House Hunters - General Discussion

[chessiegal]

I found the Atlanta wife to be so unpleasant that she sucked any enjoyment out of looking at the houses. I should have changed the channel.

[LittleIggy]

Atlanta: The wife must be a good cook because, judging by the wedding pics, they have both put on a good amount of weight in ten years. 😏

[StatisticalOutlier]

1 hour ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

However, they bought it, cleaned the basement with professionals,

I heard him say there's "remaining pet smell" in the basement.  Good luck with that.

[snarts]

I also loved the Atlanta couple. They made me laugh, mostly him.  My favorite was "a big yard means a ruined weekend" 

Surprised by the house they chose, I thought #3 was a better option but the commute was a bit much. In hindsight, she'd be working from home now!

[CrazyInAlabama]

In my experience (retired librarian, and people just tell me things.   Either I'm a good listener, or they just can't find anyone else to vent to) 'lingering pet smell' means they should remove all trim halfway up through the entire basement, the drywall 3 ft or so up from the floor, all flooring, and then call the professional sanitizers in to see if they can really clean, and seal the floor again.    Then look at the wooden supports that were exposed, and see if they have soaked up dog or cat waste, and replace any of  with contamination.    Sadly, from what I know of situations where animals are caged in the basement for endless amounts of time, you don't ever get rid of the damages.    They could try sealing the wood in the basement with Kilz, the oil based kind, but the family needs to move out for days to let the stench from that evaporate.    

I knew someone who had a room ruined by a cat.    They removed all of the drywall, trim, replaced the door, cleaned the concrete slab, replaced the closet doors, sprayed Kilz on everything, and let it air out for a week or two.   Then they put drywall up, finished everything, and painted.    Then the stench came back, so the only thing anyone could figure out is the cat stuff went on the concrete slab, under the sill plates on the walls, and was soaked up, and probably soaked into the concrete block back wall.   They never got rid of the smell totally.     Hopefully, the Atlanta couple will have more success with their place.   

That NY house with all of the stairs makes my creaky knees ache, just looking at it. 

Edited September 4, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[buttersister]

What a mess. They seemed like a nice couple, sorry they have to go through all that. Yeah, they bitched about this and that, but not in a way that convinced me they were assholes.

[Kiddvideo]

Motor City Mom moving closer to kids' school: I can't figure out if she's really going back to work outside the home because they bought the $670K mini-castle. If the goal is for her to not spend so much time driving around, she's going to spend more time at work. And even if her returning to work when the kids hit high school was their plan, who's going to do the school and activity runs? The kids aren't old enough to drive.

I was surprised their wish list and none of the homes included the "must have status" pool. Sure enough, that was on their list of renovations.

Edited September 2, 2020 by Kiddvideo
I found the VOD. He works in IT.

[Kemper]

40 minutes ago, Kiddvideo said:

Motor City Mom moving closer to kids' school: I can't figure out if she's really going back to work outside the home because they bought the $670K mini-castle. If the goal is for her to not spend so much time driving around, she's going to spend more time at work. And even if her returning to work when the kids hit high school was their plan, who's going to do the school and activity runs? The kids aren't old enough to drive.

I was surprised their wish list and none of the homes included the "must have status" pool. Sure enough, that was on their list of renovations.

I thought The Mom was gorgeous; and yes, I think she knows it.  And what kind of work does she do?  I agree about getting a job compared to driving the kids to all the activities.  I was also surprised when they mentioned the pool at the end.

[buttersister]

Motor City, you say? I just got the back halfish—which suburbs were they in?

[pdlinda]

On 8/28/2020 at 8:04 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

So, she bought the condo, #3.     With what she put into that condo, she could have had the single family.    They condos were both close to the beach, but the single family was further back.   They mentioned the house was not right on the beach, but didn't exactly say how far.   They also didn't show much of the neighboring houses either. 

She lived with her mother for a year to save up the down payment that probably was in the range of $100K.  That left her with a $300K mortgage (more or less) plus the HOA charges, plus upkeep and maintenance on the unit along with utility charges.

I sure hope she wasn't laid off (don't know how she earned a living) during the COVID situation.  I literally cringe when I see the enormous financial "burden" she assumed when buying a condo that might not be so easy to sell in a financial downturn.  Even if she did sell, it might be for a loss and she'd be far behind the "8 ball."  Anyway, I wish her the best and hope her beloved mother has that extra bedroom ready for her daughter to reclaim should the overhead on her condo purchase become insurmountable.

