patrick.net

I'll bet she'd get down on her knees and.... "beg."

I hate HGTV. I have a monthly fight with my wife. She is brain washed by these guys and I am hard core patnet guy. :)

When one really really wants to perpetuate the dream ...

Two hour commute? I wouldn't live in a palace if I had to make a two hour commute every day.

A few things to consider about HGTV

1) There's nothing specifically saying that the works are even non fiction...it's a tv show!

2) Even if everything was real look at the dates at the end of the show. Some episodes that hit the air are five years old

3) Some of what's show is actually in Canada but they don't mention it much. Why does this matter? Well because it wasn't that long ago that the US dollar was worth 20 if not 40% more than the Canadian dollar
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/canada/currency so of course the amounts are large. Reminds me that the Hong Kong dollar is nearly on par with the Chinese yuan..so if you ever see properties on tv in the million dollar range in reality they cost much less

I try to convince my other half that all the buyers and sellers are fake and it is just a TV show,nothing real. LOL.

I refer to HGTV as the other comedy channel!

I can tell you with 100% certainty that many HGTV shows are all "fake". Especially the House Hunter's shows. I've worked with HGTV on several shows. I say "fake" in the aspect that the homes were ALL purchased before the show even started airing. They can NOT take the chance with high production costs that the purchase might not go through so the homes are already purchased by the people claiming to buy.

It's almost impossible after the fact to really say the other 2 houses are homes they compared/evaluated against.

Reality TV isn't so realistic. I've done several shows with them because they kept asking me to do them. I always tried to be realistic and really show comparable to what was really being looked at. But I drew the line when one production company asked me to fake being the realtor even though I never worked with the clients!

So all of you watching HGTV..keep in mind many of these shows aren't all "real". Yes, it's real that the people on the shows bought the homes... but no it's not real that the 3 homes they fake like they are looking at to evaluate are the homes they looked at. Again, the homes are already purchased even before they start filming.

Sorry to burst the bubble with you HGTV lovers.

bubblesburst says

HGTV lovers

So far anyone here hasn't claimed to love that show.

bubblesburst says

Sorry to burst the bubble with you HGTV lovers.

You've hurt me more than I ever thought possible, and I'm going to require years of therapy or tv watching to recover.

bubblesitter says

So far anyone here hasn’t claimed to love that show.

I'm not afraid to admit my love for the network: I think it's cool how there's always three houses to hunt, and the buyers almost always chooses one of them (I've seen a couple of episodes where they didn't buy, even tho there's been 755 episodes. I love how their choices are all in great shape, with beautiful yards and neutral paint and all located nearby.

I love how the international version usually consists of people whose budget is over a million dollars, because I can easily identify with them. I also love how everything is always matching and looks professionally decorated.

I especially like how they can completely reconstruct a house in half an hour (or a couple of days), and there's never a hair out of place on their pretty little heads. I love how their crew is limited to 2-3 people, because it doesn't take much to completely strip a house to the bones and redo it in a short period of time. I also love how the correct supplies are always delivered on time - and how they're never stolen before they make it to the house.

I love how their budget to redo a bathroom is $25,000 and they're always within a few dollars - when my budget to redo my bathroom was $1,500 and I was also within a few dollars. Of course, I don't have the ultra modern sink cabinet lined with river rocks and led lights - and it basically looks like the same bathroom with different paint & towels.

I love how the neighbors all pitch in to help, and no one calls the police to complain about the extra traffic. I love that there are no dogs barking incessantly, how no one ever steps in dog shit, and how the children are all perfectly behaved. My children, when they were growing up, spent a fair amount of time torturing each other and (when she was little) the girl cried if you looked at her cross-eyed. The boy enjoyed putting spiders on people or burning his name on stuff with a magnifying glass - such as a stud when we were framing out an addition - neither of which I've ever seen on HGTV.

I love how everyone is beautiful on these shows, and how they rarely get dirt on their clothes. I love how no one is fat, everyone is youthful and everyone is always happy. I love how no one drops anything, nothing is ever wasted, and no one swears. That's my favorite part, because I've been on many construction sites in my life and I learned combinations of swear words I'd never have known if it weren't for construction workers.

I love how no one gets hurt, everything is beautiful and inventive, and everything turns out perfect every time. It's super cool how the realtors always make the sale and sound well informed - and how both buyers & sellers are always smiling and satisfied. I especially love how the people whose home was invaded by decorators and construction people enjoy the "reveal" and always express their love for the unique and completely unliveable floor plan they're stuck with forever.

Yep, I love HGTV. 'Cause it's real, man.

I especially enjoy how they spend $40k to remodel a basement living room (instead of using that money as downpayment to buy a nice rental property).

"Right on, bro."

masayako2456 says

I especially enjoy how they spend $40k to remodel a basement living room (instead of using that money as downpayment to buy a nice rental property).
“Right on, bro.”

Damn! I forgot that! And I also forgot to mention my idea for a show:

Cats, cats & more cats. It's where they take a normal house and modify it for the crazy cat lady, with ramps that run around the ceiling and tunnels that allow cats to move room to room without touching the floor.

They'd have to put in automatic feeders, a stream of fresh water that ambles from room to room under plexiglass thresholds, and a central vacuum system to help alleviate the hair ball problems.

I would watch that.

I love the House Hunter's International shows where the couples vacations for a week in a country in Central America and then decides to plunk down $500k on a condo.

I don't remember the name of the show, but... A couple want to renovate a bathroom. Total cost: $30,000 large. WTF?

You telling me the kids won't appreciate more if the parents put that money in their college fund.

Well, I suppose they print money.

masayako2456 says

A couple want to renovate a bathroom. Total cost: $30,000 large.

I remember on one of the episode, the realtor dude tells the buyers, if you add granite counter tops that will cost you x $ but increase the value of house by x + 15K. :)

bubblesitter says

bubblesburst says

HGTV lovers

So far anyone here hasn’t claimed to love that show.

Well, no one is claiming to love the show but it sure sounds like lots of you watch it. Whether it's for comical value or not. Their ratings are really high. It's amazing just how many people watch it and now HGTV even sold the rights to shows in South America so it's funny that you will be watching Fox in South America and see HGTV House Hunters shows.

But I have to say the production companies are really cheap with the film crew that travel around filming these shows. Also, the producers aren't the brightest either. I remember filming back in 2005 and the producer of one of the shows lived in California and he was telling me how he had an interest only loan. I told him it was toxic waste and people didn't understand that. Fast forward many years and I heard he lost his home....oh well.... maybe HGTV should make a new reality show where people are losing their homes they bought on HGTV before! Now that would be some GREAT reality TV.

bubblesburst says

maybe HGTV should make a new reality show where people are losing their homes they bought on HGTV before! Now that would be some GREAT reality TV.

They could just play the home improvement episodes backward and show them removing the improvements that cost thousands.

elliemae says

I’ll bet she’d get down on her knees and…. “beg.”
Eschew Obfuscation

LOL. That's a good one, Ellie.

I wonder if they still air "My House is Worth ?"

i really like watching HGTV.

bubblesburst says

So all of you watching HGTV..keep in mind many of these shows aren't all "real".

and now you just took the jam right out of my donut.

thanks.