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I've noted in recent weeks (may not be new epis of HH or HHI) that some people have some bizarre demands. Two that I can recall:

* Did not want to buy a home near a corn field based on the short story/movie by Stephen King.

* Wanted a big closet because she didn't like other people's clothes (in this case, her husband's) touching hers.

Care to add more?

Not really an idiosyncracy, but it seems more and more people have incredibly stupid children! Can't get this house because of the type of pool, can't get the house because of a heater - kids might burn them selves can't get the house with the screened porch becuse the kids might go through the screen, can't get the house because of yard, etc, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by santa_fe:
I've noted in recent weeks (may not be new epis of HH or HHI) that some people have some bizarre demands. Two that I can recall:

* Did not want to buy a home near a corn field based on the short story/movie by Stephen King.

* Wanted a big closet because she didn't like other people's clothes (in this case, her husband's) touching hers.

Care to add more?

I saw both those episodes and just shook my head. Would love to see how that woman does her laundry. Can't remember if they had kids - sort of boggles the mind doesn't it.

On the "corn field phobia" I was thinking "I've bought/rented a lot of houses in my time and corn fields were never ever even a fleeting concern".

I hate it when they look,out the bedroom window and say " the view isn't very good" or " I can see my neighbors yard". I find myself yelling at the TV-move to the country!

One guy was buying a house and he was concerned about the suitability of it for a dog he might someday own. In other words he did not own a dog, did not have immediate plans to get one, yet his choice was influenced by the possibility of one day having one.

I think I have seen two episodes now of a man and a woman both saying they couldn't use a toilet that someone else had used in the home. They needed brand new!

This idiosyncrasy is mine instead of someone a HH or HHI....i won't buy near a cemetery. I don't even want to give directions to my new house and have to say something like "turn on the street next to the cemetery." I know it is stupid but it would be a deal breaker for me!

quote:

Originally posted by officegirl:
This idiosyncrasy is mine instead of someone a HH or HHI....i won't buy near a cemetery. I don't even want to give directions to my new house and have to say something like "turn on the street next to the cemetery." I know it is stupid but it would be a deal breaker for me!

What if it's an old, no longer used cemetery, like an old family cemetery?

I know a block of four streets that surround such a cemetery (with a generous perimeter of open land). I would have no qualms living there. This cemetery isn't even accessible via car; the parks department allows foot access from one of the streets, where there's a gap between two houses, (cemetery not visible from the street) so you have to walk on a piece of land equivalent to what a house and yard would take up to get there. In my day, we kids would have spent many a summer night gathering in our "extended" back yards, telling spooky stories and daring each other to pull some late-night antics at the graves (1880s to early 1920s).

Would this kind of thing still be a deal-breaker for you?

Not for me, lots of granite!

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Originally posted by robeau:
Not for me, lots of granite!

And free at that!

Just saw a HH where a woman didn't want to hear chirping birds and therefore, didn't want to see trees nearby. She didn't want to wake up at 4:00 am by birds.

I have to admit, I feel that way about roosters and have experienced a next-door rooster. But regular old birds? Hmm...

quote:

Originally posted by officegirl:
This idiosyncrasy is mine instead of someone a HH or HHI....i won't buy near a cemetery. I don't even want to give directions to my new house and have to say something like "turn on the street next to the cemetery." I know it is stupid but it would be a deal breaker for me!

We owned a home across from a cemetary,LOL quietest street we ever lived on,selling it though was a different matter LMAO
We have seen grown adults actually run out of the house white in the face
finally sold the home to a couple that didn't mind that loved the house as much as we did

BTW
never would have sold it if we didn't have 2 more children, loved it

I have to agree these people are spending their own money on what they want but build their own house if they are THAT particular LOL

makes you wonder what will ever please that sort of people?????

This message has been edited. Last edited by: CC-IMO,

Recently saw an episode of HH (or it could have been MFP) where a guy had some sort of clairvoyancy. One of the three houses he and his wife looked at, he wouldn't even go to the front door because "it had a dark vibe". He stood in the walkway to the house with this spooked look on his face saying, "no-no-no".

