House Hunters - General Discussion

[Pj3422]

On 6/10/2022 at 11:36 AM, amarante said:

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’m in San Antonio. Yes, it’s really affordable here, but I’d LOVE to know who’s doing the agent’s remodeling and what their work looks like! Those prices are way too low! 

For better or worse, San Antonio is the nation’s largest small town. We’re the 7th largest city in the country, but we can support only one major sports team, the Spurs. 

Edited June 12, 2022 by Pj3422
Clarification.

[chediavolo]

On 6/8/2022 at 2:25 PM, pdlinda said:

I'd like to know the same thing.  

He's a USPS letter carrier and she's into some "real estate investment" career?

I'm not seeing where all the cash is coming from unless they are dealing with different types of lenders who use other criteria for lending?  

I also can’t understand how most of these couples are able to afford these mortgages. I feel like such a loser and my husband and I both had decent jobs for a area for our whole lives we couldn’t afford anywhere near a half $1 million house. what gives? 

[chediavolo]

On 6/8/2022 at 10:31 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

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. 

I wanted to know more about this. Did they both quit at the same time were they both fired? Who moves to another state so far away without having a job? And what bank gives you a mortgage when you don’t have a job? Unless they’re paying cash from the house they probably inherited. But still if you don’t get work quickly how are you going to pay the bills ? WTF?

[CrazyInAlabama]

From going to a mostly teachers' college (I'm not a teacher, but had to student teach for a while). teachers and principals are on contract, for the academic year.     There may be longer term contracts for some districts or experienced teachers but I don't know about that.    I'm guessing the teacher/principal had jobs, and it was just for the storyline. I bet they had to finish their current contract in Pennsylvania, and their next job would start before the school year started.  I'm sure with being in their previous house for 14 years, that they had a lot of equity, and may not have had a mortgage either.  

They did have at least the cousin realtor in Tallahassee, and I'm guessing there were others that might move to Florida at retirement time.  There might have been other relatives that already live in Tallahassee too, but they weren't mentioned.   

I bet the house in Tallahassee, especially after it was finished for cosmetic work, would sell for a good amount too, if they ended up with jobs on the other side of town and didn't want to commute.    Tallahassee is a red hot market, so I don't think you could lose money.   

Couple moved from Atlanta, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, bought a house one's parents said would be perfect, but it wasn't.   Now, one's a realtor, and they want Elkins Park, but are looking in Norristown for #1.   The realtor says the market is so hot, that he might want to offer after seeing the exterior only, rotten idea.  I know they already own one, but I don't like the idea of advocating buying unseen.   They go and look at the outside of the house, before it's listed, to avoid a bidding war, Danny, the non-realtor hates that idea, almost as much as I do.   

House #1 is huge, with a pool, in Norristown, for almost $685k, with a heated sunroom,  hot tub. detached 2 car garage.   living room is about 5 or 6 steps down.   huge dining room, lovely kitchen.   One likes the blue bathrrom tile, the other hates it.    3 bed, 2 or more.  Driveway is not shared. 

House 2-Shared driveway, I hate those. In Elkins Park,  $375k, mid-century, 4 bed 2.5 baths, I hate the kitchen, and some of the other finishes look old, and I agree with the non-realtor husband, Danny, every room needs work.  en suite is tiny, so realtor husband wants to blow out the en suite into the powder room, guest bath is nice, but small.  So what powder room will the guests use?  It does have an attached 2 car garage. 

House 3-$639k, 5 bed, 3 full baths 2 half baths, built in 1895, totally renovated in 85 or something.  It needs a few small fixes.  Plus, a shared driveway.   2,000 sq ft,, powder room is through the laundry room.   kitchen is very nice.   high celings, lots of windows on all three floors.   2 full baths, and bedrooms on the second floor.   Third floor has two more bedrooms, and a bonus room, Their adult son lives in a high rise across the street.  I didn't like the modern design, and the three floors of stairs.   

Jeff's budget is $800k, Danny the realtor is has a  $500k budget. 

They go with #4, 2 car garage, no shared driveway, and they look at the interior from old realty pictures.    

They pick #4, but I would have bought #1.   They bought #4 for the non-shared driveway, garage, list price was $384,900, $390k was their bid, and bought for $400k without a bidding war.   Renovations should cost about $200k. 

