January 06, 2008

TLC during the housing bubble: "Flip That House" and "Property Ladder". TLC during the crash: "Please Buy My House"


We knew it was coming.

And now it's here.

What a bunch of whores over at TLC. First they pump real estate to the sheeple, get 'em addicted, and then make money off of 'em as it all crashes back to earth.

Disgusting.

But oh, so predictable.

Listing: Please Buy My House

Viewers meet three families frantic to escape the real estate trap. Watch as they try one desperate move after another to move their property into the 'sold' column. The stakes are high -- who will succeed?

46 comments:

Princess Mononoke said...

LOL! I'm watching it right now.

TLC must be reading this blog... because I remember you and many HPer's have been saying this was coming or why haven't they created a program like this!

Anonymous said...

what happened to TLC? it's supposed to be The Learning Channel, not The Loan Channel. It's just more HGTV garbage.

Back in the 90s, it actually had good shows:
It's a wall-to-wall book weekend on the Learning Channel. Beginning at 9 A.M. tomorrow and stretching into the early hours of Monday, you can immerse yourself in the Western canon, from ''The Odyssey'' and Plato's ''Republic'' to ''The Scarlet Letter'' and ''Moby-Dick'' to ''Native Son'' and ''Catch-22.''
NY Times

blogger said...

Princess - thanks for the tip - any chance of getting a clip on youtube?

I'd LOVE to see this new version of TLC housing porn

Meanwhile, last anon, you're right, when TLC came out it was all about actually learning - like being back in school. And then someone must have come in and said "screw learning, we need to make money! hey, housing is going nuts, let's make money off of that!"

Anonymous said...

Well, it is kind of "Learning", in a way. People will learn what they gotta do to get out from under that toxic waste loan they signed up for....

Yes, I'm stretching.... ;)

When's it on? This ought to be interesting!

Anonymous said...

TLC should get some credit for recognizing that the market has changed. Yes they are whores, but they are a TV channel so what did you expect? This kind of show helps to spread the understanding of what is happening, and get sellers to accept reality.

Malcolm said...

Coming in 2010 on TLC:

Please buy my apples.

Anonymous said...

Ha,

Are you blaming the media too?

what makes you better then the REIC.

TLC is a dumb organization just like the rest of the media.

They only care about 1 thing.

*Ratings *

if a show called HP brought in high ratings there would be a nightly show called HP.

Keefer, you’re giving these knucklehead studios way too much credit.

Anonymous said...

I saw that show last night! hilarious. I just doubt that the family with the Fla house managed to rent it out for $5,000!! Is that typical over there?

Anonymous said...

This weeks' guest host:

Hussein Obama, former Senator and one-time Presidentail hopeful...

Next weeks' guest host"

"Honest' John Edwards will speak to yiu from his prison cell on ethics reform in America...

Doomed and Dead USA

Anonymous said...

How about geting the three idiots from New York that build motorcycles to host the show:

"Demolish this junker"

They could show innovative ways to turn houses into unimprovrd lots.

Much like Bush-Cheney-Rove have done to America...

az_mtb said...

You're a prophet Keith! You predicted this what, a year ago??

Uncle Jerry said...

Housing Panic is the new fashion. Deperation is the new granite counter tops, fear is the new travertine and poverty is the new greed.

This time next year all the sheeple will be bragging about how detitute they are and try to out do their neighbors by driving older and crappier cars.

Yeah right.

Anonymous said...

"The Learning Channel"......LOL!!!

Well here is what I have "learned"....it is stupid to keep paying a company to broadcast crap into my house.

Just another reason I am canceling my cable TV ($65/month) and going back to books and more creative ways to spend my time. For the most part TV is a complete waste of time.

But of course...that is precisely what it is supposed to do...keep the Sheeple medicated and hypnotized.

Anonymous said...

Not only is housing porn on tlc....check out their freak show lineups.

From midgets to 500 lb people, tlc profits from our sick propensity to watch others and delight in their problems. It's sad for America that this is popular. I live next to one of their "reality" stars....don't believe anything you see on this network.

Paul E. Math said...

I saw this show just yesterday. It's not as much shadenfreude as you would want, given the title. And it still has a huge REIC, FB bias.

