Yeah but the buyers on Property Virgins are even more delusional than the ones on House Hunters. I remember one newlywed couple where the wife wanted two sinks in the bathroom. The hostess (who I really like) told them that they were not going to get a better value for their money than this particular house.
It was a great house. If you went by the other two houses that were shown to them, then it was a fantastic house. But it didn’t have double sinks in the bathroom. The wife cried bitter tears when the husband refused to pay $5000 over their budget for the house with the two bathroom sinks. I mean, she sobbed woefully, tears streaming down her face. “I can’t live like this!”
The Property Virgin lady told them to sleep on it. The next day the wife sheepishly admitted to over-reacting.
I also like how she tries to puncture the virgins high expectations a little by showing them a really, really nice house with everything they want in the neighborhood they prefer-- and then asks them how much they think the house is selling for. Most of the time you can visibly see them deflate when they are told the price.
I thought I read somewhere that HH actually films after they choose a house. Then they go to 2 other comparable houses to shoot the also-rans. They never actually choose between the three houses.
I did see one ep a long time ago where the family looked all over for a house that would perfectly suit their needs, and in the end just added on to their existing house.
The absolute best Property Virgins ep I’ve seen was about a young-for-a-grandmother lady in Atlanta (IIRC) who’d never bought a house because of prior financial woes. She and her friend were just excited going through any house Sandra showed them – tickled about kitchen, bathtubs, closets, whatever, just happy. And the houses she was showing them were nice, good value, but not spectacular by any means.
Such a wonderful contrast to the spoiled, entitled just-out-of-college newlyweds she often has on, who cry bitter tears and threaten tantrums at the thought they might not get marble countertops and stainless appliances in a ready-to-move-in house that is already stunningly decorated. Twits.
I went in a house that actually had straw on the floor from when there were animals in the house. It wasn’t for sale, but damn animals in the house that require straw and kids toys in the same house are not good.
Popcorn ceilings often contain asbestos. It was all the rage back in the 70s. Abating/removing it is a mess, as it requires a lot of water and lots of scraping. Patching it is a royal pain in the butt also.
My favorites are the young couples who already live in a perfectly fine modern house (not an apartment, but a house with several bedrooms and bathrooms), but they want to have a kid so they need more room.
Reminds me of my grandmother, when we moved into this house in 1958. Grandma came from the “old country,” where a typical house was heated by a woodburning fireplace. She left all of that behind when she came to America.
The new house had a beautiful fireplace in the livingroom. She looked at it and said, “Maybe you could put a painting in front of it, to hide it.”
Oh, this makes me so stabby! I mean, you’ve got a young couple with one kid, in a three-bedroom house, and all of a sudden, because they want another baby, they need a bigger house?!?!? Srsly?!?!? How did my parents manage to raise five children in a 4-bedroom house?
Friends of mine own a gorgeous Gothic Revival built in the 1860’s. This is in Northern California where that type of house is pretty rare. (I think it’s the oldest house in the county). Recently they spent quite a bit of money restoring the exterior of the house, replacing/repairing damaged siding boards, copper gutters, one of those intricate Victorian paint jobs, etc. Now it’s on the market, since they have a baby and want a house without a steep and windy staircase.
At one open house someone wandered in and asked the real estate agent if they would be able to remove all the trim on the exterior of the house. There are like 7 bazillion stuccoed trimless monstrosities on the market, dude. F*ck off.
I can sit through most of the annoying stuff, like the squawking about granite counters, the stale jokes, and the buffoons who step into peoples’ bathtubs. I have to change the channel when it’s a young couple or single person who neeeeeeeeeeeds that enormous house. These people don’t ever seem to be in terribly high-paying jobs, yet they mince around talking about how they’ll have to rip out all kinds of perfectly serviceable things. I also don’t watch when they’re looking at bland new houses.
And does everyone really prefer every room to be painted brown or gray now? How depressing.
I wish we were on that show when looking at houses. We bought the crappiest house we looked at, because we saw the potential.
The first thing we saw after entering the house is a cat batting a piece of toast (with peanut butter on it) around the kitchen floor, trying to avoid the dirty underwear. We also found a kid sleeping in one of the closets, using it as an actual bedroom. Reality is so much more entertaining!
I can’t watch those shows, because seriously, YOU CAN PAINT IT ANY COLOR YOU WANT! And stop bitching about the furniture, it won’t be there!
There is always that place in London [?] that someone posted I think on the dope a few years ago… smallest flat in London I think - it was just over 2 meters wide, and built in a hallway or something absurd. Let me see if I can google it.
I always laugh about the contrast between the decorating shows and the home selling/buying shows. In the decorating shows they use really bright or bold colors like oranges and dark red but in the selling/ buying shows everyting has to be neutral, which is really funny when people are buying and comment negatively on the dark red or bright orange paint and the owners probably got the idea for that from one of HGTV’s other shows.
One thing I will agree on with the nit-pickers: I do not want to take down room after room of wallpaper. That’s neither fun nor easy and you could fuck up your walls real good scraping, scratching and gourging.
This doesn’t really contradict. You paint neutral colors to sell because you do not know what colors buyers are going to like. Just like you take down personal photos because buyers do not care to look at your family. You do not want your tastes to lose you a sale.
What amazes me about the shows is the fascination with granite countertops. Houses are rejected on a regular basis by prospective homebuyers because of their lack of granite countertops in the kitchen, or even because they didn’t like the color of the granite.
Head to Buffalo or Rochester, or check out any of the real estate Web sites for those cities. Intact 1950s/1960s kitchens are the norm, even in upscale neighborhoods. Even in new luxury houses, granite is a rare exception, not the norm; Formica is still king, and Corian is what you get when you want to show off.
Ever notice that those house-hunting shows are never set in the Rust Belt?
Yes. Most people decorate their houses with the plan of living in them for at least a few years. Paint is one of the cheapest decorating elements–so they should really express themselves.
When it comes time to sell the house, the paint job will probably be a bit beat up. Then, bring out the more neutral colors.
(I’m a big fan of the house shopping & staging shows–even though I’m Only A Renter. One valuable insight: Most places look better with less “stuff.”)
