House Hunters - General Discussion

[chessiegal]

Wanting to have the sun to wake you up in the morning has a logic to it. It's the people who want facing a certain way because of some superstition that annoy me. Same with house numbers - those are so arbitrary. But then I'm a scientist and don't believe in any of that crap.

[CruiseDiva]

On 11/16/2019 at 4:53 PM, answerphone said:

In regards to the two women who purchased the old farmhouse: 

Wow. Those two were insufferable. Good luck planning a wedding, ladies. At least the setting will be nice.

[cameron]

Rhode Island couple - Can't image living in an apartment that small and right across the hall from your future in-laws.

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[Empress1]

Did the Rhode Island guy not have credit, or have bad credit? Was the girlfriend putting his name on the deed? They weren't married, right? At one point she said "if I decide this is the best house." I would feel shaky about that if I were the guy. They had a nice meet-cute story though.

I think it's useful to have someone that handy, and that looked like more than $35K worth of work they did, so good for them.

[Ohwell]

Not to get all up in the Rhode Island couple's "bidness," but I did wonder if his name was on the deed.  She seemed to be the one with the purse strings...errr....financial savvy, and he's the handyman.  I guess it works for them. 

I figured they'd go with the fixer upper.  I liked the renovations but there was too much gray.  I thought that color had gone out of style.

[chessiegal]

46 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

liked the renovations but there was too much gray.  I thought that color had gone out of style.

I think gray is alive and well. The Home section of my newspaper recently ran an article on the virtues of gray.

[Pickles]

Rhode Island couple. It definitely sounded like she bought the house--most likely without his name on the deed. Honestly, until they are actually married that is probably a smart decision. 

[Bastet]

I didn't see the episode, so I'm a little confused by the discussion: If she is apparently the one purchasing the place, why on earth would she put his name on the deed?  Plenty of couples live together in a home that is owned by only one of them, and they agree on a fair financial arrangement that doesn't involve conferring ownership and equity on the other one without the concomitant financial responsibility.

(On the flip side, I have a friend who despite being of above-average intelligence and being repeatedly warned against this, bought a house with both her and her boyfriend's name on the title, but because of his poor credit, secured the mortgage in her name only.  No separate contract between them.  So they owned it equally, but she alone was legally responsible for paying for it.  Anyone not see what's coming?  Anyone?  ["Bueller?"]  You guessed it: They split the mortgage payments ... right up until a few years later when they broke up, when he never paid another dime.)

Edited November 19, 2019 by Bastet

[Pickles]

6 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I didn't see the episode, so I'm a little confused by the discussion: If she is apparently the one purchasing the house, why on earth would she put his name on the deed?  Plenty of couples live together in a house that is owned by only one of them, and they agree on a fair financial arrangement that doesn't involve conferring ownership and equity on the other one without the concomitant financial responsibility.

(On the flip side, I have a friend who despite being of above-average intelligence and being repeatedly warned against this, bought a house with both her and her boyfriend's name on the title, but because of his poor credit, secured the mortgage in her name only.  So they owned it equally, but she alone was legally responsible for paying for it.  Anyone not see what's coming?  Bueller?  You guessed it: They split the mortgage payments ... right up until a few years later when they broke up.)

Exactly. This is what you don't want to happen. The woman last night had a good job with a large company. The boyfriend was a landscaper, I believe. His parents also owned a small business and they lived either above or right next to the parents' business in a tiny apartment--his parents lived across the hall. Yikes. The boyfriend most likely did not have credit or maybe even poor credit. This couple also said they had no plans to wed anytime in the near future. Any possible wedding money was going into the house purchase/renovations. 

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

The boyfriend was a landscaper, I believe. His parents also owned a small business and they lived either above or right next to the parents' business in a tiny apartment--his parents lived across the hall.

I think he said he owned his business; he may have worked for/with/in his parents' business.

The girlfriend was trying to be very diplomatic about living across the hall from her man's parents but it was written all over her face and voice that she hated it.

[chessiegal]

Since the RI HH episode was highlighting finances (she qualified for a loan, and implied he didn't, even though he owned his own landscaping business), I was wondering about the boat that they wanted to be near, which I understand. Was it his or theirs?  They said they used it a lot. That was no cheap hunk of change boat. It was at least 30 feet long, and probably cost $150-200K new. Plus it costs money to keep a boat at a marina.

ETA: And the cost of fuel for a power boat that size. We spent a whopping $30 for diesel for our sailboat this year. We've seen power boats rack up $600 at the fuel dock. Their boat probably gets at most 1.5 miles/gallon.

Edited November 20, 2019 by chessiegal

[Pickles]

Maybe the RI boyfriend spends his money on the boat and that's why the girlfriend was buying the house? They both seemed to love, love the boat.

