I love HGTV

katiewhompus · December 2010

I'm watching house hunters international and the difference between houses in countries is absolutely incredible. Right now they have a guy shopping in the Czech republic and so far 1 hour has no bathroom/kitchen, a second house has no running water, and the third has no closets in the entire home. His budget is equal to $160k and he's looking at 2 bedroom houses.

Wow...it makes me appreciate my house a lot more, that's for sure.

number55 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_love-hgtv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:5ba2c643-720c-4403-97b2-8d1e8aebfb72Post:d31f93b4-c93f-4545-ad89-72a378e2ea25">I love HGTV</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm watching house hunters international and the difference between houses in countries is absolutely incredible. Right now they have a guy shopping in the Czech republic and so far 1 hour has no bathroom/kitchen, a second house has no running water, and the third has no closets in the entire home. His budget is equal to $160k and he's looking at 2 bedroom houses. Wow...it makes me appreciate my house a lot more, that's for sure.
Posted by katiewhompus[/QUOTE]
<div>
</div><div>When we lived overseas my parents HATED houses with no closets.</div><div>
</div><div>When we look at houses here (Canada) that we consider buying one of the big things for me is two bathrooms upstairs (ensuite and family)...DHs family functioned fine with one but we always had two and I can't imagine it any other way...talk about spoiled!</div>

katiewhompus · December 2010

Right now we have a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath and I don't know how we lived in my 1 bedroom for so long. 1 room is our "stuff room" and will become the nursery/kids room but the chinchilla room is filled with chinchilla stuff and all of my sewing/crafting items. It is really really nice having a bedroom with just a bed through. At one point I had my computers, rats, tv, and file cabinet in my bedroom and that just sucked.

number55 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_love-hgtv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:5ba2c643-720c-4403-97b2-8d1e8aebfb72Post:1fc1a68d-6e67-4d71-b011-766f0063e6cb">Re: I love HGTV</a>:
[QUOTE]Right now we have a 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath and I don't know how we lived in my 1 bedroom for so long. 1 room is our "stuff room" and will become the nursery/kids room but the chinchilla room is filled with chinchilla stuff and all of my sewing/crafting items. It is really really nice having a bedroom with just a bed through. At one point I had my computers, rats, tv, and file cabinet in my bedroom and that just sucked.
Posted by katiewhompus[/QUOTE]

<div>We are living in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom condo right now...bedroom #2 has a desk, bookshelves and a futon in it...it is tiny but it serves its purpose of housing things and a place for guest to sleep if need be. If we end up having kids before we move in three years' time (not the plan), it could be a room for the baby but we would have to move lots of stuff out and there would be nowhere else to put it.</div><div>
</div><div>My biggest problem with our place is that the dining area only has enough space for a table for 4 and we only have a three seater couch and a poang. I really like entertaining but our space isn't really made for having more than 4 or 5 of us at a time. I hate that.</div>

katiewhompus · December 2010

Oh boo on that!

I still look around and can't believe how lucky we are to have ended up with this house. When I think of the first house we put an offer on...omg I would have been miserable.

Nebb · December 2010

I love HGTV because it shows how dumb some people are. The amount of people who seem miffed when they dont like the colour on the walls, that the closets in the guest bedrooms arent huge walk ins, and other really idiotic issues. It just makes me laugh. They all just seem so picky and entitled.

jasmineh7777 · December 2010

Agree with Nebb. I've watched the show a few times. Have these people never heard of paint?

I'm always astounded by housing prices in big cities too. $160K here would buy an enormous house, or a ton of land.

number55 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_love-hgtv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:5ba2c643-720c-4403-97b2-8d1e8aebfb72Post:3159e83c-8a3a-419f-a785-7cb78fc98f92">Re: I love HGTV</a>:
[QUOTE]I love HGTV because it shows how dumb some people are. The amount of people who seem miffed when they dont like the colour on the walls, that the closets in the guest bedrooms arent huge walk ins, and other really idiotic issues. It just makes me laugh. They all just seem so picky and entitled.
Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

