that's big enough for two or three kids, she announces it's good for her plant room.   I hope she's kidding.   And with five kids under 11, she wants an unfenced pool?   And after announcing she needs at least five bedrooms, she says not all of the kids could have a room for just one kid, because they're afraid to sleep alone.    So she picks the first one, fortunately no pool.   

Edited June 10, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[proserpina65]

6 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

 I would have gone for one of the bigger yards, and hired a mowing service.    Tiny back yard = neighbors very close by usually. 

I used to feel this way, then I bought a house.  If I were doing it again now, totally tiny yard all the way.  And no damned flower beds.

[Notabug]

12 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I used to feel this way, then I bought a house.  If I were doing it again now, totally tiny yard all the way.  And no damned flower beds.

You can get used to the neighbors living close by, and that's why God invented privacy fences.  Give me enough space for a grill and a lawn chair and space for the dogs to do their thing far enough away that I can't smell it or step in it and I am just fine.  Large yards aren't all they're cracked up to be.

My brother in law insisted on a large yard when they bought a home 30 years ago, so they got an acre and a half.  They still managed to have neighbors who worked on their cars outside, stereo blasting until the middle of the night and tossed their trash over a fence into the yard,  My brother in law was widowed a few years back, recently remarried and moved into the condo that his new wife owned.  He could not be happier. the 10'x12' patio is plenty for him and he doesn't miss the yard work at all.  Neighbors not a problem, either. When he wants the great outdoors, they go hiking and kayaking; stuff he wouldn't have much time to do if he was busy in the yard.

There are people who really enjoy yard work, lawn mowing, edging, mulching, planting and so on.  I find a little bit of that stuff goes a long way for me.  I don't do flowers in the beds anymore, I've got 4 large pots, I fill 'em with some annuals and I've got more than enough flowers with virtually no work.

Edited June 10, 2022 by Notabug

[amarante]

Obviously water shortage isn't an issue everywhere although I suspect that the cost of water is an issue in many places.

A large lawn costs a lot of money to maintain even if one maintains it oneself - at least where I am with very high water rates.

Also many places are imposing very stringent water controls. In Los Angeles you can only water twice a week on your designated day and only up to 8 minutes per day unless you have water conserving water system when you can do it for 15 minutes each day. 

Most people with lawns and water thirsty plants will have brown lawns and gardens. Many people have already switched to xeriscaping and planted native plants which require little water.

I know there have been occasional discussions on this thread with HH getting massive homes for two people and not factoring in the enormous cooling costs. I say cooling costs more than heating costs because the bloated McMansions on HH seem to be more prevalent in climates that require air conditioning to be habitable for long periods of time like Arizona or Florida. Of course the Northeast states like Jersey and New York are brutal during the summer but the summers are much shorter.

[Hedgehog2022]

On 6/9/2022 at 12:31 PM, Empress1 said:

No offense to any Floridians, but I have zero interest in living in Florida. Humid weather year-round and alligators? No thank you. A relative lived in Orlando for a couple of years when I was a kid and we went to visit her and go to Disney World and Miami is fun for like a long weekend, but I could never live there. 

DITTO for me!!! I loathe Florida...America's basement.

[Hedgehog2022]

5 hours ago, mojito said:

I was stunned, too, considering that SA is the second largest city in Texas!

I thought all the houses she looked at were awful. Horrible kitchens, bathrooms were all gut jobs, disgusting carpets, dreary bedrooms...ugh. Even several of the homes had lousy backyards...fences that were old and needed replaced, a deck that was a mess. All of the homes needed work. And to top it off, she paid OVER the asking price! 

As for Austin, it's going through a boom right now with so many tech companies moving there and so little inventory. I know new developments are going up to help fix this situation but it still isn't helping in real time...speculators from all over are going to Austin and buying up properties to flip or rent. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

4 hours ago, amarante said:

Obviously water shortage isn't an issue everywhere although I suspect that the cost of water is an issue in many places.

A large lawn costs a lot of money to maintain even if one maintains it oneself - at least where I am with very high water rates.

Also many places are imposing very stringent water controls. In Los Angeles you can only water twice a week on your designated day and only up to 8 minutes per day unless you have water conserving water system when you can do it for 15 minutes each day. 

Most people with lawns and water thirsty plants will have brown lawns and gardens. Many people have already switched to xeriscaping and planted native plants which require little water.

I know there have been occasional discussions on this thread with HH getting massive homes for two people and not factoring in the enormous cooling costs. I say cooling costs more than heating costs because the bloated McMansions on HH seem to be more prevalent in climates that require air conditioning to be habitable for long periods of time like Arizona or Florida. Of course the Northeast states like Jersey and New York are brutal during the summer but the summers are much shorter.

I'm guessing the lawn in San Antonio, is probably Bermuda, or some other strain like Centipede, so if it rains, the lawn gets lush, if there's a drought, it gets crunchy.   I've never watered Bermuda except for the couple of weeks after it's installed.    Other varieties, would certainly need watering, or die out.    

I'm wondering how all of those LA flip houses will do, since they started putting in a lot of sod on many of them, and now the rules start?  I like the ones that put in artificial turf, which can be a very good alternative to other ground covers.   However, since the absolutely predictable drought is on again, I bet there will be a lot of secret, midnight watering (that won't work, neighbors will turn you in), empty pools, and drying up landscaping.