[magemaud]

I just couldn't deal with that forlorn looking woman in Virginia tonight whose main concern was finding a house that was grand enough to post on social media to prove to everyone that she had overcome her modest upbringing. 

[LittleIggy]

11 hours ago, Pickles said:

Rhode Island couple. It definitely sounded like she bought the house--most likely without his name on the deed. Honestly, until they are actually married that is probably a smart decision. 

Amen to that! Loved the dogs, especially the little one. So cute!

[cameron]

7 hours ago, magemaud said:

I just couldn't deal with that forlorn looking woman in Virginia tonight whose main concern was finding a house that was grand enough to post on social media to prove to everyone that she had overcome her modest upbringing. 

I actually cut her some slack because I don't think she is emotionally 100% or she was dealing with a lot of baggage in her past life.

[magemaud]

2 hours ago, cameron said:

I actually cut her some slack because I don't think she is emotionally 100% or she was dealing with a lot of baggage in her past life.

You’re right, and it made me wonder if she would have trouble adopting children. 

[Empress1]

Did the Suffolk couple marry five weeks after meeting? I thought she said they dated for two weeks, he "accidentally" asked her to marry him, and they married three weeks after that. Did I hear that right?

I did like that she called out 4 bedrooms in 1600 square feet, because so often people get those dimensions and then complain that the bedrooms are small. That's a pet peeve of mine.

The social media thing drove me nuts too. I get that she was proud, and she should be - she said she was buying the first house in their family and the only one she'd ever lived in. That's amazing. But I just feel like we as a whole should be a little less concerned with social media. Like, just live your life, don't be so focused on documenting it.

I was with her on wanting something with a bit of size since they want to adopt more kids, and it wasn't like their budget only accommodated small homes. The third one was the clear choice.

[rhofmovalley]

11 hours ago, magemaud said:

I just couldn't deal with that forlorn looking woman in Virginia tonight whose main concern was finding a house that was grand enough to post on social media to prove to everyone that she had overcome her modest upbringing. 

My brother is the same way.  Not the social media posting (he's in his 50s) but he is one of those who really, really wants everything we didn't have when we were kids, on the grandest scale possible.  He married a childhood sweetheart (apart for 30 years!) who had the same modest upbringing and she is really, really into designer labels.

I, on the other hand, can relate more to the husband.  My modest upbringing taught me to do a lot with a little.

Just to illustrate, I am living in a 1350 square foot townhouse with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  My brother's home is 3500 square feet with 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms and it's just him and his wife.

Plus, she seemed so young!  Maybe she's one of those who will look 25 when she's 40.

[KLovestoShop]

The Virginia husband bugged me with his attitude.  When the wife said she wanted a pool for the kids to be outside, his response was that back in his day, kids stayed inside and played video games.  Well, imho, that’s a huge problem with today’s kids.  Not enough time outdoors getting exercise and too many hours playing those insipid video games——many of them beyond violent. 

The wife was a little flakey with her wanting to show off her house.  But in a way I could understand it because she was proud to be the first in the family to own a home.  

[LittleIggy]

6 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

The Virginia husband bugged me with his attitude.  When the wife said she wanted a pool for the kids to be outside, his response was that back in his day, kids stayed inside and played video games.  Well, imho, that’s a huge problem with today’s kids.  Not enough time outdoors getting exercise and too many hours playing those insipid video games——many of them beyond violent. 

The wife was a little flakey with her wanting to show off her house.  But in a way I could understand it because she was proud to be the first in the family to own a home.  

I took that as a joke and thought it was really funny. 

[chessiegal]

The "I'm an only child so I always get what I want" woman was too much. She's giving only children a bad name, and as an only child I resent it. I wasn't given every thing I wanted. If I had, there would have been a shiny red Ford Mustang with a bow on it for my 16th birthday.

[Ohwell]

37 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

The "I'm an only child so I always get what I want" woman was too much. She's giving only children a bad name, and as an only child I resent it. I wasn't given every thing I wanted. If I had, there would have been a shiny red Ford Mustang with a bow on it for my 16th birthday.

Funny, there was an annoying "only child" woman on an HHI episode last night in Germany.  The only good thing about that episode was the cute German realtor.  

[LittleIggy]

28 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

Funny, there was an annoying "only child" woman on an HHI episode last night in Germany.  The only good thing about that episode was the cute German realtor.  

Was the realtor Kevin, aka, Baby Elvis? I love him! 😉

[Pickles]

The annoying woman last night moving to Germany. I felt like she was doing a performance for the camera. She really thought she was something else.

sorry! wrong thread

[Ohwell]

3 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Was the realtor Kevin, aka, Baby Elvis? I love him! 😉

Yup, that was him.  He's such a cutie!

