patti bee, again...I watched the show. They did NOT reverse the order. They clearly said & showed in order that #32 was neutralize, #34 was clean, & #35 was declutter. They started the show with these suggestions. This type of show always ends with the #1 "Great Vacation Get-a-Way Spot"...or, in this case...the #1 Way To Sell Your House which was remodel the kitchen. Sorry, but you can't twist what they said to spin in.

Tricia

Like disneyrsh, I think of it as entertainment, and even though HD and other home remodeling sponsors are the money behind the camera, i'm sure there are people who learned a thing or two.

Tricia, not everyone is 'savvy' enough to know where to start when getting a home ready to list, or even *when* to stop~good and 'sane' judgment is necessary for many things we do in life. Sure, a good cleaning should have been listed first, but wouldn't most people consider that a given and *not* have to be prompted to clean? Maybe the list was 'back-asswards', out-of-sync, or dis-organized~we all judge from a different perspective.

Selling my parents home 15 years ago we didn't do a dang thing, not even paint! Giving it a good cleaning seemed to be all that was expected 'back then', before the market began dictating many of the outlandish/expensive renovations people *choose* to do.

I remember when staging was the biggest asset to generating interst in a home. Many shows would have small segments of what steps could be used in order to stage. NO money was spent, just using things already in the home. I still consider the esthetics of a home important since it shows a love of your home, but that could be because i'm a visual person. HD and other retailers have always been sponsors, so I can't totally agree with the theory as a marketing strategy.

What I DON'T agree with is going into debt in order to sell, or remodeling to the point where you change your mind and don't want to sell. Now *that's* total insanity! ;o)

patty_cakes

Disney wrote, "Holy trinity of flip", ie granite, hardwood, stainless. LOL.

I agree that HGTV has their priorities messed up and the list should be the other way around. Clearly cleaning and de-cluttering are more important than re-modeling a kitchen on the cheap.

I'm not sure budget updates are that convincing anyway. When I first bought my house, I put $2000 into the masterbath (facelift only). No doubt it looks much nicer than it did before, but it doesn't fool anyone when compared to the complete re-model we did to the hall bath and the nicer updates we've done in other areas of the house.

If one were to do "cheap" updates to 2 bathrooms and a kitchen as well as re-paint and buy new furniture just for showing, it could very easily run into $10,000 (probably $20,000).

Though, I do think new appliances help sell houses.

About appliances: I am in the market as a buyer. I would prefer that any house I buy have functioning appliances, just so that I wouldn't have to run and and buy them on the day I moved in, but it is OK with me if they are old.

Since I have strong preferences about some appliances, range in particular, it will suit me better if the seller hasn't bought new appliances that aren't really what I want (either very basic models or expensive models with all the wrong features, I mean), especially if it increases the price of the house. I would prefer to pay less for a house with older appliances that I would feel free to replace after a few months.

The misleading thing about Designed to Sell is that with its $2000 budget, it doesn't include labor and labor ends up being the biggest expense on many of these projects.

Having said that, I think you guys are being somewhat unfair to HGTV or the show. If you regularly watch the show, Lisa DaPorta ends up spending a signifigant portion of the budget on furniture and I don't recall furniture companies being a a large advertising supporter of the show. So, I think its a little unfair to say that the advertising drives the content to the degree that some of the posters are claiming. If anything, you'd think the advertisers would be unhappy that oftentimes Lisa D. will paint or stain the kitchen cabinets instead of buying new cabinets.

I also tend to think that changes today's seller do to sell a home are tied to a larger, macro changes that would have occured without HGTV. For example, granite countertops had always been a desireable feature but had been out of the price range of most buyers. But, then, as the price of granite dropped, people could now afford to put those in and that's what they did.

And, as homes became more expensive, buyers had more expectations for what they were buying. Also, as homes values jumped, owners were taking loans, using the new found value of their homes, to do remodels.

It is no surprise, to me, that Coldwell Banker was the EXCLUSIVE SPONSOR of this "How To Improve The Value Of Your Home" series. Afterall, the more your home sells for...the more commissions CB generates, right? Hmmmm

Taken directly from the article I've linked to below...

"HGTV.com has long been one of the sites where the consumer visits during the infotainment stage. By partnering with sites like HGTV, which are known fishing holes, we are able to efficiently generate traffic to coldwellbanker.com."

Tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Coldwell Banker Sponsors HGTV Mini-Series...

