Real Estate: Keeping Tabs On 'This Old House' | Newsweek Voices - Daniel McGinn

Now in its 28th year, 'This Old House' has helped transform dozens of houses. But what does it really cost to be part of this DIY club?

Oct 9, 2007

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Thursday nights are big in my house. No, I'm not talking about "The Office." For me, Must See TV is on PBS, home to "This Old House," the granddaddy of home improvement shows.

I love just about everything about this folksy program. I love learning carpentry tricks from Norm Abram. I love watching contractor Tom Silva solve construction problems. I love watching plumber Richard Trethewey install the latest plumbing fixtures. And I especially love ogling the finished projects.

I have only one complaint. Whenever a contractor is at my house, I constantly stress out about money. In contrast, "This Old House" homeowners seem blithely unconcerned about budgets. There's rarely an on-camera discussion of what anything costs. While this doesn't deter me from tuning in, it's rare for me to watch an episode without asking, "Okay, so what's the price tag—and how's that family paying for all this?"

Those questions gnawed again during last week's season premiere. This fall homeowners Paul Friedberg and Maddy Krauss have hired "This Old House" contractor Tom Silva to revamp their 1897 shingle-style home in Newton, Mass. As always, the first episode takes viewers through the house (filled with Victorian woodworking and working fireplaces) and outlines the parameters of the job (creating a master suite, a new kitchen and a mudroom, and doing a massive landscaping project to level the sloping back yard).

After I turned off the show I continued to wonder: who are these people, and what's this going to cost them? So I went online to find out.

Let's start with the homeowners. Who are they? It turns out Maddy is a dermatologist. According to his LinkedIn profile, Paul works at IBM; he's also a former Olympic fencer.

Okay, while I understand that people want to live in a nice house and can afford one, as well (lucky us! we can too!!), I certainly would not want the details of borrowing inheritance money from my wife to build a home and then financing the house on top of that being in Newsweek? I grew up with a gold spoon in my mouth, and I still learned to conserve money and not to live beyond my means. Yes, in a few years, we will sell our home (which is paid off) for the best offer and make a tidy profit while not holding out for a certain amount of money. We're going to use the six figures we will easily get for our home and take the rest out of the money out of our bank to pay cash for our "dream home." We don't want to overbuild in our neighborhood so that we (or our kids) cannot get a reasonable price when it comes time to sell it many years down the road. Had this house been built in Palm Beach, yes, I could see spending that kind of money. But I don't know if think this house could be built in Palm Beach and stand up comparison-wise to other houses built there. It might fall a little short of what the other houses sell for. While I know people that living in a home for a year or two and then expecting to make money off of it is not a feasible notion, considering the housing "slump" our country has been in the past few years, you probably should have taken that into consideration. You can build a very nice home without all the "geegaws and gadgets" that are so over-the-top and still have a beautiful home. Our house has always been "our home" and not considered our biggest investment. I am friends with people that have $500,000.00 homes that are twice the size of Mr. Elliott's house and they are actually much nicer looking with much nicer amenities in them. Mr. Elliott's predicament is exactly why we will chose a custom builder than than going with a "trying to do it ourselves contractor." I don't mean to be rude, but I simply don't understand Mr. Elliott's way of thinking that in one year, his house would increase so much in value. It's been my understanding that it takes years of being in a home to see a decent increase in value. And even though our "dream home" is going to be a tiny bit smaller than Mr. Elliott's house is, we won't have a mortgage, we'll be able to afford our monthly bills, we'll still be able to give money to charities, medical foundations, and most importantly we'll still have money in the bank without having to worry about having to call someone to make a repair here and there. We intend to sit back, enjoy life, put a child through college and still have our other children come to visit overnight on a once a month basis. To us, life is about enjoying what you have, being thankful for what you have, and still being content with the decisions you've made. Just my humble opinion. Sorry you are having such anxiety over your new house, Mr. Elliott. I hope you can just relax and enjoy what you've built (sorry that it isn't anywhere

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Posted By: go_txlonghorns @ 10/18/2007 3:57:22 PM

Okay, while I understand that people want to live in a nice house and can afford one, as well (lucky us! we can too!!), I certainly would not want the details of borrowing inheritance money from my wife to build a home and then financing the house on top of that being in Newsweek? I grew up with a gold spoon in my mouth, and I still learned to conserve money and not to live beyond my means. Yes, in a few years, we will sell our home (which is paid off) for the best offer and make a tidy profit while not holding out for a certain amount of money. We're going to use the six figures we will easily get for our home and take the rest out of the money out of our bank to pay cash for our "dream home." We don't want to overbuild in our neighborhood so that we (or our kids) cannot get a reasonable price when it comes time to sell it many years down the road. Had this house been built in Palm Beach, yes, I could see spending that kind of money. But I don't know if think this house could be built in Palm Beach and stand up comparison-wise to other houses built there. It might fall a little short of what the other houses sell for. While I know people that living in a home for a year or two and then expecting to make money off of it is not a feasible notion, considering the housing "slump" our country has been in the past few years, you probably should have taken that into consideration. You can build a very nice home without all the "geegaws and gadgets" that are so over-the-top and still have a beautiful home. Our house has always been "our home" and not considered our biggest investment. I am friends with people that have $500,000.00 homes that are twice the size of Mr. Elliott's house and they are actually much nicer looking with much nicer amenities in them. Mr. Elliott's predicament is exactly why we will chose a custom builder than than going with a "trying to do it ourselves contractor." I don't mean to be rude, but I simply don't understand Mr. Elliott's way of thinking that in one year, his house would increase so much in value. It's been my understanding that it takes years of being in a home to see a decent increase in value. And even though our "dream home" is going to be a tiny bit smaller than Mr. Elliott's house is, we won't have a mortgage, we'll be able to afford our monthly bills, we'll still be able to give money to charities, medical foundations, and most importantly we'll still have money in the bank without having to worry about having to call someone to make a repair here and there. We intend to sit back, enjoy life, put a child through college and still have our other children come to visit overnight on a once a month basis. To us, life is about enjoying what you have, being thankful for what you have, and still being content with the decisions you've made. Just my humble opinion. Sorry you are having such anxiety over your new house, Mr. Elliott. I hope you can just relax and enjoy what you've built (sorry that it isn't anywhere