The Dirty Dozen of Real Estate Insights from Watching HGTV
So I recently spent the day in bed with a fever. Those tourist cooties got the best of me despite having had both the flu shot and the RSV shot. We have a newborn preemie in the family so both Jerry and I got the shots.
So, armed and immunized I totally caught something else and was down for the count. Plus I am only able to take a few, almost unhelpful, medications. [Helpful hint: Do not Google symptoms of Corona Virus when you are running a fever. It’s not helpful at all.] Anyway, for the first time in my life I watched a ridiculous amount of HGTV. It was the beach episodes series so I decided to see how buyers around the world and their real estate agents behaved.
Here are a few gems that I gleaned from my HGTV experience.
1. If an agent takes you to see a house that's listed for 1.3 and your ceiling budget is 1 million and that agent says well everything's negotiable the odds of you negotiating away $300000 is pretty slim and it's stupid. I mean, really, people.
2. Too many real estate agents don't know the difference between granite and Silestone.
3. I know people and I'm pretty sure if there was a follow up with some of these home buyers I could guess how many years they were going to make it before they were divorced. Nothing to celebrate, of course. But, like I said, I know people. Whoo, some of these people are not happy.
4. Happy wife, happy life. Husband and wife can debate a home and the husband cannot like the home but if the wife decides that's the best home for the kids they are getting that home. It happens in Bonita Springs, Florida and it happens all over the world, apparently.
5. At the risk of sounding like an 'OK Boomer' I do not understand how these kids can be in their twenties afford multi-million dollar properties. None of this makes sense and there are sparks popping off my brain.
6. I just saw a huge, old school, rear projection big screen TV. Yikes! Y'all need to write into the contract that it gets carried out of the home prior to closing. Those big tv’s and armoires are the kiss of death. I had a listing in Spanish Wells and we had to eventually call a junk person to chop up an armoire and haul it away.
7. Is it possible that any of the participants of these shows watch themselves after the fact and don't think, wow, I seemed whiny and spoiled plus maybe that they should have smiled a little?
8. ... and the buyers just opened up their tablet and found a house that fits absolutely none of their search criteria, pulled over and asked the agent if they could go inside.
9. They cut out the part where you just know the agent, no different than on Bonita Beach or Barefoot Beach, tells them it's illegal the have living space on the ground floor of this stilt home, but that everyone does it anyway. Which is true. We lived in the shores about 25 years ago. What a game room we had at that house!
10. That one house is wood frame with multiple gables on the roof. The insurance costs are going to be crazy cakes. Those buyers need to run that and the elevation certificate by the insurance agent before they write an offer. Trust me.
11. Now I'm watching a first time home buyer who wants move in ready, totally modern, nothing to fix, as a first home. Kids these days just don't have the patience to work themselves into a quality residence by starting off conservatively or patiently waiting for a great opportunity. We are 'right now' society!
Ha! The commentator just interjected 'we can find something with sweat equity you also have to be willing to sweat'.
12. You all know this is just acting after the fact. They’ve already shown, offered and usually closed on the home before they go back and have the ‘reality tv' moment.