TV shows helped blow the bubble?

[PD]

One of the things that contributed to the boom are all of the TV shows about real estate. It started with House Hunters. I think they really encouraged people to go out and buy and/or flip. Maybe the huge number of these shows are still getting people to go buy? Heck, they are great commercials. Everything always comes out rosy.

Last night I was was watching the show that compares similarly priced properties in three cities. They happened to be Ann Arbor MI, Austin TX and LA. They started with homes priced at 250K. The first house up was the 250K house in Ann Arbor. It was owned by a young couple who were both about 24 – 25. Their parents gave them 50k and they took a loan for 200k.

The young, chirpy, happy wife comes up on the screen and begins talking about how great their house is and how they have an Interest Only loan which keeps their payment at $650 a month when they would have to be paying $900 a month if they were renting. WHAT!!!!!! This was presented as though they were the smartest people ever to sign for a home loan.

The final happy news was that this brilliant couple had already made 25k!!

I was disgusted. How many people watched this happy, chirpy FB and decided to take the plunge? Hey, with an IO the rent vs. own calculation works out.

I turned it off. I could not stand to watch the rest of it.

Does anybody have any updates on some of the “Flip This House” and “Flip That House” flops?

[FutureSDguy]

House Hunters is an odd show. Realtor shows three houses, sometimes very different than one another, and buyer chooses one of the three. Sure….

It’s funny to watch the realtor show the houses and try to add value in the decision making process. In most cases, they’re pointing out the obvious: “look at this red kitchen.”

“Isn’t that wallpaper wonderful?”
“No, I hate it.”
“Well the wonderful thing is that you can take it down and customize this room to your tastes.”
“And I’m paying you HOW much to tell me this?”

[PerryChase]

PD, you make a good point. House flipping and real estate obsession has become part of popular culture.

I don’t have cable at home, but sometimes I watch those shows at my dad’s. They funny at times and, like you said, disgusting at other times.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

I believe that the television programs are a reflection of the times rather than the cause of them.

TV programs don’t program people. People program TV programs.

[no_such_reality]

Actually… I’ve been catching the reruns/reproductions. They’re following up with the rushed ones from last year when they did “I’ll make $$$ but the house didn’t sell before airing”, things didn’t turn out so rosy.

[PD]

FSD, I think these shows are both a reflection of the times and a creator of them.

People make commercials. Commercials get people to buy or else they would not make commercials. What are these shows but giant commercials?

I watched a program last night on HGTV about the 2006 home show. It was one long commercial highlighting new products for kitchens and bath. The names of the manufacturers were mentioned numerous times.

I would bet the farm on the fact that there are people out there who got the idea to try to flip from these shows.

[PerryChase]

I remember that up until about 6 months ago, Wells Fargo used to play HGTV on the TVs in the branches. Now, they’ve switched to the news. The marketers at Wells Fargo know well what’s going on.

[Mark Holmes]

Yeah, I saw that episode, grimaced when I heard them say they were given 50k for their down (no rich relatives giving my partner and I down payments) and choked and sputtered when I heard them say they chose interest-only to make their tiny payments of $625/mo. It’s as if the whole country has lost its mind…

[Anonymous]

I’m guessing shows like that have had some impact, but they can only have that impact in an environment of loose lending. The bubble has to already exist and be well underway before “House Hunters” can be born. How popular would that show have been if instead they had to show a couple coming up with a $50K down payment and paying $1300/month in carrying costs?

HGTV can run “Transplant This Kidney” if they want, but it can’t affect the path Joe Average takes unless medical schools dramatically lower their standards.

[AK]

I’ve seen at least two houses from the various house-flipping shows on other blogs … both expensively and extensively remodeled, both massively overpriced, both unsold after mega DOM. I seem to recall one in Westchester and one in Palm Springs.

[Critter]

I’m glad my parents didn’t give me the down payment for my first home buy. Doing it “the old-fashioned way” (saving for ten years) meant I did a lot of research on loan scenarios before picking the best one and it definitely was NOT an IO, neg am, or any of the other funky chicken loans!

I think people treat earned money with more care than they do hand-outs.

[Cow_tipping]

When your shoe shine boy asks you for a house flipping tip, and when you go, sorry I dont have one, he gives you one … run back to your house, sell it and move into an apartment. Its gonna get ugly …
Now when did a used car salesman say the car has cigarette smoke in it. He says its “been plated with cadmium and insects cannot live in it” Believe that over your own nose and you deserve to be robbed blind.
Cool.
Cow_tipping.

[Author]

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