Please.

quote:

Originally posted by ZenMama:
Recently saw an episode of HH (or it could have been MFP) where a guy had some sort of clairvoyancy. One of the three houses he and his wife looked at, he wouldn't even go to the front door because "it had a dark vibe". He stood in the walkway to the house with this spooked look on his face saying, "no-no-no".

Please.

I just about sprained my eye muscles from rolling my eyes in that one. I coulnd't believe how wowed and impressed people were by his "talent."

I saw an epi where the buyer didn't want to come out of a shower and face a mirror. Think about it. If you come out of the shower facing a mirror and see someone else in the mirror, wouldn't that person have to be a) standing in front of you or b) standing in the shower with you?

I also saw an epi where the guy wanted the back yard to face west so he could grill and see the sun set. What was funny to me was that he was in a Chicago suburb, not on a lake, on a coast, on a bluff, on a mesa, on a hill. There was no vista. I was also amused that he used a compass to check the home's orientation. Not outrageous but kind of oddball considering the Chicago location.

Heather and Legend always stand out to me. It was mostly her with all the quirks. Couldn't sit in a tub sanyone else had used. Also freaked about what appeared to be a ladybug. Had to discuss the issue with the home inspector.

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Originally posted by MrsFowler:

I hate it when they look,out the bedroom window and say " I can see my neighbors yard". I find myself yelling at the TV-move to the country!

Yep, this ^ one most of all grates on my nerves.

And these are the same people who just have to live in a "vibrant, urban setting." :roll eyes:

Wasn't there one recently where the woman was worried about the houses being haunted?

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Originally posted by MsWildhack:
Wasn't there one recently where the woman was worried about the houses being haunted?

YES. That's one I forgot. She didn't want a house built before the 1960s, I believe, because she was afraid of haunted houses.

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Originally posted by santa_fe:

quote:

Originally posted by MsWildhack:
Wasn't there one recently where the woman was worried about the houses being haunted?

YES. That's one I forgot. She didn't want a house built before the 1960s, I believe, because she was afraid of haunted houses.

What? Nobody died after 1960? LOL - I lived in a haunted house for 3 years and it was built in about 1975. Previous owner had killed his wife in there. Yes, it was haunted (no, I don't believe in ghosts but it WAS weird). Footsteps where nobody was, rocking chair starting by itself, sensation of someone sitting down on the foot of the bed in the guest room (had been one of the children's room), little things like that. Worst time of my marriage was in that house when I was physically afraid of my DH, and every couple who moved into that house afterwards broke up for about the next 4-5 owners.

I love everyones answers. I think I saw all of them. The ones that mostly bug me are the ones who can't differeniate "need" from "want".

The ones that get me now - parents who won't buy houses with stairs inside or outside because of their kids. Did I miss something- have they stopped making baby gates or have children lost the ability to walk up and down stairs?

I did note a few months ago a couple who were wonderful! Nice, respectful to their agent, reasonable in their requests, and actually said they could live in the house and save for the kitchen remodel because the home met most of their needs. The size was great, it had a good yard, and the location was exactly where they wanted it.

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The ones that get me now - parents who won't buy houses with stairs inside or outside because of their kids. Did I miss something- have they stopped making baby gates or have children lost the ability to walk up and down stairs?

Are parents too protective or is it just that I grew up in the era where we'd play outside without adult supervision and climb trees in the field across the street?

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Originally posted by SoCalAngie:


Are parents too protective or is it just that I grew up in the era where we'd play outside without adult supervision and climb trees in the field across the street?

Actually we were tossed outside in the summer and told to come back for lunch. If we needed a drink of water we were told to use the hose!

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Originally posted by professorc:

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Originally posted by SoCalAngie:


Are parents too protective or is it just that I grew up in the era where we'd play outside without adult supervision and climb trees in the field across the street?

