Seriously. 7,500 square feet? That’s twice as big as my house, and we bought a house that’s big for us because we loved it so much.
Just for shits and giggles, I went to a real estate website and searched for houses in my county that were 7000-8000 square feet. This is the cheapest one I found. And I don’t exactly live in an expensive town.
I was also ready to shake her senseless. Paint is cheap. You can change faucets and light fixtures and drapes really easily. Start giving a shit about location and floorplan and yard size… you know, the things you can’t fix with a Saturday afternoon and a few bucks at Home Depot.
Also, the people looking for tropical vacation homes, and who say things like “oh, gee, the bathroom is so outdated” or “boo, white appliances”… you’re going to be there for like a month every year. You seriously can’t deal with that?
Those shows are bad for my blood pressure.
One thing I discovered as I helped relatives househunt and househunted myself is to tell the difference between something which should be fixed ASAP due to considerations unrelated to taste (drafty windows) and something which will lead to an un-neutered flat or house being listed as “needs reforms” but which is a matter of taste (original 60s tiles and faucets in bathroom and kitchen, paint color), and also between stuff I can fix myself or badger a Bro into fixing (ugly lamp) and stuff I better hire a professional about (piping).
Apparently most of the people looking for houses, and many of the people in those shows, have never learned those differences. I still like seeing the houses, though, and fantasizing about how would I decorate them.
I know! I was just doing an on-line search, and expanded my search radius: Put in my bedroom, bathroom, and price requirements (4+, 2+, and -$150,000 - we live in a pretty cheap housing market,) and this popped up… Practical me is saying “There’s no way in hell - look at all of the ongoing costs of a house like that!” Silly me is wondering how much it would cost to reface the cabinets, update the appliances ('cause the countertops look fine in the photos,) and take down all of the wallpaper. Of course, we’d have to put a bell on the baby to find her in that house! And really, would the extra 30 miles of commuting KILL my husband? And how good/bad are the schools in that county? 
ETA: And the house is more than 4x! the square footage we are living in now. With 3 kids, 2 adults, and 2 large dogs (German shepherd and great Pyrenees.) Makes me really crazy when a young, childless couple with a Yorkie say “Oh, we need more space!” when they turn their noses up at a 2500 square foot, 3 bedroom house!
I’m not a fan of extreme open concept. I’ve seen houses where the entire living space practically all one huge room.
I like a few walls to define the space. Twenty years from now, I bet open concept houses will seem so dated. People will be adding walls. 
LOL -
Let us see how fast granite and stainless are outdated.
There was a victorian shown on one of the shows that was fantastic. It made me want to use these Elmira reproduction appliances throughout the kitchen.
Rob and I agree, realtors would love us, we have no problem with the idea of paint, ripping down wallpaper, refacing cabinets, replacing servicable appliances after they die in a few years, and we would kill for corian or real butchersblock counters. We can replace countertops. And both of us really do not like granite and stainless. We can walk into a room, and ignore strange color combinations and odd furniture. Comes from looking at tons of floorplans over the years.
missed the edit - or what about the staging shows … recover MY furniture, PAINT a table? I don’t freaking think so. You want to stage, rent the damned furniture. Much of my stuff is antique thank you fery freaking much. You don’t like it, I will move it into storage but I am not freaking going to “spiff up” an antique and frell its value. Hm, paint a hepplewhite chair? fuck NO.
The house I grew up in is for sale. That was a great house to be a kid in.
StG
Yeh my memory is improving, because I remembered this old thread. Death to zombies.
that is the price range i would figure. 125,000 is unbelievable, although once i googled the town i understood.
you may have to go for it lacunae matata! the puppies need their own bedroom.
i don’t think the house i live in now breaks into the 1,000 square foot zone. houses on my street in philly are going for 250-300 thousand.
a house in philly that compares somewhat to that house runs several million, and no where near the amount of lawn.
stgermain that is a fantastic house. a bit out of my price range but just beautiful.
Put them up against the fuckin wall.
There’s a budget threshold for HHI in which I won’t even watch. Somewhere around $200k. Unfortunately lately they seem to be going waaay past that.
“Thurston and Tiffany are tired of the hustle and bustle of New York City, and are looking for a Carribean getaway where they can unwind. With a budget of two million dollars, can these rich assholes find everything they’re looking for??”
Gee, I really hope so. ::bites nails::
Older ones are asbestos trouble.
Sorry, didn’t realize this thread had been dug up from the depths.
I agree, that is one gorgeous house St. Germain! I bet that all of the architectural details made it pretty fun for a kid (banisters to slide down, funky little corners to hid in, etc.)
And wow: I hadn’t thought about the puppies needing their own rooms. Maybe that would help me convince my husband that we NEED this house!
Another illustration of the differences in markets, though: One of the less practical aspects of this house to me is the lack of outdoor space. Even our current rental house has about .6 acres of lawn (half fenced,) and is surrounded by a further acre of woods, and we live in a reasonably urban area outside of Savannah. The $82,000 house that my husband hated had over an acre of land in a well-established subdivision in a university town. 1/3 of an acre just seems so cramped!
Yeah, one of my co-workers is married to a nice Panamanian woman, and she laughs her ass off at HHI watching clueless people get fleeced because they must live in a gated community with other North Americans.
I really enjoy that, too - you can really see the dynamic between couples as they house shop. I love seeing the couples that communicate and compromise and are thrilled to show each other things in the houses that they know the other will like. I’m less enamoured of the couples where one member (and, honestly, it’s usually the wife) who can’t be pleased by any freaking thing.
I make the mistake of looking at listings in small Alberta towns sometimes - wow! We can pay cash for the entire place! Good thing, since we won’t be able to work with no jobs there…
My husband and I were both on the same page with our first house - it was a fixer-upper and in rough shape when we bought it, but it was lovely when we were done with it - took us about six years, and we did most of the work ourselves. Hey, send your husband in here - I’ll have a go at him. 
It’s seven times as big as our house, and we have rooms we don’t use now (two adults, two cats). 7500 sq. ft. sounds nice going in, but you have to clean all that.
FWIW, the woman in that episode has a fascinating blog. Her husband is actually in his late 30’s despite how young he looks. They’ve been together for amost 6 years and married for almost 3. Like you, I thought that the situation looked odd on HHI, but her blog gives a lot more insight into her character and the relationship.
Yes, and they feed lines to the buyers so they can build a story (e.g. this house is too expensive, this one is too small, this one is just right). Like all reality TV.
Took me forever to find a house because of my dogs. First thing was to go look at the back yard, if not enough land then the house was out no matter how nice. I did reject 1 house that had a nice acre back yard and a really small house. So small that my large dogs would have had a hard time going down the stairs.
I eventually walked into one backyard with a reasonable house and said I’ll take it! My realtor was very happy.