Yesterday I had the opportunity to interview Bob Guiney and Nadia Geller about the upcoming premier of “Date My House” airing this Saturday, April 5th at 8:30 p.m. on TLC.
Some of you may remember Bob as “Bachelor Bob” who after not getting a rose from Trista on The Bachelorette, went on to star in the 4th episode of the 1st season of The Bachelor. I expect “Date My House” to be a fun watch.
I’m a little disappointed that the thrust of the show seems to come from the standpoint of helping poor, Desperate Sellers get someone to buy their house. Seems this was a great opportunity for the focus to turn more on buyers of homes being able to check out their future home more thoroughly. During the hot real estate market, too many people bought homes so quickly that they really didn’t have a chance to get to know the home they were buying. As consequence, we are starting to see some lawsuits popping up about the REALTOR Owner/Seller’s lack of disclosure about the Obscenity Screaming; Potato Throwing Neighbors, and buyer remorse suits blaming their agents for having paid too much for their home.
Instead the show appears to be built around a homeowner being so desperate to sell, that they are inviting people in for a longer “first date” to get to know the house better and “fall in love” with it. Did the buyers get to spend the night? Bob and I had a chuckle over the chances of the 12 buyers getting to sleep over by end of season filming being about the same as the odds of a guy getting to sleep over on a first date. A few did…but most didn’t.
As a buyer, would you appreciate an owner inviting you to hang out at their home for a long period of time? Would you appreciate the opportunity to have a party there for your friends to get their opinion? Have a sleepover? Spend a week maybe? Or would you view that as an act of desperation and say, I don’t want to buy a house where the owner is that desperate. Does a car salesman offer you a test drive in the hope you won’t want to get out from behind the wheel and back into your beat up Chevy? Would you be afraid to spend the night at a home for sale for fear that going back home afterward would be such a let down, that you would be tempted to buy the house?
Maybe you want to see the show first. But let us know. Do you see dating a house as a viable option for buyers and sellers in the future?
Now that the air is all but let out of the flipping balloon nationwide, effectively quashing half a dozen house-flip-reality TV shows, I suspect that we will see more shows like this on HGTV and TLC.
Desperate Housesellers?
Bachelor Bob was thinking along the lines of the date being “the beginning of a long relationship” and “first date” extraordinary attention to detail and “best game face”.
My guess is if they titled it “Desperate Housesellers” it would have been a lot harder to get owner/seller participants.
Hey, where’s Craig? Let’s talk about that Obscenity Screaming Potato Throwing Neighbor … !
I think it’s a great idea!!! I think it would be strange for someone to not be excited about sharing the home their looking to sell. Especially considering the assumed ownership of the buyer when making the offer. Being a Realtor in the downtown area, I think it would be especially beneficially to everybody since a purchase in the city is more of a lifestyle experiencing everything around you rather than what activities you can come up with in a limited amount of space. I’m just an assistant, but I’m going to bring up the idea with my partner (i hate saying “boss”).
If anyone would be interested in staying in a Belltown studio or downtown luxury 1 bedroom with view (current furnished/vacant listings), I’m sure we’d be willing to negotiate with our sellers.
However, knowing the mindset of experienced Realtors, I know the fear of a lawsuit would be in order. If I didn’t have a license on the line, I’d consider making a living off of staying at people’s places for free (I’m sure it would better than my studio apt. in Capitol Hill). How would you get around liability with that one? A completed purchase and sale (and earnest) under the condition of being able to spend the night?
“A completed purchase and sale (and earnest) under the condition of being able to spend the night?”
It’s kind of a lease for a day “lease purchase” 🙂
I remember sellers not wanting to lease purchase, as the potential buyer might find too many things that would cause them to not want to buy it by the end of the lease term.
If the person is committed enough to put up Earnest Money and sign a purchase and sale agreement, the sleep over may not be warranted. It’s when they aren’t committed that the house date is more relevant.
Well, I watched bits and pieces of it. Typical stage-this-house type of thing. Bachelor Bob and interior designer come in to help a desperate couple that’s had their place on the market for months with no action (lowering the price is not mentioned of course), and nee- uh, I mean wants a larger house so they can have a second kid.
They do a quick 24-hour spruce-n-stage, then have a ‘speed-dating’ party (aka open house) where they size up the sucke. . uh I mean potential buyers to try to identify the ‘perfect match’ for the house.
Then they offer the deer-in-th . . uh, I mean lucky new potential buyers the chance to stay overnight and have a (cool theme) party with their friends to see how they would like living in the place.
And then, the chosen are so enamored with the place that they make an offer and everybody lives happily ever after.
The end.
Don’t know if every episode will end that way or not, and I can only wonder how fabricated the stories are on these type of shows (esp. the part at the end), similar to other ‘reality’ TV dreck.
I’m not sure what happened to my comment on this–it was short. I don’t see how this would help sell a house.
Over time people are more likely to find negatives than positives.
Redmondjp,
It’s my understanding that some, if not most, turn out that the people don’t like the house after spending time in it. Time will tell. I think out of 12 episodes shot, 3 or 4 are in escrow and the rest are still on the market.
Kary,
I think that is called fear based thinking 🙂
It’s a nice concept, but it sounds like too much of a ‘made for tv’ concept than something that would catch on in the average market. But who knows, someday it may turn into an expected thing before a purchase. Time will tell.