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When i first started watching house hunters years ago, they didn't have this contrived format. i think they really did follow potential home buyers during the initial process. i remember one episode in particular-it was in Atlanta and the buyer was a Mom and 2 daughters, they would show some of the houses they toured, and on the bottom they had a note "house #1", etc, the buyers were very picky and i remember there being "house #47" on one of them. i know there were some episodes where the buyers ended up not buying at all-like property virgins sometimes does. i'm guessing that's why they now pick people who are already in contract, so they can show an actual sale and not have to follow people around for 6 months with no payoff. i read somewhere that sometimes when they've signed up a buyer and they have to find 2 other houses to tour, sometimes they even tour the agents house!
I'm in Raleigh, NC. We make all the "best places to live" lists so we have tons of folks relocating here. And since that is the business I'm in, I know other Agents that have done the "House Hunters" show.
When they call, they ask if you have a buyer who has gone under contract or closed but hasn't moved in yet. That is why you usually can tell which home the buyers choose (it is empty).
Since contract to close takes about 45 days, and they want a buyer who has closed, it is possible that 2 other homes that the buyer originally looked at, have sold. So, sometimes they have to find 2 other homes for rejects!
Last year, one of my buyers had a home under contract. Builder called to ask if we'd mind being one of the rejects for the show. Buyer declined. She just didn't want her new home on TV. Her choice. Nice of builder to ask.
There was another show on HGTV called "Buy Me". Two agents at my office did that one. They had to do an Open House scene. It was a Tuesday so they called in relatives and friends of the sellers to be "potential buyers". They also showed the office in one of the scenes. We were asked to dress appropriately! Many of us just wear comfy clothes if we are going to be doing paperwork in the office but they wanted us to look more professional.
That is why I say most of these reality shows are staged.
House Hunters used to be less staged but now, the scripts are all the same. I still watch...love to see the houses, especially in different areas! I have an "addiction" to houses!!!
Last night there was a couple in Seattle who wanted a craftsman style bungalow. They both said they like houses with character and didn't want the typical Seattle modern box. They also insisted on a yard--he wanted it for a putting green, and she wanted room for the dog to run around. They were very firm about these things. They looked at two craftsman bungalows and a super modern box-like house.
In the end they bought the modern box-like house with no yard. They decided they liked this super-modern house with a 3ft sliver of ground for the dog to poop in.
last nights property Virgins, I know this is HH, but they are all the same concept....the couple fell in love with a house that was 100K over their budget, but she had to have it. She had to have an island, a loft and his and hers closets.
I get going over 5K, but 100, are you kidding me.
i would love to see thier faces on their first months bills when they come in.
mortgage
r/e taxes, gas
electric
gardner for the huge lawn.
Last night there was a couple in Seattle who wanted a craftsman style bungalow. They both said they like houses with character and didn't want the typical Seattle modern box. They also insisted on a yard--he wanted it for a putting green, and she wanted room for the dog to run around. They were very firm about these things. They looked at two craftsman bungalows and a super modern box-like house.
In the end they bought the modern box-like house with no yard. They decided they liked this super-modern house with a 3ft sliver of ground for the dog to poop in.
Sometimes buyers really don't know what they want! I had clients that told me they really wanted a contemporary house. After looking at a few, they didn't like the "boxy" look. I then took them to see a few newer traditional homes and that is what they bought.
People are funny. Sometimes they "think" they know what they want and sometimes I have to read between the lines and show them something "I" think they want!!!
last nights property Virgins, I know this is HH, but they are all the same concept....the couple fell in love with a house that was 100K over their budget, but she had to have it. She had to have an island, a loft and his and hers closets.
I get going over 5K, but 100, are you kidding me.
i would love to see thier faces on their first months bills when they come in.
mortgage
r/e taxes, gas
electric
gardner for the huge lawn.
love it.
i wonder how many ended up selling it.
Sometimes people start out telling you how much they WANT to spend. Then they start seeing what they want is going to cost more.
My clients search for homes and I search for homes and we compare what we find.
I won't send listings that are more than $5,000 over their price but they send me listings that are way over their ORIGINAL price point. I then explain to them that in our housing market, they won't get $20,000 off the price of that house so sometimes it isn't worth going to see.
Sometimes they are willing to spend more to get what they want and sometimes they just can't.
But $100,000 over their original price? No. Not usual.