 Actually, the way labor and materials keep going up, good luck with doing the renovations for $200k.  The only thing I didn't like about the structure of house #1 was the huge living room down 5 or 6 stairs.  

Edited June 15, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[BAForever]

As soon as they drove past "Sight Unseen", I knew they'd choose it. Personally loved House 1 the best, but understand that location often wins out. 

[BAForever]

HH experts- the PA couple who bought house unseen- what is the advantage to the sellers to sell prior to listing? I get that there will be no need for open houses and the whole process is expedited,  but in a sellers market, seems like they could have possibly made a lot more $$ listing and letting competing buyers make offers. Buyers asked for inspection (I think), so just wondering. 

[chessiegal]

27 minutes ago, BAForever said:

what is the advantage to the sellers to sell prior to listing?

I'm assuming if you sell before listing you are dealing with one real estate agent - the listing agent. That cuts the commission you pay in half - you pay the listing agent what is probably around 3%, and don't have to pay another 3% to a buyer's agent.

ETA: Plus, it costs the listing agent money to put a listing on the multiple listing sites.

Edited June 15, 2022 by chessiegal

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, BAForever said:

HH experts- the PA couple who bought house unseen- what is the advantage to the sellers to sell prior to listing? I get that there will be no need for open houses and the whole process is expedited,  but in a sellers market, seems like they could have possibly made a lot more $$ listing and letting competing buyers make offers. Buyers asked for inspection (I think), so just wondering. 

This happened with the house next door to me but it was mainly a COVID glitch.  The couple who had lived there for decades decided to move to a senior apartment complex with options for more care as needed, they were both mid 80's at the time.  They signed the papers, had arranged with a realtor to list the house, photos were taken, etc.  Then, COVID hit and the senior living facility put a hold on people moving in, so everything was in limbo, waiting for the housing to open up so they could move.  Meanwhile, real estate was booming.  Eventually, they got a moving date and gave the realtor the go ahead to put the house up.  She contacted them almost immediately because she heard from a family, originally from the area, who were moving back due to a job change.  They didn't want to fly to see the house, they saw the photos which were shared with them by a realtor in the same office and were willing to pay full price right then and there.  So, the house went 'on the market' and the listing agent put up a for sale sign with a 'sold'banner already on it.

They took the offer because they felt that the price they were asking was fair, they were ready to move and didn't want the house to be unoccupied for long, and it meant 'I don't have to rush around straightening up before showings' said  the wife.  My neighbors, also being elderly and not in perfect health, weren't all that excited about having strangers traipsing through their home during a pandemic and were planning to drive around or something rather than be home during showings which would've been a hassle.  They were more than happy to take the money and run.  

Edited June 15, 2022 by Notabug

[Empress1]

Similar to @Notabug, I know people who were moving into senior living and were selling their house, and they mentioned to someone that they were selling it and that person was like “I want it!” They did sell it to her without listing - the house didn’t go on the market. (It wasn’t sight unseen - the person had been to their home before.) I believe the buyer paid full asking (this happened pretty recently so anybody was going to pay at least full asking).

Edited June 15, 2022 by Empress1

[amarante]

Generally if a home is sold before listing it is some kind of pocket listing which is agreed upon. While anything is possible I have never heard of not letting an agent in because it isn't officially listed. In my experience, a home is listed on the MLS immediately after an agent has the listing officially signed off on. This might even occur prior to having photographs taken for the full listing treatment. 

Or the people don't even need an agent because someone in the neighborhood knows they are selling and approaches them. This happened with parents because as soon as the neighbors heard my parents were moving they were approached by multiple people. This was in New York which has a very weird rule that you have to use a lawyer for a real estate sale even if you have a broker. I call this the lawyer full employment act because in most other places a simple real estate closing is handled by the agents and the escrow company who know how to handle all the formalities including registering the deed etc.

I think the Philadelphia house was very close to their current home and so I suspect that they knew the seller and so it was sold directly which saved the seller the 6% commission and any aggravation .

Some people do not want their homes to be listed - either for privacy or they don't want open houses and having people go through the house.

I suspect in the case of the Pennsylvania house it was probably not fit to be shot and shown on television. Either the sellers were still in position and didn't want their home displayed or they were in the process of moving out and so it would have killed the story line.