Sorry, I don't know how to post more than one link in a post :(

This is from HGTV's "Advertising Opportunities" website...

"Topical sponsorships packages SPECIFICALLY TAILORED TO A SPONSOR: With 35,000 projects on the site weve created content packages on hundreds of home and garden topics. Some examples of Topical Content packages weÂre created so far: Real Estate Trends, Choose Color, WhatÂs Your Design Style?, Remodeling Ideas for Every Budget, Paint Techniques, Fall Gardening Basics, Christmas in July, and many, many more."

And this from HGTVpro.com:

"HGTVPro.com helps companies to extend the impact of their presence at trade shows by producing custom feature videos highlighting new products from an exhibitor's booth or an advertiser. Building professionals can view these videos at any time on our website network from the convenience of their office computers. To drive traffic, Virtual Trade Show videos are promoted on HGTVPro.com, HGTV.com and DIYnetwork.com and by our national association partners."

These advertisers pay the light bill & furnish HGTV's CEO's office. Let us not kid ourselves that their programming is not geared towards selling sponsor's products. How else could they stay in business?

It's all fun to watch & we even learn a few usefull tips. But, HGTV has a very clear agenda...to get their viewers to spend money with the sponsors. That's their purpose in life...that's why they exist. It's a money-making operation. That's how America operates. I'm not picking on HGTV. It's the same throughout the media. Even the news networks participate in this process.

When enough people watch & start believing "the message" then country-wide trends can start. It's sorta like Mother's Day. Hallmark didn't "invent" Mother's Day; but they sure are responsible for convincing us we should send a card. Anyway, it's all good. It's all fun. It's America. Just don't take it seriously. It's entertainment.

Tricia

I think you're right, Tricia. The HGTV shows are clearly designed to get us to spend money on home improvements. No question about it. And I'm as sure as you are that the numbering in that show was intentional - I was laughing about it to my sister, who watched it with me. And you're definitely right that these sorts of shows always *seriously* underestimate the amount of labor required (and usually don't do the sort of prep work I'd do on my own house, but I guess watching someone wash the walls and sand off paint drips isn't much fun).

The trouble is, where are you going to find information of this sort that's *not* trying to sell something? Shelter magazines do the same thing - the article on "Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Kitchen" follows the ad from Kraftmaid, is opposite the ad from Woodmode, and is followed by the ad for Viking. Websites do it, too.

I haven't be in the real estate market for more than a decade, though I follow what's happening on Realtor.com. I wonder, though - is it the case now that people expect what HGTV is selling? I know that in my area (in a town north of Boston), appliances still don't convey with the house, other than gas-powered ranges. And in my neighborhood of houses worth about $400,000-$700,000 (not terribly expensive, but not cheap), granite is definitely not the norm and wouldn't be expected on sale. Hardwood floors *are* the norm, but that's only because most of the houses are old and have them already.

Like Tricia, I do worry about what message these sorts of shows send to buyers. I sometimes watch the HGTV show "My House is Worth What?", in which homeowners find out whether their house is worth enough to justify making more renovations. It's fun and I watch it for the entertainment value (as disneyrsh said). By the end, we'll find out that the homeowners have, say, $250,000 in equity and they're thrilled that they can proceed with the kitchen renovation they want to do, but I end up yelling at the tv, saying, "But you still have to PAY for it!!!"

I totally agree with Tricia.

I enjoy HGTV. But I also realize it is about as realistic as E! TV.

On HGTV, houses are grand, always a financial jackpot (unreal appreciations), landscapes are park-like (Ground Breakers), remodels are a snap, the contractors are handsome, homes sell at the first open house (designed to sell), everything seems so easy and effortless, etc. etc. etc.

Just as the rich-and-beautiful people on E! TV are not a reflection of real society, HGTV isn't a reflection of real US housing.

"The trouble is, where are you going to find information of this sort that's *not* trying to sell something?"

Or any information at all... Do you know who owns your local news station?

HGTV is to TV what Architectural Digest is to periodicals.

Joann wrote:

"By the end, we'll find out that the homeowners have, say, $250,000 in equity and they're thrilled that they can proceed with the kitchen renovation they want to do, but I end up yelling at the tv, saying, "But you still have to PAY for it!!!"

Yeah, I find that show pretty reprehensible. It's not like these people have discovered a pot of gold in the basement! And they totally make it seem like they have. What they'll be doing with that equity is going FURTHER INTO DEBT!

