House Hunters - General Discussion

[Grrarrggh]

1 hour ago, KLovestoShop said:

I just didn’t get the Lakeland husband.  What a doofus.  Why was he insisting on 5 bedrooms?  Their child will be the only child, so they’ll only NEED two bedrooms, plus one for his sometime visiting parents.  Sheesh, when we were growing up, we survived with 2 bedrooms and one bath in a 945 sq ft house for 4 of us.  And the wife and her pantry?  I just freaked when she said she didn’t want to store her spices with her glasses and dishes.  What a dumb comment. Typical behavior of people their age. 

Ok Boomer 😉 You had me right up to that last sentence. 

[Grizzly]

Columbus. If that's one of his favorite cousins, I'd hate to meet his least favorite cousin. And she thinks you can get move in ready for 100k. She obviously doesn't watch HH. Love the realtor, we're having a come to Jesus moment with house #3.

[chessiegal]

The Columbus guy saying the downtown bath needed to be redone was ridiculous. It was obviously built for someone in a wheelchair. Also his comment that all the appliances in the kitchen needed to be replaced was stupid. It had a new SS dishwasher, stove, microwave. The refrigerator was a nice side by side. But obviously white appliances don't work as well as SS.

[KLovestoShop]

I can’t believe the cousin of the Columbus guy was such a budinski.  She AND her husband were going to rent?  Where were they living before he bought a house?  When she said “I refuse to live in a house that’s a construction zone”, I just said that no one is forcing her to live in his house.  I really like the guy as he seemed very level-headed and had visions for any house he would buy. 

[LittleIggy]

43 minutes ago, KLovestoShop said:

I can’t believe the cousin of the Columbus guy was such a budinski.  She AND her husband were going to rent?  Where were they living before he bought a house?  When she said “I refuse to live in a house that’s a construction zone”, I just said that no one is forcing her to live in his house.  I really like the guy as he seemed very level-headed and had visions for any house he would buy. 

Yeah, she was pushy for a renter.

[Empress1]

The Columbus cousin drove me nuts. (I don’t think the realtor liked her either.) She wanted the buyer to spend less than $100K but didn’t want a fixer? What? When the fixer he looked at was $190K?

I sympathized with her MS; she may indeed need to be on one floor. But those are plans she and her husband should make for themselves. Is she going to live with her cousin forever? Are her daughters going to move in with him to take care of her? (She totally wasn’t kidding about that.)

Those gray-brown floors (house # 2) are trendy and I don’t like them at all.

I would like an update to see what changes he makes - the house he bought had good bones. That kitchen was ugly.

[edie3]

13 hours ago, DonnaMae said:

  My poor kids had to make do with their toys in their bedrooms. 

Are they okay? Are they in treatment for this?

[CrazyInAlabama]

I knew that the Columbus house would be number 3 when I saw the accessible first floor bath, master bedroom, and the laundry right there too.   I'm hoping that they painted everything, the rooms would look so much better with lighter paint.  The kitchen wasn't big, but the appliances were new, and redoing the cabinets could be done in a few days, to make the floor plan better.     I like that the man will have the second floor all to himself.    I really liked Don, and he's a great makeup artists, his cousin's makeup was so tasteful, and pretty.  

I bet the Wisconsin couple will spend their entire lives getting into debt, and clawing their way out, and then going right back to the same spending habits that got them in trouble.    Wanting to spend every penny of what the mortgage people approved them for shows me that the couple learned nothing from their past troubles, and will be right back in humongous debt again.      Please tell me that the wife's home business wasn't one of those MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) pyramid companies.  

Edited November 13, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 11/8/2020 at 12:47 PM, Dewey Decimate said:

I can only speak for myself, but as I'm writing this, I'm outside on my deck, enjoying a gloriously, unseasonably warm day for CT. In just the last 15 minutes, I've been subject to the delightful sounds of 1) a neighbor's yipping dog,

Ha!  I had one of those sound-of-record-scratching moments when I got to neighbor's yipping dog.  I just knew you were going to mention the birdsong, rustling of leaves, chittering squirrels gathering nuts.

I feel your pain.  Oh, do I feel your pain.