[CrazyInAlabama]

My guess on the sight unseen house is that the 'buyers' were already owners, and already moved some of their stuff in, and had the remodeling changes started.  

I was involved in a non-listed house sale.  A neighbor and I were talking on her sidewalk, and two people pulled up, and asked if we knew of any sales or rentals on the street. This area has super low inventory of turnkey properties, that need only some paint and flooring.     

Someone who does maintenance work for me has a relative who owns a house near mine, but moved out, and was thinking of renting the house.    I have the same floorplan, so I let the prospective renters look around my house.     Then, they gave me their number, and I called my friend and asked him if the relative still wanted to rent the house.   He called the relative, and next thing I know, the people were buying the house.   

Lately, with the hot market, even where I live, there have been three sales of properties listed on the MLS, and the other one wasn't even on the market.   The price rise for all of them is over 30% in one case, in two years, and about 25% for the other three.   

Edited June 15, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[ECM1231]

2 hours ago, amarante said:

This was in New York which has a very weird rule that you have to use a lawyer for a real estate sale even if you have a broker. I call this the lawyer full employment act because in most other places a simple real estate closing is handled by the agents and the escrow company who know how to handle all the formalities including registering the deed etc.

🤣Born and lived in New York my entire life. I never knew that most real estate closings were not handled by an attorney until my son moved to Texas. I could not believe how easy the closing was. He didn't even have to attend as he was still living in NY at the time. Plus, from the date the contract was signed until closing was less than a month. In NY to get a closing date after the contract is signed can take months and months. Oy!

[Grizzly]

Ft Myers, FL. Hope Cagney realizes her water view will come with an alligator or two. I think the townhouse was the best choice. Size and price were good. And the bathrooms didn't need remodeling right away 

[CrazyInAlabama]

CLosing at the title company or attorney's office depends on the state.   New Mexico, and Colorado, were at the title company when I lived there, and Alabama has been the attorney's offic.e 

His budget 240k to 260k, her budget  is up to $300k for turnkey and updated.  Her name is Cagney, too bad his isn't Lacey, but it's Tyler.   She wants modern, updated, and a pool.  He wants Spanish, or traditional Florida.  Maria the realtor Tyler's aunt.  They moved from Kentucky to Ft. Myers.  He came to Florida as a kid, and wants to move back. 

House 1-No pool or water view, 2 bed 2 bath, 1100 sq ft, big yard so they can do an addition and a pool.  $274k, White exterior with flamingo pink trim.   Flamingo on the storm door.  Most of the updates are removing a built in, and many mirrors need to go, like the kitchen wall. Huge back yard, needs some fencing.   Her priorities are ridiculous, she want a pool before fencing the back.  Realtor says for $40k to $50k, they could do the bedroom and bath addition.   Maria says to gut the kitchen and first bath.  second bedroom is smaller, talking about bunk beds with a toddler, and a baby is bizarre.  

House 2-$259,900, Townhouse, with a pool, playground, fitness center, spa.   Spanish style, 2 car garage.  the exterior foyer is big but the neighbor's front door is there.  kitchen is big, modern, open.  Lanai is nice, behind the hedge is a 4-lane road.  the yard isn't fenced between townhouses, and she's complaining about having to walk the dog on a leash, just from the road.  3 beds, 2 bath. main bedroom is decent size, and main bath is OK.   Maria his aunt says you can redo the main en suite in 3 or 4 days, that's ridiculous.  They didn't mention the HOA fee, unless I missed it. 

House 3-single family, with a water view. (Has Cagney ever heard of alligators, snakes, and snapping turtles?)  $344k  (probably over that. , 3 bed 2 bath, 1700 sq ft,, great  and screened pool, all tile floors, the entire back yard is pool, with a small walkway around it, and the entry stairs are right at the door.  main bedroom has a small ensuite.   the house is older, but very nice.  I don't why they keep saying they have to redo so much on this house, I simply don't see it.   

They pick #2 the townhouse.  They paid $272k. 

[Grizzly]

Telluride, CO. Ugh, the lip ring. Or is it a bar? They try to film her from the other side. House #1, I'm seeing cats so doubt they pick it with 3 dogs. When did outdated become charming? It's not like there are architectural details. House #2 is gorgeous but nothing works and the shower is too small. Ah, it was overpriced.

