I’ve seen that…
Wait, no, that was EXTREME Home Makeover, where they bulldoze ranches to the ground 
I don’t know about HGTV, but I remember episodes of “Trading Spaces” that were filmed in Naperville and Downers Grove. I drove past the DG house on my way to work when they were filming and noticed all the TLC trucks and stuff. That was a long time ago, though (2001).
Matt and Shari aren’t on the air any more but they still have their web site, and they just appeared at the Akron Home & Flower Show (I didn’t go). Here’s more: http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/40465307.html
You just know Tim Gunn hates the Rust Belt. Especially when you put it with the Burgundy Dress.
Hometime on PBS has always been based in the Minneapolis area. They film a lot shows there - probably all of them.
House flipping relies on having a market where houses are rapidly increasing in value. That didn’t happen here.
On the other hand, the house we bought in 2007 is still worth about what we paid for it (according to zillow.com). There are a lot of people who can’t say that.
One of the Designed to Sell shows is in Chicago. Weirdly enough, DC gets more air time than I would have expected with a Designed to Sell cast there and several episodes of Curb Appeal being here as well.
I think I love you.
They did a Trading Spaces episode, during the original Paige Davis run, in the greater Buffalo area. Once.
This is what I was coming in to say. Rochester is another area where the housing boom of the past several years wasn’t really an issue. Which meant that house flipping wasn’t a major thing (taking HUD homes was still done by some people, but not many) during that time. Now it’s even less so, but like your area, most home values in this market are proving pretty stable.
For the flip shows, I wonder if there’s more flipping in California and the South because there’s more labor available, skilled and unskilled. I watched one this weekend where the flipper went to the Yellow Pages to find someone to shore up a foundation. (It didn’t go well.) I don’t call anyone to do anything to my house unless I have a recommendation from someone I know.
My House Is Worth What? gets around quite a bit. I’ve seen them in South Dakota, upstate NY, Las Vegas. That show may be cheaper to transport than other shows, though, since they basically just have to fly Kendra Todd out to the site and presumably borrow a cameraman from somewhere.
I suspect it’s a combination of cost + the fact that there may not be as much turnover, and therefore filming opportunities, in Rust Belt areas because the job market.
On the housing side of the equation, it’s a real pity because many of those cities, especially Detroit, have absolutely amazing architecture. Unfortunately, so many of the most beautiful buildings and homes are in utter and total disrepair and it takes oodles of money to repair those types of structures (my sister and BIL bought a home in Boston dating back to the 1870s and are now in the process of restoring it. It’s very expensive and while their home is/was in bad shape, it’s miles ahead of some of the abandoned homes in Detroit), and you don’t get that type of money and enthusiasm flowing in if you don’t have a vibrant job market for young couples etc…
But yeah, I’d also like to see them hit random states and cities that are known to have gorgeous architecture…Maine, Alabama…go to Alaska…show us some Wyoming for Christ’s sake! I’m sick of CA, Chicago, Austin and the DC area. I’d also like to see people who do not consider a 10 year old house to be “dated” and “beyond old.” Maybe it’s just a function of growing up in an older area-but I just want to slap people silly when they can’t see beyond granite-stainless steel. Shouldn’t the primary focus be what you can afford + factors that ensure resale (like good school districts etc.)? Not to mention the number of people that were on House Hunters that I suspect purchased their homes with creative financing.
House Hunters International is pretty cool, though. It’s amazing seeing the difference in European and American condo/home size.
Average value of a house in Detroit now is $18k. Even now in CA you can’t buy an outhouse for that.
Maybe I’ve been watching longer and more closely. While it’s true that California and Florida are featured heavily in these shows, both Design on a Dime and the fix-it-and-sell-it show (can’t think of the name now) have Chicago units.
I’ve seen New England House Hunters and My First Place ones. You’d think the New York metro area would be over-represented with the close discount places, near media centers and houses still worth something but it’s not.
Knowing a few people who work behind the scenes, this is my impression. For most of the shows, it’s much, much easier to put out casting calls in a few select cities (where they’ve got offices) than to fly hosts, experts, etc. out for each episode.
That’s certainly what I thought. Also factors having to do with the location of the house that will affect the kind of lifestyle you want- can you walk to the grocery store, does it have a good yard for barbecuing, that kind of thing.
ETA: Houses are still for living in, not just for reselling, for a lot of us.
But I thought lots of things. Like, when I was buying a house in 2007, that a 30-year fixed rate mortgage with payments we could actually make on our salaries was a good idea. All the experts seemed to be against it at that point…
There’s one particular show that drives me crazy because of this ‘my house is for selling’ attitude. My House is Worth What?
They have a basement that needs updating so they want to have the house re-valued to take a loan against that to do the kitchen. Many, many, many times the appraiser will tell them “Oh, you shouldn’t get the basement redone, the resale value is almost zero. Do the kitchen instead!”
No, I need the basement redone because I live here and that’s what I need to live here comfortably. There’s nothing wrong with my kitchen even if all the appliances don’t ‘match’.
Hell yes. The other thing that annoys me about that show is the pause and commercial and another pause before the realtor/appraiser reveals his estimate. Oh the tension! It’s unbearable! How can they not burst into snickers when they do that?
I’ve said it before – just give me a show that lets me look inside other people’s houses.