 

On 11/12/2020 at 7:22 AM, Empress1 said:

The fact that the WI husband wanted to spend as much as they’d been approved for when they had just gotten out of $90K in credit card debt (!), he’s previously lost a job, and they had to sell their house, which was so traumatic for the wife that she cried when she saw similarities in a different house, was driving me nuts. Like, there is a lesson to be learned here, my dude.

So true.  At one point he said, "Who wants to fly coach?"  Nobody wants to fly coach, but they do it because it's what they can afford, which makes me think he may have paid back the debt but he still has whatever urge it was that got him into it.  I can't imagine being financially intertwined with someone like that.  Makes me scared just thinking about it.

[chessiegal]

3 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I can't imagine being financially intertwined with someone like that. 

I can. I divorced him.

[Empress1]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

At one point he said, "Who wants to fly coach?"  Nobody wants to fly coach, but they do it because it's what they can afford, which makes me think he may have paid back the debt but he still has whatever urge it was that got him into it.  I can't imagine being financially intertwined with someone like that.  Makes me scared just thinking about it.

Right. That is a fundamental incompatibility with me. My suspicion is that they couldn't afford the first house they bought in the first place and they were living off their credit cards, and then when the husband lost his job they were really screwed. Anybody can lose a job; this is the second major recession in 15 years. They have a child who requires constant medical care, and in America that comes at a price. I got the sense that the husband was the primary breadwinner (mom said she'd just launched some kind of business, which likely means it's not making money yet). Their whole situation was screaming "be very very careful with your money" at me, and the husband was like "Nah!" Couldn't be me.

[DonnaMae]

18 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

I really like the guy as he seemed very level-headed and had visions for any house he would buy. 

I like him too, but I would not want to live with his cousin.  I hope he doesn't regret the move.  She was way too bossy.  Why would anyone want to paint all the walls with such dark colors?  A dark orange kitchen?  That entire house had to be repainted.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Yes, the Columbus house that Don bought was amazing, and already had the accessible first floor the cousin needed.    I'm betting the first thing all of the relatives did was to repaint the interior of that house, or they saved up and hired professionals to paint the entire interior a nice creamy, off white, or other lighter color, but I hope left the interior trim alone.     That's not a big kitchen, so I'm hoping they can use stock, or semi-custom cabinets, and remodel it into something wonderful, and not break the bank.  

  I think the cousin was overacting for the house tours, and when she was complaining about the accessible bathroom, and other features for the third house, I knew that was the house Don bought.  

Edited November 14, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[buttersister]

Quote

At one point he said, "Who wants to fly coach?"  Nobody wants to fly coach, but they do it because it's what they can afford, which makes me think he may have paid back the debt but he still has whatever urge it was that got him into it

Show, a moment? Digging out of debt teaches most people that it's good to avoid falling back in. Clearly, this guy is not one of those people. Highlighting his problem, watching him demonstrate that to his family and the world? Not a good look.

Alternative theory: The experience traumatized and embarrassed him so much that this performance was to show certain people how recovered he is--in his mind.

[Empress1]

2 hours ago, DonnaMae said:

I like him too, but I would not want to live with his cousin.  I hope he doesn't regret the move.  She was way too bossy.  Why would anyone want to paint all the walls with such dark colors?  A dark orange kitchen?  That entire house had to be repainted.

Yes, definitely needed a new paint job but I loved the wood trim. But the dark colors with the dark wood made everything look heavy. (The kitchen was just kind of awful across the board.)

[Sheikh Yerbouti]

Young soon-to-be parents searching for home following USAF assignment to Navarre, FL. Yes! Butt-washer on toilet! I will totally overlook the hollow “stucco” construction for that. So sad they didn’t appreciate it.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Yes, the Navarre, FL couple.   A man with no time to spare, and who could get deployed at any time, wanted a fixer upper.    The stucco finish on the one house was terrible, and I'm guessing with the humidity, and storms in Florida, and the heat and cold changes, that the stucco will be coming down not too long from now.    I wonder if that house had a recent test of the moisture of the stucco?   That causes the wood framing to rot.      And calling the second house a "Spanish" style was hysterically wrong.    That was nothing but a newer build generic home, that wasn't Spanish anything.      I think the brick house was the best choice for them, but why are they buying a home when they claim they're moving in two years?     They think they're going to make a fortune buying homes, moving and renting them out, and that doesn't always work out.  