[LittleIggy]

36 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

Ft Myers, FL. Hope Cagney realizes her water view will come with an alligator or two. I think the townhouse was the best choice. Size and price were good. And the bathrooms didn't need remodeling right away 

I kept yelling, “Alligators! Alligators!” at the TV when they showed that property right on the water. 🐊 

[proserpina65]

On 6/14/2022 at 10:41 PM, BAForever said:

As soon as they drove past "Sight Unseen", I knew they'd choose it. Personally loved House 1 the best, but understand that location often wins out. 

I tried to watch that episode because I live not that far from Philadelphia (about an hour south), but both HHers annoyed me so much before they even got to the first house that I quit.

[pdlinda]

15 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Telluride, CO. Ugh, the lip ring. Or is it a bar? They try to film her from the other side.

Agreed!  How does she eat with that thing?  I just pictured it being jammed into her lips when her husband swooped in for a kiss!!😄

[Grizzly]

1 hour ago, pdlinda said:

Agreed!  How does she eat with that thing?  I just pictured it being jammed into her lips when her husband swooped in for a kiss!!😄

I pictured his mustache getting tangled in it!

[Kimboweena]

18 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Ft Myers, FL. Hope Cagney realizes her water view will come with an alligator or two

Yes, the pond at their townhouse will have gators.  Hope they are really careful if they take their children there.  I'll never forget several years ago, a child was dragged into a lake by a gator.  Happened at a man-made lake at Disney. That was heart-breaking!

[Empress1]

19 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I kept yelling, “Alligators! Alligators!” at the TV when they showed that property right on the water. 🐊 

See?! This is what I mean about Florida! And they have two very young kids - like @Kimboweena says, that’s a real threat. I remember that poor boy - I had SO many conversations about that when it happened, it was just awful. And I think that family was from the Midwest that doesn’t have alligators so didn’t understand that in Florida, a body of water is going to have a gator in it. This couple is from Kentucky so it’s a similar situation.

I had a really hard time with Cagney’s voice. Did anyone else think she looked older than her husband?

I thought the first house was pretty awful except for the outdoor space. The townhouse was the nicest. I laughed from my apartment when the husband said he didn’t want to feel like he was in an apartment.

[Bastet]

5 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

And I think that family was from the Midwest that doesn’t have alligators so didn’t understand that in Florida, a body of water is going to have a gator in it.

Nebraska.  There were "No Swimming" signs posted, but no warnings about alligators. 

[Empress1]

39 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Nebraska.  There were "No Swimming" signs posted, but no warnings about alligators. 

Right - and if I recall correctly the boy was dangling his feet in the water, not swimming. At the time, I had a debate with a friend about whether we’d interpret “no swimming” as “do not submerge and do strokes” or “do not put any part of your body in the water at all.” Just a terrible story.

Edited June 16, 2022 by Empress1

[Crashcourse]

I thought the Fort Myers couple was from Kentucky.

1 hour ago, Empress1 said:

I had a really hard time with Cagney’s voice. Did anyone else think she looked older than her husband?

I had a hard time listening to her voice, too.  I thought at times she looked older than her husband, and then other times she looked his age.   

[CrazyInAlabama]

Tonight with a young couple debating cookie cutter/modern vs. character.  The twist is he wants the character, and she wants generic and boring.    He wants a garage.   They're in the Ephrata, PA area. 

First house is a lower priced, updated townhouse, needs a first floor bath.  nice. 

Second house was great, but pricey. $239k 

Third, no garage, end unit townhouse with a back fenced porch, only yard is common area, and what looks like a church next door.  3 1/2 baths three or four bedrooms.  

They choose #3  I would have bought #1, and put in the other bath.   Before they bought a German Shepherd puppy, I wonder if they looked at the restrictions in their HOA CC&Rs?  

I think everyone knows real estate now requires a quick decision, probably a bidding war, probably will go for over asking, so stop whining about it, and reminding the house shoppers every two seconds about it. 