Actually we were tossed outside in the summer and told to come back for lunch. If we needed a drink of water we were told to use the hose!

What's the statute of limitations on child abuse? I think it's time we make our parents pay for their crimes. Think of it. These days, the children of yesteryear wouldn't even qualify as Pampered Pets!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: santa_fe,

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Actually we were tossed outside in the summer and told to come back for lunch. If we needed a drink of water we were told to use the hose!

LOLOLOL! Ditto for us growing up in the 50s and 60s. Those were the days weren't they? My Dad's favorite expression, "Why don't you kids go outside and play in traffic." He wasn't being mean or hateful, just a typical no-nonsense New Yorker.

Remember: "If you come inside one more time, you're gonna stay inside."

LOLOLOL! Ditto for us growing up in the 50s and 60s. Those were the days weren't they? [/QUOTE]

We had to use our imagination. And since toy guns weren't considered politically incorrect (we would have laughed hilariously at the concept!), we would crawl through the weeds in the field across the street (scratches, scrapes, bug bites) and play war.

My favorite HH couple ever was on HHI -- a young Irish guy and his Bulgarian wife. They were both sweet, cute, upbeat and just fun to watch. I hope they're having a lovely life running their Irish pub in Bulgaria.

I've had great fun reading all the responses!

One that hit me recently was on an episode of My First Place (or was it Property Virgins? I get them mixed up)

Anyway... it was a young buyer who wanted a move in ready house. But of course, it wasn't in her budget- so the realtor was showing her houses that needed a little bit of work here or there.

And every time the realtor would say "just a bit of paint" or "that's an easy fix." she'd come back with .... "remember... I want a house with NO WORK"

I was waiting for her to ask if the house was self cleaning!

I think I have seen a couple of shows where the couple won't live across from a school.....what is with that? There have been times when I was a kid that I wanted to live close to the school! LOL! Seriously, they must not plan to have kids or can't stand other people's kids..... my favorite is they MUST have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops...

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Originally posted by Debbyinohio:
my favorite is they MUST have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops...

That's my own personal "fave"! I've come to hate it to the point that, if I ever won Powerball, I wouldn't buy a house with granite countertops or stainless steel appliances!

(TBH, I love Mid-Century Modern and I'd want this line of appliances:

http://www.elmirastoveworks.com/northstar.aspx

with some Boomerang Formica.

(Yes, I said it. I want Formica!)

quote:

Originally posted by Debbyinohio:
I think I have seen a couple of shows where the couple won't live across from a school.....what is with that? There have been times when I was a kid that I wanted to live close to the school! LOL! Seriously, they must not plan to have kids or can't stand other people's kids..... my favorite is they MUST have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops...

Schools are frequently an issue in real life. If you have been by a modern school - it is not kids running happily too and from class, that was the old reality of Leave it to Beaver. Today at elementary and middle schools it is long lines of parents spewing gas fumes from their SUV's as they wait to drop lil Susy and Johnny off at school or wait to pick them up in the afternoon.

If it is a high school you have teens driving all over the place all day, trash and noise.

So no, I would not want to live across from the school.

quote:

Originally posted by Debbyinohio:
I think I have seen a couple of shows where the couple won't live across from a school.....what is with that? There have been times when I was a kid that I wanted to live close to the school! LOL! Seriously, they must not plan to have kids or can't stand other people's kids..... my favorite is they MUST have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops...

This is what makes watching these shows interesting - sometimes. What bothers some people doesn't bother other people. I've seen a few buyers buy homes near and even next to a school, but I wouldn't. Noise, traffic, buses, weekend sports, loitering. I work shifts and not only do I need my sleep, but I don't want my empty house to be on the path of some opportunistic thief. I like my peace and quiet.

And don't get me started on the high-end kitchen finishes for the young buyer who admittedly can't cook. They ask for - no, demand - stainless, but they don't look at the features, just the finish.

