HGTV and real estate market...

[TheHaitian]

Do you think HGTV has ruined people vision of what they can get for their money?

Is it making it harder on sellers, now they need to have a "turn key" house?

Or is it just "talk"....

[zibazinski]

 It's not just talk. Starter homes, which is what I bought to rent out, when I go to sell them, the buyers actually expect granite not Formica countertops and SS appliances, not plain old white or black ones. Hard wood floors but will "settle" for laminate. Good grief. 

[TheHaitian]

Personally I think it depends on the market... Our friends that are closing in June in the next town over are paying more for their house than we did and will need to:
- replace their roof (getting 5k credit for it)
- fix something in the pool (getting credit for that)

But it is in a "posh" neighborhood with an amazing school district. House there sales fast... It is "snooty" town

In neighborhoods like that I think sellers still have the upper hand because they are more buyers than sellers, inventory is low, demand is high.

[Shooby]

 I stopped watching HGTV.   If you watch it , you will never be satisfied with what you have, lol.

[TheHaitian]

May 9, 2015 11:23:38 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

 It's not just talk. Starter homes, which is what I bought to rent out, when I go to sell them, the buyers actually expect granite not Formica countertops and SS appliances, not plain old white or black ones. Hard wood floors but will "settle" for laminate. Good grief. 

What is a starter home?
My house is "technically" a starter home and we got all that : granite, stainless still appliances, etc.

Most of our friends that bought between 2013 and 2015 also did; and we were all within the same price range give or take:
- 228k (even them got granite counters and as appliances)
- 266k
- 279k
- 300k
- 318k
- 324k

I think granite counters and stainless steel appliances are no longer status symbol... At least not here in MA.

[zibazinski]

3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car attached garage. Bought for 105k in 2001. Milked for 14 years and sold for 149k this year. Fenced yard, a small one, ac which I added, and exterior paint maybe 5 years ago. To sell it easily for my agent, I put in all new laminate and a new stove. She suggested SS and I laughed in her face. I don't have SS except for the ugly dual fuel stove DH insisted on having. The kitchen eyesore I call it. What is cool is that I have cabinetry which covers the rest of the appliances. I like that-a lot.

[TheHaitian]

149k .... I am moving south one day!!!

[8 Bit WWBG]

cawiau a lot of the reason you got the things you had is because you had the opportunity to have them installed from the getgo.  You got somewhat of a subsidy, vs. someone who would have had to pay to remove and dispose of the old stuff.

But to answer your question: absolutely.  Whether its HGTV itself, or just the market in general, buyers in many areas seem very entitled and will turn their nose up if they aren't getting granite/stainless/hardwood.  I remember how Mrs. C. felt about those Oneonta apartments!

Supply/demand certainly has a lot to do with it too.  You are right, houses in a desirable area go fast.  So if the buyer has to have granite, then the buyer can pay to put it in after he/she is the new owner.

As an aspiring landlord who wants to rent this place out, I face a similar dilemma.  We want to do upgrades for us.  Upgrades would certainly get the house rented faster, but I can't say how much more rent I could charge.

[thyme4change]

My experience (and I know this is dramatically local) is that I am more disappointed by how incredibly unrealistic their contractor prices are.  They say they can do a whole kitchen or whatever for what I paid to get my tiny bathroom done.  Sure, I did a couple of expensive upgrades, but I didn't move any plumbing, I only have one sink, my vanity is only 4 ft long, and I don't have a tub.  How can you get all new appliances, floors, cabinets, take out a wall, move electric and plumbing, build an island, granite counter tops, etc. for the same price.  I call **bullshit**

[thyme4change]

May 9, 2015 12:03:04 GMT -5 8 Bit WWBG said:

cawiau a lot of the reason you got the things you had is because you had the opportunity to have them installed from the getgo.  You got somewhat of a subsidy, vs. someone who would have had to pay to remove and dispose of the old stuff.

But to answer your question: absolutely.  Whether its HGTV itself, or just the market in general, buyers in many areas seem very entitled and will turn their nose up if they aren't getting granite/stainless/hardwood.  I remember how Mrs. C. felt about those Oneonta apartments!

