Narrator: Nick and emy have been married just a month,
But they're already in a rush to buy and start a family.
And she's standing firm on move-in ready.
We get a new house that's still the style we like.
I mean, look at this porch.
Narrator: But with his background in construction,
He's unimpressed with the craftsmanship
Of newer homes.
-I'd gut it. -You would gut it.
It's been completely redone.
Narrator: He's trying to sway her towards vintage.
This brick is so nice.
That's so neat.
No, it's not. It's just old.
Narrator: Can he get her on board with his vision?
Let's get rid of paneling.
So we're in the first room
And you've already found a project.
[ doorbell rings ]
♪♪
I am a psychologist.
I specialize in working with teenagers.
And I work in shipping and logistics.
Are you gonna play with all of my sensory toys?
I am gonna play with the sensory toys.
My favorite part.
-We just got married. -We're newlyweds.
We have been married for just over a month.
We currently live in a 900 square foot apartment,
So there's no space at all.
Yeah, we are homeowners at heart, for sure. Yeah.
This home represents the start of our life together,
Having a family and really setting down roots
Here in asheville.
I'm very excited to think that this the house
That all of these exciting life things will happen in.
♪♪
-So let's go see this house. -Well, we've got to runner here.
-Got a runner. -Got to run.
Got a runner. Must be a nice neighborhood. Yeah, exactly.
It's like a 20-minute walk from downtown,
Which would be awesome
Because we could go down for all the festivals
And all the activities down there.
We'd like to be close enough to downtown to be able to walk.
It's one of the few places in western north carolina
That you can see live punk rock music, too.
Which is important to nick.
That is very important to me.
Based on what jen told us,
The price a little bit higher than I'd like.
-What's the listing price? -It's like $475,000.
Okay.
I'm willing to spend up to $600,000 on a home.
Definitely more comfortable going up in price
If we need to, if we find the right home.
I would like to top out at $500,000
Because it would give us the opportunity
To make changes necessary as we grow.
I wouldn't say that I'm scared to spend as much as $600,000.
I'm not scared 'cause I'm a man
And I'm not scared of anything. [ laughs ]
Says the psychologist husband.
I am really excited to see this one
Because it's all pretty move-in ready.
So I'm pumped about that.
The biggest thing that I disagree on with nick about
Is the amount of renovation that I'm willing to do.
I want something that we can pretty much move right into.
I'm so ready to get out of our apartment.
I mean, I would like to be able to do
A little bit more work to a house.
I've worked on a couple homes and apartment buildings
With my father and I grew up painting
And, you know, running around all these apartment buildings
And have a little bit of a history in that.
But we don't have unlimited resources and unlimited time.
That's what I'm saying. You're coming to the dark side.
These are actually really pretty houses back here.
This is kind of cool.
I would like to find a newer craftsman style home.
Newer craftsmans tend to have open floor plans,
Which are really good for entertaining.
I tend to like older homes because they're more
Architecturally appealing.
There's a definite difference in craftsmanship.
2x4s used to actually be 2x4s.
Now they're 1 1/2 by 3 1/2.
And there's been a definite decline in craftsmanship
And in materials over the years.
-It is... -It is a four-bedroom.
It's a four-bedroom.
We would like four bedrooms in a house because we would like
To have at least two children
And then also have room for guests to come visit
Because we do live so far away from friends and family.
I would really like a two-car garage.
I don't enjoy working on cars,
But I can and I will if I have to.
Doesn't the beard tell you that he works on cars? Yes.
I chop wood. I work on cars. -Yes.
A beard, I'm a hairy person.
Okay, so this looks like it's -- this is it here.
-We're coming up on the left? -Yep.
♪♪
So it's looking pretty new.
-A little stoop, yeah. -I like the stone.
[ speaks indistinctly ]
So as a real estate agent.
I take a lot of responsibility in working with my clients
Because it's a huge decision.
So when I'm working with clients
That one wants a fixer upper
And one wants a turnkey property,
I have to show them both several different properties
On either spectrum.
