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I grew up in Sunnyvale and Milpitas - and I can't get over how crazy expensive the houses there are now, especially where we used to live in Sunnyvale (near Hwy 237, Mathilda Ave, and Hwy 101).... like over $1.5 million for 65+ year old small houses that are at best 3 bedrooms. I doubt the executives from Google and Facebook want to live in that neighborhood unless it's greatly improved since we lived there (it was kind of a ghetto when my parents first bought the house in 1974 - and it doesn't look that great on Google Street View).
How do regular (non-tech millionaires) people afford to live in the Bay Area? I never could afford the rents so that's one reason why I moved away as soon as I could. Even if I could get a job at one of those tech places and be able to afford the housing, there is no way I'd ever want to live there again.
Back to the thread - we were watching an episode of Tiny House Hunters (or Tiny House Hunting - don't remember which) and this couple had the most selfish wife I've ever seen. She was an aspiring writer and she "had" to have a tiny house with an area where she could do her writing. The one they picked was pretty far from her husband's job, didn't have a spot for the kid to sleep, but had a writing area for the wife - and had a ladder which the husband didn't want - he wanted stairs. This was to be their full-time residence - not like they were buying a writing studio type of place to put in their current back yard.
A friend of mine lives on Borregas Avenue, so I know the area well. Sunnyvale and Mountain View used to be very reasonable. A lot of the reason the houses are going for astronomical prices is due to the land and the proximity to FB, Google, Apple, el al. The quality of life in general in all aspects is poor for most. I cannot wait to move out of San Mateo (been here since January 1975). It's not even the cost for me - it's the density, smog, jammed up surface streets (Mathilda backs up for miles going west).
One good earthquake and thousands will scatter, just like Loma Prieta.
I envy you for moving out of the area.
I wish I had seen the Tiny House Hunter episode. Living for one, but husband and child(ren)? I wouldn't last a year with dependents in a tiny house unless I lived alone with my pets.
Tonight's couple is in Bern, Switzerland, where the husband is pursuing his Ph.D because the wife has "always wanted to live in Switzerland," hence the only reason they moved there from Tucson.
The wife incessantly whines about wanting a second bedroom. I stopped counting how many time she said "I want a two bedroom apartment" in the first seven minutes because she was not going to stop. The poor husband needs a shorter commute to the university, which he too has been grousing about. They saw a two bedroom at last - 40 minutes away from the University. Wife said, "I don't care, if he doesn't like it, he can be a bachelor in Bern." Huh?! He expressed his concern about the long commute from the two bedroom and that it was out of their budget. She said "An extra $250 for a second bedroom is worth it" not hearing a thing the husband had been saying about his commute and finances.
She's not working, they have a very limited budget, so she reluctantly gave in to a one-bedroom BUT she gleefully picked out the furniture, and he paid for it. On top of everything, wife complained that the apartments they saw were "too old" (it's an old European city - duh!!)
The House Hunters producers need to perform heavy editing before airing some of its episodes. Entertaining, but not for the right reasons!
Gosh, I love to share in this forum. Thanks!
I saw that one! You're right, she was insufferable. But it's not just wives. I was watching Love It or List It today. Wife, husband, two young kids. Wife works, husband stays at home with the kids (which is awesome, BTW). But he absolutely insisted on having a music room. He already had one, but he wanted a bigger one that was soundproofed. This is just a hobby of his, mind you, not any kind of lively hood. The designer was trying to explain to him that there was no way she could expand the kids' bedroom or master bath (which was kind of pitiful and needed an overhaul) and give him a new music room (granted, he still would have his old music room) with their budget. He was like a petulant child stomping their feet saying, "I don't care about my wife and kids, I want a new music room!" It was painful to watch.
With "Love It or List It," the script has to have someone stomping their feet about something completely absurd, so that they have the required drama where they have to "find" the money to solve the problem. Or, they leave something off the low budget for the renovation with the exceedingly unrealistic complaints as it's formulaic.
I saw one episode recently where the couple had a 1930s vintage colonial in an established neighborhood, with mature landscaping and a unique neighborhood that evolved over the decades. They were shown new builds or recent builds, none of which would work for them as they were not in the same neighborhood, which seems to be a hot topic with that show, nor did they have the character of their current home. The husband wanted to stay and the wife was complaining about everything, per the script, yet there was no way they would leave that house and neighborhood for one of the less character-filled boxes that David was showing them throughout the show.
I have been watching the "Escape to..." series of British house hunting shows again, as I have seen them when in England, but now Neflix has collections of them. They are so much more realistic, and have a premise, but the show is not a formula. They do not have the gender wars about closet space, etc. That show is very well done, and I would recommend it as a real house search program, where some buyers may not buy, but that's okay, and they are shown what meets the budget, give or take, and preferences.
I watched the "House Doctor" on Netflix, too, and it was a situation of trying to merge the LA staging style with properties that would not sell. It is okay, and the show is focused on quick fixes and staging to move stale listings, not renovations or redesigns. I did see the episode mentioned above about the Edwardian period cottage that had painted cabinets. The cabinets were not original units, and were from the 1970s, so I could see why they were painted. That kitchen was a gut job, anyway, with the need for a fitted kitchen, but the host cannot do that for a couple of thousand in the budget. It had mismatched appliances, and the range's cobalt was a signature color, but others were hidden beneath the counter by a curtain arrangement. I don't think that anything integral to the house was ruined, as there were not enough cabinets for a modern kitchen, and nobody wants an Edwardian kitchen today, so a fitted kitchen would likely be included with the new purchaser.