Supply/demand certainly has a lot to do with it too.  You are right, houses in a desirable area go fast.  So if the buyer has to have granite, then the buyer can pay to put it in after he/she is the new owner.

As an aspiring landlord who wants to rent this place out, I face a similar dilemma.  We want to do upgrades for us.  Upgrades would certainly get the house rented faster, but I can't say how much more rent I could charge.

I will say that when all my friends were buying their first houses 20 years ago, they expected some things that were a little out of line.  Mostly it was space - but also some other things.  They all wanted the black appliances instead of the beige (or green!) They all wanted the upgraded carpet, instead of the "builder's grade."  I really think that new buyers just don't know instinctively what things cost.  My expectations were inappropriate.  

[busymom]

A starter home used to mean a smaller house that wasn't brand new, that needed some work. I think a lot of those t.v. shows has raised expectations of what we have a "right" to expect in a home.

If some of today's young adults saw what my first apartment building looked like, they'd probably faint. And it was in an "o.k." neighborhood.

[thyme4change]

May 9, 2015 12:16:11 GMT -5 busymom said:

A starter home used to mean a smaller house that wasn't brand new, that needed some work. I think a lot of those t.v. shows has raised expectations of what we have a "right" to expect in a home.

If some of today's young adults saw what my first apartment building looked like, they'd probably faint. And it was in an "o.k." neighborhood.

I'm not sure it was HGTV that did all that.  In my neck of the woods, the city was going through dramatic growth, and buying a brand new house, with a warranty was the norm.  They were all 3 bedroom, 2 bath, with a backyard the size of a postage stamp.  It made a lot of sense because you could move in without having to buy tools or learn to fix stuff.

[muttleynfelix]

Stainless is such a crop of shit.  Our appliances in our new house a stainless and they are a definite step down from what we came from except for the fridge that they got at a discount.  There were other houses that had recently swapped out appliances for stainless and it was stupid.  The dishwasher wasn't even installed properly.   It wouldn't even close properly, but hey it was stainless.  Cheap ass stainless. 

[TheHaitian]

May 9, 2015 21:26:39 GMT -5 muttleynfelix said:

Stainless is such a crop of shit.  Our appliances in our new house a stainless and they are a definite step down from what we came from except for the fridge that they got at a discount.  There were other houses that had recently swapped out appliances for stainless and it was stupid.  The dishwasher wasn't even installed properly.   It wouldn't even close properly, but hey it was stainless.  Cheap ass stainless. 

I wouldn't blame the install on the stainless

[Ombud]

I like 'Flip This House', 'Love It or List It', & 'Property Brothers' but I'm still not remodeling

[TheHaitian]

I like "Love it or list it", "House Hunters Renovation"

[Value Buy]

We went through the real estate search for our perfect house in Florida, and I must say, I do not know how they look at only three homes and make a decision.
We must have looked at 20 homes and could not narrow it down on first search.
I kind of think they must look at 20 and only show three that they are interested in.
Lots of stinkers out there on the market to find the one that works for you.

[TheHaitian]

May 10, 2015 8:58:40 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

We went through the real estate search for our perfect house in Florida, and I must say, I do not know how they look at only three homes and make a decision.
We must have looked at 20 homes and could not narrow it down on first search.
I kind of think they must look at 20 and only show three that they are interested in.
Lots of stinkers out there on the market to find the one that works for you.

I believe that is what they do, only show the top 3. Heck our house search took us 1.5 years (we are some picky buyers) lol!

Also it was alleged that sometimes the person already bought their house and they just throw in 2 more houses in there, sometimes houses that are not even for sale (friends houses etc).

I like it because I just like to see how much house I could afford elsewhere for the money. I know looking at house hunters renovation I could never afford CA... At least not on my current salary!