 

[ECM1231]

5 hours ago, buttersister said:

Motor City, you say? I just got the back halfish—which suburbs were they in?

I believe it was Rochester, Michigan.

The wife annoyed me. Yeah, she was nice and slender and pretty attractive (not gorgeous to me) and she knew it. I didn't care for her comment that she'd have to do something special for her husband...wink wink...so she could get her dream house. I guess her husband forgot about his objection to the 40K deck repair, in addition to the hefty home price tag. He must make serious bank. I'd have gone with the under budget first one. The house they chose was just ridiculously large, imo. Utilities are going to cost a fortune.

[topanga]

On 9/1/2020 at 10:36 PM, chessiegal said:

Wow - mileage truly does vary. I thought the Atlanta wife was a major beotch. It was her way or the highway. I dislike people who want a house that will impress other people - she needed a kitchen that would wow guests. Granted, she cooked, but the need to have a house that will impress others really turns me off.

 

On 9/1/2020 at 10:47 PM, chessiegal said:

I found the Atlanta wife to be so unpleasant that she sucked any enjoyment out of looking at the houses. I should have changed the channel.

Maybe it’s because I have a lot of snarky East Indian friends, but I saw the wife’s comments as humorous and sarcastic. They seemed like a good couple that worked well together. 
 

Arkansas: I didn’t realize Bentonville had become a booming metropolis. I ultimately liked the one-story home they chose, but I laughed at hearing another HH who didn’t think they could keep their child—or their dogs—from falling down the stairs. 

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Bentonville, AR. First house, McMansion with a scar-like slash of stone across the brick veneer facade and an entryway that evokes an Italianate bell tower. Or maybe something Gothic? Maybe I’m just trying to find something interesting to say about this house. Mishmash of generic builder-grade finishes inside. Surprised the graphic designer who grew up in the house of a professional architect described it as luxurious and elegant. I'm not familiar with the Bentonville market, but it wasn't that much more expensive than the smaller houses. Bummer location?

Second house, single-level Craftsman. I hate the bastardization of Craftsman to mean anything with beams and a fat column on the front. It didn’t even have a porch. No, a concrete extension of the driveway is not a porch. The half-half-timbering made me think the house couldn’t decide whether to be a Tudor or a church and then just gave up before finishing and was like, screw it, everyone will call me a Craftsman. The layout she complained about did look a little awkward.

Third house, is there anything more unwelcoming than a house without front windows? I see garage doors that take up a third of the facade. A single ground level window. And then just masses of siding. Walk in the door…oh my. I’m not sure I would have continued beyond the foyer. Glam, glitzy, can we think of other g-words to describe It. Oh, I know! Gaudy!

None of these houses was appealing. None of these neighborhoods was appealing. Why tease us with an opening about a quaint downtown and then show three sad trombone options in a sea of sprawl? Okay, under duress, I choose house…nope, can’t do it. Keep looking.

The epilogue looked like a completely different house. Good job there on making the "Craftsman" look like a warm, cozy home, graphic designer. I laughed when they said the builder wouldn’t negotiate on price but compromised by including the appliances.

 

Nothing to snark about with the South Dakota family. They seemed so nice and wholesome. A kindness advocate? Awww. I wonder if this was one of those situations where they started filming the decoy houses and the hunters were like gosh darn it, why can't we have one of these instead?! The blue farmhouse with the expansive vista was gorgeous, although I'm not sure I'd enjoy cows as neighbors (smelly). I was totally convinced that was their house, and she dressed in blue to match it. They loved everything about it and then -- whiplash -- oh hey we chose that ugly, too-small split level. I liked the facelift with the black shutters.

Edited September 3, 2020 by Sheikh Yerbouti

[CrazyInAlabama]

Bentonville is booming because it's the Walmart central office, Centerton is a bedroom community.  There are also a lot of Walmart suppliers based in Bentonville too.  It's also the same area that Fixer to Fabulous films in.    

The Bentonville city proper has a lot of vintage homes, but they won't have the finishes to make Princess Picky happy.   They also won't be open concept, have a separate office, and a ton of bedrooms.    

