HGTV musings

[Lisa loves Pooh]

The prices are made up too.

They did an episode with the couple looking at houses in our subdivision. We all wanted to know where these really cheap houses were, because there was no way you could find the houses they were looking at for their so-called budget. Several towns over, yes. But not in our area.

They were looking at houses that, if for sale, would be at least $450,000 - $750,000, yet the realtor was telling them the houses were around $250,000.

Also, because it is a small neighborhood, we could recognize what street the houses were on. The backyards did not match the houses. On one house, they showed a stunning mountain view, yet the house was across the street from a friend and there was no way they would be able to see the mountains from that yard. The view they showed was at the other end of the neighborhood.

It was so disconcerting seeing houses you knew, at the wrong prices and with different backyards.

I still love to watch, but now I know that nothing is what it seems to be on the show.

Oh wow!

I know some views are real because they do a full pan--unless they green screen.

But now I shall scrutinize the editing.

Such an odd thing to do for the sake of television. What is the point of that???

 

[POOHsie]

The vacation episodes get me.

On now, home shopping in Telluride with a $3 million budget.

I always wonder what these folks do for a living.

They are raking in the dough that their employees earned for them.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

They are raking in the dough that their employees earned for them.

Must be. Most expensive option and that is what he picked.
Copyright was 2009. I will guess that was the bubble price. He did buy it at $2.9, but I wonder if Telluride had a bubble burst like the rest of the country.

 

[goofy!]

Oh wow!

I know some views are real because they do a full pan--unless they green screen.

But now I shall scrutinize the editing.

Such an odd thing to do for the sake of television. What is the point of that???

It does seem weird to make up a view. Maybe the owners of the house wouldn't let the crew film their backyard? The house was never for sale, so it must have been recruited by HGTV. Or maybe the landscaping was a mess and they needed a backyard to fit the front of the house.

The couple ended up buying a golf course home in the next town over. That view was correct as we knew that house too. My husband golfs that course every week and my mother lives there. By the time they showed the episode, we had had a 1000 year flood and the course was ruined. It is still under construction a year and a half later.

 

[Deb & Bill]

It's not HGTV, but I love Buying Alaska on Destination America. The buyers get excited if they have an indoor toilet and running water.

 

[tcufrog]

The reason the homes on Fixer Upper are so cheap is because they are in Waco, TX. I wouldn't want to live there. It's too close minded conservative. Baylor University, which is the flagship school of the Southern Methodist denomination, is located in Waco. It's so conservative that they didn't allow dancing on campus until 1996. It was such a big deal it was reported in the NY and LA Times.

 

[POOHsie]

It's not HGTV, but I love Buying Alaska on Destination America. The buyers get excited if they have an indoor toilet and running water.

My cold tolerance has decreased with age. I shiver thinking about my mom living in an unheated home during the Depression, with an outhouse, in comparatively "balmy" Western NY. I couldn't take all the meager house fittings of the Alaska properties. Not to mention some of the "paths" those folks have to walk up to access their homes. It's not my thing, but I could understand its appeal to others.

 

[EMom]

The reason the homes on Fixer Upper are so cheap is because they are in Waco, TX. I wouldn't want to live there. It's too close minded conservative. Baylor University, which is the flagship school of the Southern Methodist denomination, is located in Waco. It's so conservative that they didn't allow dancing on campus until 1996. It was such a big deal it was reported in the NY and LA Times.

Baylor in Waco = Baptists. Southern Methodists have SMU in Dallas.

 

[tcufrog]

This is what happens when I reply to a thread when tired. My mother would be ashamed of me confusing the Southern Baptists and Methodists. I didn't go to Baylor because I liked to dance. I didn't go to SMU because I couldn't afford a nice enough car or the tuition for that matter.

 

[Aimeedyan]

double post - sorry!

 

[Aimeedyan]

This is what happens when I reply to a thread when tired. My mother would be ashamed of me confusing the Southern Baptists and Methodists. I didn't go to Baylor because I liked to dance. I didn't go to SMU because I couldn't afford a nice enough car or the tuition for that matter.

Baylor's theology has come a long way in the last 20 years, esp since it separated from the SBC and began it's own (moderate) seminary on site that competes with the (very conservative) SBC seminary in Fort Worth. Some of my most liberal friends are professors at Baylor now But it's still central Texas and yes with that, there will still be pockets of conservatism just like Fort Worth, Dallas, and other parts of the state/south.

I'm not a fan of casting sweeping generalizations about entire cities. There is a lot more to Waco than Baylor. Matter of fact, Baylor is so separate from most of the city that you only pass the campus when heading to DFW on 35. It's completely out of sight/out of mind otherwise. We lived there for several years and while Waco has some rich history, there are pockets of deep poverty.