The people are portrayed as 'desperate' but when you look at their circumstances they are not really. One woman was trying to sell her McMansion - she 'needed' to monetize the 'equity' she had built during the bubble. This woman was still making a massive profit but she was portrayed as desperate because she had dropped $100k off the $900k original asking price. The woman blew money on a feng shui consultant rather than reduce the price further.

The producers of the show treated lost 'equity' as though it was money someone had actually worked for and earned. Kinda turned my stomach.

Anonymous said...

I was amazed at the 180 degree turn by TLC. How many J6P types are now shitting themselves after the show?

Next on TLC

I'm in Foreclosure!

My Bunker is worth What?

Demo that House!

Anonymous said...

"The stakes are high -- who will succeed?"

For the first season probably no one.

Shows like this is what will finally make mainstream America realize what no news report ever could: home prices were way overvalued and have to come crashing down so people can afford them with normal loans.

This show is good because if the homes don't sell because the owners aren't willing to "give it away" they will see that no one is willing to pay ridiculous bubble prices anymore. If they do sell it will probably be because they slash the price causing the viewer to say "oh shit are homes really losing this much value this fast?"

Anonymous said...

TLC is a company that works for profit. Their programs just reflect what the public looks for. They moving from "Flip That House" to "Please Buy My House" is not much different of writing a "Housing Panic" blog and fill it with adds lining to sites selling products like: "Use your home to pay your way to your Financial Freedom!".

Anonymous said...

When will they have "Foreclose that House"?

Anonymous said...

It's almost like Fox hijacked TLC, as TLC jumped on the "reality TV" bandwagon to keep up ratings. I THOUGHT TLC stood for "The Learning Channel": now it's more of a lifestyle channel (L.A. Ink, Big People Little World, etc).

The Discovery Channel still puts on some interesting and informative content on the air, ALA PBS (albeit with more action and less facts). Even the kids (down to a 9 year old) enjoyed the "Storm Chaser" show a few weeks back on the Discovery Channel.

Talked about screwed-up branding/marketing: the educational content currently shown on the Discovery Channel SHOULD be on the Learning Channel, and the exploration of lifestyles and reality content SHOULD be on the Discovery Channel!

Anonymous said...

"...it's supposed to be The Learning Channel"

thank goodness we still have the history channel.

Anonymous said...

Next season there planning "Flip this homeless shelter", "Pawnshop Basics", and borrowing chefs from the food network for "101 ways to prepare Ramen".

Anonymous said...

TLC.. the next show will be "Flip My Foreclosure"

TLC Stands for "They Love Cash"

Anonymous said...

I watched that. Two of those a-holz sold at the end. Dude, where's my shadenfreude?

Стивен said...

Apparently, Feng Shui can "sell a house in one day" on Please Buy My House. BTW, YouTube says that this clip of Please Buy My House was from October. Anyone know which episodes have appeared since then?

Anonymous said...

here is another hillarious case of realtors takeing on each other:

Florida Real Estate Agent Dean Isenberg Allegedly Posts Phony Sex Ads on Internet

http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/1207/2701_dean_isenberg1.html

Red said...

LOL Here is a link. This particular segment is how Feng Shui saved the day and got this house sold!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qaz3iAoogw4

Anonymous said...

Well, they say hindsight is 20/20...

The smart money got out months ago and either hid it in commercial properties or 1031 exchanges. I am trying to learn to be one of the smart ones. It's sad, but, it's almost necessary to take advantage of the stupid in today's real estate game.

Frank R said...

What a joke - just another network whored out to reality tv crap that stupid lazy people who will never turn off the tv and read a book are addicted to.

Anonymous said...

TLC has certainly gone through phases over the years. Back in the late 90s my friends and I used to call it "The War Channel". Turn it on anytime and you were almost guaranteed to get a WW2 or Cold War documentary.

Sort of like the History Channel before the History Channel existed.

Anonymous said...

here's a youtube clip Keith. desperate home debtors are getting desperate.now they are hiring "Feng Shui"(they claim to bring positive energy into your life with a couple of candles).

I thought us HP'ers were supposed to be the crazy ones.


http://tinyurl.com/ytwptf

Anonymous said...

