HGTV House Hunters

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by djkkt6

Why on earth would they do that?

I don't know. It almost seems like they had a pre-conceived price point they wanted to focus their show on or something.

[aragx6]

LK, I've seen the Edgewater show you mentioned. My poor SO hates that show and I insist on watching it all the time!

That is really weird that they would change the prices for the show -- do you think maybe they wanted all the prices to seem closer together to add to the drama? Or did they just scale them all down lower? Because that just makes NO sense.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by aragx6

LK, I've seen the Edgewater show you mentioned. My poor SO hates that show and I insist on watching it all the time!

That is really weird that they would change the prices for the show -- do you think maybe they wanted all the prices to seem closer together to add to the drama? Or did they just scale them all down lower? Because that just makes NO sense.

I think your parity theory makes sense.

My wife refuses to watch the show now because she thinks it's a sham. Here are a couple of other details:

1. The couple on the show had already purchased and moved in to their new condo before they filmed the show. The went back and filmed the show after the transaction had already taken place.

2. The three places they showed were not all places they actually looked at. And of course, they looked at MANY more than three places over a much longer period of time. So the showings on the show are completely fake.

[aragx6]

Now I'm sad

Obviously I knew they looked at more than 3 places, but it's crazy to me that some of the houses weren't ever even in contention!

[mr aztec]

Of course its a sham, the showings look like B movies--totally obvious acting. Can you think of a better way to film it? I can't. No one in thier right mind would look at only 3 houses, and it is too expesive for the film crew to film 20 visits.

I prefer to watch the show focusing on the seller's and their unrealisitic expectations--I think its Buy me or something like that. The other show--what's my house worth?--sucks.

[ajolotl]

It never occurred to me that they only looked at the three houses that are profiled on the show. Who on earth would buy a place after looking at three choices? That would make zero sense. I always imagined that they looked at 50, narrowed it to three, and those are the three they portray at the end of the process. I also imagined that the buyer might have had some sense apriori of which of the three they preferred but sort of acted out the decision making process. That doesn't bother me too much either.

This kind of crap is addictive though. Since ditching my tv a while back I have to say that after a short weaning process I don't miss any of that stuff. Hidden Potential was pretty interesting but I also never thought there rehab prices had anything to do with reality. The other day I saw the blonde woman and the wound-up architect Barry at the end of my block profiling a house in East Beverly. It made me a little nostalgic but I can't say I miss that too much either.

[OakBrookMom]

While I admit to being addicted to this and other house hunting shows, I always cringe when they pick the needle in the haystack. I have buyers now who wants the same thing except for less - 325K is their absolute max- 2BR/2BA with all the bells and whistles like granite, stainless, balcony/Parking included in the price, not extra/in-unit Laundry/taxes under 4K/assessments under 200 unless a health club then 300 maybe/all in Lincoln Park. So for them to see that show - they might now have hope that they can find what they want now not knowing that 350K is not the median price, it is the needle in the haystack price and their 325K is a dream - but I must say I love a challenge and have found 1 property with whole wish list and 1 with parking sold separately both under 330K and 2 others that are close but up at 350-360K. So you could do this show in a day because there really are only 3, maybe 4options in that price range fitting all the criteria. Notice at least one of the show's "options" didn't have parking - they couldn't even find 3 options to showcase with the whole wish list listed under 350K so they shouldn't be telling the audience that 350K is a proper price point in LP because then they expect that and it takes us time to dispell this myth and unfortunately that's my time and money, not theirs that's wasted (thanks for letting me vent). So I totally agree that they should give their viewers a more realistic view of the areas that they showcase because alot more people than they think watch the show for its informational value vs its entertainment value than they probably imagine. Will I still watch the show? - of course, I'm addicted, plus I have to "keep on top of the market" as defined by TV so I know where my clients are coming from, after all they are just trying to be "informed" buyers which I like in a client because they get the importance from both a personal & financial side and are engaged in the process. I just wish I knew if all their sources were "reliable" and it really disappoints me to know that they might have tampered with the listing figures on the show (let me know if anyone is able to substantiate that claim). Again thanks for the opportunity to vent.

[aragx6]

You're more than welcome to a good vent on occasion, but next time will you use smaller paragraphs ... your post made my head hurt.

[vandre]

Originally Posted by mr aztec

Of course its a sham, the showings look like B movies--totally obvious acting. Can you think of a better way to film it? I can't. No one in thier right mind would look at only 3 houses, and it is too expesive for the film crew to film 20 visits.

but... but... if it's on TV it has to be true!

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by aragx6

You're more than welcome to a good vent on occasion, but next time will you use smaller paragraphs ... your post made my head hurt.

Yeah. I didn't get past 'addicted' before I started getting a headache.