What they NEED to do on that show is to show what they're paying per month now for the mortgage, and not just the P&I but also the T&I, and how much they pay after they decide to go ahead with the renovations (after you add an extra 30% to the initial estimate because that's the average over run for improvements).

Then the next scene is where the family moves out because the house breaks them.

Did anyone see the latest Dream House where the spoiled young couple in Tennessee ended up selling their dream house because they couldn't afford the monthly payments?

We need more shows like that on HGTV. It was a perfect example of Stupid Tax.

I didn't see the show and only scanned the list, which I find to be mostly hype. I agree with Triciae. We have a house on the market...it's clean, it's de-cluttered, it's priced right (according to our realtor and CMAs), it's in a desirable location, and it's got good curb appeal (it did have some grass problems but they are getting better thanks to a lawn care company we hired). We had all ground floor rooms repainted and put brand-new vinyl in the kitchen and painted the kitchen cabinets. We doubt we'll get our money back on even those improvements--no way would we put in brand new appliances or a new countertop! It's a 1950s house priced accordingly. It's not a new house. It amazes me the number of buyers who think our house should look new at less than $90k (we're in the Midwest). IMO, HGTV and stupid shows like it have done more harm to sellers than good.

I sometimes watch the HGTV show "My House is Worth What?", in which homeowners find out whether their house is worth enough to justify making more renovations.

OMG, that show drives me nuts. "And I've determined that your house is worth..."

Dramatic pause.

Dramatic pause.

Dramatic pause (w/ someone raising an eyebrow or leaning in to the speaker).

At which point I'm yelling, "Oh just freaking get it over w/ already!!!"

All tv programs need sponsorship,and it makes perfect sense that HGTV would be sponsored by anything pertaining to the home. Extreme Homemakeover has only ONE sponsor(Sears)but IMO, they're not trying to dictate our running out and buying all our 'creature comforts' from their stores.

I may watch sports that are sponsored by beer, but it doesn't sway me to run out and stock up on the stuff. And what's with all the sponsors for meds? Is that an idication we're all depressed, diareah-prone, headached, sleepess-in-Seattle, and need to immediately see our doctor~whatever! Sponsors=air time. Without them we would be staring at a blank screen on our expensive plasma.

Making choices~buy a particuliar product or not buy it. Bottom line is, TV sponsors will always be around, fill your head full of rubble, but NOT dictate your choices. ;o)

patty_cakes

I'm an admitted huge HGTV-junkie and have been for years now. But I do watch it with a skeptic's eye. I'm a real estate and home junkie too. But laugh when HGTV and other networks bring out all these shows that are "the trend." For a while, it was "Flip This House", "Flip That House", etc. Then the market tanked. Now it's Designed to Sell, Bought & Sold, Sell This House, etc. By the time we get saturated with these shows, what will be next?

I too cringe when I watch "My House is Worth What?". The thought of most of the people using their equity to get major projects done in their house is scary ....unless they have just gobs and gobs of equity and they bought the house for a bargain. But you are right, you still have to PAY for it month-to-month. Nothing comes free.

The best thing about watching all my HGTV (and other home-related shows on other networks) is that I'm also a huge TiVo junkie. You couldn't pay me to sit down and watch any of them unless I could fast-forward through the commercials. I'd rather stick needles in my eyes. This from someone who has made a living in marketing! :-)

Oh, back to the 35 ways topic. Clean the house top to bottom, stage it to make the rooms look architecturally interesting and not cluttered (using existing stuff), price it right and do some creative marketing (doesn't mean $$). It also depends on the price of your home. More expensive homes will have more discriminating buyers and more effort will probably need to be put into the home to sell it. But first-time homes should not need granite, hardwoods, high-end cabinets, etc. But make it CLEAN and decluttered!!

I'm an admitted huge HGTV-junkie and have been for years now. But I do watch it with a skeptic's eye. I'm a real estate and home junkie too. But laugh when HGTV and other networks bring out all these shows that are "the trend." For a while, it was "Flip This House", "Flip That House", etc. Then the market tanked. Now it's Designed to Sell, Bought & Sold, Sell This House, etc. By the time we get saturated with these shows, what will be next?

