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I recently got cable T.V. after several years of doing without, and have been watcing HGTV, which I used to enjoy. However, the "House Hunters" show has gotten so monotonous, it's almost laughable. Do we all really have to have the exact same house? Whatever happened to individuality and character? Each and every show is the same - apparently no one can live in a home unless it:
- Has a place to "Barbeque". It's a freaking grill, you don't need some special "place" to do it!
- Has to have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Yes, and my mother just had to have Harvest Gold and Avocado appliances. Surprisingly, even in the absence of sterile looking "stainless steel", somehow we still seemed to have some truly great meals!
- Has to have hardwood floors. What's the freakin big deal about that?
- Has to be in the $300,000 to 1 million dollar range. I live near a major metropolitan area where homes actually exist in the $150,000 range. Single family homes. You don't have to purchase a 400 Square foot condo for half a million dollars if you don't want to.
I would love to see a "House Hunters" show where the homes have real character, the buyers APPRECIATE that character and have some style sense of their OWN, not opting for the typical "keep up with the Joneses" look, and they are priced reasonably in todays market. I'm sure I'm not alone.
Actually, the show(s) aren't about any of those things- it's about real estate in general. It's a peek-look at different parts of the country (or world) from a buyers perspective. And it highlights agents/companies.
It's a marketing juggernaut (HGTV's #1 rated show) and/or entertainment- and you went for it hook, line, and sinker.
But didn't it USED to truly be about buyers choosing the best home? It seems to me that the price ranges, styles and ages of homes, and buyers criteria were more varied when I used to watch it several years ago.
I agree montanamom. The show does a disservice to buyers, sellers, and realtors by being so bland and misleading of reality (or what I hope is reality).
There was a time when House Hunters somewhat showed differences in real estate depending on the part of the country (style, price, etc.), but now it seems that each house is so generic that one can hardly tell if the property is in California or Maine or Georgia.
I can remember when the show first started, the focus seemed to be on real estate in California. That was interesting to a point, but living in New England I eventually lost interest. The show seems to have moved on to other parts of the country, but I honestly don't see much variety in the real estate shown. The buyers themselves are quite generic, too, with each apparently looking for the same things -- is it reality that every buyer today must have ceramic tiles, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, beige paint?
Lifeless staged homes might look pretty, but honestly I want to see the seller's 10 pounds of stuff fitting into a 1 pound house so that I know that my 10 pounds of crap will fit, too.
I also don't care for the apparent idea, generated by the show's dialogue, that the typical buyer of today expects a completely renovated house regardless of its age ... the words "dated" and "needs updating" are in just about every show regarding bathrooms and kitchens. In my opinion, the only kitchen that needs updating is one in which cabinets and counter tops are broken or chipped or gouged - a kitchen from the 80s in great condition does not qualify for "needs updating". If a buyer doesn't care for the style of the 1980s, then move on to the next house, but don't say it "needs updating". Of course the 1980s house is "dated": it was built in the date 1980. What else does one expect?
I can't believe I'm the only house hunter with a simple checklist:
1) bones of the house - is it solid and does it feel right for me (and yes I can look past a fushia living room with chrome and black leather furniture or a sterile beige bedroom with nondescript furniture rented by a stager - good realtors doing their jobs well can help buyers see the house and not see the interior decoration)
2) cabinetry, counter tops, flooring - in good livable condition (age not a factor, after all I may change some things later to better suit my taste if I want to - first to go would be high maintenance ceramic tile, granite, stainless steel ... but wait, I probably wouldn't buy a house full of those things anyway)
3) size
4) location
House Hunters International is far more worthy of my attention. It's more interesting to see typical living styles in Holland or Bora Bora in contrast to what we Americans see in our homes. House Hunters International follows its true intent far better than House Hunters.
K'ledgeBldr -- I agree with you, too. House Hunters attempts to give a sneak peek into a buyer's world, but what it really does is focus on the home industries' desires for what they want to push and sell next. Hearing it enough makes real buyers watching the shows believe their simple checklists are complete oddballs.
You have to take everything with a grain of salt on HGTV as you have to keep in mind it's entertainment first. I agree it seems everyone is looking for the generic hardwood/stainless/granite houses and nothing else will suffice. Though having sold recently buyers are that extremely picky and it seems everyone wants that perfect HGTV/magazine house. The problem seems to be many people watch HGTV 24/7 like it's the mecca for everything housing. I think many people watch the shows and think they "have" to get houses that fit a certain criteria as many don't know what's "in" and not, and just get what they are told just like the avocado appliances you mention of the past.
