Your Saturday starts with you ready to tackle your to-do lists, but then, somehow, you end up on your couch flipping through TV channels. You finally land on your favorite Home Improvement Box Sets station. Six hour-long episodes of home-buying/selling/renovation reality TV shows later, you’re now a self-proclaimed expert.
But not so fast. Although the viewing experience can seem useful, it can lead to confusion if you’re actually looking to buy or remodel a home.
According to Remodeling magazine’s 2014 Cost and Value report, home remodeling had its highest increase since 2005. It returned an average of 66.11% of the investment. Kiplinger predicts that existing and new home sales will increase by the end of the year. These shows are more realistic than most realtors and homeowners realize. They also help homeowners to see greater returns on their renovation investment and increase the number of buyers actively looking for homes. In many cases they are not.
Kiplinger was asked by HGTV about behind-the scenes quirks that aren’t revealed to viewers.
“Our goal is not to make home-buying, selling, or renovating an unpleasant experience, but to create entertaining and fun programming for our viewers. We may have to adjust the timelines or reduce the time required for a story about real estate or renovation. This is done in order to manage production and time constraints. Sometimes a program can be a competition series, or an experiment that aims to entertain our viewers’ ‘what if’ fantasies. The ability to create entertaining programs requires creativity. Today’s viewers have more knowledge than ever.
We spoke with real estate and remodeling experts as well as those who have appeared on these shows to discover the most common misconceptions and get their advice on how buyers and homeowners can be more realistic about what they expect. Have a look.
If you’ve ever watched a home renovation reality show and thought a three-day turnaround on a master home improvement box sets bathroom remodel sounded too good to be true, it is, says Patrick Hurst, owner of Hurst Design-Building-Remodeling, in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. His company was featured on DIY Network’s 2011 “House Crashers” series. This series follows homeowners as they shop at home and then follow them home to complete a project.