Many of our friends have stayed to raise families there and find it to be very family friendly in its size and offerings. I'm a bigger city girl and itched to get out of there but I do see the draw for many. The lower cost of living is a definite plus! We love watching Fixer Upper because we recognize so much of it.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Some friends of mine were approached to be on House Hunters International. He had moved to Slovakia to marry her a year prior. HGTV (or whoever produces the show) was actively seeking stories in that area evidently because their realtor was approached.

Anyways, HGTV was going to pack up all their belongs, art on the wall, etc and empty their apt into a storage unit for the filming so the unit looked for sale. They just couldn't envision going through all that hassle for a TV show so they turned it down.

So, I figured that just like the US House Hunters, the International version is likely all just as scripted and fake. And that some people have lived there for a year (or more!) and they just move out temporarily and then "choose" their own house again.

Crazy!

 

[mrsbicewdw]

It's not HGTV, but I love Buying Alaska on Destination America. The buyers get excited if they have an indoor toilet and running water.

Puts things in perspective. lol

 

[bcwife76]

The thing with love it or list it is they never (or rarely) ever list it. I like love it or list too (the Canadian version). The "hosts" are much more personable.

Both Love it or List is shows are Canadian - the one with Hillary and David is filmed back east all over Ontario.

 

[bcwife76]

What I can't get my head around is home prices in other parts of the country. I'm in the Bay Area, Northern California. I see houses in Texas that are mansions that go for ridiculously low prices. Or great-looking homes in Ohio that are $100,000. Sigh. Home prices here are nuts.

Tell me about it! I live in the most expensive housing market in Canada, just outside of Vancouver BC. You can't buy ANYTHING for $110, 000, not even a 300sqft bachelor. What kills me is people on these shows "we make a combined salary of $150,000 and our house budget is max $225K" are you kidding me??? $225K will get you a 1 bedroom apartment if you are lucky about 30 minutes outside of the city. I need to move to the backwoods somewhere.....and people wonder why we have a 25 year mortgage.....

 

[mrsbicewdw]

Tell me about it! I live in the most expensive housing market in Canada, just outside of Vancouver BC. You can't buy ANYTHING for $110, 000, not even a 300sqft bachelor. What kills me is people on these shows "we make a combined salary of $150,000 and our house budget is max $225K" are you kidding me??? $225K will get you a 1 bedroom apartment if you are lucky about 30 minutes outside of the city. I need to move to the backwoods somewhere.....and people wonder why we have a 25 year mortgage.....

Where my parents live, $125,000 can buy you a mini mansion. Granted the job market sucks, the school system sucks, it's a small town, one stop light in the whole county. That's the trade off. Lol.

 

[sukhakuli]

One thing that gets me is how cheap the remodels are on those shows. We've been remodeling our house, and everything is so expensive. There's obviously some fudging there.

Where my parents live, $125,000 can buy you a mini mansion. Granted the job market sucks, the school system sucks, it's a small town, one stop light in the whole county. That's the trade off. Lol.

Exactly. Sure you can get a nicer house, but you have to live in those areas, too. I have a relative who bought her house for 35,000. I used to live in that town, and I tell you, no thanks! I'll stay in one of the most expensive cities in the nation. Cheap mortgages aren't everything.

 

[tvguy]

Tell me about it! I live in the most expensive housing market in Canada, just outside of Vancouver BC. You can't buy ANYTHING for $110, 000, not even a 300sqft bachelor. What kills me is people on these shows "we make a combined salary of $150,000 and our house budget is max $225K" are you kidding me??? $225K will get you a 1 bedroom apartment if you are lucky about 30 minutes outside of the city. I need to move to the backwoods somewhere.....and people wonder why we have a 25 year mortgage.....

You just have to shop around, they are there.
http://markdubin.ca/officelistings.html/listing.f1424994-14993-101a-avenue-surrey-v3r-0t1.43528638

 

[Darcy03231]

Wow, my master bath remodel was nearly what you paid for everything. And my bathroom is only 9 x 5. Of course my wife insisting on Corian in for the floor to ceiling shower surround and counter, and was close to $8,000 by itself.

I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't going to be living in the house anymore, or the cost would have been much higher! What can I say, I have expensive taste.

The house was 40+ years old when we sold and the kitchen (other than the floor) and the two bathrooms upstairs had never been updated. Anything would have been an improvement! The master bath was still harvest gold and that gold/brown color. We went with light, neutral colors (gray/white in the hall bath and tan/brown in the master). We bought inexpensive tile and fixtures (a lot of close out stuff). By the time it was done it looked like we spent a lot more than we did.

 

[izzy]

Is anyone watching Castle Hunters right now? The first castle (in France) was beautiful - except for the kitchen - and it was only $1.6 million.

When I win the lottery, I'm going to buy myself a chateau in France!