My wife and I watch a lot of HGTV shows: House Hunters, House Hunters International, Tiny House Hunters, etc. We also like Property Brothers, Love It or List It, Flip or Flop, and Fixer Upper. We enjoy seeing the kinds of houses people look at and buy, especially when they have big budgets.
And we enjoy seeing the people who are being shown these properties. It’s always interesting when the realtor asked the prospective buys what they want.
He wants a two-to-three bedroom, two bathroom condo or townhouse in the city near his job, a low-to-no maintenance yard, a man cave, a three-car garage, great views, near a golf course, and an open concept design. He prefers the clean lines of a mid-century modern ranch-style house.
She wants a single-family home with at least four bedrooms and three bathrooms in the suburbs, a big backyard for the kids, preferably with a swimming pool, a large modern kitchen with new, stainless steel appliances, a master bedroom with an en-suite and a large walk-in closet, and near their kids’ school. She loves the classic craftsman-style home or a Victorian, with a grand staircase and vintage details.
The smiling realtor asks the couple what their budget is and he says “$199,000 max.” She says that she’s “willing to stretch for the perfect house for their family — up to $300 grand.” The still (always) smiling realtor says, “I’m sure we can find something that will meet all of your needs within your budget.”
Then the games begin. The realtor always shows them three homes. One for him, one for her, and one that “may require some compromise.”
And there are three catchphrases that these potential home buyers on the various shows frequently say that just drive me crazy.
The first and the worst, in my opinion, is the buyer, often the male, who sees something he likes and gleefully says, “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” Really? I never heard you talk about “that” before. And the way their spouse or significant other looks at them when they say it leads me to believe that no one else has either.
And then there are those who are looking at houses that are priced maybe between $200,000 to $300,000. One of them gazes out of the living room window or steps onto a deck or a patio in the backyard and says, “Now that is a million dollar view.” No, it isn’t. Because if it really was a million dollar view, the house would cost a million dollars.
Finally, there are the ones who go into the master bedroom of the house they’re considering, point out of the window, and say, “Wouldn’t you love to wake up to that every morning?” No, because when most people first wake up in the morning, their blinds, shades, curtains, drapes, or whatever other kinds of window coverings they have are usually closed.
But still, my wife and I do love to watch these HGTV shows. And when the realtor asks about their budget and they say “a million to 1.2,” I turn to my wife and say, “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
This, That, and the Other 
Yeh I’d go with that budget. Then buy a much cheaper house.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I used to love to watch those shows as well. My hope is to never have to remodel again though. It’s a pain in the butt.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I used to love similar shows and those where run down properties were purchased at auction and then revamped. It was great to see the before and after photos.
We had limited funds to buy a property and knew that our money would go further in Lincolnshire. Our pot also had to cover all legal fees, immediate bills and furniture as we had nothing coming off the boat except a small coffee table, cooking pots, personal possessions and our clothes. Our brief was a detached bungalow, two bedrooms, garden and off road parking. Other things on our ‘wish list’ were negotiable.
The kitchen had a fitted electric cooker (turned out it didn’t work), gas hob, fridge freezer and washing machine, which saved us about £1000. We bought a new bed and mattress and our friends had given us 2 lounging chairs as they hadn’t liked them on their boat.
We didn’t count on having to replace the boiler (£2000 out of our pot) but we managed, buying things second hand to tide us over until we could save enough to replace them.