1-Bentonville McMansion, with a relatively small yard, huge house, too fancy for the graphic designer wife, also daughter of architect (she thinks that makes her the world's greatest expert on homes, finishes, and wouldn't recognize a Craftsman if it bit her in the butt), also the most expensive.   Has stairs so it's an obvious death trap for their child (yes, she said that), $371k

2-Centerton (bedroom community for Bentonville, looks like rows of overpriced kleenex boxes, imitating other styles of homes), Nice yard, with outdoor fireplace, and fancy enough yard for husband.    House was $340k, including appliances (she made a big deal about paying full price, but the builder included the appliances-they always do, except sometimes the fridge).    Nice kitchen, all one level to make the princess happy.  The obvious choice with it's ridiculous front with 3 car garage.   This is the one they bought.

3-Bentonville, $350k, nice house patio isn't big enough to make wife happy.   It's also not fancy enough to impress the relatives, so it's out.    Stairs were nice, not the vertical climb many are.   The house looked like everything from lighting, to flooring, and other finishes were from the clearance rack.  Nothing matched anything.  

The couple have been married 8 years, and lived in 8 apartments, because every time a new apartment complex came along, and if Princess Picky thought it was nicer, they moved.     

So the new build was the obvious choice, since I bet they picked the finishes, and upgrades before it was built.   Of course the wife loved everything in the house they bought, she picked everything with the builder's designer before construction.  

A thoroughly obnoxious house hunting wife.  

Edited September 3, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[laredhead]

Bentonville couple must like pasta a lot.  Showed them making it twice.  Now we know why granite countertops are a must have with buyers - lol.

I thought the best line of the show was when the wife declared she wanted breathing room in the house, and the hubby said he was an asthmatic and did not need as much breathing room as that house had. 

The 3rd house was a big fail on the decor, IMO, from the light fixture in the entrance area, to the backsplash, and bath finishes.  It looked like someone had gone to a big box store with an hour to shop and buy everything so they just tossed the first things they saw into the cart with no thought about how it would all look together.

I liked the patio and outdoor fireplace at the house they bought.  I am not a fan of front loading garages, and that's all you saw at the 2nd house.  He said it looked green, and a bit like toothpaste color.  I guess I need to adjust the color on my TV because I didn't see green.  Was that the house that had an area/room at the front door that could be used as an office, and the wife said it was open and everyone would see in?  Whichever house that was, I was snarking at her saying to my cat that could be easily fixed by installing a door.  Sometimes it's like none of these HH's have ever done a single home improvement or even have a clue that stuff like that can be done.  Oh, and the comment about throwing in the appliances gets me.  I bet those didn't cost the builder more than $2,500 if that much.  I don't want my appliances included in a 30-year mortgage, and would prefer to choose my own.  You know those aren't top of the line units, and were probably purchased as a group.  I think I've seen the ads for the low end, mid range, and nicer group of 3 - range, refrig & DW, but I've never seen a package that had any, or all 3 that I would want.  Yes, I'm Miss Picky about my kitchen appliances.           

[chessiegal]

3 minutes ago, laredhead said:

He said it looked green, and a bit like toothpaste color.  I guess I need to adjust the color on my TV because I didn't see green. 

Once he mentioned it, I could see a "toothpaste" green. I noticed a color, but it was subtle enough not to stand out from the shots they showed. Seemed like an odd color.

[WI GIRL56]

I knew South Dakota was a repeat but new to me.  Soon as I saw her I told DH she use to be a news anchor.  I looked her up and she was in Wisconsin where we live.  Seems like a nice couple.  They never said how much land the third house had. Also with him traveling snow removal would fall on her.  I can use the snow blower but I hate doing it. I was swooning over the 2nd house but would not have wanted to have renters.  They made a good choice and made some good changes to the house.

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Bentonville is booming because it's the Walmart central office,

I know a few people who moved to Bentonville to work for Walmart corporate, and most of them didn't last long - they all moved from cities and the Bentonville life wasn't for them.

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

Once he mentioned it, I could see a "toothpaste" green. I noticed a color, but it was subtle enough not to stand out from the shots they showed. Seemed like an odd color.

Yep - I was like, "that IS a minty fresh green!"

[doodlebug]

On 8/27/2020 at 7:42 PM, buttersister said:

Oy, CrazyinAlabama, if you're right, what were they thinking? When they built the place! I've been up Sheridan Road north of Chicago, a narrow, hilly, tree-lined path up the north shore. Some tremendously expensive homes along it--with driveways that go way up at steep angles. It occurs to me that those driveways may have heating elements under the cement--maybe the stairs had the same. Doesn't help the workout part, but may reduce the likelihood of broken bones.