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Originally posted by 40kpaintchips:

quote:

Originally posted by Debbyinohio:
I think I have seen a couple of shows where the couple won't live across from a school.....what is with that? There have been times when I was a kid that I wanted to live close to the school! LOL! Seriously, they must not plan to have kids or can't stand other people's kids..... my favorite is they MUST have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops...

This is what makes watching these shows interesting - sometimes. What bothers some people doesn't bother other people. I've seen a few buyers buy homes near and even next to a school, but I wouldn't. Noise, traffic, buses, weekend sports, loitering. I work shifts and not only do I need my sleep, but I don't want my empty house to be on the path of some opportunistic thief. I like my peace and quiet.

And don't get me started on the high-end kitchen finishes for the young buyer who admittedly can't cook. They ask for - no, demand - stainless, but they don't look at the features, just the finish.

Not only that, but is there anything easier to change in a house than appliances? Paint is cheaper, but it is more work. Even countertops are not hard to change, if you are willing to pay someone to do the work.

Just heard a new one. They want a home with a balcony because their 3 year old daughter likes to play princess!

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Originally posted by jdmdiva:
Just heard a new one. They want a home with a balcony because their 3 year old daughter likes to play princess!

OK, that made me laugh out loud and be glad I don't have the t.v. on tonight.

I will have to admit that the school issue, is a lot more relevant than many want to realize.
Schools today, are not the schools of yerteryears.
Especially middle schools, They built a middle school about a mile from our home, and at the end of the school day, you couldn't even to go the nearby Library. They behaved like little animals. And yes, the smoke and traffic jams because of all of those cars from mothers that were savy enough to pick up their kids. was not tolerable.
Hey, those kids are and will become the demographic for HGTV. LOL.
Regarding about the stupidity of many of the people that are on any of the programs mentioned. I have come to the conclusion, that they are obliged to say the stupid things that we all see on TV.
I really refuse to believe that we have become a nation of idiots.

quote:

Originally posted by jdmdiva:
Just heard a new one. They want a home with a balcony because their 3 year old daughter likes to play princess!

Funny how so many people are afraid of staircases and their kids, and this couple is okay with their 3 year-old playing within 6 feet of the stairs!

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Originally posted by MsWildhack:

quote:

Originally posted by Debbyinohio:
my favorite is they MUST have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops...

That's my own personal "fave"! I've come to hate it to the point that, if I ever won Powerball, I wouldn't buy a house with granite countertops or stainless steel appliances!

(TBH, I love Mid-Century Modern and I'd want this line of appliances:

http://www.elmirastoveworks.com/northstar.aspx

with some Boomerang Formica.

(Yes, I said it. I want Formica!)

That is retro! When I was a kid in the 60s, my parents had turquoise appliances from GE. Those were so cool! They also had stainless steel and I HATED it! Showed fingerprints and I bet they still do!!!

We have formica countertops and on the bar. Suits us fine! It's jade green by the way and have black appliances.

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Originally posted by Debbyinohio:
We have formica countertops and on the bar. Suits us fine! It's jade green by the way and have black appliances.

There's nothing wrong with formica and in my recent tours of middle class homes, some only 5 years old, I saw plenty of it.

quote:

Originally posted by santa_fe:
Remember: "If you come inside one more time, you're gonna stay inside."

Boy, do I remember that one from my childhood!

I dont get these buyers that say stairs are too dangerous for little Billy or they are worried about the pool outside because little Sally may get too close. Uh, don't you watch your kids??

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ZenMama,

quote:

Originally posted by ZenMama:

quote:

Originally posted by santa_fe:
Remember: "If you come inside one more time, you're gonna stay inside."

Boy, do I remember that one from my childhood!

I dont get these buyers that say stairs are too dangerous for little Billy or they are worried about the pool outside because little Sally may get too close. Uh, don't you watch your kids??

