I should stop watching "house hunter"

Wisconsin Ann · #1 02/15/10, 04:27 PM

It's currently snowing and cold here. I'm worrying about affording the fencing for the garden and the rabbitry buildings...oh goodness...sigh... So what am I watching? 3 sets of people buying either retirement or vacation homes in the Caribbean.

Palm trees. Ocean front. Pools. Warm air. Sunshine. a coral reef. snorkeling...

The last couple I could watch and be happy for. THIS couple...I want to reach out and STRANGLE the wife. They're looking at this GORGEOUS place, (their budget is $800,000 for a VACATION home

) and as they look at a bedroom, all she can say is "I don't know..the furniture is white.." ARRRGHGHGHHH. Who the bleep CARES what color the furniture in the model house is? You're not BUYING the furniture YOU GIT! and even if it comes with the place....PAINT! ever heard of PAINT?

and now they're unhappy with having to walk from the parking lot to the house! It's 3000square feet, private, furnished, and ON THE OCEAN. Oh boy..now she's unhappy because it's a whole 50yrds to the beach, even tho the place is right above the ocean.

man...there's a WHOOOOLE other set of priorities out there.....

Well, guess I'd better go out and start shoveling before it gets too deep

AngieM2 · #2 02/15/10, 04:35 PM

Ann - I watch those shows, and some of them are showing some really lovely places. I get absolutely tickled silly when some of them say a 14 x 20 bedroom for the guest room is "tiny". Or a walk in closet the size of my growing up bedroom, is just a bit tiny and would hold only "her" shoes, etc.

Then seeing the ones in Europe, and seeing the Parisian apts and how little they are, and people are calling the spacious, etc.

Such an interesting contrast.

Angie

gonepostal · #3 02/15/10, 04:36 PM

I dunno...if I'm paying $800k for a house, I think I'd want it to be perfect, too, including the color of furniture that came with it. ;-)

Wisconsin Ann · #4 02/15/10, 04:55 PM

I found the one from a few days ago really interesting (comparing the European vs US). It was Finland, I think. or Netherlands? Young couple, 1 small kiddo. They were looking at $475,000 (over 1million of their currency) and they wanted to move to get a little more room. 900sq ft was HUGE! A backyard was worth more to them than larger indoor space...and they ended up choosing the slightly more expensive, smaller house...because it was close to her family! (and it had a nice backyard) That was just so interesting...hearing her talk about how important family is to the people of <whatever country it was>.

The couple with the big budget and wanting the color just right? me...I would have gone for the 3000sq ft single home....very private, ocean views right down to the reef from every room, 4 bedrooms, huge kitchen. BUT I figured they were going to go cheap. And I was right. They went for the condo that was only a short walk to the actual beach (probably as far as the other, but they could park right there at the condo) and it was $100,000 less. Kind of interesting. BOTH of them were wanting privacy. Each, individually, talked about how important it was to not see their neighbors...and yet, they chose to be in an apartment like place.

Pretty interesting show.

Now we have a girl (youngish woman) moving to Rome from NYC. she hates how small the places are. Wants everything painted, newere, larger...BUT she's realizing she has to be flexible. Change her attitudes. Wonder where she'll end up?

mrswright · #5 02/15/10, 05:02 PM

I love watching that. The one that gets me is bang for your buck. People spending $50,000 to redo a bathroom. Must be nice, don't think I will ever have to worry about that, and if I could I don't know if I would want to.

Wisconsin Ann · #6 02/15/10, 05:05 PM

hehe...you're SO right! If $50,000 fell into my lap, it would go to buy either more land, or a newer tractor and a concrete slabbed building for the critters!

The bathroom..well, it's not like I'm in there more than a few minutes a day!

Janossy · #7 02/15/10, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wisconsin Ann

The last couple I could watch and be happy for. THIS couple...I want to reach out and STRANGLE the wife. They're looking at this GORGEOUS place, (their budget is $800,000 for a VACATION home

) and as they look at a bedroom, all she can say is "I don't know..the furniture is white.." ARRRGHGHGHHH. Who the bleep CARES what color the furniture in the model house is? You're not BUYING the furniture YOU GIT! and even if it comes with the place....PAINT! ever heard of PAINT?

You sound just like my husband when he is watching the show.

MN Gardener · #8 02/15/10, 08:39 PM

I torture myself with those shows too....I just keeping hoping they put some real gardening shows home! Where's Paul James??!!!

chewie · #9 02/15/10, 09:26 PM

hehe, i am a watcher too--hi, my name is chewie, and i'm a house hunter addict...

i also love seeing the diff. between here and other countries--what they say is roomy is a pretty small space for our country's standards.

and those bathrooms they can 'relax in' ?? huh? i don't run home from a stressful day to hit the can?!!

Oat Bucket Farm · #10 02/15/10, 10:03 PM

I am a HH addict too. Hubby and I watch it all the time.

Most of the time I want to reach through the tv and smack the crap out of the idiots on there. OH NO! The walk in closet that is bigger than most peoples' houses will only fit my shoes. The five acre bathroom with the olympic pool sized,jetted bath has dated sinks and the giant kitchen with the custom carved cabinets doesn't have granite counter tops!The world is coming to an end! LOL.