<div>Yes, the paint colour thing is HILARIOUS...that is so easy to fix. You hate the kitchen, fine, that is a big job, but really, you don't like the pink wall...get over it.</div><div>
</div><div>My biggest problem with the cost of housing in our area is that it is highly inflated because of where we live. The neighbourhood we would like to end up in is the fastest growing community IN THE WORLD (by per capita %)...so since it is growing so fast all the houses are more expensive than they should be. But I really want to be closer to DHs family (we are talking a 20 minutes drive, so really, nothing huge, we can stay in the community we are living in now and I would be fine with it, plus the malls are better).</div>

number55 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_love-hgtv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:5ba2c643-720c-4403-97b2-8d1e8aebfb72Post:96a9859a-a89e-43c7-89bd-d46f9dc8535f">Re: I love HGTV</a>:
[QUOTE]Agree with Nebb. I've watched the show a few times. Have these people never heard of paint? I'm always astounded by housing prices in big cities too. $160K here would buy an enormous house, or a ton of land.
Posted by jasmineh7777[/QUOTE]

<div>And yet it wouldn't buy our current 880 square foot condo...</div>

Nebb · December 2010

I have read recently somewhere number that house prices in canada are ridiculously inflated and there is no reason they should be so high. I dont think its just toronto, its all over.

jasmineh7777 · December 2010

That amazes me Number.

We have a 3 bedroom house with 2 living rooms. We didn't pay jack. We're already halfway paid off.

Katie- The house with no kitchen? That would have been rough.

number55 · December 2010

slight thread jack: Nebb...I just made our reservation for our one night mini moon at the Prince of Wales in Niagara on the Lake...woo hoo!

katiewhompus · December 2010

Nebb, the wife in the current show was freaking because OMG there was a bathroom connected to the master bedroom and she could not deal with that. Really?

Omg Jas yes. It was so nice using the $8k to pay off debt instead of shoving it all straight into a kitchen.

number55 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_love-hgtv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:5ba2c643-720c-4403-97b2-8d1e8aebfb72Post:b3a52a01-4092-4440-9253-3bd6cb6f6544">Re: I love HGTV</a>:
[QUOTE]I have read recently somewhere number that house prices in canada are ridiculously inflated and there is no reason they should be so high. I dont think its just toronto, its all over.
Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

<div>yeah, it's true, sad but true. It pissed me off too because I am worried that the bubble will burst and we won't get as much for our place as I would like. But it isn't that expensive of a place so we won't lose as much as we might gain for a new, larger place if prices drop enough...</div>

number55 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_love-hgtv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:5ba2c643-720c-4403-97b2-8d1e8aebfb72Post:9cc4d2e6-23fe-4dc7-8633-921370fc733c">Re: I love HGTV</a>:
[QUOTE]We didn't pay jack. We're already halfway paid off.
Posted by jasmineh7777[/QUOTE]

<div>And yet I can imagine buying a place, with a 25 year mortgage, and never quite paying it off...
<div>
</div></div>

katiewhompus · December 2010

I'm just amazed at how drastically prices can change over 60 miles. In DC proper you are not going to find a 2 bedroom place for less than $400k. In the subburbs you are looking at $700k-$2M for a 3 bedroom single family house.
Our budget of $175 was having us look at 3 bedroom foreclosures that were in really bad neighborhoods and were pretty much falling down.

Go 60 miles west and you can get a "still being built" 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom with a yard for $200k.
Go another 30 miles west and you can get a still being built for about $100k

jasmineh7777 · December 2010

400K? Holy moly. Is it worth it to live right in the city?

Nebb · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_love-hgtv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:5ba2c643-720c-4403-97b2-8d1e8aebfb72Post:a36100c6-d8dc-4fb8-8a7d-356e607e00a7">Re: I love HGTV</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: I love HGTV : yeah, it's true, sad but true. It pissed me off too because I am worried that the bubble will burst and we won't get as much for our place as I would like. But it isn't that expensive of a place so we won't lose as much as we might gain for a new, larger place if prices drop enough...
Posted by number55[/QUOTE]
I think its sad and kind of scary. Adam and I are just unwilling to buy a house because I am not happy with what we can get in our budget. In our area its HIGHLY unlikely to find something that doesnt look like junk for less than 150-160000 and I dont think we can afford anything more than that. I do not want to be unhappy where I live and constantly dealing with it just so that I own a house.

number55 · December 2010

It's kinda like that here too Katie...except DH really wants to live in an area that is kinda 'country' (in that there are much bigger properties and older houses, ideally he would like acreage and a river and flipping rabbits and ducks and whatnot...) but it is still pretty expensive out there (400k +) because it isn't that far from civilization. Thing is, I don't mind having 400k house but not if it is so old that it needs 200k in work...of course the houses that don't need work are all at least 600k...figures!