What if....HP took over TLC's programming?

A proposed lineup...

"Lowballed!" - Our camera is on as homesellers react to the bottom-dollar prices offered by saavy buyers!

"Messin' with Realtors" - Each week, we watch as two couples who have no intention of paying still-inflated home prices compete for prizes by wasting the time of desperate realtors!

"Repossess These Possessions" - Homedebters shreik in agony as repo men make off with cars, plasma televisions, and furniture!

"Divorce This House" - What happens when you mix a failing marriage with underwater equity? Join us for the fireworks as two people who cannot stand each other are forced to live under the same roof!

"Torch This House" - Desperate homedebters set fire to their debt traps while trying to avoid law enforcement inspectors, assisted by our skilled team of freshly paroled arsonists!

"Enforce This Eviction" - Think being a sheriff's deputy is all fun-n-games of drug busts and prostitution stings? Watch the hilarious antics of deadbeat homedebters as officers drag them kicking and screaming from the house they can't afford!

Chris said...

Here an episode of "Flip This House" scheduled for January 12 at 8:30 PM:

"Jon and Sandy are rehabbing a 2400 square foot, 3 bedroom, 3 bath home that they bough for $352,000 in Las Vegas, NV. They have a budget of $90,000 and a 4 month schedule to complete. Will they finish on time and on budget?"

Great advice for someone buying today. "Buy a fixer-upper in Vegas at almost $150/square foot!" LOL! This must have been done before 2007. If they didn't sell it, maybe they'll be on a future episode of "Please Buy My House".

Anonymous said...

Housing Porn -LOL

Anonymous said...

I love when they bring in the RE whores or the "house stagers" and they do things like move paintings and take knicknacks off tables and say, "now this house will sell", talk about try to justify your existence. I have to keep myself from throwing my remote though the TV.

CT Bon said...

I gotta see this! if anyone has this please, please upload it somewhere and post the link. TLC shows are rarely on torrent sites.

Anonymous said...

My favorite Flip show was when the dude used 'special' paint to fix the horrific mold problem. Can't see it....it must be okay!

Oh, and Kirsten, talk dirty to me.

Anonymous said...

Next will be a show called:
"The Biggest Looser: Real Estate."

Families and other investors will line up on stage to broadcast how much money they lost in real estate. Honestly, I would watch a show like that just for the fun of it.

nnj

Anonymous said...

Ok, TLC are whores. That said,

One couple took a $600,000 haircut. Real or phantom money I don't know.

Much of the show was shot early 2007. Watch for the St.Pats day parade.

TLC saw the meltdown coming.

TLC BETTER re-visit the knife-catchers in the show.

I bet they're farked by 2008Q1.

Anonymous said...

You saw that at the end of the Feng Shui episode the accepted offer price was $800k.

Hmmmn. What sold the house? Was it painting the bathroom red and getting big pillows for the bed, or was it the $100k further reduction?

I almost spat out my drink laughing when the charlatan told the seller her husband left her because the king size bed had no headboard, and she believed it!

Noticed the two men of the house looked unimpressed and non-commital as the charlatan did her work.

Paul E. Math said...

Another reason this show still has a REIC bias:

The one woman was driving along with her kids, as luck would have it, just 'happened' to hear a radio show about selling homes. She 'becomes inspired' and says she 'must' get on that radio show. It was really contrived.

Obviously, the house will sell much more easily if you have a free advertisement for it by appearing on a radio broadcast. I'm sure that once the radio show hosts learned that TLC was involved they jumped at the chance of appearing on TV.

All in an effort to get the homes sold and make the viewing audience believe that the housing market is not as bad as it seems. Guess what, it's worse than it seems.

Anonymous said...

Looks like NAR is getting ready for a major media offensive in a week. Read about it here:

http://www.realtor.org/pac.nsf/pages/pachome

Anonymous said...

This whole story gave me such wood that I had to relieve myself in the men's bathroom at work.

Where are the crying children when dad has to sell off their $500 toys because he defaulted on their credit cards?

I can't wait for the greater Depression!

CT Bon said...

funny that it's disgusting and we all want to watch.

Anonymous said...

Any St. Joe statues in this show?

Anonymous said...

That lady selling the house is a total whack job