Remember...the ONLY reality in this show is that these are REAL buyers and a REAL real estate agent.
The buyers have already closed on the house they have chosen (one of the 3) and have to go back to look at two others. The two other homes may not even be ones they considered originally but to keep the story going, there must be 3 homes.
Since there are REAL buyers, they are NOT actors! So...when they go into the homes, they are being told what to say (that is why they all seem to say the same things like..."this is a good space".
"Reality" tv is such a joke!
I have a friend whose home was used as one of the 2 not picked. What she can't figure out is where on earth they got the price for her home that was used on the show. It was not the price that it was listed for, nor was it the price that it went under contract for (it was under contract when the show was filmed). Both those prices were significantly lower. I knew this show was fake, but I never realized that they went as far as to doctor the price on the other two homes to make it look like there was really a choice.
I have a friend whose home was used as one of the 2 not picked. What she can't figure out is where on earth they got the price for her home that was used on the show. It was not the price that it was listed for, nor was it the price that it went under contract for (it was under contract when the show was filmed). Both those prices were significantly lower. I knew this show was fake, but I never realized that they went as far as to doctor the price on the other two homes to make it look like there was really a choice.
Since it is a TV show, I think they can pretty much do whatever they want, including telling the buyers what to say. That is why I say that the ONLY reality is that the buyers ARE buyers and the Real Estate Agent IS a Real Estate Agent!!!
Sometimes people start out telling you how much they WANT to spend. Then they start seeing what they want is going to cost more.
My clients search for homes and I search for homes and we compare what we find.
I won't send listings that are more than $5,000 over their price but they send me listings that are way over their ORIGINAL price point. I then explain to them that in our housing market, they won't get $20,000 off the price of that house so sometimes it isn't worth going to see.
Sometimes they are willing to spend more to get what they want and sometimes they just can't.
But $100,000 over their original price? No. Not usual.
at that point? why is there even a budget.
i dont understand though that when they say thier bdget, they always go right up to it, very rareley do they get a house below thier budget.
Also the girls, women, that all have to have granite ss, the whole 9, i wonder what kind of house they grew up in and did thier parents have an ensuite and a master the size of a football field.
I would love to see a re cap of a HH's that bought one of those hideous mcmansions and told us what the monthly bills were for their home and how much money they had left over during the month to entertain with, or how many of the couples got a divorce, or the big yard they wanted for the dog to run around in, only to find out the dog died.
or the complaints they got from the neighborhs when they keep having these parties in their back yards.
at that point? why is there even a budget.
i dont understand though that when they say thier bdget, they always go right up to it, very rareley do they get a house below thier budget.
Also the girls, women, that all have to have granite ss, the whole 9, i wonder what kind of house they grew up in and did thier parents have an ensuite and a master the size of a football field.
I would love to see a re cap of a HH's that bought one of those hideous mcmansions and told us what the monthly bills were for their home and how much money they had left over during the month to entertain with, or how many of the couples got a divorce, or the big yard they wanted for the dog to run around in, only to find out the dog died.
or the complaints they got from the neighborhs when they keep having these parties in their back yards.
If they're really dog people, they have a puppy or two playing in that yard. But yes to the rest. I know the realator who took the ex and I around wasted a day with everything overpriced. We finally said nothing selling for over this. We found what we wanted that way without having to waste time.
I think its a sign of today that these people expect instant perfection. When they say well gee we could do it but we have to fix this and this and this right away I laugh. I'll bet most of it a year in is just like they bought it, maybe with a coat of paint. Reality bites.
My inlaws and neighbors sued the people who bought the three lots on the other side of the fence over noise, light and property damage and won. They had to shut off the pool pump after ten and it couldn't come on until eight. They had to shut off the arc lights in the yard by dusk unless they had something going on, and the noise and light went away at ten. They had to give the neighbors money to rebuild the fence the broke while building, the one they put up nothing like what they destroyed. All backed up by city building codes. And a very determined bunch of neighbors. This should be a lesson to all who think they can ignore these things.
The show I really love is Rehab Addic. They stripped the last season one afternoon and I even recorded them incase there was something I missed. She didn't just by an older home, but a victorian which unless rehabbed was to be torn down. And she didn't make it look all nice and modern, but kept its heritage in tact, even reversing other redesigns. Now that would be my dream.
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