Well, I can sort of understand the pool thing - kids can turn into Houdini in a moment - but, for the stairs unless it's a steep flight that ends in tile (which I wouldn't have no matter what because I do not like ANY stairs) kids will learn to go up and down them safely.
As for "don't you watch your kids" - when my eldest was 2 and I was hugely pg w/ my second, we visited my brother and his obsessively clean wife for a week. Steven pulled all the leaves off her favorite plant, got into her classical record collection and scattered them all over the floor (out of the jackets), found her green stamp books and tore them up, wrote on one of the doors with green crayon, dumped ammonia water on her freshly waxed bathroom floor, dumped gritty cleanser all over her freshly waxed kitchen floor, threw the cat down the stairs a couple of times, and...for the grand finale found his way into the back yard and took all the plastic holders off the 2 ft. pool and let all the water out of it. Was I watching him? Like a hawk - he was just an extremely quick and active (and normal) little boy. Now, 48 years later he's a calm and respected preacher in the small town where he lives.
It is different if you just turn your kids loose and go take a nap or something...but, I know how fast those little boogers and move. Not having a pool is a small price to pay to avoid tragedy - some friends of mine dealt with the grief of one of their grandchildren drowning on their property.

The woman who doesn't want her husband's clothing touching hers has bigger fish to fry than buying a house. She needs to be planning for divorce! The hostility there is breath-taking.

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Originally posted by sms29s66:
The woman who doesn't want her husband's clothing touching hers has bigger fish to fry than buying a house. She needs to be planning for divorce! The hostility there is breath-taking.

Wasn't that a hoot??? I still wonder how they managed to have children.

quote:

Originally posted by doodles64:

quote:

Originally posted by sms29s66:
The woman who doesn't want her husband's clothing touching hers has bigger fish to fry than buying a house. She needs to be planning for divorce! The hostility there is breath-taking.

Wasn't that a hoot??? I still wonder how they managed to have children.

I didn't see the episode, but perhaps it was because no clothing was involved?

quote:

Originally posted by sms29s66:
The woman who doesn't want her husband's clothing touching hers has bigger fish to fry than buying a house. She needs to be planning for divorce! The hostility there is breath-taking.

I didn't see it- but WOW!

My personal fave are the people on HHI who are buying a home in a different country where they don't know anyone but must have room for entertaining. Who the heck are they going to invite?

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Originally posted by Soosie:


My personal fave are the people on HHI who are buying a home in a different country where they don't know anyone but must have room for entertaining. Who the heck are they going to invite?

ROFL - I know, right?

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Originally posted by lavern2:

quote:

Originally posted by Soosie:


My personal fave are the people on HHI who are buying a home in a different country where they don't know anyone but must have room for entertaining. Who the heck are they going to invite?

ROFL - I know, right?

I've asked myself the same thing time and time again. I like when people say they move to a country south of the border because the people are friendly...and then they're filmed socializing with ex-pats. Oh, those people. Naive me thought you meant the natives of the country.

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Originally posted by santa_fe:

quote:

Originally posted by lavern2:

quote:

Originally posted by Soosie:


My personal fave are the people on HHI who are buying a home in a different country where they don't know anyone but must have room for entertaining. Who the heck are they going to invite?

ROFL - I know, right?

I've asked myself the same thing time and time again. I like when people say they move to a country south of the border because the people are friendly...and then they're filmed socializing with ex-pats. Oh, those people. Naive me thought you meant the natives of the country.

LOL - you will find the same thing in this country. Most of our subdivisions are filled with folks relocating here from OH, PA, NY, NJ, CT, etc. Many ask me questions and are concerned about living in the "South" and the "locals" (Cuz you know how we are down here in the sticks - we all marry our cuzins, swill rot gut and don' have a real good grasp of Englush while driving around in our pick up trucks with a coon hound and gun rack - ) What the reality is - the locals are few and far between in most of the newer subdivisions. In one subdivision where my clients purchased a home, he is retired police, the street they are on has multiple retired police, fire, etc from up north. This is pretty typical for our area, nary a banjo in sight.