We've seen various house hunting and renovation shows over the years, all the way back to Trading Spaces (and seeing unimpressed reveals) in the early 2000s. It's usually filler or can tide us over until the top of the hour for a show we're waiting on, especially when House Hunters and variations (like House Hunters International) are only half an hour. Seeing new locations or styles we'd never specifically go for ourselves isn't half bad, but sometimes the formula gets a little tiring (if couple, see house for one, the other, and then a compromise; it's definitely tiring if someone acts like they have no idea about this formula and complains the whole time about one house isn't their style/budget/location/etc.).
Shows relating to repairing or restoring older homes can be interesting (along the lines of This Old House or Farmhouse Fixer), but more recently, we've liked catching My Lottery Dream Home. Despite some of the initial advertising feeling a little obnoxiously bougie, it's a nice break from the House Hunters style disagreements in location/style/budget. The people looking for a home have usually set an upper limit on their budget that's actually possible in the location they want to look in, and they're usually presented less stressfully. It seems like such a small thing, but the host asking 'What would you like to see in the next house?' (and following the suggestion) feels like the house hunters aren't being pitted against the real estate team.
It's not an outright competition, usually. Someone will have an aside to the camera about how the real estate agent isn't listening to them, and the real estate agent will have an aside to the camera that they're not a miracle worker and the person or couple will need to increase their budget to get their want list. As much as I'm usually not fond of the competitive back and forth between the renovator and real estate agent for Love It Or List It, I do like that in that show the real estate agent gives the couple a relative reality check on what they can afford.
(Separately, especially in this show, we wish the premise included an upfront rough estimate for different room renos, so some couples don't hand over the equivalent of $100 and ask for $10,000 in renovation. The exception that we remember was a couple that had already looked into the cost of adding in a wheelchair ramp to their front yard, so they actually gave a more realistic reno budget. Most of the shows we've caught haven't really featured disabled people or people looking to renovate with personal accommodations in mind, but I'm not sure that the network level PTB would go for that.)
no subject
Shows relating to repairing or restoring older homes can be interesting (along the lines of This Old House or Farmhouse Fixer), but more recently, we've liked catching My Lottery Dream Home. Despite some of the initial advertising feeling a little obnoxiously bougie, it's a nice break from the House Hunters style disagreements in location/style/budget. The people looking for a home have usually set an upper limit on their budget that's actually possible in the location they want to look in, and they're usually presented less stressfully. It seems like such a small thing, but the host asking 'What would you like to see in the next house?' (and following the suggestion) feels like the house hunters aren't being pitted against the real estate team.
It's not an outright competition, usually. Someone will have an aside to the camera about how the real estate agent isn't listening to them, and the real estate agent will have an aside to the camera that they're not a miracle worker and the person or couple will need to increase their budget to get their want list. As much as I'm usually not fond of the competitive back and forth between the renovator and real estate agent for Love It Or List It, I do like that in that show the real estate agent gives the couple a relative reality check on what they can afford.
(Separately, especially in this show, we wish the premise included an upfront rough estimate for different room renos, so some couples don't hand over the equivalent of $100 and ask for $10,000 in renovation. The exception that we remember was a couple that had already looked into the cost of adding in a wheelchair ramp to their front yard, so they actually gave a more realistic reno budget. Most of the shows we've caught haven't really featured disabled people or people looking to renovate with personal accommodations in mind, but I'm not sure that the network level PTB would go for that.)