And then we get to a place of neutrality.
I think that this is a great house for emy
Because it's move-in ready.
So, guys, this house was built in 2006.
Emy: Okay, this is pretty new. I like that.
So this is the main living area, is that right? Yes.
-Okay. -The only living area.
The only living area, okay.
-Big closet. -Big closet space.
This actually was a duplex. They just redid it.
I was going to say it's not actually as open
As I thought it would be in here. Yeah, I mean...
'cause it is a little bit more closed off. Right.
First thing I noticed is that the front door
Is a literal pane of glass.
Things a burglar's best friend.
The floors, a lot of the finish has worn off already.
Looks like your standard new shoddy craftsmanship.
What do you think about the kitchen?
It's all very new, which is cool.
Would you do it in there?
The lazy susan isn't sitting too well. Okay.
But it's something you can fix.
So this is not my favorite kitchen ever.
But I think I can work with it.
This area is open, so I feel like that's workable. Right.
-I'd gut it. -You would gut it?
-It'd gut it. -It's been completely redone.
It's the cabinetry.
I understand what you're saying
And respectfully disagree about the kitchen,
'cause I really think this is fine.
-I'm with emy on that. -Yeah.
Emy: I'm genuinely shocked that nick wants to gut the kitchen.
From an ethical standpoint,
It is not appropriate for me to use psychology
To manipulate my husband.
However, I understand the way that nick thinks,
And I think that I can sort of work within that
To get him to see my perspective.
Jennifer: She just added this for privacy.
Emy: Okay, yeah, I like that. That's nice. Nick: Okay.
-So there's no garage, though. -There is not.
Okay, but there is space to build a garage so...
-Potentially -- -tradeoffs, right?
We'd have to talk to the city -- mm-hmm.
...And see what the deal would be
About how far we could build from property. The setback --
[ speaks indistinctly ] ...To find out
What they are here.
Let's take a look in the crawlspace.
One of the big advantages here is that we have access
To the entire underside of our main floor -- mm-hmm.
...Which is huge, but it is not finishable.
I'm gonna say this is bedrock dirt. Yeah.
Emy: So what I'm hearing is this is not a space for your drums.
This is extremely not a space for drums. Okay.
I would say a soundproofed room in the basement
Would be our most unusual request.
I'm a drummer. So I would like a music space.
So is there anything the space provides for you?
-The ladder down here. -Just storage.
Yeah, storage for anything that you don't mind if it gets wet.
-Right. -Okay.
So we've got full bath down here. Mm-hmm.
Actually, really like this.
The countertop in here is really nice.
Okay, so here are your two bedrooms downstairs. Okay.
I think putting the drums in one of these bedrooms
Is completely off the table.
-Yeah, we really couldn't. -Yeah.
You do need like an unfinished area.
You can build a room with a room.
-Soundproof. -Yeah.
Emy: I like their hardwoods throughout.
That's really important because carpet's a big no for me. Nick: Yeah.
Okay. There's a lot more going on here. Yes.
This is awesome.
So the master suite is gorgeous.
I love -- this is a great closet. I love this closet, too.
This is a great closet.
You have to admit it's a good closet.
I mean, you lose a lot of closet space
With the window. -Oh, my lord. Nothing. Nothing.
He's not gonna like a thing.
Nick: I can understand why emy would want a move-in ready home.
It's easier and more convenient right now.
But for a newer home that's not put together well,
It ultimately means it's gonna be a lot more work for us
In the future.
Let's check out the rest of this.
-So here is your fourth bedroom. -Okay.
-Which is important to you. -Yes, that is important.
Yeah, I like this room for for a bedroom, for sure.
All right. Come on, mr. Criticism.
Let's go.
♪♪
So I love that it's four bedrooms.
It's newer, which is nice and redone.
-I mean, it is move-in ready. -Mm-hmm.
For a house to move-in ready,
We're still talking about sinking a lot of money
And a lot of work into it.
Garage, kitchen.
I think to me, I love that it's so close to downtown,
You know, it's like a 20-minute walk.