[awaken]

On 11/20/2019 at 12:17 AM, magemaud said:

I just couldn't deal with that forlorn looking woman in Virginia tonight whose main concern was finding a house that was grand enough to post on social media to prove to everyone that she had overcome her modest upbringing. 

That was sad. They did not seem to be the most stable people to be adopting children. 

He seemed like a decent fellow. His glasses were also too tiny for his face. I’m not sure why he’d think to buy them or the salesperson didn’t encourage him to get some that fit. 

[msmarjoribanks]

On 11/19/2019 at 11:17 PM, magemaud said:

I just couldn't deal with that forlorn looking woman in Virginia tonight whose main concern was finding a house that was grand enough to post on social media to prove to everyone that she had overcome her modest upbringing. 

I think she hit some of my buttons, because I really could not stand her.  She made me angry.  They didn't even look at one that would have fit the husband's stated criteria, but at least they did not get the 3200+ sq ft place with a pool. Her whole thing just seemed ridiculously entitled and unrealistic and, frankly, tacky (she had to be whiny about closet size in addition to everything else).  Pure conspicuous consumption, the kind of thing that leads people with bad priorities (social media! pretending to being rich at age 25 being more important than actually saving and investing and being financially careful) to spend way above their means.  Luckily the husband (who was making the money) seemed to have much more sense and better priorities.  I hope he does fix up the place they got and add lots of future value.

[Empress1]

This was the third time the Tampa judge has been on the show. One of the times was when her boyfriend (I remember his son was the realtor for him too, and he said straight up that his dad was cheap), was looking for a place. I remember her mentioning her daughter; I wonder how she feels about Mom moving and renovating stuff all the time?

[Ohwell]

6 minutes ago, Empress1 said:

This was the third time the Tampa judge has been on the show. One of the times was when her boyfriend (I remember his son was the realtor for him too, and he said straight up that his dad was cheap), was looking for a place. I remember her mentioning her daughter; I wonder how she feels about Mom moving and renovating stuff all the time?

Wow, so I wonder if HH is running out of people and are now recycling previous ones. 

Tampa judge's makeup was jarring to look at, especially those clown eyebrows.  

[edie3]

The Tampa judge reminded me so much of Tonya Harding. 

[CruiseDiva]

On 11/20/2019 at 12:17 AM, magemaud said:

I just couldn't deal with that forlorn looking woman in Virginia tonight whose main concern was finding a house that was grand enough to post on social media to prove to everyone that she had overcome her modest upbringing. 

Well, bless her heart. Every time she said something wasn't "postable" I wanted to stomp on her toes. 

Can you just imagine how her friends and relatives who haven't "overcome their modest upbringing" must feel when she brags about what she has? Social media has created some monsters in our current society.

[magemaud]

I'm just imagining her friends and family's eyes glazing over when they're subjected to dozens of pictures of her CLOSET! I'd unfollow her in a heartbeat. 

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Empress1 said:

This was the third time the Tampa judge has been on the show.

Thank you. I knew I had seen her before. I didn't start watching until the middle, and was surprised by the choices. At first, I thought it was a repeat labeled as new, but then didn't recognize any of the houses.

[StatisticalOutlier]

14 hours ago, awaken said:

He seemed like a decent fellow. His glasses were also too tiny for his face. I’m not sure why he’d think to buy them or the salesperson didn’t encourage him to get some that fit. 

I bought some glasses online and when I got them, they were wrong for me in every conceivable way.  Maybe that's what happened to him.

[cameron]

4 hours ago, Ohwell said:

Wow, so I wonder if HH is running out of people and are now recycling previous ones. 

Tampa judge's makeup was jarring to look at, especially those clown eyebrows.  

You would think if she is going to go for the bleached blonde look, that she would lighten her eyebrows.

[Ohwell]

8 minutes ago, cameron said:

You would think if she is going to go for the bleached blonde look, that she would lighten her eyebrows.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.  Also, her foundation seemed to be spackled on.  She had a nice-looking face so I didn't see the need for all that makeup and she probably would look better with her natural, darker hair color.  

Since I wasn't particularly interested in any of the Tampa homes, I'm just being shallow.  And catty. 😈

[magemaud]

4 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I bought some glasses online and when I got them, they were wrong for me in every conceivable way.  Maybe that's what happened to him.

HER glasses weren't exactly flattering, either, but I was totally distracted by her stringy greasy looking hair. (okay, I'll admit I'm shallow.) 

[suebee12]

Tampa: I see everyone remembers the former shows these folks were on! I use to live 50 miles south of Tampa so "Dickie's" name was really familiar. His father was the Mayor of Tampa several times. I did find this article about the most recent Mayoral race. Maybe his name should be "Tricky Dicky".

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/289400-greco-betrayed-straz-while-running-questionable-gop-centric-strategy

He did not do well in the election(around 4000 votes) and Straz was in the runoff against the eventual winner.

