I just noticed. My vision is clearing up. My eyes aren’t sore, dry, and tired. Maybe I’ll read something . . .
Archive for June 2nd, 2007
Real estate interests me, so I watch a lot of the real estate shows, and half the time, even I, as cynical as I am, am amazed by the idiocy of the people on these shows. You regularly see people buying houses without having them inspected first. Who would spend 400K on a house without hiring an inspector? Then, I just saw this couple who bought a house out in the country, then freaked out when they found out it had a septic tank. Did they really think there were sewer lines ten miles from nowhere? And why would a septic tank freak you out? Or those people who bought a fully restored, period Victorian–then gutted it and turned it into a contemporary space. I have nothing against contemporary, but if you don’t like Victorian, why would you plunk down all that money to buy one? Why didn’t they just move into a nice, loft apartment, if that’s what they wanted? And then there are the people who get realtors to price their house, then jack up the price, and wonder why it’s not selling. Gee, why did they bother to get the realtors out there in the first place? And are there really people who buy a “fixer-upper” then are surprised when they have to sink 40K fixing it up? What do they think “fixer-upper” means?
Are these people really this stupid, or do they play it up for TV?
On the positive side, if you’re interested in real estate and not particularly interested in watching idiots, you should be watching the new Trademark Properties show, the Real Deal (Trademark created the A&E show, Flip this House, and A&E violated the contract, so Trademark is suing). They’re professionals, they know what they’re doing, they’re competent, they run a tight ship, and they’re likable. I give them about a year before the Discovery Channel idiots manage to ruin the show, but it’s pretty good so far.
