Even though House Hunters is one of my favorite shows, I don’t watch the reruns from ’07-’08 even if I haven’t seen them before. They just make me so sad to see this couple really excited about a house when I know that the value is about ready to tank. I just want to scream at the TV “No, don’t do it.”

I was hoping that the ’09 shows would be more practical. Maybe couples would be wiling to cut back & look at houses with just one sink in the master bathroom. I was just watching one that took place in California. The couple was approved for $350,000 but they didn’t want to spend that much. They fell in love with a much more expensive house & said “We’ll talk to our loan officer about it.” The loan lady then approved them for $440,000. Excuse me? Do I need tape drives to figure out what that was? What just happened? You just have to ask your loan officer for $90,000 more? They ended up settling for a house with bad plumbing & hoping that it holds out until they get their tax returns.

One thing that I’ve learned from both The City & The Hills is that you have to pause for dramatic effect. This is especially important if whatever is going on is really not that big of a deal. It makes you seem smart & that you understand what is going on when you really don’t.

All of the girls seem to know how to do this. Granted, they might just do it so the music montage can take over. Next time you don’t know what to say, just nod your head & act like you are speechless.