Bogus B'game Reality

I'm a little behind on my reading and viewing, but I do enjoy a few of the "reality TV" shows and record them for later viewing.  Back on April 22nd, the "Flip It to Win It" show on HGTV caught the eye of my eagle-eyed wife and me when a house came up for foreclosure auction in Sunnyvale.  On the show, the bidders go by and visit, but are really buying blind since they cannot go into the houses they are bidding on at the courthouse steps.  So this "Sunnyvale" house on Montana Way caught our attention because it was right on the Caltrain right of way and the video showed eucalyptus trees and oleander bushes as the train went by.  Don't get me wrong: Sunnyvale is a lovely town, but not as lovely as this clip showed.  Here is the house in Sunnyvale and the TV bidders.

The house supposedly sells on the courthouse steps for $810K.  I repeat, Sunnyvale is a nice town, but....   By now the B'game antenna are up.  Sure enough this lovely TV couple are shown walking into the house they won and we see a Michael Brownrigg for Council  sign on the lawn behind them!  Too funny.  This little charmer is at 1038 Montana Morrell Ave. in Sunnyvale B'game!

But wait, the story gets better.  The TV bidders say they budgeted $100K and 33 days to renovate this house and flip it.  I nearly spit out my pinot noir at their cluelessness.  Sure enough as the show progresses, they get caught for numerous lack-of-permit violations and the house gets tied up past the filming for the show so they cannot tout their profits and "lose" to another TV contestant.  Here is the house at the end of the show

Our TV wizards are discussing how to cut their losses at the end of the show and are considering selling it without a kitchen as a second-round spec house.  Well, that didn't happen since the listing is still active seven months later here, but the finished kitchen looks lovely!  Seeing ain't believing these days.

If anyone goes by the open house this weekend, let us know what you think.

Comments

[Bruce Dickinson]

Listen, guys, just when things couldn't get any more kooky, now we have this nugget. Remember that TV show "Dragnet" and its famous tagline? "The story you are about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent". Well fellas, in this case it would be "Only the names have been changed to protect the GUILTY". Why does your buddy Bruce say this? Because Burlingame is guilty for becoming new precinct for flipping real estate. With the planning commission ever so willing to approve almost anything via fast track rubber stamp approvals, with all the developers sitting on the planning commission "lineup", now we have HGTV finding great material epitomizing the buy, tear down, develop, and flip mentality. And in a twist of fate, we have none other than developer-friendly Mike Brownrigg's name highlighted in the program, talk about a "bust"!! Can see the A.P.B. "Attention all Burlingame residents, be on the lookout for greedy developers, possibly carrying hammers, nails, and a building permit. Consider them armed and dangerous to your neighborhood." Gives new meaning to putting someone in a brand new spec "Big House". Seriously Joe, you cannot make this up, it's so good...you gotta love it!

[Joe]

I know, I know, that's why I paused the DVR to take photos as the show progressed. I could not make this up!

[Mary]

This was our family home for more than 50 years. Your readers should also know that the buyers and their film crew were discovered on our property about to film the tv show without our knowledge or consent. The fact that they didn't actually own it yet did not seem to matter. I kicked them out, forcing them to remove all those stupid props they had placed in and around the property which they were meant to "discover" upon entering the house for the "first" time [they had of course fully inspected the house before purchasing]. They have managed to turn a 1914 home with character into a boring tract house -there is nothing "lovely" about it.