Those small-screen makeovers look inviting, but real life is messier

By Jennifer O'Brien

Albany Times Union

ALBANY, N.Y.

Peruse the HGTV lineup on any given night, and you're likely to see shows with titles like "Property Virgins," "Designed to Sell" and "My First Place."

These cutesy, quasi-suggestive titles indicate the way we sell and look for homes has definitely changed.

Selling your home involves more than sticking a sign on the front lawn. Home improvement and design shows offer consumers suggestions about how to best show and market homes. But some experts say that, while these programs entertain and educate consumers, especially first-time home buyers, they can also lead to unrealistic expectations.

Jay Dacey, a mortgage planner from Plymouth, Minn., has worked with clients who expected too much as first-time homeowners or investment property owners.

"In my experience, some clients are overly cautious and think their phone will ring every night at 3 a.m. with broken pipes. The other side of the coin is an overly optimistic bunch who watched someone make $30,000 in 30 days on a 30-minute TV show and think they can do it, too. Reality is somewhere in the middle."

Sandra Hewson, an interior designer with Delmar Interiors in Delmar, N.Y., said the proliferation of such shows has helped shape what clients expect in a home. Recently, she says, the focus is on stainless-steel kitchens and updated bathrooms.

Hewson, who favors watching "House Beautiful" or Candace Olsen, "because she has so many ideas," finds people who are less inclined to do a home project themselves want everything already perfect in a potential home.

Along with actually remodeling homes, Hewson and Delmar Interiors frequently help "stage homes" - another result of the home design shows.

Hewson tells clients the main goal should be to "make the home inviting, but impersonal."

Dana Frank, a ReMax Realtor from Los Angeles, finds the stagings done on the HGTV shows are not always realistic. Unless sellers are prepared to hire a staging company, they might be stuck showing a home with freshly painted walls and beat-up furnture.

East Greenbush, N.Y., homeowner Kelly Sambrook says that she has a love/hate relationship with HGTV. She loves getting all sorts of ideas, but finds that her execution of the idea is not always as smooth as depicted in the show.

"It just makes me depressed, because unless they send their designer here free of charge, how the heck am I supposed to (a) find a designer I like, or more importantly (b) afford a designer I like?

"I hate that they never really tell you the true cost of redoing a room, too. Sure, they give you some budget they worked with, but they have a staff of multitalented people who find ways to make stuff or fix stuff so that it does not have to be considered in the budget. So, in reality, if I redid my room."

After viewing an HGTV landscaping program, Ray Lopez, also a Delmar resident, was designed and installed an outdoor arbor and pathway. Still, he finds that people need to exercise common sense when choosing do-it-yourself projects.

"It helps to have some common sense and physical strength. Some of the shows have inspired me to recreate what was presented, only to find that the built-in mechanics of the project required more skill and experience than I had.

"I don't recommend being a daredevil and taking on more than you can accomplish. The cost in dollars, time and stress isn't worth it."

In the end, experts agree that consumers need to remind themselves that real estate sales and purchases do not happen in 30-minute segments.