I too cringe when I watch "My House is Worth What?". The thought of most of the people using their equity to get major projects done in their house is scary ....unless they have just gobs and gobs of equity and they bought the house for a bargain. But you are right, you still have to PAY for it month-to-month. Nothing comes free.

The best thing about watching all my HGTV (and other home-related shows on other networks) is that I'm also a huge TiVo junkie. You couldn't pay me to sit down and watch any of them unless I could fast-forward through the commercials. I'd rather stick needles in my eyes. This from someone who has made a living in marketing! :-)

Oh, back to the 35 ways topic. Clean the house top to bottom, stage it to make the rooms look architecturally interesting and not cluttered (using existing stuff), price it right and do some creative marketing (doesn't mean $$). It also depends on the price of your home. More expensive homes will have more discriminating buyers and more effort will probably need to be put into the home to sell it. But first-time homes should not need granite, hardwoods, high-end cabinets, etc. But make it CLEAN and decluttered!!

Azdreamhome, I couldn't agree with you more re:the latest in 'trend' shows. Whatever happened to Kitty Barthoamew(sp), Lynnette Jennings, and *my* all time favorite, Christopher Lowell, on the Discovery Channel. 'Back then', the shows were the type you could learn from, but not the Trading lets-paint-everthing-brown Spaces type. I've read that the shows are gearer for younger people in their 20's and 30's, and IMO, wouldn't know country French from '60's Mediterranean(don't mean to offend anyone here if you're in that age group).

I coud't agree with you more about people 'going in the hole' to sell their home. Only in America! ;o)

patty_cakes

If I were buying, I'd rather have an allowance for cosmetic changes instead of having the seller make them for me.

I agree. While I love the DIY channel and learning how to shim hinges etc. I think HGTV promotes crummy, hurried DIY fix er uppers. I do not want to look at a potential house only to find that the owners did a crappy paint job on the older but original wood cabinets. I'd rather live with the original wood cabinets than deal with a peeling paint job 6 months later. I know I can usually do a better job on whatever my decision is. HGTV rarely seems to get into the details of how to do a long lasting quality job.

While several people said it was unrealtistic, it seems to be my nightmare here!

In my neighborhood, they all want them upgraded to stainless steel/granite/new kitchen/tile/hardwood. My showing feedback always includes "very clean, shows well." I'm in a superb location and **thought** I was priced well. But one of the other most popular feedback comments I receive is "looking for a new kitchen." And I've been the first runner up to several houses in worse locations (some cheaper, some not) with NEW kitchens! But my house is $150K cheaper than the one down the street with the new kitchen, you can build your DREAM kitchen, for goodness sakes! But noooooo, they want the new cheapo maple cabinet kitchen from home depot....

Anyway, vent over. Carry on! :+)

juliebatt - I feel for you. At the risk of sounding like a snob it does seem that many people just don't think much and have that "what the jones have" mentality. Which ruins it for the rest of us:)

But my house is $150K cheaper than the one down the street with the new kitchen, you can build your DREAM kitchen,

As marys1000 said, some people just don't think very clearly. There are also many who don't want the aggravation of doing a renovation (having remodeled kitchens twice, I am sort of sympathetic).

But there is another, very real, consideration when it comes to improvements that a buyer could make. If you make the improvement before selling, it's included in the price and they can get mortgage financing based on it. Even if it results in a higher selling price, as long as they can qualify for the mortgage, this works out for them. In contrast, many potential buyers don't have *cash* to overhaul a kitchen, and in the period right after the purchase might not have enough equity for a HEL or whatever, so having it included in the original purchase is the best way for them.

While going thru several open houses in my condo complex, I noticed several had updated kitchens including cabs/granite/SS. I'll be 'one of those' who isn't doing a *complete* kitchen reno. I installed wood in several rooms a few years ago, including the kitchen, painted the cabs white and added a few trim moudings, have fairly new appliances, and will be installing granite counertops, or rather a product called 'Granite Transformations'. GT is a crushed granite/resin product, and the counters are constructed to fit over existing tops.

In my '84 condo I was advised by a neighbor NOT to remove them. When he did, upon removing the tile and underlayment, the cabs literally were pulled from the walls and fell apart, putting him in a position where their was no alnternative but to replace the cabs also. I felt replacing the old counter tile counters would be the biggest improvement, along with a new SS sink/faucet.