   I guess on the San Antonio homes the biggest issues were price, and location.   I'm glad that the HH didn't mean some wreck of a fixer, they get so expensive, and take so much time.   I think the house she bought was adorable.   

Edited June 11, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Kimboweena]

Whatever happened to "if you can't say something nice." I could diss on a lot of states, but choose to be nice on here.

[Spunkygal]

59 minutes ago, Kimboweena said:

Whatever happened to "if you can't say something nice." I could diss on a lot of states, but choose to be nice on here.

I agree. I have visited at least 25 US states (probably more) and enjoyed something about all of them, but wouldn’t want to move away from where I live now. I couldn’t say that I hate any state. In fact, we stayed at Rosemary Beach, FL for a week a few months ago and it was wonderful. We’re planning another trip back. I don’t get the Florida hate. 😥

Edited June 11, 2022 by Spunkygal

[amarante]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I'm guessing the lawn in San Antonio, is probably Bermuda, or some other strain like Centipede, so if it rains, the lawn gets lush, if there's a drought, it gets crunchy.   I've never watered Bermuda except for the couple of weeks after it's installed.    Other varieties, would certainly need watering, or die out.    

I'm wondering how all of those LA flip houses will do, since they started putting in a lot of sod on many of them, and now the rules start?  I like the ones that put in artificial turf, which can be a very good alternative to other ground covers.   However, since the absolutely predictable drought is on again, I bet there will be a lot of secret, midnight watering (that won't work, neighbors will turn you in), empty pools, and drying up landscaping.

   I guess on the San Antonio homes the biggest issues were price, and location.   I'm glad that the HH didn't mean some wreck of a fixer, they get so expensive, and take so much time.   I think the house she bought was adorable.   

Not to digress but many of the locations which have severe drought issues like California also have climates where it doesn't rain for six or seven months during the summer even when there isn't a drought.  I don't think anything can survive that.

You are allowed to water trees because they are considered to be important to the ecosystem unlike lawns. And pools actually aren't an issue - they aren't much of a water hog and they also are considered more eco friendly than grass. 

Streets have designated days they can water so it is easy to catch someone who is cheating and of course anyone with a green lawn will be immediately suspect. Calabasas (home of the Kardashians) is installing water restrictions if a home's water usage is above a certain level.

I also thought all of the houses in San Antonio were pretty sad and at least my cursory check of real estate pricing would indicate that even though San Antonio is not an expensive market (relatively so) she was still looking for homes under median price. I still think she would have been better off in a townhouse - she would have gotten nicer interior space and none of the headaches of home maintenance. 

[Empress1]

Did the San Antonio woman specify that she wanted a yard?

12 hours ago, Spunkygal said:

I agree. I have visited at least 25 US states (probably more) and enjoyed something about all of them, but wouldn’t want to move away from where I live now. I couldn’t say that I hate any state. In fact, we stayed at Rosemary Beach, FL for a week a few months ago and it was wonderful. We’re planning another trip back. I don’t get the Florida hate. 😥

It’s not even really about Florida as a state; I hate humid weather (I can tolerate the urban northeastern summers I’ve lived with my whole life but I don’t like it, so signing up for that year-round is a no go), and the threat of alligators is very real and not something I’d want to deal with. My uncle retired down there and he jokes about them and I’m like NOPE. My friend’s dad has them on his lawn because his community back up against a canal. I also dislike the desert (again, because of heat) so that cuts out a lot of places. I’ve discussed how living in a place with a sizeable Black population is important to me. There’s probably nothing wrong with Fargo, where the Kenyan woman and her husband live, but I couldn’t do it. I’ve heard countless people say “you couldn’t pay me to live in NYC/Chicago/Philly/LA” and I love city living (though LA isn’t for me). In fact, people regularly describe cities as dirty, dangerous, other unpleasant adjectives. It’s just preference.

[LittleIggy]

I can’t stand heat and humidity, but with Florida it’s also political. I’ll leave it there so I won’t get moderated again.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 6/10/2022 at 11:10 AM, mojito said:

I was stunned, too, considering that SA is the second largest city in Texas!

San Antonio is kind of weird.  Despite its size, it doesn't seem like a major metropolis, like Dallas or Houston.  Austin was always kind of major, even before it was so big, because of the college and state government, and the culture.  San Antonio has always been more second tier. 

But even so, I was surprised at the cheap prices the HH was seeing there.  They didn't ever say what neighborhood or even what section of town the houses were in so I assume they weren't the really good areas, and they weren't great houses, but still.  It's like it's not even on the same continent as Austin, much less 80 miles down the road.

23 hours ago, Hedgehog2022 said:

I loathe Florida...America's basement.

People who travel fulltime in RVs have to have a domicile somewhere, and for those who are under 65 and have to buy individual health insurance, until about five years ago the two best choices were Florida and Texas.  I'd always say, "Florida and Texas:  Race for the bottom." 

Not for nothing does Florida have the "Florida man" stereotype, which transcends politics, although I do think heat and humidity can lead people to do very strange things, and having alligators available can't help things.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm getting a kick out of some of the older episodes rerunning on OWN.    The 2010 up to 2015 episodes are so different with what people want.