Edited June 17, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Grizzly]

Somewhere in PA. Tyler looks soooo young. All that anxiety is probably aging Jade. The inside of these homes looks nice with the updates. But nothing can be done to make the bathrooms and closets bigger. The last one had the space they needed but no garage. They have great taste in dogs.

[amarante]

The HH in Telluride were certainly made of hardier stock than I - as soon as a realtor said that I would be relying on a well and that the well was pretty bad and showed me a craw space to store water cisterns I would have crossed it off my list of possibilities.

My cousins lived in a house that relied on well water and this was in New Jersey where there were no drought issues but I remember the brownish water and the tubs that could only be filled with a small amount of water. I am very grateful for public utilities like electrical lines and water piped in from municipal sources that is treated and tested for bacteria and other bad stuff.

[mojito]

Ephrata, PA

Jade certainly did look stressed. 

I doubt that this couple does much cooking. Neither of them noticed the lack of counter top space in the first two kitchens. I mean none. One of the first two homes looked like the kitchen you have at the office. Sink, fridge, etc. against the wall and an open space for a table or two. I would've found both of those kitchens unacceptable. 

They weren't picky at all, I didn't think. I hope Jade survives all the wedding planning. 

[rhofmovalley]

That real estate agent in PA is an actor. I recognized him from a commercial that played somewhat frequently a few years ago. He was the only one in the commercial and it was a closeup of mostly just his face. I think it was for a debt consolidation loan service or something.

It distracted me.

Town looked pretty.

[BAForever]

7 hours ago, amarante said:

The HH in Telluride were certainly made of hardier stock than I - as soon as a realtor said that I would be relying on a well and that the well was pretty bad and showed me a craw space to store water cisterns I would have crossed it off my list of 

100% yes to this. I did like the home they chose, but the water concerns would have been a deal breaker. 

[cameron]

8 hours ago, mojito said:

Ephrata, PA

Jade certainly did look stressed. 

I doubt that this couple does much cooking. Neither of them noticed the lack of counter top space in the first two kitchens. I mean none. One of the first two homes looked like the kitchen you have at the office. Sink, fridge, etc. against the wall and an open space for a table or two. I would've found both of those kitchens unacceptable. 

They weren't picky at all, I didn't think. I hope Jade survives all the wedding planning. 

Actually thought they were a little on the immature side:  him and his coffee stations and her giving up her degree to become a full time nanny.

[CrazyInAlabama]

9 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Somewhere in PA. Tyler looks soooo young. All that anxiety is probably aging Jade. The inside of these homes looks nice with the updates. But nothing can be done to make the bathrooms and closets bigger. The last one had the space they needed but no garage. They have great taste in dogs.

The were in Ephrata, Lancaster County.   They really didn't say much about the location either.    I thought the fiance, now wife I imagine, getting a degree, and then quitting to become a nanny was interesting.    The third house was the best choice, but then they add a German Shepherd, and no yard space of their own.   I know it wasn't their entire checklist, but I did like the second home.  

[snarts]

9 hours ago, amarante said:

I am very grateful for public utilities like electrical lines and water piped in from municipal sources that is treated and tested for bacteria and other bad stuff.

Me too. First hand, I lived in New York for 2 years in what was considered a suburb of NYC but was on both septic & a well.  When the power went out, so did my water (no pump). Growing up in Michigan, the tap water was delicious. I hated having to constantly buy water and use it even to brush my teeth. Don't even get me started on oil furnaces.  

That house certainly made me appreciate public utilities, sidewalks, snow removal and garbage collections that are included in your property taxes.  I don't think I would do well/septic ever again.

Ephrata, PA: They looked so young! and I didn't care for their choice. Yes, it was larger, but it was so dated compared to the other two. Plus no garage, no yard, and HOA on top of the price.

I also noticed that they didn't even replace the carpet before moving in., just threw a rug over it. 

[LittleIggy]

A nanny with a degree in Criminal Justice? At least maybe she should be able to keep the kids in line!

[amarante]

16 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

I thought the Fort Myers couple was from Kentucky.

I had a hard time listening to her voice, too.  I thought at times she looked older than her husband, and then other times she looked his age.   

I think her looking older was a combination of her having gained a lot of weight - probably baby weight as her youngest child was fairly young. Not baby shaming but being overweight typically presents as older.

Also her look wasn't really modern in terms of her hair and clothing. 