A lot of houses with steep stairs in front like that, will have access to an alley running behind the houses with garages facing it and only a short walk on a level sidewalk to get to the back door.  House Hunters isn't going to show us that because it doesn't fit the narrative, but I will bet that house had some relatively easy access from the back.

ETA: I see others have looked up this particular home and there is indeed an easier way to enter than up the gazillion front steps.  No surprise there.

Edited September 3, 2020 by doodlebug

[Grrarrggh]

I wonder what the Bentonville hunter's dad thought of her complete inability to recognise that her house is not a beloved Craftsman. Seems like he wasted her childhood. Or she's design blind. Yet another person who must have had a traumatic stair event as a child lol.

[Refresh]

 

11 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Bentonville is booming because it's the Walmart central office, Centerton is a bedroom community.  There are also a lot of Walmart suppliers based in Bentonville too.  It's also the same area that Fixer to Fabulous films in.    

 

Ooh. Thanks for this reco. I've never watched Fixer to Fabulous but I like vintage homes. 

Tyson and J.B.Hunt (the trucking transportation company) are also in that general area too. Announcer saying "metropolis" seems generous.  To me that means tall buildings and densely populated. There is lots of development but it is still going out not up.  But the area is certainly a business hub, and is trying to be a cultural one.

About the house they chose, I know they had just moved in but there was no color anywhere in the home. Grey on grey on grey with a little white and grey-blue. I love grey but yikes.  I was hoping for interesting decor since she is a graphic designer. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I suspect the Bentonville wife selected every tile and finish in that house, and selected the upgrades she wanted too.   If they really stay in that house long term, I bet they redo paints, and other things every time a new trend comes along.  

San Diego, three kids, a Labrador/Great Dane mix, and a beagle that looks like a Cocker Spaniel/Beagle to me.    She wants a fixer upper, and since he's a contractor, he can fix everything to make her happy.    He wants turnkey, 5 to 10 minutes from the beach (good luck with that in San Diego at the prices there).   She wants a pool, a huge yard, and lots of house.  He wants turnkey, near the beach, and will go higher on the budget.  Near the beach in San Diego, you're going to pay a lot more. 

House #1-Definitely a house for the wife.  A huge fixer, 5 bedrooms, but needs a ton of work.   Carpet in the kitchen, bet it's glued down.   The sun room is full of water puddles, the entire back yard looks like old pool, and concrete.  Fortunately, there's a lot of grass, and a tree house further back.  Carpet in the first bathroom, with one of those expensive, but hideous walk-in tubs.   All of the house carpet is many years old.    The kid's upstairs bath is shaggy purple carpet.  All of the house windows are single pane, original aluminum.  The buyers claim the pool drainage issue, and the sun room puddles are because of drain issues on those areas, but as of the end of the show, they haven't done anything to fix it. 

 The give away that it was a long term home for an older couple was not just the walk in tub (which I hope they removed carefully, and donated, but the glued down carpets in the kitchen and bathrooms.   If I bought that house, I would have had a couple of construction dumpsters out front, and had a crew ripping out the nasty carpet through out that entire house, starting with the bathrooms, and kitchen.    And anything like the cabinets over the breakfast bar in the kitchen would have been ripped down immediately.  

House #2-for him.   No pool, strange bedroom/bath arrangement.  No real master bathroom.    Close to the beach.

House #3-$799k, East of town.    An old Spanish style, on 1.2 acres, but everything is sloping, no real flat area.   Not even 3,000 sq ft.   Their realtor is very tall, he barely fits under the doorways.   The pool is fairly big, but nothing but concrete, and retaining wall, and hills around it.  If they buy this house, the husband will have to get rid of the popcorn ceilings in the newer part of the house, and the wife's going to want new kitchen counters, and back splash, probably new appliances, and I bet the red Spanish floor tiles will be replaced too. 

I would choose the first house.  because of the yard, and it really has potential.   Anything else won't leave room for the kids and dogs to play, and for her pool too.   The kitchen has plenty of room to expand into the dining space.  

They chose House #1, the fixer.  It had the most space, the best yard, and pool.   It still has drainage issues with the pool area, and the sun room, and they should have brought in a crew, and ripped out every piece of carpet in that house, starting with the bathrooms, and kitchen.  I wonder how many major cracks are hiding under the carpet?   I would also have window replacement as a priority.  