The only actually decent show on that network is holmes on homes. Otherwise DIY network i think is far superior to a real housing type network, over HGTV which is nothing but "what house will they buy?" "who has a nicer kitchen" and complaining about decorating for the most part.
I recently got cable T.V. after several years of doing without, and have been watcing HGTV, which I used to enjoy. However, the "House Hunters" show has gotten so monotonous, it's almost laughable.
As an aside to your comments about House Hunters, I thought you might be interested in a little-known aspect of the show:
Quote:
For quicker turn-around, producers sometimes choose buyers who are already in escrow with one of the three locations shown. The other two choices that are filmed, are only shown to allow viewers the option of making the choice themselves.
It's so easy to fall into what K'ledgeBldr describes as "hook, line, and sinker". The incongruity of it all is that we watch Design to Sell and the designer/decorator paints an entire house beige for neutrality. Next on the channel we watch Color Splash that tells us not to be afraid of color and be bold because that's what is best and that's what we should want in our homes. Well, HGTV, which is it? Buyers are people, people are buyers, so are we supposed to like color or not like color? Should we paint our colorful house neutral and then have a buyer come in and say it's sterile? Confused and laughing (and not falling for it :-)
Holmes on Homes certainly does show some amazing scenarios. Makes me want to rip out my floors and walls to double-check that our builder knew what he was doing and didn't cut corners. But I do need to remind myself that it is entertainment TV, so the botched construction he fixes exists, but it's not the norm in the real world.
DIY does offer more 'education' to viewers about home improvement. A viewer can watch a young couple take a week's vacation to re-do their kitchen and by show's end the project has lasted far longer than that - that's reality, and what's demonstrated is that unexpected snags are encountered along the way that can completely throw off the schedule and the budget. That's how entertainment and useful education can be combined.
You have to take everything with a grain of salt on HGTV as you have to keep in mind it's entertainment first. I agree it seems everyone is looking for the generic hardwood/stainless/granite houses and nothing else will suffice. Though having sold recently buyers are that extremely picky and it seems everyone wants that perfect HGTV/magazine house. The problem seems to be many people watch HGTV 24/7 like it's the mecca for everything housing. I think many people watch the shows and think they "have" to get houses that fit a certain criteria as many don't know what's "in" and not, and just get what they are told just like the avocado appliances you mention of the past.
Agree with you on this...HGTV has made people extremely picky-picky-picky. I'd like to smack some of these potential homebuyers who whine about the bathroom wallpaper or the color of the paint in the kitchen/living room/bedroom. These are NOT dealbreakers, they're simply cosmetic. Sheesh...
I recently got cable T.V. after several years of doing without, and have been watcing HGTV, which I used to enjoy. However, the "House Hunters" show has gotten so monotonous, it's almost laughable. Do we all really have to have the exact same house? Whatever happened to individuality and character? Each and every show is the same - apparently no one can live in a home unless it:
- Has a place to "Barbeque". It's a freaking grill, you don't need some special "place" to do it!
- Has to have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Yes, and my mother just had to have Harvest Gold and Avocado appliances. Surprisingly, even in the absence of sterile looking "stainless steel", somehow we still seemed to have some truly great meals!
- Has to have hardwood floors. What's the freakin big deal about that?
- Has to be in the $300,000 to 1 million dollar range. I live near a major metropolitan area where homes actually exist in the $150,000 range. Single family homes. You don't have to purchase a 400 Square foot condo for half a million dollars if you don't want to.
I would love to see a "House Hunters" show where the homes have real character, the buyers APPRECIATE that character and have some style sense of their OWN, not opting for the typical "keep up with the Joneses" look, and they are priced reasonably in todays market. I'm sure I'm not alone.
Around here I wouldn't let my dog live in a home for $150k, average home price in our area is about $275K. In other parts of the country you can find a 2 bedroom bungalow with 700 sq feet for a million or more. You can't compare house prices across the nation. I am sure in your area our house would be close to a million but here it is a pretty average house, nothing fancy.
I don't think that HGTV has made people any more or less picky. Over the 20+ years we have bought and sold homes, LONG before HGTV was even around, people would discount houses for paint color, carpet color, etc. I see nothing wrong with wanting what you want, if you have the money to pay for it. That has been going on since people started buying homes.
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