I know so many people that had the same plan for Florida houses, and then they were unable to rent the place out, or sell. 

Edited November 18, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[buttersister]

Thank you for your service, Navarre, FL dude. But very not sure your "sweat equity" plan of diving in, fixing up and selling at a profit at exactly the time of your redeployment is going to work for you. So his idea or producer storyline?

 

 

[laredhead]

Navarre, FL wife was correct that buying a fixer was not a good idea with a baby due in a couple of weeks or so.  Babies take up a lot of time and energy, and if the hubby gets deployed, the wife will be left with most of the responsibilities.  Yes, there are support groups with the military, but it didn't seem like they had family nearby to help if needed.  The picture of them with the new baby was cute.

[cameron]

After watching the newest Florida couple being featured on HH; I now know why I never became a realtor.  Would absolutely go crazy working with people like this.  Wish the realtors that they feature would stop calling the living room a sitting area and the family room the living room.  Also can't understand why couples would even want to designate a room downstairs for the kids play area - that's why they have their bedrooms.

[Grrarrggh]

2 hours ago, cameron said:

After watching the newest Florida couple being featured on HH; I now know why I never became a realtor.  Would absolutely go crazy working with people like this.  Wish the realtors that they feature would stop calling the living room a sitting area and the family room the living room.  Also can't understand why couples would even want to designate a room downstairs for the kids play area - that's why they have their bedrooms.

I'd be happy if they could pronounce foyer correctly. This is from an only child who had a bedroom and playroom til she was eleven lol. Bedroom was for sleeping and holding my clothes, playroom was for everything else. But we never "lived" in the kitchen and actually used our dining room and living room. The living room was the one without the television.

[CruiseDiva]

14 hours ago, cameron said:

After watching the newest Florida couple being featured on HH; I now know why I never became a realtor.  Would absolutely go crazy working with people like this.  Wish the realtors that they feature would stop calling the living room a sitting area and the family room the living room.  Also can't understand why couples would even want to designate a room downstairs for the kids play area - that's why they have their bedrooms.

And... the St. Johns County, FL house hunter wife was a total bitch. So glad the husband got the kitchen he wanted--it was adorable to see the little daughter cooking with him.

[CrazyInAlabama]

The Washington DC area couple where the wife is scared to go in  basements alone are so much fun.   The wife demands the front door faces east, (the Indian equivalent of Fung Shui rules).      However, she should be looking at the crime statistics for the areas, because there are some seriously bad areas that look very nice on paper, and property taxes, and prices vary so much in the D.C. area.  

The master closet, with another walk in closet inside it is amazing.    The first house basement windows aren't real egress windows, so I would avoid the house for that.    I know there's another outside door down there, but it's also outside stairs, and that can be a huge issue.  One clogged outside drain from leaves or snow, and you will have serious water issues in the basement.      

The second house is older, but I like the outside.    The remodels on the first floor are wonderful.  In spite of the husband not liking the granite.   So the husband still wants something "more grand".   

House #3 faces East, and it's the biggest one they'll look at.   So why do I bet I know which one they own?  However, it doesn't have the double closets the couple demand.  Yes, they bought the East facing house.   

I'm a real estate junkie, and some have suggested that should do real estate after I retired.   No way, I would last at that.   House hunters who aren't even serious but endless tour houses, or people like the couple on this episode that are so over the top picky would drive me to violence.  The wife and her creepy basement statements are getting on my last nerve.  

[Grrarrggh]

37 minutes ago, CruiseDiva said:

And... the St. Johns County, FL house hunter wife was a total bitch. So glad the husband got the kitchen he wanted--it was adorable to see the little daughter cooking with him.

She seemed perfectly lovely to me. Nothing that wasn't producer produced. 

