Real Estate Reality Shows Are Lying to You
A few years ago, a few friends appeared on a reality show about finding a home. They made a splash, but then they said something that surprised me: it was all staged. They had already bought the house when they filmed the episode, and that house wasn’t in the show at all. The houses they looked at weren’t even for sale.
Like any normal person, I agree that so-called “reality shows” are scripted to a certain extent, but I had previously assumed that there must be some truth to these real estate shows: that the information they presented was somewhat reliable, and that you could get at least some basics about real estate and home renovation from browsing them.
The actual reality is this: No. Whether it’s a show about finding a home, a show about renovating a house, or a show about reselling houses, the only thing you can rely on is that you’re probably being lied to. Buying or selling a home is harder than looking at three houses and talking over a glass of wine, buying a remodeler is probably not a bargain , and Property Brothers isn’t going to spend weeks in your house personally putting up drywall and grouting tiles.
But this is worse than just a fake – most of the information these shows give out is completely wrong. If you base your life decisions on what you see at real estate shows, you will be very sorry. That’s why.
Everything is too simplistic
The fact is that renovating, buying or selling a home is almost always a long and complicated process. On reality TV, the process of finding a home looks like it could be done in one chilly weekend: Your realtor takes a few notes, puts on a worried face when you mention your budget, then shows you three options and you choose one. That’s all. Or you meet with your contractors, they take a few notes, put on a worried face when you mention your budget, and renovate the whole house in about four days, brilliantly managing your tiny budget so there’s no overspending. Of course, there’s usually a dramatic moment when they discover mold or a whole shipment of floor tiles arrive smashed to pieces, but somehow it all comes out on time and on budget.
These shows are lying. A typical home search can take weeks, if not months, and real estate agents work with people every step of the way. These deals are complex—they involve complex, lengthy negotiations ; people rarely make “cash” offers; and buying a home often depends on selling the existing property in the first place, which includes renovating that home and working to sell it. The process of buying a house is nothing more than a bank writing one huge check – the mortgage process can take weeks or months (and often the buyer bites his nails at some expensive law office while waiting for the bank to send a fax). paperwork and depositing funds) – and there are a ton of additional costs, including more taxes and fees than you’ll ever know, that these shows usually skip completely.
crappy job
Another real estate reality TV lie is telling you: that their remodelers a) actually do the job themselves and b) do a good job. In fact, the opposite is often the case.
These shows have a narrative: the host meets with the homeowners, discusses their needs, and then works hard to miraculously transform the house without breaking the budget. The formula requires that there be at least one hurdle — an unexpected expense or something horrific discovered during the demolition process — that the star will overcome creatively and of their own free will. And then homeowners get a beautiful home filled with brand new things!
The truth is much less rosy. These quick repairs are costing too much, with many shows being sued by homeowners for poor performance that doesn’t meet local regulations or that leaves their homes in worse condition than they used to be . It makes sense if you think about it. Renovations are complex and expensive, and anyone who has ever remodeled their home knows two things: The contractor you hire subcontracts just about everything; and whatever you do will take forever . These shows rarely show you how bad weather often delays work, or that subcontractors leave your work for days or weeks, or that local inspections can take weeks to organize, meaning no work can go on in your home at all. . Often, in order to get the job done in time for filming, the production companies behind these shows cut (and do) corners , throw in superficial work that looks good on camera but doesn’t last, and leave a mess behind.
Don’t watch a home repair show and assume that your house can be taken apart and repaired in two weeks for exactly as much money as you can save. It will take longer, cost more, and ruin your life more than you think.
Flipped math often doesn’t add up
The real estate math on these shows is also more or less imaginary. Aside from the aforementioned sleight of hand when it comes to the costs of buying, selling, or renovating a home, TV likes to present a house swap as a simple proposition: you buy a dilapidated home, invest a lot of money. spend the capital and then sell it for a good profit. Do this often enough and you’ll get rich and be able to automate the process by subcontracting most of the work.
This is how house swap works in theory, but these shows usually don’t take into account many details. There are pull permits, and if you’ve ever tried to get a permit from your local building authority, you know it can suck in real time. There are checks to be passed. There are running costs to consider, including mortgage payments, utilities, taxes, insurance, and homeowner association fees, which are either completely ignored or presented as no problem because you are somehow going to sell the house within 30 days and avoid them all. .
This does not mean that you cannot make money selling your home. It’s just not as simplistic a process as these shows make it out to be. You must diligently calculate your total expenses, in addition to the purchase price, repair materials and contractors. And you probably need to assume that you won’t be selling the house right away or at the price you hope for and increase your budget to make up for it.
The best advice you can take from any real estate show is to assume that everything on it is a complete fabrication. And please, can anyone tell the contestants on these shows that walls can be painted and a bad color palette is never a good reason not to buy a house?