[LittleIggy]

13 hours ago, edie3 said:

The Tampa judge reminded me so much of Tonya Harding. 

She was so annoying! The boyfriend was complaining about the stuff  (like lawn mowing) he would have to do. I was like “Moron, you aren’t married or living with her so why do you have to do anything? She won’t put out if you don’t?” Is she a Republican appointee?

[Grrarrggh]

16 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

She was so annoying! The boyfriend was complaining about the stuff  (like lawn mowing) he would have to do. I was like “Moron, you aren’t married or living with her so why do you have to do anything? She won’t put out if you don’t?” Is she a Republican appointee?

http://www.fljud13.org/JudicialDirectory/MargaretRTaylor/Profile.aspx

I'd also judge her on not being able to correctly pronounce foyer. 

[Empress1]

Lafayette, LA couple was cute. Their little girl was adorable the way she ran to people she loved and waved. I liked the house they chose - I wouldn't have wanted to be in a rural area either.

[LittleIggy]

7 hours ago, Empress1 said:

Lafayette, LA couple was cute. Their little girl was adorable the way she ran to people she loved and waved. I liked the house they chose - I wouldn't have wanted to be in a rural area either.

That baby was tote adorbs! I liked that house, too. The navy blue accent wall freshened up the kitchen until they could do more remodeling.

[CruiseDiva]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

That baby was tote adorbs! I liked that house, too. The navy blue accent wall freshened up the kitchen until they could do more remodeling.

I was surprised that they picked the house in town, but loved the character of the place with the front porches. That blue paint did wonders to brighten up the inside.

I cringed every time the moderator mispronounced Lafayette. You probably won't know what I mean if you aren't from Louisiana. 😎

[suebee12]

2 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

I cringed every time the moderator mispronounced Lafayette. You probably won't know what I mean if you aren't from Louisiana. 😎

What is funny is that I grew up in VA and lived in FL forever! I moved to MS 3+ years ago and just figured out they say La-Fay-ette here along with Louis-ville, not Louie-ville! The only reason I learned about how to say them is because of watching the weather!! Is the way they say Lafayette in LA.....not the French way?

*** Although the French pronunciation makes more sense for LA!

Edited November 28, 2019 by suebee12

[LittleIggy]

5 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

I was surprised that they picked the house in town, but loved the character of the place with the front porches. That blue paint did wonders to brighten up the inside.

I cringed every time the moderator mispronounced Lafayette. You probably won't know what I mean if you aren't from Louisiana. 😎

I was born there. Don’t remember the city because we moved when I was very young. I went to university at LSU. Those are my LA credentials, and I pronounce it  Lah-fi (as in hi)-yet.

[CruiseDiva]

5 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I was born there. Don’t remember the city because we moved when I was very young. I went to university at LSU. Those are my LA credentials, and I pronounce it  Lah-fi (as in hi)-yet.

I'm from Baton Rouge and an LSU gal, which is how I know the correct pronunciation. 😊 

[LittleIggy]

4 hours ago, CruiseDiva said:

I'm from Baton Rouge and an LSU gal, which is how I know the correct pronunciation. 😊 

Then how do you pronounce it? 

SC: The husband must be older than he looks to have a teenaged son. When that big kid walked in, I thought it must be his younger brother who lived with them!

[LittleIggy]

Maui: How does a carpenter and someone who works for a non-profit afford HI real estate? 
Bentonville, AR: The realtor made me laugh with his snarky comments about the husband. 

[cameron]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Maui: How does a carpenter and someone who works for a non-profit afford HI real estate? 
Bentonville, AR: The realtor made me laugh with his snarky comments about the husband. 

Arkansas couple were a couple of fruit cakes.  Couldn't stand either of them.

The episode that featured the family looking for a place in Gulf Shores, Alabama featured a clip from the Hilton Head episode thrown in.  Recognized the house.  Big mistake HH.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Bentonville couple would be my idea of nightmare neighbors.     I can't believe the realtor actually went house hunting with them for four years, and I'm hoping that is a gross exaggeration.     When my house was for sale, the Bentonville people would have been awful to clear out for a showing, since they looked at so many houses for four years or more.     The husband saying the house they bought had a hilly yard was bizarre, and the wife was obnoxious.   

That picture of when the Bentonville couple were first dating was bizarre.    How old was he when they met?     He looked extremely young. 

The realtor's idea to spend the money to convert the screened porch to a fourth bedroom, on the first house was stupid.    I guess he thought everyone going to the back yard would just go in and out through the bedroom?    The realtor was obviously desperate to get the home buyers to buy anything, and stop bothering him.      I bet even if the realtor only showed them a few houses, that his commission wasn't worth it.  

Edited November 29, 2019 by CrazyInAlabama