Yeah, I love the color scheme in the kitchen. The cabinets are not great quality (and I prefer tall ones), but I could live it with. Besides, we plan to buy and stay in something for 15+ years (I know, but that's the plan at least). So if we get something "updated" to the modern standard of the average American's tastes, it would be completely dated when we went to sell, anyway.
I find people who say, "we'd have to gut this kitchen RIGHT AWAY" to be eye-roll worthy.
Oh, and I love formal dining rooms. Best room in the house! I don't want something that only has 3 walls or is attached to the living room and open to the kitchen. My current apartment even has a formal dining room!
No. H and I do not use the toilet simultaneously so we do not need to wash our hands simultaneously.
Do you two never get ready to go out at the same time? Have you never encountered the horror of shaved whiskers sitting all over the sink? What about the pre-sex routine - how do you decide who spits their toothpaste first??
Do you two never get ready to go out at the same time? Not to the second. Usually one of us can wait for the other.
Have you never encountered the horror of shaved whiskers sitting all over the sink? Indeed I have. But they'd still bother me if they were around his sink since it would still be next to my sink, if we had double sinks.
What about the pre-sex routine - how do you decide who spits their toothpaste first?? But spitting toothpaste together in the sink is so romantical and great as foreplay.
No. H and I do not use the toilet simultaneously so we do not need to wash our hands simultaneously. Big closets breed hoarders. Huge kitchens are pointless unless you're a Top Chef. And even then, they might still be pointless.
And these are my UOs.
Right there with you. I grew up in a house built in 1915. My bedroom was probably 10 x 10 and my closet was maybe 5 x 2.5. We also all shared the one upstairs bathroom and some how never had a problem with it. I keep finding myself plodding in 2.5 ba into home search websites and then thinking WHY?!? I love old houses and most of them only have 1.5 bas. I'm probably eliminating a ton of really wonderful houses for really no good reason.
Yup, I grew up in a house built in 1836 (original part, with 2 actually well-thought-out additions). 1.5 bathrooms. The 4 of us staggered our showers.
I wouldn't knock having more, but my mother is looking for a new house right now and just sent me a listing of something with, like, 4 bathrooms. I told her no way will she want to clean that many toilets when she's 80.
I also don't care about double sinks. H and I don't get ready at the same time. In fact, he showers right after I leave in the morning.
You know what I wish was fake? People's love for the following on these godawful HGTV shows:
- Double sinks in the bathroom - Stainless steel appliances - Open floor plans - Closets the size of Russia - Kitchens the size of Africa at a time when Americans don't even cook that much
Actually, from the comments I've seen, that part is also scripted. They tell people what to bitch about. The sad thing, they probably would have bitched about this stuff anyway. I wish the guy from Real Estate Intervention would host a house BUYING show. It could be called "Not in your budget." It would open with the all-too-common:
We just got married 30 seconds ago and blew our entire savings on our wedding but we have $37.12 from our dollar dance so we want a two story 4 bed 3.5 ba house on a 1/4 acre with custom cabinets, stainless appliances, granite counters, marble baths, and custom fixtures throughout."
Yeah, that's the part that bothers me that it's scripted. I don't care if the "house hunt" is fake, but stop making people look annoying.
My current HGTV pet peeve is Love It or List It. I finally saw one last weekend where it looked like they had a chance to love it, and they listed it. I'm pretty sure no one will ever stay. Because a) they're too cheap with renos, b) they put more $$ into buying a new place than renos, even though closing costs and commissions will add even more, so it's a completely unfair comparison, c) the renos always go over budget because i) there are problems the homeowners don't tell them about, and ii) the design lady is a total hack at actual construction.
Which brings me to MrP's favorite HGTV pet peeve - the construction brother on Property Brothers is a hack and is constantly getting "surprised" by things like duct work and wiring in the wall he wants to tear down.
I do think Holmes Inspection is a little alarmist; most of those inspector stories have giant red flags that should have given them the heads up. "I paid my brother to inspect 'cause we were on a budget!" "The inspector didn't go in the attic but he told me it was totes cool!" "The inspector told me about this problem and I did exactly nothing!"
I love HGTV. And old houses (since I grew in a neighborhood of gorgeous Victorians but we lived in a crappy development house.) I hate when people want an old house with character and then get all "these floors are dirty and need to be redone so no.". Then don't look at old houses nitwit.
Except my current fave is "love it or list it." it's home renovations and house hunting in one!!
I do think Holmes Inspection is a little alarmist; most of those inspector stories have giant red flags that should have given them the heads up. "I paid my brother to inspect 'cause we were on a budget!" "The inspector didn't go in the attic but he told me it was totes cool!" "The inspector told me about this problem and I did exactly nothing!"
Mike Holmes is a saint and you know it!
My favorites are the ones in the planned subdivisions and exactly everyone had the exact same issue.
I do think Holmes Inspection is a little alarmist; most of those inspector stories have giant red flags that should have given them the heads up. "I paid my brother to inspect 'cause we were on a budget!" "The inspector didn't go in the attic but he told me it was totes cool!" "The inspector told me about this problem and I did exactly nothing!"
Mike Holmes is a saint and you know it!
My favorites are the ones in the planned subdivisions and exactly everyone had the exact same issue.
I know someone whose entire subdivision started crumbling because something they used in the foundations was completely wrong. There was no way to fix it other than to lift the house and repour the foundation, which would have been over $40k on about a $200k house. I felt so bad for her.
I know someone whose entire subdivision started crumbling because something they used in the foundations was completely wrong. There was no way to fix it other than to lift the house and repour the foundation, which would have been over $40k on about a $200k house. I felt so bad for her.
This is exactly the type of thing I think about when people say they must buy a new house. Sure, there are lots of things that could be wrong with a 40-50 year old house, but at least you can be reasonably certain that if something was wrong with the foundation it would be noticeable by now.