I had to laugh when I was looking at houses a few years ago. I wanted a specific area in LA and a specific type of property. The agent showed me something completely wrong with a huge closet, a family home, because my then girlfriend had said that she wanted a house to grow into with children. She did the old joke about closets in the MBR and I lost my patience with her. I said "I think that I have more shoes and clothes than she does because I travel extensively and need clothes for all seasons, not just LA." That stopped the agent and her inane banter in her tracks, but she was a stereotype of the agents on the HGTV and similar shows. I did not purchase that house, and when she called to follow up a couple of months later, I delivered the blow that there was to be no commission from me in her future because she had gone behind my back and listened to a girlfriend, to whom I was not engaged, and who was not involved in the purchase whatsoever. As a result, the relationship soon fell apart because of an argument that was precipitated by this agent overstepping her bounds and forgetting her relationship, especially as she was a buyer agent. My relationship dissolved over the house I was shown, and the stupid closet joke that is tired and played out in every iteration. I could only imagine the fights if the house search shows were actually real explorations of available homes, as they would have crossovers with divorce shows.
I tried to watch Joanna Gaines' show again the other day, since I wanted to see if anything had changed, not with the show, or its premise, but with the means through which they redesign the house for the client. Her style is her signature, but it's her style, as has been pointed out in this thread, not reflective of the clients or their actual homes. There was one a couple of seasons back, where they did a home for a physician and his family, on the lake, and they actually used their furniture in the reveal, not the staging from her catalog of wares at her brand's store/site. I remember that because they recovered his chairs, and that was a reveal point. That was far more interesting, than the same giant clock, shiplap, distressed wood furniture with import metal accent lanterns that seem to populate every house in Waco. I do think Chip tries to hard to be a "personality," and I do like the premise of the show, but the cross promotion that takes a page from Martha Stewart who sold the products on her show, etc., tends to limit the authenticity and interest in the renovations/furnishing.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
I didn't regularly watch HGTV when I HAD a TV, but I remember this one show, "Moving UP" ?? or something like that - 3 couples, first is buying their first home, second (owners of first home) are buying a better home, that is owned by third couple who is also "trading up.
Anyway second couple's home was COVERED with stencils that the wife had lovingly done and was quite proud of. (This was many years ago). Naturally the young couple that bought the home was like - "The stencils have GOT TO GO!"
The big reveal when the previous owners come back to see what the new owners have made of their house - Stencil lady had a look on her face like someone had murdered her pet poodle and turned the hide into a sofa pillow. Funniest thing ever.
The big reveal when the previous owners come back to see what the new owners have made of their house - Stencil lady had a look on her face like someone had murdered her pet poodle and turned the hide into a sofa pillow. Funniest thing ever.
People do tend to think their taste is liked by all
I didn't regularly watch HGTV when I HAD a TV, but I remember this one show, "Moving UP" ?? or something like that - 3 couples, first is buying their first home, second (owners of first home) are buying a better home, that is owned by third couple who is also "trading up.
Anyway second couple's home was COVERED with stencils that the wife had lovingly done and was quite proud of. (This was many years ago). Naturally the young couple that bought the home was like - "The stencils have GOT TO GO!"
The big reveal when the previous owners come back to see what the new owners have made of their house - Stencil lady had a look on her face like someone had murdered her pet poodle and turned the hide into a sofa pillow. Funniest thing ever.
That was Doug Wilson’s show, and it was one of my favorites. I would sure like to see what my former houses look like now.
I didn't regularly watch HGTV when I HAD a TV, but I remember this one show, "Moving UP" ?? or something like that - 3 couples, first is buying their first home, second (owners of first home) are buying a better home, that is owned by third couple who is also "trading up.
Anyway second couple's home was COVERED with stencils that the wife had lovingly done and was quite proud of. (This was many years ago). Naturally the young couple that bought the home was like - "The stencils have GOT TO GO!"
The big reveal when the previous owners come back to see what the new owners have made of their house - Stencil lady had a look on her face like someone had murdered her pet poodle and turned the hide into a sofa pillow. Funniest thing ever.
That was on TLC I believe? I actually really enjoyed that show, too. It didn't seem to have as much of the "We can't possibly get what we want!" drama, but occasionally it still had some. I remember one couple found their house had such damaged foundation they had to spend tens of thousands of dollars and literally gut much of the house to fix it or the house would have fallen over. They got to confront the previous homeowner. Another one a guy had to go to court because he didn't get the proper permits for renovating their house.
After watching House Hunters these last couple years, I just assume the majority woman are super picky, annoying, selfish, and have standards that don't comply with the reality of their budget or life. At least that's how the show makes most women look. And honestly a lot of American women don't seem far from that stereotype.
Don't some of these couples just give a whole new meaning to the term "hen pecked husband"? Seriously, if some of these women knew how obnoxious and selfish they come across on TV they would be embarrassed.
I'm a woman too, but I have to say that on most of these shows it does seem to be the husband that ends up compromising to please the princess. Like the example given here, wouldn't you think that since she doesn't have to get out and go to work her main concern would be how long of a commute her husband would have in a strange city that probably has some pretty harsh winter weather to boot? He moved from sunny Tucson to the Swiss Alps for her, no doubt leaving all of his family and friends behind, and all she can think about is her wants and needs.
You don't think some of those attitudes and comments aren't "staged" by HGTV, ie, the buyers instructed to say those things or least exaggerate their own tendencies to act that way just to add to the drama, viewership and ratings for these shows?
HGTV after all is a so-called "reality show", and their popularity thrives on the often over the top drama manufactured into reality shows. I mean really, would people return to watch repeated episodes of a show all about showing houses for sale if it just involved going in and out of rooms in those houses with no comments other than objective descriptions of what they were showing? And certainly such a show wouldn't generate enough interest among the general public to have them engage in a forum like this one tossing around its quirks.
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