number55 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_love-hgtv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:5ba2c643-720c-4403-97b2-8d1e8aebfb72Post:138a2e76-bd28-414e-a68c-53d6d42165b1">Re: I love HGTV</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: I love HGTV : I think its sad and kind of scary. Adam and I are just unwilling to buy a house because I am not happy with what we can get in our budget. In our area its HIGHLY unlikely to find something that doesnt look like junk for less than 150-160000 and I dont think we can afford anything more than that. I do not want to be unhappy where I live and constantly dealing with it just so that I own a house.
Posted by Nebb[/QUOTE]

<div>Yeah. We will be able to afford something decent the problem is that </div><div>a) we need to save a fairly decent downpayment/signing costs - so that is the next 3 years</div><div>b) we want to buy a house we can keep for a really long time, forever if possible...</div><div>c) I am worried that in 3 years the interest rates will be much higher and that it will limit what we can buy</div><div>d) I really don't want to be house poor. I want to have a nice, reasonable house that doesn't need too much work and that allows me to still have some financial freedom. Then again, don't we all?...</div><div>e) me going on maternity leave (ever) screws most things up since I make more than DH but it is my pay that gets affected...</div>

katiewhompus · December 2010

Jas, for the people that buy them I guess it is. Personally I am so happy to be away from the city that it makes me tear up in happiness.

I love this current couple "If it weren't for the downstars, parking, kitchen and bathrooms this house would be perfect!" So basically you liked one of the bedrooms?

jasmineh7777 · December 2010

So Nebb and Number, do you live in bigger cities? Or is it everywhere in Canada that is really high?

number55 · December 2010

Actually, I take most of that back...in an IDEAL world we would build our own home from scratch (well, the company that DH worked for for 8 years would actually build it) but that is NEVER going to happen because we will never be able to afford to buy land and build on it. We joked that we could buy the land and live in a tent on it for 20 years but that we might freeze to death in the meantime...sigh...

Nebb · December 2010

I dont live in a big city, Im just south of Toronto across the lake, with a population of roughly 131000 people.

number55 · December 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_snarky-brides_love-hgtv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:17Discussion:5ba2c643-720c-4403-97b2-8d1e8aebfb72Post:9bc8c55f-3ab7-48fc-9386-01fcf383974e">Re: I love HGTV</a>:
[QUOTE]So Nebb and Number, do you live in bigger cities? Or is it everywhere in Canada that is really high?
Posted by jasmineh7777[/QUOTE]

<div>Canada is kinda interesting really...something like 80 or 90% of our population lives in the southernmost section of Canada (along the US border)...so really, there isn't big cities/small cities...its like, you either live in civilization or you don't...</div><div>
</div><div>That is a bit of an exaggeration but in reality the geography of our population is VERy different than that of the US. Our population density as a country is extremely low but it is all concentrated in certain areas.</div><div>
</div><div>I live in the suburbs of Toronto...so it is still a 35 minute drive into Toronto (at 2am when there is no traffic, at least an hour any other time, usually more) which is the largest city in the country. Most people who live where I live either work in Toronto or in the municipality just west of it. </div>

number55 · December 2010

According to wikipedia the population of my city in 2006 was just over 164 000. I would imagine it is closer to 175 000 by now...

number55 · December 2010

Oh, and my city is also the 27th largest city in Canada...we only have two cities over a million though, with a third at almost a million...

(that is 2006 stats though since that is when the last census was done).

jasmineh7777 · December 2010

130,000 sounds pretty big to me, but I suppose it's not when compared to places like NYC.

number55 · December 2010

According to the last census Canada only had 48 cities with populations above 100k. The US had 276 as of 2009.

emilyinchile · December 2010

Hey guys, I know I never post on here, but I'm lurking and wanted to comment...H and I are actually going to be on House Hunters International in January, and you have to say a million pros and cons about all the properties. Basically you just have to babble on and on forever so they get lots of material and can edit you into an interesting show. So those particular people might be idiots, but they also might just be trying to come up with thing number 25 to say about that particular house and that's what the production company chose to keep in the final edit - and if you hear us complaining about paint color, please don't think we're stupid

emilyinchile · December 2010

Oh, and I'm from the SF Bay Area - $160,000 buys you nothing. Like literally, nothing. A 2-bedroom condo in my hometown is about $800,000, it's insane.

I love HGTV

Re: I love HGTV

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