hgtv shows

does anyone else get annoyed watching hgtv shows about home buying. i feel like they make it look so easy and that things happen quickly (particularly on property virgins) AND how in every show they always ask for closing costs! that doesnt happen here!

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What? are you serious?

you didnt look at 3 houses and choose 1 in half an hour??

my favorite is house hunters international, where you see old people retiring to like, spain and spending "only" 700k on a 2x4 apartment

Message edited 9/2/2010 11:46:20 PM.

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what annoys me on those shows the most are the people with no vision, who HATE a house bc they dont like the color of the carpet, or the walls. Im always like, seriously? Just buy a can of paint!

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what bugs me is when they re-do an entire kitchen for only 1,908! their like these grantite countertops were only 97 cents

I am exaggerating, for the record. But you get my point. The budgets are unrealistic for many homeowners. All this being said, I am obsessed with HGTV =)

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I think the way they get away with a lot of stuff on those shows is that the labor cost is part of the show so they are only calculating the cost of the item minus any contractor discounts they can get. They also give "free" advertising so that gives them a huge discount as well. I wish they would give a more realistic budget when they do things or at least give sources for things on the web.

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Don't get me wrong.. i LOVE HGTV and watch it religiously
But...
I do have a problem with many of the shows where they do makeovers and they make things look so 'easy'. I think people watching the shows get an unrealistic sense of what it actually takes to do some of these projects correctly, and therefore end up thinking they can do it themselves, when in reality it's a ton of hard work and takes more than 1/2 an hour to do it safely and properly. Our contractor said he's done a ton of jobs where he's had to go in and 'fix' things that people attempted to do themselves, because they saw it done on tv and thought it was easier than it really was.

I also feel like they create a lot of accessories and furniture pieces out of shoddy materials that might look good for the 'reveal' but won't last beyond a few months of use. (i.e. on Designed to Sell, or Design on a Dime). Because of what i see on these shows, i'm very wary of flipped or staged houses.

But i Divine Design and would give anything to have Candace Olsen come and do just one room in my house! That woman is a goddess

Message edited 9/3/2010 8:21:16 AM.

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With a lot of the house hunting shows, the property has already been purchased and the home owners are about to close when the show is being taped. The other houses they look at are just for the show.

On House Hunters, you can usuallyt tell immediately which house wins by the walk through. Like Eddiesmommie stated, the house hunters walk through one house saying "oh, I don't like purple walls and really want hardwood floors" but when they get to the house they already bought it's all "We can just paint or rip up the carpet, that's easy enough to do."

Otherme, I completey agree with you about Candace Olsen. She can work magic in any room.

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I love yard crashers and waiting to run into Ahmed so he can redo my backyard. It needs crashing

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i love candice also....how much do you think she costs to hire?? lol

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from what i gathered from people in other states, NY closeing takes the longest becuase of X, Y and Z

Others states on avg close much quicker (if no problems arise)

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as far as makeover shows candice is awesome...her stuff never looks cheap, all the furniture, paint, floors, walls look like they have been done to perfection...on shows like colorsplash, deisign on a dime, designed to sell etc. i always notice really bad paint jobs on the walls, moldings and cabinets - and a lot of things look like they were done half a$$...some people don't notice but i look for that stuff and i always notice

i like watching makeover shows for ideas but i would never want any of those people in my house - except for candice, her rooms are always classy, they always look expensive and done to the T...

house hunting/property virgins entertains me, i like to see what the houses look like in other parts of the country and world...unrealistic but i watch to see the houses only...

Message edited 9/3/2010 1:11:52 PM.

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a friend of mine tried to get onto house hunters recently and spoke to the producers often. he was just about on it....at first he was looking but by the time they were seriously going to put him on he was in contract...turns out THAT DIDN"T MATTER...they would have made it look like he was just considering the house and faked the whole contract negotiations part. i guess that is why it can look so easy!

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Ehh, I have to say I am a sucker for a lot of the shows- they are just really entertaining to me.

But I hate when people who are not from NYC walk into closets and say "oh no, this is way too small." Meanwhile the closet is the size of my bedroom! lol.

I always say people should be required to live in NYC for a year to truly understand the meaning of a "small closet".

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Posted by zuzuspetals

what bugs me is when they re-do an entire kitchen for only 1,908! their like these grantite countertops were only 97 cents

I am exaggerating, for the record. But you get my point. The budgets are unrealistic for many homeowners. All this being said, I am obsessed with HGTV =)

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We were watching an episode of Property Virgins last night. The couple needed to put down a little over $10,000 at the closing...they were borrowing a little over $8,000 from their parents and said there was NO WAY they could come up with the extra $1500. How can you possibly buy a house without having $1500 available to put towards it?

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Property Virgins and House Hunters annoys me so much when people complain abt paint colors and carpets.
I love international house hunters though. Esp the ones in the caribbean.
My 2 favorites are Divine Design and Income Property.

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I know, DH laughs at me because i'm always yelling at the tv. My favorite was when a realtor knocked on the couples apartment door and said, "Congratulations, you've just closed on your house." and handed the keys over to them.

ETA: or when a couple who lives alone want to "downsize" and complain about a 4 bedroom 3 bathroom

Message edited 9/3/2010 11:03:46 PM.

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I hate that House Hunters is always in Chicago, TX and Atlanta! Why dont they ever come to LI? I guess no one would be interested in the inside of a small 1970's house that costs 400-500k!

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Posted by Danyell48

My favorite was when a realtor knocked on the couples apartment door and said, "Congratulations, you've just closed on your house." and handed the keys over to them.