Let me ask you this.
Would you like to see some older homes?
I mean, I don't want to see that,
But I think maybe... -I'm interested.
♪♪
Brick is so nice.
See how the brick kind of steps down into the house. Yeah.
-Isn't that so neat? -No, it's not. It's just old.
♪♪
These are gorgeous houses in this neighborhood.
So that's pretty cool.
Have a lot of reservations 'cause it's priced at $469,000
And I can only assume it's gonna need some renovations,
Which I'm not comfortable with.
How old did you say this house is?
-It was built in '27. -Wow.
Narrator: Newlyweds emy and nick want out of their apartment
And into a home quickly to start a family.
But she wants brand-new
And he's pushing for a vintage fixer upper.
Well, it's definitely old.
This brick is so nice.
Look up there by the top of the gutter
And see how the brick kind of steps down into the house. Yeah.
-Isn't that so neat? -No, it's not.
This definitely does look like an old, well-crafted home.
Oh, but man, look at this -- you can hang a swing out here. Yeah.
-Oh. -Hey, what's up, jen?
Get in here. It's so cold.
I'm excited to show you guys this home.
It's got three bedrooms upstairs. Emy: Okay.
But it has a bonus room downstairs and a garage.
All right.
Jennifer: So nick really likes the old character.
And that's gonna be a really hard sell for emy
To actually go for this house.
I mean, it looks like we've got some nice brick here
Around the chimney.
Let's get rid this paneling.
We haven't even gotten into the first room
And you're already finding projects.
The floors look fantastic, though. They are nice wood floors.
What about the windows? Lots of light.
They look like they are all single pane glass.
Yep. And these are -- these are pretty old.
I thought that you wanted an old house.
This is exactly what you've been asking for.
Yeah, I didn't say that was a bad thing.
I mean, there's a lot of work to be done.
So far, I'm definitely seeing a lot of doable projects.
I would be happier to renovate a house than buy something new
Because ultimately the quality and the craftsmanship
Is there in older homes.
You do tend to lack in newer construction.
-Formal dining room. -Molding is great.
But it is pretty sectioned off.
I know you wanted an open floor plan.
And definitely that's a concern.
Emy, don't freak out about the kitchen.
Remember...
Don't freak out is a great way to start off.
Everything can be remodeled.
♪♪
Emy: The kitchen is atrocious.
That is what I think about this kitchen.
The cabinets are solid.
The cabinetry is well-made at least.
They are fine. I'm just...
This is what you wanted to get rid of.
The tile is disgusting.
I mean, it's a lot of space, which is nice,
But it's not usable right now. -Yeah.
I'm not gonna move into a house with a kitchen
I can't use.
The amount of work that this home needs would completely
Blow our timeline out of the water
And it would delay starting our lives together
And ultimately starting a family.
Nick: Definitely a lot of nice detail in this house.
Okay, so this is the master.
For the age of the doorknobs, they're in great shape.
Seems like all the springs in them are working and everything.
I'm actually pleasantly surprised
At the size of the rooms.
-So they did update this bath. -This is the updated bath.
Nick: I know you're not a fan of pedestal sinks.
I hate pedestal sinks. There's no storage there. Yeah.
I don't love the shower. It's more projects.
If you want the bathroom that you want in here,
You're probably looking at a full bathroom renovation. Mm-hmm.
Okay, so this is a spare bedroom.
I mean, it actually is still a really good size.
Well, here is your second bath upstairs. Okay.
There's just no storage in any of them.
It's like, like, I have curly hair.
I have a lot of hair products. -Yeah.
Where do I put them?
In general, this house has a lot more space
In it than I was anticipating.
But the tradeoff is that having a big space in an older house
Means more work in an older house.
I'm really excited to show you guys this area.
We could count it as a fourth bedroom, you know? Okay.
And it has its own bathroom.
You have space down here
For a little sitting area and a bed, you know, for guests.
Yeah, that's true.
All right.
You wanted a place to put your drums.
I think this is a great candidate.