The people on there are so funny to watch. If they only realized just how rediculous they sound. They are a married couple, not planning on having kids and they want a 500,000 sq feet, eight bedroom home where they can entertain the whole city.

On the flip side, you have people in other countries looking at places and calling them spacious when they are actually quite small. Its rather refreshing to watch actually. One thing I like about watching the international one is how neat some of the places look. The house hunters here in America shows us mostly a bunch of vanilla cookie cutter houses. In other coutries, you get to see some really unique places. I suppose some of those places in the cities over there may be cookie cutter to them, but to me they have lots of character that houses over here have a tendency to lack.

And bang for you buck? All I can say is that the idiocy of people with too money knows no bounds.

calliemoonbeam · #11 02/16/10, 01:26 AM

I haven't had cable TV in over two years, and the only thing I really miss is HGTV, lol. I love all those house hunting, remodeling, design on a dime, do it yourself sorts of shows, although I have to admit that the last time I had cable I had seen all of them three or four times and was so ready for some new ones. I miss the cooking and gardening shows too. I can't even get PBS here most of the time. One PBS show I miss had Rick Bayless on it, think it was called Mexico One Plate at a Time or something like that, all that food looked so delicious, even though most of it would probably be too spicy for me.

I do like seeing the shows from foreign countries, it's so interesting to see the difference in lifestyles, values, etc. I agree though, some of the places they call "spacious" (seems to be their favorite word on those shows, lol) are tiny compared to here, and every time they talk about their "huge" back yards and then it's like a postage stamp it makes me laugh, but also to realize how lucky we are to have acres and acres. One thing I especially noted on the foreign shows was how low all the doorways and ceilings are in most of them, makes me feel claustrophobic!

breestephens · #12 02/16/10, 08:42 AM

I was watching the one in Paris the other day. Those places were so tiny they could barely fit a single bed in the so called bed rooms. Thought about sending a few popup campers over there. They would have more room and I wouldn't even charge half a million dollars.

belladulcinea · #13 02/16/10, 08:42 AM

I've seen both of those, I watched the one where they buying the beach property too. I knew they would get the first one! But they did say at the beginning that they had been saving and planning for this for 10 years.

I just don't watch it as much anymore because I get infected with HGTV syndrome. And guess what, granite is now falling out of favor! Yeehawww!!!!

MN Gardener · #14 02/16/10, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by belladulcinea

I've seen both of those, I watched the one where they buying the beach property too. I knew they would get the first one! But they did say at the beginning that they had been saving and planning for this for 10 years.

I just don't watch it as much anymore because I get infected with HGTV syndrome. And guess what, granite is now falling out of favor! Yeehawww!!!!

I hate that granite was so popular! I was just at an appraisal class a couple weeks ago and the instructor was giving an example of what people want in a home and he asked me if I wanted granite countertops. I said "Heck no, I have five kids, I don't have time to clean up broken dishes and make sure the granite doesn't chip or stain - give me a highend laminate!". Needless to say his jaw dropped, he told me I wasn't the norm, asked another student and never asked me anything again! LOL Granite is overpriced and too high maintence for me.

fetch33 · #15 02/16/10, 09:07 AM

I look at the people buying property in South America and wonder who they think is going to save their million-dollar butt when TSHTF with some governmental coup d'etat?

fetch33 · #16 02/16/10, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MN Gardener

I hate that granite was so popular! I was just at an appraisal class a couple weeks ago and the instructor was giving an example of what people want in a home and he asked me if I wanted granite countertops. I said "Heck no, I have five kids, I don't have time to clean up broken dishes and make sure the granite doesn't chip or stain - give me a highend laminate!". Needless to say his jaw dropped, he told me I wasn't the norm, asked another student and never asked me anything again! LOL Granite is overpriced and too high maintence for me.

I am a nurse. Recently, we had a patient who used his granite counter to reach a light bulb in the ceiling.... well, he cut his leg to the BONE when he fell right through.

I imagine his hospital bill was probably bigger than the cost of his high-end counter top.. but probably not by much

pheasantplucker · #17 02/16/10, 09:55 AM

What amazes me is some of these young people who seem to have $350-$400 thousand to plop down on their first place...How in the H-e-double hockey sticks does someone under the age of 30 have that kind of dough???

Wisconsin Ann · #18 02/16/10, 11:16 AM

I've never understood the allure of granite countertops. Dish drops on it..it breaks. Cut an apple on it, the knife dulls. Scratches show. You're stuck with the thing for life. Weighs so much you have to upgrade the supporting structure...Gimme a nice butcherblock.

belladulcinea · #19 02/16/10, 12:24 PM

My dream kitchen would be all stainless steel, cabinets included where I could just close the doors, vacuum lock it and steam clean it! LOL

mnn2501 · #20 02/16/10, 12:48 PM

What I really hate is ceramic tile countertops. whoever thought of putting ceramic tile on countertops must have both a maid and a cook to keep them clean, or they go out to eat every meal.

I personally love granite