In today's market people seem to want an updated *new* property inside, and don't seem to mind the fact if it's an older construction. ;o)

patty_cakes

ohmoreh does make a really good point. Another thing to consider but juliebatt try to hang in there. Someone will come along, like your home/price and decide to do their "own" remodel vs. buying someone else's remodel. Hang in there!!

"One that I objected to (I don't remember whether it was in this list or somewhere else) had to do with repairing damaged wood floors. Basically, it said, cut out the bad piece, put in another one, sand the entire floor, and the last step is staining it.

The last step is staining it? I have seen them do that a few times on the home-staging shows, but what happened to applying three coats of polyurethane varnish?"

The bit I saw about fixing wood floors didn't have them sanding the entire floor, just staining that little bit (but they also skipped the poly part). Never mind that stain-matching to an existing floor can be a rassenfrackin nightmare of a task, but they said "it'll only take an hour or two!" Yah right.

"Sure, a good cleaning should have been listed first, but wouldn't most people consider that a given and *not* have to be prompted to clean?"

Our agent says that he has turned down many listings because people wouldn't Clean The D@mn House Already, and he wasn't going to waste his time trying to market a dog of a house. (Few people can overlook serious dirt and a hoarder's level of clutter, although we did.) I'm continually stunned at the number of pictures that pop up on the MLS that show homes where people didn't even pick up the clothes on the floor or wash the dirty dishes (or at least move them to the other room!) before the photos were taken. I must have retaken some of our photos half a dozen times, much to my DH's chagrin, I was so anal-retentive about the rooms looking their best. A couple of them I'm still not 100% happy with but they were the best I could do, there's only so much you can manage with small rooms where you can't get really good angles on the space. (But when the agent saw them he said he didn't even need to come over and take any, mine were very good. So I'm proud of that, even though I am sure that there are still things to pick apart.)

"If one were to do "cheap" updates to 2 bathrooms and a kitchen as well as re-paint and buy new furniture just for showing, it could very easily run into $10,000 (probably $20,000)."

We had to hire out the painting (8 rooms of trim @ 3 coats, 6 rooms' ceilings and walls @ 2 coats each) because we suck at it and would have taken forever, but we'll have spent between $8k and $9k getting the house ready for sale. About half of that was the painter, but he earned his wage since he was here 6 days a week for a month plus. We'd have been here until Christmas! Labor was by far our biggest expense and we even got our electrical work done for free. I did very little of the tchotchke-buying thing and I didn't buy a stick of furniture, but I did do things like replace every light fixture and doorknob on the first floor (moving a couple of the best-condition ones up to the second floor) because the cheap "brass" was corroded and peeling. While it won't increase the selling price it'll make the house more appealing and thus likely to move. While I would much rather not have had to spend that kind of money, you do what you gotta do. Almost everything I bought for the house was steeply discounted (clearance, coupon, ebay, craigslist) or dirt cheap to begin with, if I'd paid full retail for everything it'd probably have been $11-12k. We blew off other stuff that would have added another $5k easy.

The granite/stainless monster has reared its ugly head here too, so even though the range & hood are new-new and the fridge is only 3 years old and still under warranty, the fact that they are white (most appropriate for the house and I don't like SS at all anyway TYVM) is a potential strike against us. (Joann, I'm a little further north from you in seacoast NH and both fridges and stoves-of-either-fuel are expected to come with the house; washer/dryers are generally negotiable but we'd really like to keep ours if we can manage it as they are brand new and were puh-ricey!) We might well get a ding for not having granite counters even though granite in a modest house like this is like putting a tutu on a bulldog - just plain ridiculous. But I did get a kick out of the number of agents at the caravan who thought the $1/sf stick-down vinyl tile in the kitchen was ceramic! LOL You'da thunk the lack of grout would have given it away but it just goes to show ya...

"It amazes me the number of buyers who think our house should look new at less than $90k (we're in the Midwest)."

Where I live people are getting spoiled rotten, the media has trained them well that nothing is as good as new construction, even if they can't afford/won't pay for new, and so even "used" houses (especially if they're just 10-25 years old, not old enough to be interesting) have to look brand new. It's downright crazy, and more than a little depressing. "Good enough" isn't acceptable anymore, everyone has to have their "dream house" right off the bat. Sigh.

the media has trained them well that nothing is as good as new construction,

I have no statistics to back me up but from personal observation I think the level of new home construction/developments are changing the future of real estate. Just the next domino in the "throw-away" world. Why get something fixed? Just buy new. The main 'affordable" big builder here has its own cable show that runs all the time starting with the couple who states "why buy an old house when you can get so much square footage in a new house for less?"
And people pretty much seem to be taking that to heart.