[buttersister]

I missed the original airing of the Chicago couple. Really liked them, he had a great sense of humor and her closet fetish paled next to her sweet care of her dad. Glad they got the house they did, all those changes made sense, not frivolous and it should be a great place when they’re done with it

[cameron]

6 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The Washington DC area couple where the wife is scared to go in  basements alone are so much fun.   The wife demands the front door faces east, (the Indian equivalent of Fung Shui rules).      However, she should be looking at the crime statistics for the areas, because there are some seriously bad areas that look very nice on paper, and property taxes, and prices vary so much in the D.C. area.  

The master closet, with another walk in closet inside it is amazing.    The first house basement windows aren't real egress windows, so I would avoid the house for that.    I know there's another outside door down there, but it's also outside stairs, and that can be a huge issue.  One clogged outside drain from leaves or snow, and you will have serious water issues in the basement.      

The second house is older, but I like the outside.    The remodels on the first floor are wonderful.  In spite of the husband not liking the granite.   So the husband still wants something "more grand".   

House #3 faces East, and it's the biggest one they'll look at.   So why do I bet I know which one they own?  However, it doesn't have the double closets the couple demand.  Yes, they bought the East facing house.   

I'm a real estate junkie, and some have suggested that should do real estate after I retired.   No way, I would last at that.   House hunters who aren't even serious but endless tour houses, or people like the couple on this episode that are so over the top picky would drive me to violence.  The wife and her creepy basement statements are getting on my last nerve.  

His commute is going to be a killer in the mornings and evenings with that house.  Woodbridge is on the I-95 corridor and it always has backed up traffic no matter what time of day and it's really the only house that is in the DC area surround.  Use to be considered out in the sticks, but the pent demand for affordable housing now has made it a somewhat suburb of DC.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I grew up in Northern Virginia, and everywhere I used to ride, or was way out in the boonies, is now endless subdivisions.     Hopefully his job has a lot of work from home opportunities.   

I have to laugh at the realtor saying the commute was an hour.   Maybe at 3 a.m. on Sundays, but not in rush hour traffic.  

I know not all DVRs are the same, but with mine, when you have the cable guide up, click on what you want to record, it shows the start time, and end time, you go to the ending time, and add five or more minutes, and click the button to accept the time.  That way you catch the end of the show, and any updates.    

If I want to do two in a row on the same channel, I accept the first one, without bothering the ending time, then tape the second one, but extend the ending time.    That way the first one ending will be missed usually, but it will be on the start of the second episode, because they don't have a gap in timing.     I hope that makes sense.   Once you actually do it, it makes sense.  

Edited November 22, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Crashcourse]

I had to laugh when the realtor said that one of the houses in MD was about an hour or so commute to his job in northern VA.  Maybe on a good day it's an hour, but I doubt it.  I figured they'd pick the one in Woodbridge because of his commuting concerns.  

[Crashcourse]

10 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I have to laugh at the realtor saying the commute was an hour.   Maybe at 3 a.m. on Sundays, but not in rush hour traffic.  

And then you'd have to worry about the drunk drivers on I-95. 

[BrownBear2012]

On 11/18/2020 at 6:29 AM, Sheikh Yerbouti said:

Young soon-to-be parents searching for home following USAF assignment to Navarre, FL. Yes! Butt-washer on toilet! I will totally overlook the hollow “stucco” construction for that. So sad they didn’t appreciate it.

The wife was so picky...she didn't like much of anything in the houses they saw...she even complained about the kitchen cabinet finishes.  

[KLovestoShop]

On 11/19/2020 at 10:14 PM, CruiseDiva said:

And... the St. Johns County, FL house hunter wife was a total bitch. So glad the husband got the kitchen he wanted--it was adorable to see the little daughter cooking with him.

I thought the wife was nasty.  And her vocal fry made my ears bleed.  And what is it with people not being able to pronounce the word “important “?  She said imporant and he said impordant.  There’s no D in important.  Her bitching about new construction noise was way stupid.  A few months and it’s all finished.  
 

I didn’t care for the DC wife at all.  She just had too many freaky weirdness things——location of staircases, location of the front door, being afraid of basements because she saw ONE scary movie in a basement when she was a teen.  