[Deleted]

I'm really annoyed at the HGTV crowd. DH and I put our house on the market last week. We paid $273K for it in 2003. Over the years we replaced nearly all the windows with Pella (wood frames, not the cheaper aluminum), enclosed part of the deck as a sunroom, put in granite countertops, replaced the crappy linoleum in the kitchen and carpet in the master bath with bamboo, and removed nearly all the popcorn texture from the ceilings.  We put in another $18K getting ready to sell- tiling 2 bathroom floors, replacing carpeting in MBR and family room, repairing cracks in cement around pool and having it textured and painted ($5K all by itself)... enough! 

It's listed at $310K, which I thought was reasonable compared to the one down the street that went for the full listing price of $315K on the first day.  Both have pools and similar taxes, they have some improvements we don't and vice versa.  It's been less than a week but I am SO discouraged.  The feedback (realtors can enter it through the automating scheduling service) is pretty much the same.  Ken and Barbie can't afford all the money it will take to upgrade the light firxtures, the carpeting, the appliances, etc.

If they think it's going to cost $X to upgrade, why don't they offer $310 minus $X?  Unless that value is so low they know it will be an insult- which implies the house is priced properly.

Or they don't want the hassle of having things done while they live there.

Or (DH's theory), they really don't know what they want so they need a place that already has walls in the latest fashion colors (ours are mostly white, freshly painted), an updated tile backsplash in the kitchen (we have one but it's not as flashy as the new types), painted cabinets, pedestal sinks, all that crap, so they don't have to have a vision.

We're in Atlanta for a family wedding and I see street people pushing around their worldly goods and I know our problems are Rich People problems, but it's still ruining my sleep.

Thanks for letting me vent!

[TheHaitian]

May 10, 2015 9:09:20 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

I'm really annoyed at the HGTV crowd. DH and I put our house on the market last week. We paid $273K for it in 2003. Over the years we replaced nearly all the windows with Pella (wood frames, not the cheaper aluminum), enclosed part of the deck as a sunroom, put in granite countertops, replaced the crappy linoleum in the kitchen and carpet in the master bath with bamboo, and removed nearly all the popcorn texture from the ceilings.  We put in another $18K getting ready to sell- tiling 2 bathroom floors, replacing carpeting in MBR and family room, repairing cracks in cement around pool and having it textured and painted ($5K all by itself)... enough! 

It's listed at $310K, which I thought was reasonable compared to the one down the street that went for the full listing price of $315K on the first day.  Both have pools and similar taxes, they have some improvements we don't and vice versa.  It's been less than a week but I am SO discouraged.  The feedback (realtors can enter it through the automating scheduling service) is pretty much the same.  Ken and Barbie can't afford all the money it will take to upgrade the light firxtures, the carpeting, the appliances, etc.

If they think it's going to cost $X to upgrade, why don't they offer $310 minus $X?  Unless that value is so low they know it will be an insult- which implies the house is priced properly.

Or they don't want the hassle of having things done while they live there.

Or (DH's theory), they really don't know what they want so they need a place that already has walls in the latest fashion colors (ours are mostly white, freshly painted), an updated tile backsplash in the kitchen (we have one but it's not as flashy as the new types), painted cabinets, pedestal sinks, all that crap, so they don't have to have a vision.

We're in Atlanta for a family wedding and I see street people pushing around their worldly goods and I know our problems are Rich People problems, but it's still ruining my sleep.

Thanks for letting me vent!

I don't remember where you are located but I thought it was a lower cost of living area...

What I am trying to say is I don't think you should be dealing with the Ken and Barbies whom tend to be first time home buyers / entry level / no vision type.

In my area 310k is in the benchmark for entry level homes so you are dealing with all that. For you area I would have thought you would be dealing with more:
- families
- people moving on up
- people that already know what they want or don't want.
*That kinda crowd*

We've only lived in our house for a year now and we already know if we had to "move on up" exactly what kinda house would fit the bill.

ETA: and I saw pictures of your house; it is beautiful.

[geenamercile]

I like some of the TV shows, although most of the time I am shaking my head at the people on the show, but I like seeing the house porn.  We didn't look at to many houses in person when shopping, but had a strong idea what we wanted with our first home.  I can say that the shows did give us some ideas on what we wanted and didn't want, more so with the lay out.  They also gave us ideas on what we would want to do ourselves and not.    

