<p>Yes, please!</p>
<p>I’m in! 10 char</p>
<p>Me too! 10 char</p>
<p>I’d love to follow that thread!</p>
<p>And apropos of HGTV shows:</p>
<p>I love Property Brothers, but I don’t like at all the new show called Brother Versus Brother. It’s sort of like Property Brothers meets Survivor. Why make it into a competition? Just watching the renovation is entertainment enough for me.</p>
<p>Is anyone watching Sarah Richardson’s new show? It’s called Real Potential, and seems to be a combination of a HouseHunter and Design101 type theme. Sarah views three houses with a couple and discusses the potential of a design project to make the home fulfill what they want. Once they choose a home, Sarah completes the project.</p>
<p>I wonder why there are so many shows filmed in Canada. ;)</p>
<p>I think more shows are produced in Canada because:</p>
<ol>
<li>Cost is lower</li>
<li>Less liability</li>
<li>Weather is worse. As a result more damages can be found. </li>
</ol>
<p>They are only my guesses. What do you think?</p>
<p>Whatever it is, I am still blown away that most of HGTV is now House Hunters, of one form or another. Or something to do with problematic houses people can’t stand anymore. My eyes need to feast on the good looking finished products. Not just the last 3 minutes, either.</p>
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<p>I do not know, but I am not sure why such shows have become popular. I find most of them unrealistic in terms of values and not representative of most values in the US, safe and except the known high-priced markets. In several of those Canadian shows, they show awful dumps that all cost close to a one million dollars. </p>
<p>And, fwiw, just as the hugely fake Hunters International shows, I find most of the scripted stories hard to swallow. </p>
<p>While I did like some of them in their beginning stages, they also have gotten old. The best of the bunch (that Holmes show) still have that dude show up and proceed to take entire houses to the studs (and probably spend a lot more than any other contractor would) and ends up with almost brand new homes. This is not different from those old Extreme houses show. Borderline ridiculous!</p>
<p>All in all, that model has seen its best days. Time to revert to that “Old house” where the lessons were worth learning.</p>
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<p>That’s because many of those homes are located in central Toronto. See what a million dollars will buy you in the most desirable areas of Manhattan. Not much.</p>
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<p>I think I read once that building codes aren’t as strict in Canada, so problems pop up more.</p>
<p>Above, I should have said “more desirable” parts of Toronto rather than central Toronto. :o</p>
<p>I really miss all of the design shows especially Designed to Sell. I got many good ideas from them. Subsequently, I have painted every square inch* of my house, interior and exterior, and my kids used to say, “Mom’s been watching too much HGTV.”</p>
<p>*except inside closets and the cabinets in my kitchen and one bathroom. I’ve even painted a chandelier…</p>
<p>^ LOL! Same here. When I discovered primer and paint in a spray can! it was all over. I can’t count the number of take cheap, old brass-look lamps from the 70’s I have rescued from our attic. It’s fun, too.</p>
<p>I actually enjoy the real estate shows, the exception being House Hunters. It does annoy me, however, when a young couple starting out tells their real estate agent that they “must” be located in the most desirable part of town, have granite counter tops, stainless appliances, top of the line finish out, etc. But oops, their budget doesn’t even come close to being able to pull that off. No matter, they don’t see why they should have to “compromise” because golly gee, “we work really hard and we deserve it.” And they go on to say, “I think my realtor really needs to dig deep and make this happen for us.” </p>
<p>For once I’d like to hear a realtor say to a buyer, “Look, here’s real estate 101. The MARKET determines value/prices of homes. The MARKET doesn’t care what you want, what you think you deserve. The MARKET wants you to pay the price that the MARKET has determined is fair value in this particular area.” And to the sellers who demand prices not supported by the comps in their area, “The MARKET doesn’t care what you paid, what you put into it afterwards, or about your sweat equity. The MARKET determines that your home is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.”</p>
<p>But they never do. :)</p>
<p>I also love decorating shows. I like Candace Olsen, David Bromstad, and Vern Yip. And I love the work, both inside and out, of John Gidding. Very talented guy, and easy on the eye. ;)</p>
<p>^^ Property Virgins does “Real Estate 101” pretty effectively, or at least used to.</p>
<p>^^^^I would have to agree with you on that one. The other shows, not so much.</p>
<p>There used to be a show based entirely on the concept of sellers not living in the reality of their market. I think it was called real estate intervention or something like that. They had a local real estate expert who was completely unbiased come in and tell them what he thought their house was actually worth based on comps in the area. He would take them to several other houses which had recently sold and show them in person how unrealistic they were being. What was interesting was that the sellers would still argue their point, and I disagreed with them about 99% of the time. Usually they would not follow the advice of the “expert.” They would follow up on them later, and most of the time it turned out he had been exactly right. </p>
<p>I don’t think that show is on any more.</p>
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<p>There are some financial incentives provided by provincial and municipal governments for U.S. projects filmed in Canada but the HGTV shows filmed here are Canadian productions, not American. Not sure what you mean by less liability. These shows are filmed in Toronto and Vancouver, neither of which has worse weather than most of the U.S.</p>
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<p>Not true, Teri.</p>
<p>Nrdsb is right in that finding good housing options in large cities is going to be expensive, whether you’re in Toronto, NY, San Francisco, L.A., etc. Although, I have to wonder what shows Xiggi is watching that shows these $1million dumps in Toronto.</p>
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<p>Me, too! I enjoy her shows and am happy that she’s still doing the design type shows. Her product lines are very nice.</p>
<p>More on the “fake” House Hunters experience from a couple who was featured on the show.</p>
<p>[?House</a> Hunters:? What It Was Like to Be On the Show](<a href=“http://hookedonhouses.net/2012/06/11/house-hunters-what-it-was-like-to-be-on-the-show/]?House”>House Hunters: What It Was Like to Be on the Show)</p>
<p>They say they toured two houses which were actually owned by some friends of theirs and were not even for sale. I hope they didn’t pick them apart like most couples do the “losing” houses! :eek:</p>