[proserpina65]

29 minutes ago, amarante said:

but being overweight typically presents as older.

I've actually found the opposite, that being overweight tends to make people look younger.  Fat smooths out the wrinkles.  Does depend on the people, though.

[Empress1]

3 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I've actually found the opposite, that being overweight tends to make people look younger.  Fat smooths out the wrinkles.  Does depend on the people, though.

Agree. I’ve noticed that among the wealthy, the standard of beauty is thinness but a wan face shows wrinkles, which is where fillers come in.

34 minutes ago, amarante said:

I think her looking older was a combination of her having gained a lot of weight - probably baby weight as her youngest child was fairly young. Not baby shaming but being overweight typically presents as older.

Also her look wasn't really modern in terms of her hair and clothing. 

I think it was the weight gain and her style, yeah. I wouldn’t call her husband stylish but he was dressed more youthfully than she was - actually, so was the aunt/agent, though I wondered if she was hot in jeans.

[CrazyInAlabama]

5 hours ago, snarts said:

Ephrata, PA: They looked so young! and I didn't care for their choice. Yes, it was larger, but it was so dated compared to the other two. Plus no garage, no yard, and HOA on top of the price.

I also noticed that they didn't even replace the carpet before moving in., just threw a rug over it. 

I suspect the carpet was because of two things, they didn't have money to replace the flooring yet, or were still deciding on what to get, or it's a long wait for the specific flooring you want, and installation.   

[debbie311]

4 hours ago, Empress1 said:

Agree. I’ve noticed that among the wealthy, the standard of beauty is thinness but a wan face shows wrinkles, which is where fillers come in.

I think it was the weight gain and her style, yeah. I wouldn’t call her husband stylish but he was dressed more youthfully than she was - actually, so was the aunt/agent, though I wondered if she was hot in jeans.

I kind of felt sorry for her. And while I know this is all scripted, and they had already bought a house, I always kind of marvel at people who arrive at a location and are surprised at the price of homes. Before I made firm plans to move to another state, I would do some research on housing prices.  There's this thing called the internet where you can search for yourself.  Imagine!

[NoodlePony]

On 5/21/2022 at 10:09 AM, amarante said:

I think master bedrooms on the first floor are a relatively new housing feature. 

I have never been in an older home that has a master bedroom on the first floor unless some kind of den was modified or there was a small maid's room. Of course the ranch style single story homes have all the bedrooms on the same level

There is a kind of hybrid style home which has various levels with short steps but isn't what they call a split level as you enter at the front and the main living/kitchen areas are on that level. If you enter from the garage there is typically the family room at the level with a half flight up to the main level.

It seems like master on the first floor would be common in areas like North Carolina where the housing stock is newer just as those homes would be more typically built as open concept.

Maybe it has to do with the likelihood that these kinds of homes would be typically bought by more affluent people whose kids are not babies and so proximity to an infant on the same floor isn't necessary and separation of kids and adults is desirable. Or maybe it has to do with the ubiquity of baby monitors. Everyone has a baby monitor now whereas no one having a baby monitor when I was a baby so parents really needed to be able to be close to hear a crying baby in the night.

Not sure how new you mean when you say new, but many of my friends' homes growing up in Charlotte had the master down. These homes were built in the early to mid 90s.

[amarante]

11 minutes ago, NoodlePony said:

Not sure how new you mean when you say new, but many of my friends' homes growing up in Charlotte had the master down. These homes were built in the early to mid 90s.

That is new housing stock to me - sad to say LOL

I grew up in where "new housing" was from the 1960's which also generally has the very small master en suites because the idea of an en suite in a middle class home was considered to be high end even though they were small - small stall shower - toilet and single single often without a vanity.

[amarante]

I am not sure exactly why one gets a criminal justice degree.

What exactly does it prepare one to do specifically? Forensics requires a strong science background; law or paralegal are not specific to the criminal justice system and law especially generally just needs a strong liberal arts major although my friend is an patent lawyer and he majored in engineering. 

[chessiegal]

I spent my career working as a forensic chemist. Many criminal justice majors are cops or would like a career as a cop.

I've known criminal justice majors with minors in science hoping for a lab job. Forensic jobs are not plenty enough to fill the folks who want them.