Edited November 22, 2020 by KLovestoShop

[Dehumidifier]

I don't know why any husbands agree to go on these shows. The wives seem to get all their little grudges and pet peeves about hubby out and the poor guy has to take it or else look ungentlemanly.

[Empress1]

On 11/20/2020 at 11:02 AM, CrazyInAlabama said:

I have to laugh at the realtor saying the commute was an hour.   Maybe at 3 a.m. on Sundays, but not in rush hour traffic.  

Ha! My thought was "At 4 AM it's an hour. Maybe."

1 hour ago, KLovestoShop said:

he just had too many freaky weirdness things——location of staircases, location of the front door,

I did appreciate that the realtor understood that her wanting a house that faced east was a cultural thing, particularly since it wasn't his culture.

On 11/19/2020 at 10:30 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

The wife and her creepy basement statements are getting on my last nerve.  

There have been a lot of buyers on this show who are afraid of basements, and I'm always like "It's just a basement!" Like, turn on the light and keep it moving!

[LittleIggy]

I’m tired of HGTV starting episodes two minutes or so after the hour. My DVR cuts off right at the half-hour for HH so I miss the last part. 😡

[DonnaMae]

11 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I’m tired of HGTV starting episodes two minutes or so after the hour. My DVR cuts off right at the half-hour for HH so I miss the last part. 😡

Same for me.  I thought it was my TV.  I never get to see the end of the episode.

[chessiegal]

I can program my DVR to extend recording for a variety of minutes if I know that happens.

[LittleIggy]

9 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I can program my DVR to extend recording for a variety of minutes if I know that happens.

Mine programs according to the time listed on the onscreen TV guide. 

[MsTree]

4 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Mine programs according to the time listed on the onscreen TV guide. 

While most program times are recorded based on the online guide time, there usually is an option to extend that time...if you can find it.

For instance, if I use the red button record while viewing the guide, the option doesn't show up. However, using the longer mode for recording, I can scroll to the "record options" button. Then scroll down to the bottom of that page. There you will find options for 1 minute late, 2 minutes late, etc. There are also options for programming early (1 minute early, etc).

[laredhead]

Ms Tree, in the past during football season when games often run long and interfere with program start times after the game, I have set my recording time to an extra hour for the program I wanted to watch.  My DVR provides up to 3 hours of extra time.    

[DonnaMae]

Doesn't this depend on what TV provider you have?  

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 11/21/2020 at 5:25 PM, KLovestoShop said:

I didn’t care for the DC wife at all.  She just had too many freaky weirdness things——location of staircases,

I can see not wanting a staircase right at the front door for aesthetic reasons, but she said it would make it too easy for someone who breaks in to get upstairs.  I'd like to see the statistics on amount of criminal harm done upstairs in houses where the staircase is right there in front versus where it's off to the side.

Edited November 24, 2020 by StatisticalOutlier
pronouns

[Empress1]

TN couple: I didn’t like the long-haired wife. I got the impression that the whole “she’s really bossy and thinks she’s always right” dynamic wasn’t a joke.

[chessiegal]

TN couple - gee, do you think they will "choose" the mostly empty house with the mounted flat screen tv and the large sectional?

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Empress1 said:

TN couple: I didn’t like the long-haired wife. I got the impression that the whole “she’s really bossy and thinks she’s always right” dynamic wasn’t a joke.

I hope the storyline of the firefighter potentially giving up her job if the right house for them was in another county was a joke. 

I liked how insistent the firefighter was on the kids' bedrooms and the master bedroom being away from each other - not that she got her wish, of course.  But that's something that makes sense to me as a house hunting desire.  Her wife not wanting their en suite bathroom to be shared with guests I get, too, but not the extent to which that bothered her.  The kids would have had their own bathroom, so no sharing on a daily basis -- how often do they have guests that it was really going to be a problem?

[CrazyInAlabama]

I really couldn't figure out which house they were going to buy in the TN episode.   The show is pretty good at using decoy properties to fake me out.       The worst thing about the fire fighter having to change departments is she would be going from a station where she probably had seniority, and choice of station.   Then not only would she have to go through the academy again, but the Knoxville area is bigger, so who knows what station she would be assigned to, and how far away from home it would be.    

