Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have seen the show. It's great...however for "TV appeal" I do not think it will last very long. Americans want a "feel good story, not a down in the dumps story"
This is not a "Down in the dumps" story. It indicates that our free market is not broken or rigged, at least not completely. Property values can come down!
If you don't own property, that is a feel good story.
I live in the area and as such find it interesting, but I'm not sure how long it will last, just because it's the same story over and over.
Stale listing on an underwater house purchased near peak, sellers have to move and are doing all they can do justify their price (even in the face of fairly strong evidence that they're overpriced via comp tours).
Mike tells then they have to drop their price, they cannot afford to bring that much cash to closing so at the end of the show (the episodes I've seen, anyway) they opt to rent it out instead of selling.
It is definitely reality, here and everywhere, and interesting both in terms of the real estate market and the social dynamic, but I sort of feel guilty enjoying a show based on others' misery and financial ruin. I know that Mike will tell them they're overpriced, they'll be stuck without the cash to sell, and unhappy decisions will follow.
I have yet to see a real kitchen that can be accurately portrayed on a TV screen -- even the biggest ones make it real hard to get a sense for the scale of things like the distance from fridge to sink or the views out through the windows and into other rooms.
Yeah, that could be, maybe the inferior kitchen was actually superior, it is really hard to know what is "really" going on on TV. Not only what is on camera, but also how it was edited.
I guess after watching the show, if I was Aubrey, I would try to get the sellers to understand the big differences between the house & comps. Basement in one show, parking in another show, and that these could be $20K+ differences. He is obviously successful at what he does, so i shouldn't critique, maybe it is just a personal preference...or maybe I am a softy after watching too many HGTV feel-good shows. As an aside, I like Design Star and love how Vern Yipp goes from the nice-est guy on his show, to being more forthright on DS.
This is not a "Down in the dumps" story. It indicates that our free market is not broken or rigged, at least not completely. Property values can come down!
If you don't own property, that is a feel good story.
Nice counter point -- I personally do try and remind folks that over the LONG HAUL there are good indications that owning real estate can make financial sense for most folks, but it is easy to forget that for those on the sidelines there are definite periods when "jumping in" seems like a suckers bet.
If potential buyers see the pitfalls of "buying stupid" / having negative equity that is sortuva an overall feel good. (and then there is the schadenfreude of seeing some other smuck that is getting taken to the cleaners becuase they did not "buy smart" and must now also "sell stupid"...) washingtonpost.com
I also live in the area and enjoy watching the show partially because I know where some of the homes are. It's interesting how so many people are blind to anything but what their taste is. On one episode a homeowner suggested that the fireplace in the comp was a negative thing because "what if the potential buyer has kids?" It may be a negative to that homeowner but for most a fireplace is a plus.
Mike could do a better job of stating his ideas and opinions to convince the homeowners of the real value of their homes but I suspect that the homeowners might be being encouraged by the producers to be overly critical of the comps to create more drama.
I find the show interesting but don't think it will last too long.
....... but I sort of feel guilty enjoying a show based on others' misery andfinancial ruin. I know that Mike will tell them they're overpriced, they'll be stuck without the cash to sell, and unhappy decisions will follow.
I have not seen all the shows. The ones I viewed were about entitlement, ala "I want what I want, when I want it."
yeah the person last night who was arguing that having a fireplace was actually a detriment to selling was a bit cookoo. I mean these people really are in DENIAL. I do wonder about the comps though, i mean he's only showing two, I'd like maybe three.
I love it, but I agree, it is the same story every time. Not sure how long it will last.
It is natural for people to defend their home, their children, their pets... The "my house is better than yours or his" goes back to the end of time. If you bought stupid and you have to sell stupid....the optimum word is "sell" and you won't. Buyers are so much smarter than sellers seem to think. I don't care if they are buying a home or a refrigerator....buyers want value. Their idea of value is obviously not the same as what I seller thinks. Mike Aubrey is riding a loser and I agree the show will not survive.
This is a very interesting show, but I think Mike is being primed as an "anti-hero". He really does say things that jab at the sellers and cause them to defend their homes in an emotional manner. Also I saw him on another HGTV show and the moustache was even, on Intervention it's noticeably crooked.
Dare I say "hitleresque"? (Name not capitalized on purpose!) Its almost like the producers want us to kind of hate him and identify with the sellers. The guy who needed to sell to merge lives with his new wife seemed unbalanced. Was that the guy who thought fireplaces were a downgrade? I do think Mike is a good guy who is trying to give a needed wake up call to the homeowners, but this show goes into reality TV territory, more than similar HGTV shows.
The main lesson to lesson to learn from this show is this:
1. Homeowners who were financially sound (had savings) even though they were underwater, could get out. IE, the U street couple who purchase in 2006 and did a ton of renovation but still had to bring about 40-50K to closing.
2. Homeowners who were not financially sound (either had to rent out of desperation, or stayed put in their home, or had to try for a short sell) One story focused on a Baltimore single woman who did the option ARM and now was about 40K "underwater" on her home.
3. Dont' cash out home equity or refinance into a higher mortgage (the couple outside of Baltimore) who purchased their home over 10 years ago for about 170K, but now owed 200K on their mortgage on a home that can't sell for more than 200K (plus they have to pay real estate commission and transfer taxes...they did not have the money to cover those fees and were stuck.
Personally I don't think it's denial, it's that a lot of these homeowners can't financially afford to sell or don't want to dig deep into their personal savings in order to cover their losses.
No one likes to lose money on a sell of a home. I lost a butt load of money (six figures) on the sale of my home last month. But I was very realistic about selling. I simply used the lowest selling price of my competition and undercut them. I managed to sell (from listing date to close date took 90 days). So I accomplished my goals. But my two main competition homes had to pull their homes off the market. Guess what, since I lived in a newer development, the builders dropped the priced of a similiar home that I just sold by another 30K, right after I closed on the home on July 31st (because the builders are trying to make the Sept 30th Q3 deadline). It's scary.
Again, as the other poster stated, in a declining market, you worry most about how long your house has been on the market. One of my competition's house was on the market at the end of 2008. They easily could have sold for 580K but they wanted 620K (because they wanted to break even). The "comp" home that just sold near the end of 2008 was 580K. That's the figure they should have targeted at that time.
Fast forward to end of July 2009, I ended selling my home which has more upgrades than theirs for 500k. They still had their home listed for 550K before pulling it off the market. Mine was listed a lot lower than theirs to began with. That's how scary a declining market is (especially in neighborhoods where there is new construction and builders lowering the prices anytime they want).
Last edited by aneftp; 08-31-2009 at 07:06 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Good point!