Edited September 6, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[buttersister]

The wife? The wife?! Granite? What? That whole house is a gut, which I’m betting is fine with him. 

I wanted to like the (not) Viking realtor. But “make it your own” is a deal killer, Kima.

[Grizzly]

I felt bad for the husband who did construction work like that all day. Didn't want to come home and do more work.

[NYGirl]

Just caught up on my DVR by watching a couple of episodes:

KC Man were his pants tight.  I agree he's controlling.  His wife was pretty and I felt sorry for her

Atlanta Woman was not very sympathetic to her husband's allergies which seemed pretty severe if he didn't go upstairs.  Good luck getting dog/cat urine smell out of that basement.  The only way to get rid of it is to knock down the house..lol

Motor City Mom:  OMG I LOVED that third house.  Wow.. She did say she was looking for a job.  I wonder how long it's going to take

San Diego..that poor guy is never going to get a rest with all that construction.  There's no time to go fishing..not that he lives close enough to the beach though

Bentonville.  What do these people have against stairs?  Make sure you keep every room spotless with all that entertaining and people roaming around your house being that you're on one floor.

My son has been watching with me and had something to say about all of the producer driven comments without me prodding him.  Double sinks, open concept to watch kids, not wanting grass or doing any work, no stairs with kids,  make it your own, I need a project, I don't like that color paint, this is a gut, white kitchen cabinets which is now #1 on the HH list.  One HH husband said..well the cabinets are....long pause.....BROWN!!  I rolled my eyes
 

[amarante]

Enough with the fake story lines where construction people or others in the field pretend they aren’t going to get something that needs extensive renovation. 
 

A professional in the business is the only person who can actually do extensive remodels that make economic sense because they are  doing the work For essentially wholesale. 

Any General Contractor who doesn’t buy a fixer is an idiot because he is paying retail prices for another contractor’s project and it won’t be as good or exactly to his family’s needs or tastes as what he can do. 

And I roll eyes at his claim that he doesn’t want to come home and work on the house. He isn’t doing the work. His crew is doing the work. A project of that scope requires multiple workers. A general contractor doesn’t perform the labor as he has better things to do with his time than demolish and put up dry wall. 

[cameron]

On 9/3/2020 at 9:47 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I suspect the Bentonville wife selected every tile and finish in that house, and selected the upgrades she wanted too.   If they really stay in that house long term, I bet they redo paints, and other things every time a new trend comes along.  

San Diego, three kids, a Labrador/Great Dane mix, and a beagle that looks like a Cocker Spaniel/Beagle to me.    She wants a fixer upper, and since he's a contractor, he can fix everything to make her happy.    He wants turnkey, 5 to 10 minutes from the beach (good luck with that in San Diego at the prices there).   She wants a pool, a huge yard, and lots of house.  He wants turnkey, near the beach, and will go higher on the budget.  Near the beach in San Diego, you're going to pay a lot more. 

House #1-Definitely a house for the wife.  A huge fixer, 5 bedrooms, but needs a ton of work.   Carpet in the kitchen, bet it's glued down.   The sun room is full of water puddles, the entire back yard looks like old pool, and concrete.  Fortunately, there's a lot of grass, and a tree house further back.  Carpet in the first bathroom, with one of those expensive, but hideous walk-in tubs.   All of the house carpet is many years old.    The kid's upstairs bath is shaggy purple carpet.  All of the house windows are single pane, original aluminum.  The buyers claim the pool drainage issue, and the sun room puddles are because of drain issues on those areas, but as of the end of the show, they haven't done anything to fix it.   

House #2-for him.   No pool, strange bedroom/bath arrangement.  No real master bathroom.    Close to the beach.

House #3-$799k, East of town.    An old Spanish style, on 1.2 acres, but everything is sloping, no real flat area.   Not even 3,000 sq ft.   Their realtor is very tall, he barely fits under the doorways.   The pool is fairly big, but nothing but concrete, and retaining wall, and hills around it.  If they buy this house, the husband will have to get rid of the popcorn ceilings in the newer part of the house, and the wife's going to want new kitchen counters, and back splash, probably new appliances, and I bet the red Spanish floor tiles will be replaced too. 

I would choose the first house.  because of the yard, and it really has potential.   Anything else won't leave room for the kids and dogs to play, and for her pool too.   The kitchen has plenty of room to expand into the dining space.  

