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I am a retired English teacher and department head, the mother of three grand mother of four, and have been married to the same man for 52 years. I subscribe to Dr. PM Forni's concept of Civility. I was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in the 'burbs. I love soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, the Phillies, the Eagles, and San Diego. I love being Mom, Aunt Kathy, Nona Kathy, and Teacher. I spend a lot of time in my gardens in the spring and summer, and in the winter I plan what I'm going to plant. I also am an avid reader and photographer.

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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

HGTV Lessons

    From 1983 to 1988, when my youngest was still at home, I was a Realtor®.  During this time I met clients/buyers who became and remain friends, saw countless beautiful homes and pieces of land, worked through difficult transactions and brought them to settlement, and made a decent living.  I also saw the 'other' side of people:  a buyer who (after schlepping him around for a month) was wanted in three states for writing bad checks; a couple who bought a million dollars worth of property and never showed up for the settlement (turned out they were drug runners), people who worked with several agents in the same area, looking at the same properties.  Unfortunately, the 'bad' list goes on.

    But even after substantial real estate experience, I've still learned valuable lessons while watching shows such as Get It Sold, The UnsellablesHouse Hunters and House Hunters International, and Property Virgins.

I've learned that
1.     my house without hardwood floors/ceramic tile throughout is unsellable and we should be throttled.
2.     my new, state of the art, energy efficient, white appliances are not good enough.  They need to be stainless so they can show EVERY SINGLE TOUCH.
3.     everybody seems to be buying housing for "Entertaining".  Where are all these parties and why haven't we been invited??  Frankly, my feelings are hurt.
4.    our neutral colored carpet in the bedrooms is good, no, bad, no, good.  Evidently in the eye of the beholder.
5.    what we've referred to as the master bathroom is actually an 'en suite' (who knew?) and not big enough as it cannot house a family of five.
6.    our 15 year old, perfectly good cabinets and pulls are dated.
7.    people seem a lot smarter when they keep their mouths shut. (I'm sure they're instructed to babble).
8.    the 'Wow Factor' doesn't refer to the love and the memories held under this roof.
9.    selling and living in are entirely different.

11 comments:

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Well---since I don't watch HGTV or shows like that, I guess I'm way BEHIND the times... I am old-fashioned --and still like wall-to-wall carpeting and NOT hardwood floors... Oh Well....

I don't want a big bathroom; I don't entertain; and my cabinets are still the originals in the house... Oh well---guess my house will never sell... ha

Cute post, Kathy.... (Glad we are not trying to sell our house!!!)
Hugs,
Betsy

George said...

If we ever have to move, I guess we might as well just level the house instead of trying to sell it!

Linda said...

I often wonder about these 'mansions' people buy with so much room for entertaining. Who does the cooking? Most women are working to help make the house payment, car pooling the kids to every kind of activity they can possibly enroll them in etc. That means there's no one home in those mansions at least 75% of the time. When do they have time to cook and entertain?

happyone said...

Great post Kathy!! Did you also notice that on those shows when in the kitchen they are always cutting up vegetables. What about cake, bread and cookies!!! :-)

Lena said...

Great post, as all of this is on our minds are we are thinking of renovating and selling.

Never knew you were a Realtor.Interesting.

Linda Reeder said...

Great post! I have watched a lot of those shows too, and ,oh no, I don't have hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances or granite countertops. How can I continue to live here!

Jay said...

Also, if you have a bedroom set up as a home office, you have to put a bed in it. Apparently home buyers aren't capable of looking at a 10'x12' room with a closet and a window (or two) and see it as a bedroom unless there's a bed in there. But, if you have beds in all rooms, you need to turn one into an office. ;-)

Sweet Virginia Breeze said...

I've watched these programs and have come to the conclusion that my house is extremely outdated and that no one would ever consider living in it. I would love to have some of the kitchens and baths that they say must be replaced.

Purple Flowers said...

I watch a couple of those shows once in a while, and understand your point. New materials of the day are just that - a fad until the next one in line is shown in the glossy magazines.
It's difficult to keep up, so we don't, and live very nicely.
Good post! :)

bettyC said...

You are sooo right. They once had a house with a oudated garage! How can the expect to sell a house like that?

bettyC said...

You are sooo right. They once had a house with a oudated garage! How can the expect to sell a house like that?