Real Estate Sign of the Times

Written by nickel - 10 Comments

I just saw a plug for a new real estate show on HGTV, but this one’s a bit different… It’s called “Buy Me.” The tagline used in the ad was “They’re running out of time, money, and patience.” Here’s the description from the website:

Determined real estate agents, disenchanted homeowners and a pressing deadline. How far will they go to close the deal on a home?

Coming out of a period during which shows like “Flip This House” or “Flip That House” dominated the airwaves, it seems that television is finally catching up with real market forces.

The way things are currently going, it might not be long before we see shows along the lines of “Foreclosure 101” or perhaps “Repossess My House.”

Published on October 30th, 2006 - 10 Comments
Filed under: Real Estate
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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

Repossess my home…heheh…I’d probably watch an episode or two of that…
Comment by Blaine Moore — Oct 30th 2006 @ 9:45 am
Maybe Casey Serin could host.
Comment by HC — Oct 30th 2006 @ 10:05 am
The Real Estate Sign of the Times is “Price Reduced”
Comment by Debt Free — Oct 30th 2006 @ 11:06 am
When every channel has a real estate show, that means to me that the housing market has peaked (last year). This herd mentality is very much similar to the nasdaq bubble days when every book store were selling get rich books and we all know what happened next.
Comment by Alain Wong — Oct 31st 2006 @ 2:06 pm
Well, this show is not really new. I think it’s in it’s 2nd or 3rd season now on HGTV. What I like about the show is that it brings up a lot of the things people do wrong in terms of selling their homes.
Comment by Emma — Nov 2nd 2006 @ 12:01 am
A market downturn could really make for some interesting reality shows.
Comment by Flat Fee MLS Marketing — Jan 21st 2007 @ 3:07 am
I was watching one of those episodes and there was this girl who was completely clueless doing a flip. She paid too much, picked a bad location, got expensive contractors, didn’t have a plan, went way over budget, etc. It was pretty much everything you’re NOT supposed to do. However, since she was in California, her house magically appreciated by $60,000 while she was flipping the house, thus covering her stupidity and handing her a nice profit. It makes for good TV.

Plus, they don’t even factor in Realtor fees and other transaction costs. Thus the investor appears to make more money than they actually keep. Again, it sounds nice on TV.

I’d like to see people flip houses in more realistic real estate markets … like Denton, Texas for example. Appreciation is a modest 3% and average days on the market are between 3 and 6 months. Average selling prices are about $150,000 for 2000 square feet. Try flipping that!

Now THAT would be a show worth watching. And the following segment could be all the wanna-be flippers who failed and had to deal with a foreclosure or sell it for a loss just to get rid of it.
Comment by David — Feb 21st 2007 @ 4:29 pm
This show is actually a few years old and started during the housing boom. Most of the epesodes are taped in Canada.

As for those other flipping shows… has anyone seen property latter for the past few seasons. People are lucky if they break even. Its sad sometimes when people try really hard, but most of the time I like to laugh at the stupid people who dont have a clue and dont make any money.
Comment by Emily — Nov 5th 2007 @ 12:24 pm
Flipping houses is a very difficult and dangerous game. People that are uneducated want to get into it because they hear stories about the guy that makes a ton, but they don’t hear about the person that went under because of trying to flip houses.

Rick Marnon
Comment by Rick Marnon — Nov 14th 2007 @ 3:53 pm