I certainly have to agree with everything Tricia stated. Back when, when you bought your "first" house the goal was to get a house, just about any house in a decent neighborhood. It didn't have to be bejewelled because it was your first house. You did a little fixing up etc and moved on up eventually/hopefully. I still think that's the way it is for most folks, just not the ones who watch HGTV.
Anyhoo..I think the number one upgrade, the thing that most attracts potential buyers is none other than the KitchenAid stand mixer artfully positioned on the countertop..LOL You know I'm sorta right.

"Anyhoo..I think the number one upgrade, the thing that most attracts potential buyers is none other than the KitchenAid stand mixer artfully positioned on the countertop..LOL You know I'm sorta right."

LOL! Maybe I shouldn't pack mine away after all! (Mine's not an accessory, we bought it because we use it, at least when we are not worried about keeping the kitchen spotless every minute. We have the commercial style where the bowl cranks up and locks, not the flip-top.) It's been in half a dozen places around the kitchen and people seem to find fault with it in every spot. I occasionally think I ought to set it on a granite column in the middle of the floor with its own spotlight. ;-)

number one upgrade, the thing that most attracts potential buyers is none other than the KitchenAid stand mixer artfully positioned on the countertop

Hey, I have one! But wait, something is wrong - I'm the buyer, not the seller. Maybe I should take it with me and plop it down on the counter in each house that I view.

Actually, my own kitchen looks like it was staged (and the unit I'm renting is for sale). In addition to the KA, there are a large Le Creuset "French oven" in flame red (orange), and a row of Portmeirion "Botanic Garden" canisters. All I need is a bowl of limes or lemons.

As long as we're bad-mouthing HGTV, I'll add in that while some of their interior remodeling advice is at least within the grasp of the average homeowner to do themselves, their exterior landscaping advice almost always requires a professional, or most likely, a whole team of professionals with heavy equipment. Whatever happened to doing it yourself?

You know I just realized yesterday that I had been bad mouthing HGTV and the negative (IMHO) impact they've had on some things (bad DIY pre-sale etc.) then realized - I don't even watch it anymore. Just sort of happened without me realizing it.

Looks like the ad execs are bound & determined that we will watch & be influenced by those commercials...

Tricia

Actually, my own kitchen looks like it was staged (and the unit I'm renting is for sale). In addition to the KA, there are a large Le Creuset "French oven" in flame red (orange), and a row of Portmeirion "Botanic Garden" canisters. All I need is a bowl of limes or lemons.

*Snort*. Here it's Granny Smith apples - no matter what season, expect a bowl of shined-up green apples on the counter!

When we were selling I was advised (by someone here, I think!) to use the green apples because they last longer without refrigeration than the red, and that does seem to be true, so if they're just for decoration, go with the green.

Oh boy, friends, these shows make me laugh hysterically. I love houses, I loved redoing the kitchen in my old house FOR MYSELF, not knowing I'd move 8 months later and lose approximately $20K on it. But BUY NEW FURNITURE to sell your house? How stupid do they think home buyers are--we KNOW we're not BUYING the furniture. And painting everything a neutral color--I often like white or ivory walls, but if the house that needs to sell is painted colors, sellers are advised to paint it neutrally, but if it is white, all of a sudden it needs "a burst of color" to liven it up! Make up your minds, HGTV!

^ The part about buying new furniture is why I'm just pretty skeptical of claims that Designed To Sell is as advertiser driven as critics claim. On a lot of those episodes, buying furniture takes up a huge chunk on their budget. Just tonight, I saw an episode where they spent $1700 out of their $2000 budget just on the furniture. But, if you look at the advertisers, how would this emphasis on furniture benefit those companies? Not HD which doesn't really sell furniture.

And, yes, its true that people are more likely to remember the last thing said. But, I thought it was commonly known that this phenomenon would also apply to the first things said as well. In pscych 1, you learn that people are more likely to remember the first and last thing said.

marvelousmarvin,

A show can be entirely sponsored by a particular company & yet not a single commercial for that company airs during the show. Or, maybe just one commercial during an hour program. Sponsorship & ad time can (and frequently are) different things.

