I hate HGTV

This spring we finally got busy and listed our house for sale. It’s something we’ve been talking about and working toward for a couple of years now, and we just reached the point where it was time.

What an experience. It was, at best, disappointing; at worst – horrible. Part of it was our choice of real estate agent, part was being the owners of a 50-55 year old house with all its quirks and shortcomings and the rest was entirely attributable to the HGTV effect.

On HGTV, there are two kinds of properties – those which have been renovated and those which require renovation. There is nothing in between. There’s no room for a home that needs a bit of updating but is entirely liveable, attractive and homey. It automatically falls under the “requires renovation” category.

Many real estate salespeople and home buyers have bought into the HGTV assessment of properties. It’s crazy. A new, attractive laminate countertop must be replaced because it is not granite. The new sink and stylish faucet will be replaced because a new countertop deserves a new sink and faucet. Kitchen lighting must be replaced because the fixtures aren’t pot lights. And the pot lights that are there must be replaced because they aren’t *new* pot lights. The house must be repainted despite the fact that it was repainted in the recommended popular colours less than a year ago because … well, just because. And on it goes …

One side of the HGTV coin is that everyone wants entirely renovated and “move in ready” condition. But it’s move in ready according to what HGTV tells them – nothing less or different will do. Granite countertops and stainless steel appliances only – nothing else is allowed. Hardwood flooring throughout – can’t have laminate.

The other side of the HGTV coin is that if there’s work to be done, real estate agents and buyers consider the property should be had at bargain basement prices because they “have” to renovate. Well …actually… it’s rare that people *have* to renovate. The house may not be tarted up exactly the way they’d like it to be, but that doesn’t mean it’s a dump in need of an overhaul. Newsflash, folks … just because you *want* to renovate doesn’t mean the house is in need of renovation. You don’t get a big discount because it’s not up to HGTV standards.

Don’t get me wrong. I love house hunting shows and home renovation shows and all that stuff on HGTV. They are fun to watch, but they are not real life. They are entertainment. They are staged and well edited to show drama to make them interesting to watch. They should not be taken so seriously or accepted as gospel.

Just think about it … if everyone used their own judgement about what made a house liveable for them instead of ticking off the boxes on the list of HGTV-approved features, our living spaces would be a whole lot more interesting and representative of who we are instead of reflecting what’s fashionable at the moment. Sort of what it was like before we started watching designers and contractors tell us how we should live.