Subdivisions scare me. At this point, I don't want to buy a house unless it's old as shit or commissioned new construction. I will never buy anything built or being built in a subdivision newer than oh maybe the 70's?
My favorites are the ones in the planned subdivisions and exactly everyone had the exact same issue.
I know someone whose entire subdivision started crumbling because something they used in the foundations was completely wrong. There was no way to fix it other than to lift the house and repour the foundation, which would have been over $40k on about a $200k house. I felt so bad for her.
There are three condos/apts in the city I used to work in that are all fairly new construction. All three are undergoing corrections for mold. Apparently they were all built in such a manner that rain water was being trapped in the insulation. Which even I, who had never constructed anything more difficult than a lego house, can tell you is bad, mmkay?
Post by basilosaurus on Jun 14, 2012 17:51:17 GMT -5
Forget a 2nd sink, I love that H has a 2nd bathroom. He can get it as gross as he wants, and I don't have to deal with it. Plus, he can shower at ridiculously early morning times, and it doesn't wake me.
Then again, we live in a 1000 sq ft condo, so the distance to the 2nd bathroom is probably less than some mcmansion's master suite. When I say I want a larger kitchen, I mean I want a kitchen that fits 2 people at once without stepping on each other.
I think both Property Virgins and the show with the metrosexual brothers do something similar.
People are all, "this is my dream neighborhood!" and then are told that the average house on that street costs $800k. On the brothers show (I've only seen bits) they show them a house that's *perfect* and about twice their budget. Then they buy a fixer and do about $50k in renovations to get them what they want in budget.
Which totally meshes with my own perception - I don't want to pay for someone else's tastes/upgrades.
Totally this. As someone who is sort of starting the house hunting process here, I do not think it is a bonus if a house is "fully upgraded" and $100K more expensive than one that needs some TLC. Plus, I so rarely like what other people do with their kitchens and that's so expensive to fix. I'd rather you just hand me a dump and let me do what I want with it. I'm currently drooling over this house:
So many upgraded houses I have seen are SO UGLY. I ain't paying for that shit.
I am not super handy so we want something livable, but not fully upgraded and expensive.
But we do want an open floor plan and we need big closets, so we are cliche there. I HATE formal living spaces, so our ideal home would be completely open - no dinning or formal living.
I only like new houses because I am afraid of ghosts and I am convinced every house older than me is haunted.
Oh I will join you in this camp. Unfortunately their are no brand new houses in our price range around here, but at least most were built within the last 30 years. I love the character of old homes, but I would never want to live in one.
This is exactly the type of thing I think about when people say they must buy a new house. Sure, there are lots of things that could be wrong with a 40-50 year old house, but at least you can be reasonably certain that if something was wrong with the foundation it would be noticeable by now.
Agreed. I hate it when people are all, "Old houses just have so many unknowns." Really!?!? Here's something you know about your 80 year old house. It's built to last longer than the LLC of the developer who built it.
BUT you have no idea if a family was murdered there years and their vengeful spirits will seek justice by tormenting anyone who dares move into their home.
I do think Holmes Inspection is a little alarmist; most of those inspector stories have giant red flags that should have given them the heads up. "I paid my brother to inspect 'cause we were on a budget!" "The inspector didn't go in the attic but he told me it was totes cool!" "The inspector told me about this problem and I did exactly nothing!"
Mike Holmes is a saint and you know it!
My favorites are the ones in the planned subdivisions and exactly everyone had the exact same issue.
He IS a saint because he makes my husband watch HGTV. And those crap subdivisions have convinced him he does not, in fact, want a brand new house like he thought he did (not that we could afford it here anyways, and he wanted a yard, which none of them have).
Sibil - I am with you on the two bathrooms. That was on the list of MAJOR UPGRADES when we moved from the 600sf apt to the 1200 sf house. Also: automatic ice maker, inside laundry.
There are three condos/apts in the city I used to work in that are all fairly new construction. All three are undergoing corrections for mold. Apparently they were all built in such a manner that rain water was being trapped in the insulation. Which even I, who had never constructed anything more difficult than a lego house, can tell you is bad, mmkay?
I want more shitty condos to be built, just because the lawsuits they spawn help keep me employed.
This is exactly the type of thing I think about when people say they must buy a new house. Sure, there are lots of things that could be wrong with a 40-50 year old house, but at least you can be reasonably certain that if something was wrong with the foundation it would be noticeable by now.
Agreed. I hate it when people are all, "Old houses just have so many unknowns." Really!?!? Here's something you know about your 80 year old house. It's built to last longer than the LLC of the developer who built it.
Thank you! Where I live, people always think newer is better. I have an 80 year old home that has withstood hurricanes, droughts and more. Meanwhile, some friends in a huge 3000 sq ft new build that is only 5 years old (they are 2nd owners) just had to replace all their windows because of shitty installation that was causing water leaks. I had some other friends who moved in to a McVic and found their upstairs plumbing was flowing the wrong fucking way.
Well, I like to believe that the unknowns of old fucking houses is that it's an old fucking house and shit has worn down.
Yanno instead of the fact that my brand spanking new house was built by monkeys on a crack bender and the shit I shouldn't have to look at twice for 15 years needs replacing after 15 months.
You know what I wish was fake? People's love for the following on these godawful HGTV shows:
- Double sinks in the bathroom - Stainless steel appliances - Open floor plans - Closets the size of Russia - Kitchens the size of Africa at a time when Americans don't even cook that much
and the show with the metrosexual brothers do something similar.
Ok, since I've found my HGTV watching peeps, answer this question for me. Why is the real estate brother even in the show. He's there for about 5 minutes in the beginning, and the rest of the time it's all construction brother.