HGTV, as well as other media, are by nature advertiser driven. It's the advertisers & sponsors that pay the bills. To believe otherwise is naive & lacks an understanding of how the business world operates. HGTV is not on the air to provide you, or me, with ideas for staging our homes for sale. They exist to make money for the stockholders of E.W. Scripts Company, a multi-media parent corporation.

This concept is true even of your local evening news programing. Find out which media company owns your local TV station & then start watching the commercials & reading the trailers at the end of the show. You'll be amazed at how obvious certain biasis & slants become with the knowledge of who's paying the bills in the background.

As a consumer (as in other things in life) knowledge is power. Read the links I provided further up this thread. HGTV plainly states that they gear programing to advertisors & sponsors. What more do you need to see/read than straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak?

/T

On the furniture note... I've been watching Designed To Sell with a critical eye and too much knowledge of the Home Decorators Collection catalog. An awful lot of the newly-purchased furniture shown on the "Designed To Sell" show is stuff I've seen in the HDC catalog.

Aaaaaand who owns HDC? HOME DEPOT!

HD is also moving more into furniture and home decor outside of their acquisition of Home Decorators Collection by expanding their offerings at their Expo stores; they folded the "Yupscale" 10 Crescent Lane catalog (which had quite a bit of furniture, albeit too expensive for the DTS program) into the Home Depot Direct catalog.

"On the furniture note... I've been watching Designed To Sell with a critical eye and too much knowledge of the Home Decorators Collection catalog. An awful lot of the newly-purchased furniture shown on the "Designed To Sell" show is stuff I've seen in the HDC catalog."

I think that you're all being a little too cynical. And in response to the above quote, you don't have to try to guess where things were purchased; it is all on the DTS website. Just click on an episode and you'll find a detailed list of everything purchased, from furniture to paint. Here's a link to one particular episode that shows that items were purchased at Ikea, JC Penney, and World Market, among others.

Also, since I participated in an episode of DTS (which will be repeated next month, btw), I know the exact routine they follow (at least the DC production crew), for designing, filming, and shopping for furniture and materials. And I also saw the receipts for when and where most things were purchased.

One other note I wanted to make: most of the shows that you see on HGTV and other cable companies are produced by independant production companies, not the networks themselves. For example, HGTV has little to no input in the day-to-day filming or decisions made by the production team of DTS. In my instance for example, once we were selected by the producer to be participants, we had to film an impromptu two minute or so audition tape to be sent to HGTV for final approval (I guess they wanted to make sure that DW & I were telegenic and wouldn't freeze up on camera). After that, HGTV wasn't involved until the entire episode was fimed and edited. They weren't involved with what the designers chose to do to our house, nor with the product selection. After the completed tape was sent to them, they did of course have final approval of whether to air it or not.

BTW, the production team that puts together DTS -- Edelman Productions -- also produces numerous other shows for cable networks. In addtion to shows for HGTV, they also produce shows for the History Channel, the Food Network, and DIY. Here is a link to Edelman Productions website.

Me thinks these dang 'selling-your-home' type shows are getting a bit out of hand. Over the last couple of months i've watched the new one(can't think of the name!)with that Donna lady and her daughter, you know, from Designed to Sell? Not only do they nit-pic on the house itself, but on the owners furnishings~I find that rude, and a definite slam against the owners taste.

Are *real* buyers now 'taking note' of a home owners furnishing after watching shows of this nature? And worse yet, are they forming opinions to NOT by a house because of disliked furnishings? I know this sounds crazy, but i'm of the opinion that the *new* buyer has over-realist expectations, and that includes walking into a home where *everything* is model-home perfect, even if it isn't included with the house. ;o)

patty_cakes

trica - The link to the commercials at the comcast site only took me to their homepage. Do you have another link?

Are *real* buyers now 'taking note' of a home owners furnishing after watching shows of this nature? And worse yet, are they forming opinions to NOT by a house because of disliked furnishings?

Well, I certainly didn't - I'm buying a house that was furnished in a style that (a) I dislike, and (b) was completely at odds with the architecture.

It was, however, spotlessly clean and appeared to be well-maintained. I wasn't the only buyer who thought so; there was a competing offer, in what is generally a slow market.

But I'm not a first-time buyer, either.

sparksals,

I'm sorry...don't know why the links aren't working for you? I just tried them & they went to HGTV's advertising site & an article regarding Coldwell Banker's sponsorship of HGTV programming.