We just had to get a new stove and dishwasher, the stove is stainless steal the dishwasher isn't.  Both have a small dent on a side that you can't see because of the cabinets.  Both ended up being 65 percent off too because of the small dents.  The stove does have a door with a window, the last one didn't.  That is a feature I would pay extra for.  But yea our appliances don't match and really we couldn't care less.  

One day we will either rent or sell this one, but right now I don't see that happening for another 6 years or so until the youngest goes to middle school and we have more areas to buy in.  I'm to happy with the school district we are in to move out of it.     

[steph08]

I watch a lot of HGTV because I like to see the designs and prices in other areas of the country.

My DH says it makes me come up with crazy remodeling ideas, but it didn't affect us when house hunting too much. We did expect more for our money, but after looking at all the listings, we discovered it was just that we weren't up to date on the market.

We paid $160k for our house - it was listed at $170k. Pretty much every room needed new paint and flooring except the living room and kitchen. But that is all cosmetic. Everything else is in good shape and it was only 18 years old. The kitchen needs to be redone but it isn't in bad shape. We replaced all the mismatched appliances with new slate ones and will live with that for a while.

[zibazinski]

I like Income Property. But I laugh at it now because the first 3 shows said not to put more into remodeling a rental than you can get in rent in a year. Now you have 70k remodels making 800 a month rent! 

[Bonny]

May 10, 2015 10:32:03 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

I like Income Property. But I laugh at it now because the first 3 shows said not to put more into remodeling a rental than you can get in rent in a year. Now you have 70k remodels making 800 a month rent! 

LOL, exactly.

I could easily spend $70k remodeling my Oceanside (San Diego County) house with a kitchen and two bathroom remodels. If I'm lucky I could charge another $1000/mth rent. Would only take me about six years to recoup that cost!

[zibazinski]

But I have gotten some great ideas which I used in my rentals. Making the place look nicer on the cheap!

[TheHaitian]

May 10, 2015 10:53:33 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

But I have gotten some great ideas which I used in my rentals. Making the place look nicer on the cheap!

I thought you were getting out of the rental business?

Now my wife wants in while I want out; after reading some stories here I think I am good lol!

[zibazinski]

One left but I did stuff before.

[moneymaven]

May 10, 2015 8:58:40 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

We went through the real estate search for our perfect house in Florida, and I must say, I do not know how they look at only three homes and make a decision.
We must have looked at 20 homes and could not narrow it down on first search.
I kind of think they must look at 20 and only show three that they are interested in.
Lots of stinkers out there on the market to find the one that works for you.

I had a friend who did the show. They were already under contract on one of the three before they filmed for the show.

[Deleted]

May 10, 2015 11:01:11 GMT -5 moneymaven said:

May 10, 2015 8:58:40 GMT -5 Value Buy said:

We went through the real estate search for our perfect house in Florida, and I must say, I do not know how they look at only three homes and make a decision.
We must have looked at 20 homes and could not narrow it down on first search.
I kind of think they must look at 20 and only show three that they are interested in.
Lots of stinkers out there on the market to find the one that works for you.

I had a friend who did the show. They were already under contract on one of the three before they filmed for the show.

That's what I heard, too.  There was a big flap about it when it was discovered.   In one case the participants had to get a friend to pretend that house was for sale.

[Tiny]

May 9, 2015 11:19:43 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Do you think HGTV has ruined people vision of what they can get for their money?

Is it making it harder on sellers, now they need to have a "turn key" house?

Or is it just "talk"....

IDK, I sometimes think if you put some stainless steel appliances (that don't work), a granite counter top (that doesn't fit quite right but has been disguised to make it look like it fits, and then put down some peel and stick flooring that matches whatever the current "trend" is... in large card board box constructed 'house' someone will pay big bucks to live there...

I've seen some atrocious stuff done to houses to make them 'look good'...    I imagine the new owner will get a year or two of 'use' before it becomes obvious they need to make repairs/redo work/or purchase new stuff...