They chose House #1, the fixer.  It had the most space, the best yard, and pool.   It still has drainage issues with the pool area, and the sun room, and they should have brought in a crew, and ripped out every piece of carpet in that house, starting with the bathrooms, and kitchen.  I wonder how many major cracks are hiding under the carpet?   I would also have window replacement as a priority.  

You could tell by the walk in tub that the home had been occupied by elderly people.

16 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I felt bad for the husband who did construction work like that all day. Didn't want to come home and do more work.

And he has to come home to obnoxious kids.  Don't like when children jump up and down on sofas and ham it up for the  tv camera.

[NYGirl]

I loved the couple from DC last night.  He was so cute and nice and she was so pleasant.  They got  along fine and their only bone of contention was the price point.  However, they looked at fixers for him and new build for her without any arguing or nastiness.  A breath of fresh air.

The realtor seemed like she took it personally that he wanted a fixer.  "I'll show him what a. fixer is".  Geez.

Of course they ended up with the new build but they got some fabulous price for it.. Listed at $320 and they paid $278.  Amazing.

[CrazyInAlabama]

That one fixer on the D.C. episode was hideous.    I wouldn't have touched the one with the broken sink, and toilet, because I would have worried about other vandalism by the previous owners or renters.      I think a lot of buyers underestimate the time involved in redoing an entire home, and how much it costs.    I bet the new build they went with will actually be cheaper than the money they would have had to put into either fixer. 

I'm glad the couple went with the lovely new build.   I'm betting they'll be very happy in that home.   

The San Diego episode for the Silicon Valley couple was interesting.   They had a higher budget than the contractor couple from the other night, and wanted very different things.     I didn't like the floor plan for the split level with the cable railings.     The finishes were great, but the floor plan was bad.      I like the one they bought, because of the pool, and back yard area, and it had a very secure pool fence.     

Edited September 6, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 9/2/2020 at 11:22 PM, topanga said:

Maybe it’s because I have a lot of snarky East Indian friends, but I saw the wife’s comments as humorous and sarcastic.

It was the quantity of her comments that bugged me, not the quality.  I got tired of hearing her voice.

 

On 9/2/2020 at 11:22 PM, topanga said:

Arkansas: I didn’t realize Bentonville had become a booming metropolis.

Bentonville is a major mountainbiking destination.  One of the Walmart heirs is into mountainbiking and poured a bunch of money into developing the trails.  Top notch stuff.

It also has Crystal Bridges museum, which would be fantastic if the guards didn't act like Walmart greeters and chat with people trying to look at the art.  And among themselves.  It was maddening.

[amarante]

The fixer with the walk in tub was an estate sale or some other "as is" when the elderly occupant died. Not only was normal maintenance probably deferred  but any kind of style updates was done years ago. As I recall not only were there issues with the drain but I think they mentioned that the pool needed work as well. 

The walk in tub was done so the owner could continue to live in the home as long as possible. So when the old (literally) owner died or moved to a nursing home, the home was put on the market and it made no economic sense for the heirs to attempt to spruce it up.

As I posted above, those kinds of true fixer uppers are what people in the construction business really look for because they have the ability to do the work for less money than a regular person would do. And since they do it for a living, they don't have the same kind of stress related to remodeling. I have friends who flip homes as their profession and their experience (both financial and emotional) is nothing equivalent to what I went through when I did my remodel recently. 

And spare me the fake moans about not wanting to do the work after work as they are not doing the physical labor of that kind of extensive scope by themselves. Same kind of ridiculous complaints about people who don't want to maintain yards as most relatively affluent people with full time jobs hire other people to do yard work unless gardening is a hobby. 

[laredhead]

Amarante, you took the words right out of my mouth about the HH's who complain about yard work or remodeling.  Those comments only make them look lazy and incompetent IMO.  I have bought 7 houses in my lifetime, and not once did the yard work involved with each one intimidate me.  Yes, I made changes to all of them, but I hired someone for the things I could not do.  I've painted many walls, and I even installed a kitchen floor on my own, but I don't think I ever whined to a real estate agent that I would not have time to do stuff after work.    

[amarante]

1 hour ago, laredhead said:

Amarante, you took the words right out of my mouth about the HH's who complain about yard work or remodeling.  Those comments only make them look lazy and incompetent IMO.  I have bought 7 houses in my lifetime, and not once did the yard work involved with each one intimidate me.  Yes, I made changes to all of them, but I hired someone for the things I could not do.  I've painted many walls, and I even installed a kitchen floor on my own, but I don't think I ever whined to a real estate agent that I would not have time to do stuff after work.    