/T

I agree with the idea that a lot of these shows are giving home buyers (and particularly first time home buyers) some warped ideas about what a house should have.

Homes at the lower end of the market are not going to have all brand new appliances, etc. And I have a girlfriend who's a realtor, and she says for first time home buyers, often it takes them 10 or 12 showings for them to grasp that most homes in their price range are not going to be newly remodeled.

Personally, if I were buying today, other than major items like furnace or roof, I'm not interested in something that has been remodeled. I'd prefer to buy something that I can personalize. But, I get the impression that I'm in the minority.

I do watch some of the shows fairly regularly--used to particularly like Curb Appeal but I always seem to miss it now. I sometimes get some ideas on what I'll do with my kitchen (someday!)

One of the recurrent themes that I've noticed is that the kitchen cabinets will always be "dated" and in need of some kind of change--no matter what style they are--even if they are a style that was shown as the updated improvement in the last episode!

Along the same lines as the Kitchenaid mixer observation, I'm thinking of parking a rented/borrowed Mercedes in the garage when we sell our home (years from now). It would probably make a better impression than our ancient but trusty Toyotas.

Some of the programs are useful. Nice to see the before and after pics of "Designed to sell". Food for thought more than anything.

johnmarie wrote: "Our agent says that he has turned down many listings because people wouldn't Clean The D@mn House Already, and he wasn't going to waste his time trying to market a dog of a house."

Your agent sounds wise. If I were an agent, I wouldn't want to waste my time working with slobby sellers either. I have walked through houses that didn't look like they had been cleaned in 10 years. One had dog feces all over the deck. We weren't able to see much with all the clutter. Needless to say, it was a waste of time for all concerned. It eventually went to foreclosure.

triciae wrote: "Looks like the ad execs are bound & determined that we will watch & be influenced by those commercials..."

Ad execs seem to think that it is not enough that you are inundated with loud commercials at a every break. What I find it even more annoying are the moving persons/objects that take up the lower left/right corner of your screen WHILE your watching the regular programming. As for the comment in triciae's link, New Style Commercials, "We all need to become more creative in how we incorporate sponsors into a program," said Ed Swindler, executive vice president for NBC Universal ad sales. "No one on the creative side or the business side wants to make commercials intrusive, but we do need to commercialize efficiently so viewers can afford to get free television." They ARE intrusive. I PAY plenty to watch TV. If this money isn't being used to pay for programming, what are we paying so much for?

Patty_cakes wrote: "Are *real* buyers now 'taking note' of a home owners furnishing after watching shows of this nature? And worse yet, are they forming opinions to NOT by a house because of disliked furnishings?"

No. I don't notice the furnishings. If I do, it is only to compare how MY furnishings might fit.

If you know you are going to put your home on the market in a year or a few months, start watching the real estate listings online for your neighborhood. I have noticed that the homes with nicely landscaped yards sell quickly. You certainly don't want to spend a lot of money to remodel your house right before you sell it. You may however want to do something that makes it better than the others.
Many homes I have looked at put a new coat of paint and new carpet inside an out. Pretty much a waste because I will want to change the colors. The money would have been better spent on a new roof or siding. Something that adds long term value.

In my useless to the masses opinion - part of what all these designed to sell updating your property shows spawned off of was from those areas where there is a lot of competition with new construction.

If you live in an area where there is a lot of new subdivision development - and you have a "used" home on the market you have to be able to compete on some level with the new shiny construction that has lots of new shiny stuff in it.

Many of the items people are purchasing to update their home (especially if they are trying to sell their 6 year old house in the same subdivision with brand new construction) is not top of the line stainless appliances, etc. You can find perfectly acceptable builder's grade ranges in stainless at your home depot or other appliance wholesale store - it's all about perception.

And that's what cleaning and decluttering is all about. I don't think you have to spend thousands in remodeling - some paint and the look of clean and newish helps a lot. We live in a very transient society and you will find that a lot of people buying homes are not buying to live in them 30 years, moving an average of what 5 - 7 years. But you guys all know this.

I love the fix'em-up shows for the information and ideas I get. I find them to be full of ideas I can do and/or afford as opposed to the major renovations I see in the magazines. Even if not selling, many of the easy updates are pleasing and not terribly expensive to do.

I view these shows as sort of a short hand or decorating for dummies thing.

I am a HGTV TLC DIY junkie though.

MP