House Hunters, please Buy Me: real estate shows

[csmolko]

dis said:

House Hunters is faked. The people are already under contract to buy one of the three homes, the other 2 are selected for them to look at by the show. Which is sometimes why they look at a house that would clearly be perfect for them and then reject it in favour of something else. Also why sometimes in the house they are supposedly looking at you can already see some of their furniture.

Wow, I had no idea. That does make more sense though, because they do often seem to not pick the one that would work best for them.

[eveschmeve]

Mr. Schmeve is obsessed with House Hunters, so we watch it all the time.

Although I recently found out that Suzanne Whang does stand-up comedy. Not only is it stand-up, but her shtick is to play a recent Korean immigrant who tells incredibly racist and sexist jokes. I cannot watch House Hunters in the same way anymore.

Here is video of her act.

[grumpygirl]

dis said:

God, I love that jerk on Selling Houses.

Plus....the show where they only look at 3 houses, and then pick from those? Is that really how people do it? We have looked at over 150 properties in the Buffalo area in the past 2 years. And we're only on the 2nd one. Am I just totally jaded by the amount of research/time/etc we have put in? Or does paint color on the walls really sway that many people?

House Hunters is faked. The people are already under contract to buy one of the three homes, the other 2 are selected for them to look at by the show. Which is sometimes why they look at a house that would clearly be perfect for them and then reject it in favour of something else. Also why sometimes in the house they are supposedly looking at you can already see some of their furniture.

Really? I had no idea. Geesh, that sucks.

They're done Curb Appeal at some houses in the D.C. area and there was an article about one person's experience with it and how you have to be responsible for everything although the show acts like they helped find the designer, etc., they really don't. Also you have to sign a contract to keep your appearance the same since they come back over a long period of time to film clips with the host. They just did an episode with a house a few blocks from us and it came out really nicely. (LINK)

[Deleted]

I cannot believe that Suzanne Whang video! WTF?? I kind of love that she is much more multi-dimensional than I ever gave her credit for, though. And I am pretty much completely fucking heartbroken than House Hunters is fake. What an emotional rollercoaster this thread turned out to be...

[Deleted]

mulva said:

I cannot believe that Suzanne Whang video! WTF?? I kind of love that she is much more multi-dimensional than I ever gave her credit for, though. And I am pretty much completely fucking heartbroken than House Hunters is fake. What an emotional rollercoaster this thread turned out to be...

Hee!

[Deleted]

I have a strange love of the show House Hunters. I always thought it was staged, so I'm not disappointed to get definitive proof that it is.

I often hate some of the couples so much that I wish the deal would fall through and they would be homeless. I think the couples that bug me the most are the ones who are getting married soon and just must have that 4000 sq. ft. home that mommy and daddy are putting the down payment on for them. The next most irritating couples are the ones who act as if paint is a permanent feature of a home.

[Deleted]

The space thing really bugs me. I guess it's because living in a city, most people manage just fine with 1,000 square feet. Some even have children. But people with one baby will be like "Only 4,000 square feet? that seems small" and they'll look at a giant bedroom with double closets and say "No walk-in? This is just too small for us." Or "Oh, it only has a 2 car garage? And the backyard is only 1 acre? Hmmmm. I don't know if all of our stuff will fit here."

You have too much stuff then. How much space do you honestly need to take up on this planet?

[grumpygirl]

jensational said:

The space thing really bugs me. I guess it's because living in a city, most people manage just fine with 1,000 square feet. Some even have children. But people with one baby will be like "Only 4,000 square feet? that seems small" and they'll look at a giant bedroom with double closets and say "No walk-in? This is just too small for us." Or "Oh, it only has a 2 car garage? And the backyard is only 1 acre? Hmmmm. I don't know if all of our stuff will fit here."

You have too much stuff then. How much space do you honestly need to take up on this planet?

Another thing that bothers me about the super houses (aka Garage-Mahals) is that they use so many resources. Can you imagine heating or cooling them and how many tons of coal that takes a year from the old electrical plant down the road?

[woodchipper]

Mr Woodchipper and I have been watching these shows for the last few months while we were in the process of finding a house. I do love Buy Me because it's not all fluffy bunnies and rainbows. We particularly enjoy the homeowners who insist on overpricing their home or not repairing/cleaning/updating anything and then don't sell it (it's like virtual revenge for us). I used to like House Hunters more when they would have on a person or couple who weren't buying a giant house but a more modest place. They once had on a single mother who ran a daycare out of her home who was able to buy a small, plain house that fit her needs and budget and who was so happy about it. I'm sick of the giant houses with 1 bath for every bedroom, multiple walk-in closets and 5 car garages - for 2 people.

Has anyone else ever watched TLC's My First Home or HGTV's My First Place? I really enjoyed them, mostly because they showed the home buying process warts and all.

[Deleted]

I haven't watched the HGTV one but I have seen the first home one on TLC. A lot of those people have no business buying a home.

I felt like we were in bad shape because we did 100% financing but we had great credit and good salaries and bought way under what the bank was giving us a loan for. And we covered our own closing costs.

But I'll watch this show and it will feature a couple who's not married yet and has only been together for less than a year, has a combined income of $40,000, poor credit, and no money saved for closing costs or moving and they'll be looking at houses for $325,000. Oh yes, this will end well.