My sister has recently moved to a bungalow which is about 70 years old and cost more than twice the price of ours. After the sale of her 4 bed property and legal fees, she didn’t have enough but was lucky to have been left some money by her father in law.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the “Tiny Houses” ones, it satisfies something in me that says “Oh yeah. I could live like that”. (implicit eye roll and snorting from my subconscious). I’m a pack rat. I like to call myself a ‘collector’ but yeah. It’s pack rat status. A tiny house would quickly morph into something bigger and I do have claustrophobia. I’m trying to be content with what I have, because I love my townhouse/condo/twin home very much, it was designed to my specifications…but what one doesn’t consider when one finds “THE” house is that there’s always something that could become a huge annoyance, if one is exposed to it for long. My home’s back yard (which doesn’t belong to me apparently) faces onto a rig yard complete with diesel exhaust, screeching tires and air brake noise, clanging and banging as they park or pick up trailers, trailers with reefers that they leave running for hours and hours. At first I thought I could learn to live with it and to a degree I have, but it’s made my dream home into a house, not a home. AND. Small town living is great ‘on paper’ but there’s something to be said for larger towns and/or cities where one can find a variety of good restaurants (I like to eat out. I’m single and I’m ALLOWED). I also love ethnic foods and here? It’s meat and potatoes and fast food, with a couple of sketchy Chinese (both awful), and a couple of so-so “Mexican” places. *sigh* Always that fly in the ointment..
LikeLiked by 2 people
We watch some of these shows too, and we really like to compare the North American version with Australia’s. My favorite comparison is for the show (I don’t know the title in English) where one of the spouses wants to get a new home and the other wants to stay, and just have some renovations made on the old house…
In North America, the guy that has to fix the old home inevitably discovers major roofing or plumbing problems that HAVE to be fixed and make the building of the basement bathroom impossible. Drama sets in, people are distraught, it is the end of the world…
After a couple of years of that sort of tension, we expected the same from the Australian version… To find out that most of the time, everything goes smoothly, and after spending an hour of “it’s going to go down any minute”, the couple just ends up with two gorgeous houses to choose from, both being even better than they have been dreaming of, and (tadaaaaaa) within budget limits!
Just shows how we seem to like unnecessary drama, here in North America 😛 LOL
Happy 2019 a little in advance, dear Fandango! A happy new blogging year to you, good Sir! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
“one of the spouses wants to get a new home and the other wants to stay, and just have some renovations made on the old house…” That’s “Love It or List It.” Great show, lots of drama. Happy New Year, Cyranny.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Fandango 🙂 A happy New Year to you and your family too!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Why do I always feel that all of these people who can afford to buy these 1.2 million dollar homes are drug dealers?
LikeLiked by 1 person
The ones I know aren’t into drugs, they’re oilmen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Because that’s how they can afford expensive houses.
LikeLike
My favorite is Property Brothers. I enjoy it more than most tv shows. And chef competitions.😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
They must be offering nicer houses in that price range than they are around here. Because THIS house would go for around $300,000. It was worth more before 2008 and before things started needing fixing up. I guess other places are cheaper than here?
I keep our shades tightly closed. Who wants bright sun in their face in the morning? I even have thermal drapes in the bathroom!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like those kinds of shows somtimes. I also like Million Dollar Listing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know the shows are so scripted and fake but always end up watching because I love looking at homes in different areas. It drives me nuts when a couple is firm on a budget and the real estate agent completely disregards it and shows them a house that is thousands more. It is also amazing to watch international property shows and see how different the houses and the people are. For example, on Escape to the Country if the people don’t like something they are just like “oh its cozy/ pretty/ snug but maybe just not for us. They don’t throw fits about the paint color being wrong or something not having granite with the all white kitchen. I enjoy that more than all the snarkiness and eye rolling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s another show that I don’t remember the name of, an international one, where people buy various different kinds of properties because of their interests. One couple looked at homes where they could easily kayak — ended up buying one where a tropical river was right outside their door. Another episode involved a tropical house up in some trees.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds interesting, I need to go google that.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s amazing to me how people with very low budgets can be so picky and demanding. I am always amazed by the disparity in the cost of housing in different parts of the country (and the world).
LikeLike
Exactly, or when they go to another country and say they want to live like the locals but then complain how everything is so small or old. Then they expect their budget to get them something like a small mansion but in reality they can only afford a studio or a small 1 bedroom.
LikeLiked by 1 person