[CrazyInAlabama]

30 minutes ago, amarante said:

I am not sure exactly why one gets a criminal justice degree.

What exactly does it prepare one to do specifically? Forensics requires a strong science background; law or paralegal are not specific to the criminal justice system and law especially generally just needs a strong liberal arts major although my friend is an patent lawyer and he majored in engineering. 

Criminal justice degrees prepare you for police work, parole officer, corrections officer/prison guard, crime scene analyst or criminal investigator, customs and border patrol, deputy sheriff, state trooper, U.S. parks officer, U.S. marshal,   However, crime scene analyst and investigator will require a lot more training.   There's also going to be a training academy for the law enforcement positions.    

[Bastet]

43 minutes ago, amarante said:

I am not sure exactly why one gets a criminal justice degree.

To become a cop or similar, I'd assume, but the overwhelming majority of police forces in the U.S. do not require a college degree.

[Empress1]

On 6/17/2022 at 7:59 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I thought the fiance, now wife I imagine, getting a degree, and then quitting to become a nanny was interesting.

She said she’d graduated with a degree but not that she’d worked in the field. I assumed she’d tried to find work in the field, couldn’t, fell into nannying, and loved it.

I didn’t like the kitchen in the second house at all - renovated but it felt really busy to me. I did like the sunroom. I have a sunroom that I use as my office.

Jade’s affect was pretty flat - they were pretty opposite. I could see him being a good salesman; he was gregarious.

[rhofmovalley]

13 hours ago, amarante said:

I am not sure exactly why one gets a criminal justice degree.

What exactly does it prepare one to do specifically? Forensics requires a strong science background; law or paralegal are not specific to the criminal justice system and law especially generally just needs a strong liberal arts major although my friend is an patent lawyer and he majored in engineering. 

My friend has a degree in "Justice Studies". Everyone presumed she would go to law school.  She did get accepted into the police academy but only lasted less than a week.  She now works as a senior administrative assistant in the real estate industry.

Many, many people I know are not technically "using" their degrees. Most jobs I applied for in the past required a degree but it didn't matter what that degree was in. For example, the safety manager at one place I worked had a degree in political science!  

[amarante]

37 minutes ago, rhofmovalley said:

My friend has a degree in "Justice Studies". Everyone presumed she would go to law school.  She did get accepted into the police academy but only lasted less than a week.  She now works as a senior administrative assistant in the real estate industry.

Many, many people I know are not technically "using" their degrees. Most jobs I applied for in the past required a degree but it didn't matter what that degree was in. For example, the safety manager at one place I worked had a degree in political science!  

I agree that people don't necessarily work in their majors as I don't think of college as being a from of trade school. I think Liberal Arts provides a flexible background that enables one to successfully work in many fields - logical thinking and good verbal skills are an asset in any field.

However I was just wondering why someone without a burning desire to be a police office, PO would decide to pick such a specialized field. 

Perhaps it is because the HH with that degree seemed to be doing such a turnabout. Not that there is anything wrong with that except that I would think one would try to get an early education degree because I got the sense that she was just a full time babysitter and not a "nanny" in the way that the English Nanny School graduates its nannies with child development courses and first aid emergency training for starters.

[CrazyInAlabama]

So today's OWN marathon of older reruns, including a 2011 in VInings Village near Atlanta seems to be people who want a lot, but can't afford it.    

The couple moving from Atlanta to Mystic, Conn. in 2011 are having big issues with moving to the harsh winter climate in Mystic, don't like baseboard heat (I don't either), and one house not only is on spetic, but has a well.   The well would be a total deal breaker for me.  The realtor keeps saying baseboard heat is all people have there, and says oil heat is routine too.   I hate oil heat. 

Also, no air conditioning in some of them, and with baseboard you probably would have to get several minisplits for air conditioning, and for central you may have to run vents.   They don't even notice the water around the furnace.  Bet their $300k budget would be twice that after 11 years have gone by.   This was the good old days of buying, where they lowball the offer, and get it a lot off asking. 

Edited June 18, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[Crashcourse]

6 hours ago, Empress1 said:

Jade’s affect was pretty flat - they were pretty opposite. I could see him being a good salesman; he was gregarious.

He had me smiling just watching him, so I can definitely see him as a salesman.