Well I am the lazy and incompetent person who would (and does) hire other people but I don't pretend that it is a factor and wouldn't be grousing to my real estate agent about it either. 🙂 

Having finished a gut remodel, I am now really suspicious of homes that have been renovated for resale because I learned all the ways a less than scrupulous remodeler can cut corners so that it looks okay but wasn't done as well as it could have been. And of course the remodeled homes are not what I have chosen at all in terms of either best functionality or aesthetics.  .🙂

[Mittengirl]

On 9/5/2020 at 7:39 AM, cameron said:

You could tell by the walk in tub that the home had been occupied by elderly people.

You don’t have to be elderly to have mobility issues.  Spoken as a congenital amputee.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

I think the carpeted bathrooms, and kitchen said the previous owners were older.     The walk-in tubs look nice for someone who prefers tubs, as long as they have a heated seat.   Some of those have shower extensions too.     They're very pricey, and I hope that one was either donated, or given to someone who needed it.   

[laredhead]

New HGTV HH series called Selling The Big Easy debuting Friday night according to an article in today's Baton Rouge newspaper.  Says 14 shows were filmed in and around New Orleans.  I live in Baton Rouge so this one will be interesting for me because of the location.  Check your TV listings or the HGTV schedule for it.

[chessiegal]

1 minute ago, laredhead said:

New HGTV HH series called Selling The Big Easy debuting Friday night according to an article in today's Baton Rouge newspaper.  Says 14 shows were filmed in and around New Orleans.  I live in Baton Rouge so this one will be interesting for me because of the location.  Check your TV listings or the HGTV schedule for it.

If you watch HGTV, I don't see how you could miss it. They've been promoting it dozens of times a day. And it's not just houses around NOLA, but EXPENSIVE houses. I have family that live in Uptown, so will be interested, but no one I know in the area could afford any of these homes. Sounds like good real estate porn though.

[amarante]

47 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

If you watch HGTV, I don't see how you could miss it. They've been promoting it dozens of times a day. And it's not just houses around NOLA, but EXPENSIVE houses. I have family that live in Uptown, so will be interested, but no one I know in the area could afford any of these homes. Sounds like good real estate porn though.

Easy for me to miss it since I watch everything on DVR and fast forward through ads. 🙂

 

[suebee1212]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

New HGTV HH series called Selling The Big Easy debuting Friday night

But is this a "new" show? I remember it being on a couple years ago and I stopped watching after a few episodes because I could not stand the woman who was on it. Will have to watch the copywrite date at the end. Maybe they taped a bunch of them they didn't show????

[chessiegal]

 

3 hours ago, suebee1212 said:

But is this a "new" show? I remember it being on a couple years ago and I stopped watching after a few episodes because I could not stand the woman who was on it. Will have to watch the copywrite date at the end. Maybe they taped a bunch of them they didn't show????

I think it is a new show - I don't remember the real estate agent.

From the HGTV website:

Quote

SET YOUR DVR!

‘Selling The Big Easy’ Is Coming This September!

New Orleans real estate market gets a spotlight in the new HGTV series ‘Selling the Big Easy.'

About The Show

Real estate professional Brittany Picolo-Ramos and her team make house hunting fun as they take an enthusiastic approach to buying and selling elegant and historic properties in New Orleans.

 

Selling the Big Easy

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Loved the expecting DC couple. They were quite reasonable with their wants and tradeoffs. Plus, they were both very telegenic. I was surprised that they were able to get such a large, new townhouse for under $300k, but then again, Brandywine is a bit of a hike from DC. Not bad if commuting to Joint Base Andrews, though, and it's closer to Chesapeake beaches than a lot of DC suburbs. And there'a a Costco right there. Whenever I hear my peers whining about how it's impossible to buy a home in DC for under a million dollars, I point out that there's an entire world across the Anacostia and in Prince Georges County, and some of it is actually quite nice.

[LittleIggy]

4 hours ago, suebee1212 said:

But is this a "new" show? I remember it being on a couple years ago and I stopped watching after a few episodes because I could not stand the woman who was on it. Will have to watch the copywrite date at the end. Maybe they taped a bunch of them they didn't show????

Ha! I was thinking that I wouldn’t watch that even though I love NO because the realtor seemed so obnoxious.