Edited November 25, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[StatisticalOutlier]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

Then not only would she have to go through the academy again, but the Nashville area is bigger, so who knows what station she would be assigned to, and how far away from home it would be.  

They were near Knoxville, not Nashville.  And apparently the kids' school is in Knoxville, which might mitigate the issues with the one having to change jobs.

But does anybody know what the deal is with her having to go through the academy again to get a job in Knoxville?  Is this hyperbole?  I know that fire departments set their own standards, but I don't think they have their own academies, and presumably she's been through one.  Maybe she has to get some additional training in order to have a job in a city with tall buildings, but they made it sound like she'd be starting completely over as a plebe, and that seems rather harsh.

 

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

TN couple - gee, do you think they will "choose" the mostly empty house with the mounted flat screen tv and the large sectional?

Is that also the one that already had a trampoline in the back yard?

[CrazyInAlabama]

I changed the city to Knoxville.   Apparently I wasn't paying attention too well when I watched it.  Thanks for catching that.  

I bet the going through the Academy again was to prevent someone who has been on the job for a while, but may have physical issues, or some other problem from changing to another department, and not being up to the job.   Also, going to the Academy again would show them new equipment, and procedures that their department may not have used.    I wonder if her seniority was transferrable too?    Also, not all departments have the same rules, so someone who qualifies in one county, may not meet the hiring guidelines in another.     It might not be the fire department's choice either.  Sometimes there are union or other bargaining rules that require all kinds of things I find ridiculous.   If it was in some locations, the law and fire people get a different pay scale, and retire by 55 at full pension, so you can't be hired initially after 35.    

Where I used to live, a friend's husband qualified in one county, and not in the neighboring city/county department, and the departments had different selection criteria.   

Edited November 26, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Grrarrggh]

48 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I bet the going through the Academy again was to prevent someone who has been on the job for a while, but may have physical issues, or some other problem from changing to another department, and not being up to the job.   Also, going to the Academy again would show them new equipment, and procedures that their department may not have used.    I wonder if her seniority was transferrable too?    

Also, not all departments have the same rules, so someone who qualifies in one county, may not meet the hiring guidelines in another.   

Where I used to live, a friend's husband qualified in one county, and not in the neighboring city/county department, and the departments had different selection criteria.   

That all sounds overly complicated and, well, stupid. A physical and exchange of records should be more than enough. I feel bad for those kids. Children already get too little sleep because of early start times. Did they mention what the other wife did for a living? 

[CrazyInAlabama]

The couple in Tea, SD/Sioux Falls are so over the top irritating.   So the realtor said he tells the clients to give him a list of 10-12 must haves, and the wife has 15 must haves.    Her list includes new build, in a 12 block radius, etc., is ridiculous  When you're in a smaller area, you may not have much luck finding what you want, and at the price you want to pay.   They've been house shopping for two years.   

The first house (semi-detached, or big townhouse, with a small wall in between the houses) with the 3 car garage was lovely.     

The second house, in Sioux Falls may be cheaper, but I'm sure the wife won't want to share one bathroom upstairs, or have a small closet.   It's also nicely redone, but it's still old, and it's not in the town where the gym they own is located.   .    

The third one is nice, but not good enough for the wife.   It's an entire block out of her selected area (yes, that's sarcasm).  It has a four car garage, and the husband wants to put a ropes course in there.    

So they picked the third house.   Then they put a bunch of obstacles in the garage.   I'm betting they extended the heat vents to the garage too, or had a split heat unit put in.       I hope they enjoy unloading the groceries in the snow, and ice, and having to scrape the window glass every day.  I couldn't believe the husband wanted to put a climbing wall that even the kids would use, over the stairs.    And at the end where he was up on top of the ledge with the two kids was ridiculous.    If I owned either of the two other decoy houses, I would have been furious at how he treated the decoy homes also.   

Edited November 29, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[chessiegal]

I'm not sure why the SD couple got married. To go on national tv and call your wife a fun killer - okey dokey then.

And again with the white cabinets in the kitchen. The house they bought had nice cabinets that looked like solid wood to me. I swear some of these women would be fine with cabinets made of pressed particle board with a wood veneer as long as it's white.