House Hunters

Via Instapundit, this from Megan McArdle:

“I recently discovered HGTV, a channel I watched devotedly for about three weeks before all the renovations began to look the same to me. Every young couple looking for a house wants stainless steel and granite countertops, and wants them RIGHT NOW."


Boy howdy! Watching House Hunters, I get the same impression. People today "couldn't possibly" live in a house with white appliances, or a master bedroom without a walk-in and and a master bathroom with two sinks.

Megan's point is that she thinks stainless appliances and granite counters are going to be out of fashion soon. Indeed, I am a little tired of the look too. It was new 20 years ago. I often wonder if buyers look for these items because they know little about what to look for in a house, and it is easy to evaluate a home based on these conspicuous items. It's like when people watch gymnastics. The vast majority of people have no idea how to evaluate a gymnastics performance. They only know how to look for a solid landing. So to them the landing becomes the single measure.

I would fall out of my chair if some time on House Hunters somebody asked about the school system for the district containing the house. Or about the condition of the roof, or heating system, or windows. Is there moisture in the basement? Is the foundation solid? What are the property taxes like? These are important questions, yet on House Hunters you are far more likely to hear someone ask about a jetted tub.

Ann says: Then there are the "water features" that they insist on putting in just about every yard. Bleah! I always figure that it is due to the show's and the channel's sponsorship by fountain makers. Certainly the appliance companies are providing some of the funding, too.

Update from Steve: I caught some flak from mom regarding the stainless and granite look. Her beautiful kitchen is one of those. My point is not that this is a bad look, or even that it is dated. The point is that it is the only look that seems to be acceptable these days.

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