[laredhead]

Chessiegal, I don't watch HGTV real time.  I DVR HH & HHI and watch the episodes later.  That way I can ff through the commercials, and I've also started ff'ing through the intro because they repeat almost everything during the episode.  

Suebee1212, these are new episodes according to the article advertising the show.  They began filming in 2019, shut down earlier this year, and resumed filming in June.

Houses within New Orleans are very expensive now.  I bet a lot of these houses are going to be in the suburbs and nearby towns, where real estate has also become expensive.  If any are on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, there are some million dollar+ developments in that area.

 

[chessiegal]

I tend to keep different Discovery channels on during the day for background, including HGTV, which is why I've seen the promos for Selling the Big Easy so many times, almost every commercial break.

I watch new HHs real time in the evening because my husband's snark is more entertaining than the shows. He's a funny guy. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm enjoying HH without the added narration.     However, since we know the home buyers already own the house, they could dial back on the disagreements.   

Edited September 9, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[chessiegal]

I started a topic for Selling the Big Easy here.

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Florida to California. Once upon a time (20 years ago to be exact), an older woman pulled me aside during my first week in my First Adult Job. We had lunch, and she offered me some advice. One, to reevaluate my hairstyle. Wild curly hair pulled into a ponytail, she recommended something more demure like a sleek bun. Two, to consider voice coaching. I had a high-pitched, nasally voice, and she was concerned that the good ole boy club I was trying to break into would never take me seriously. At the time, I was unspeakably offended. Still am, to be honest. But with a couple of decades of experience on my side, I understand where she was coming from. That ponytail has expanded into fully unfettered hair (because eff that), but I now (like to think, anyway) speak with gravitas.

This was a very painful episode to watch. Both of the house hunters had that high-pitched, nasally voice my long-ago self-appointed mentor warned me against. I was like…dogs can hear you…bats can hear you…people who want to hang out in your $2 million house may have trouble hearing you. I have shunned podcasts because of voices like this. (Aside…why are there so many podcasts with interesting premises hosted by people who have never had voice training and are so grating on the ears? A voice for radio is a real thing that should be respected in the podcast world.)

On to the houses themselves…Meh. Couldn’t relate, couldn’t choose. Whatever they picked was whatever. Too many freeway establishing shots. Solidified my resolve that I would never be tempted to move to Los Angeles.

[NYGirl]

I was just coming here to ask the question:  Why didn't I like either the husband or the wife in the Fla to LA episode?  I thought maybe you guys could help me.  Sheikh Yerbouti helped a great deal. The older I get I notice certain voices grate on me something awful.  My daughter's program has zoom going all day and she walks down here with her laptop and I hear this one teacher and I cringe.

The couple seemed a little pretentious to me..  subtly though.  I guess they wanted to show off their doctorness/wealth to us with such a large house even though they said they weren't having kids.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The voices, and the sense of entitlement bugged me on the Florida . to California couple.   I knew they would pick the first house, when they showed how far away the other two were from where they were going to work.    One is a Physician's Assistant or Nurse Practitioner, and the other a physician, so I'm betting they're supposed to stay within a certain time or distance from the hospital,, if one or both are in a hospital setting.   

 I certainly got sick of hearing about the freaking cat room too.   I don't understand the cat room idea at all.   If you have cats, and only have them to put them in a separate room, then why do you have them?    I disliked the third house, with the setting in the hills.   All I could think of is the fire danger, and the long drive.       Was it the second one with the steps from dining, to family room too?   I don't like that either.    The wife was underestimating the cost of the renovations to the second house too.   I'm sure after her fancy renovations that the second and third house would have been way over the $2 million for the first house, and they got a $50k discount (I'm sure it was eaten up by the painting, and other changes the wife demanded).       

[Bastet]

34 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

 I certainly got sick of hearing about the freaking cat room too.   I don't understand the cat room idea at all.   If you have cats, and only have them to put them in a separate room, then why do you have them?   

Were the cats only going to be in that room, or have the run of the house but have one room that's designed around them?  If the former, I agree that's terrible.  But the latter isn't uncommon; many cat owners with a spare room will put the cats' stuff (litter box, bowls, cat tree, toy basket, etc.) in there and create "runs" for them - things on the floor for them to climb/jump up on in order to access things mounted on the walls for them to run and perch on (all that stuff Jackson Galaxy suggests but that most people don't want to look at in their living room).  It's a cat bedroom-playroom, like these (none of which are mine; I don't have a room to spare, so my cat just has to slum it with me).