I don't know. I think this room is creepy, personally.
Jennifer: Let's take a look at this next room.
It used to be an official garage,
But they closed it in.
It could easily be converted back to a garage.
-I would absolutely do that. -Yep.
♪♪
Nick: There's -- there's a lot of charm in this house.
It's an old house. I think the craftsmanship is fantastic.
There's space in the basement for your drums.
And actually, each of the rooms is pretty spacious.
But there are a lot of concerns that I have about
The number of projects that we have to do.
I am really antsy to get out of our apartment.
And I feel like the longer we stay there,
The more frustrated I become.
This house is a really good example of why
I want a move-in ready home.
And I'm hoping that in seeing this house,
Nick will see my position.
♪♪
I will say this is a nice neighborhood.
It is. It's just not as accessible for downtown.
Has 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths.
Well, the price is pretty decent.
I don't care if it's priced well,
If we're gonna have to move again in another five years.
I don't want to have to move again.
♪♪
Definitely does look to be a newer home.
But we get a new house that's still the style we like.
I mean, look at this porch. This is gorgeous.
-I'll give you the porch. -Yeah.
-Hi, guys! -Hey, what's going on?
Jennifer: Today I'm showing nick and emy
An arts and crafts style house.
It's in a great, lovely old neighborhood,
But it's actually a newly constructed.
And I think they're really gonna like it.
-This is gorgeous in here. -Isn't it nice?
Oh, my gosh.
It's got 3 bedrooms, 2-bath.
But it does have an extra room that you could put a futon in.
So just think about that for now. Okay.
Look at this kitchen. Oh, gosh. I love this island. Oh, man.
The counters are beautiful.
These cabinets are really nice. They're soft close.
Really good shape.
The people that lived in it, he was the builder. Oh, okay.
So he really took time to think about how he wanted this to be. He did.
And it is only three bedrooms.
I know you guys really wanted four. Yeah.
There is a small room right here.
This could be an office. -Okay.
-You know, a little study. -Be like a tremendous...
What about the drum set?
Man, I don't know if I could --
I don't know if I could fit a drum set in here.
Also remember because you wanted
That fourth bedroom for guests. -Yeah.
I mean, it's a little small for me a bedroom, though.
I would feel so badly. -You could fit a futon.
I'd feel badly sticking somebody in here.
What do guests really need? You know what I mean? Right.
I know. They'd need like a bed and a window
And access to all of our electricity.
Nick gets to go first on this one. Okay.
Okay, go.
All right. Here we go.
[ gasps ] ooh!
-Oh, man. -It's your garage.
This is pretty sweet.
It doesn't have the basement that you wanted -- right.
...But I mean, you have all of this storage.
It's in great shape, too.
Jennifer: So we have three bedrooms up here, the master -- emy: Okay.
...And then we have two smaller bedrooms. Okay.
They are a little bit small.
I really want all these spaces to be good for kids. Right.
And I just worry that as kids get older,
This is not gonna be enough space.
You wonder if they'll grow out of it.
Yes, I do, for sure.
I'm honestly really concerned about the fact that this house
Only has three bedrooms
Because we do have friends and family visit so often
And we do want to have children soon.
♪♪
Oh, my gosh. This is so pretty. This is awesome.
This is the master bath.
I love this countertop and this granite
Matches the granite that's downstairs,
Which is really nice. -It's so pretty.
I'm actually surprised at how well put together
The house is.
For what it is, I'm pretty pleased.
Emy: So what's out here? A little side porch?
It's a side porch.
It's not a particularly nice view,
But I mean, I'm sure we could use it for something.
So is this -- reasonable place for the garbage cans, too, that's nice.
And remember with your garbage cans to keep bungee cords. Okay.
The local bears in the neighborhood --
Oh, there's bears in this neighborhood. Yes.
Okay, so we definitely have to be aware of that.
They will get into your garbage can.
And we have a family of turkeys. Guys, it's thanksgiving.
-It's not thanksgiving. -Turkeys.
It is not thanksgiving. We will not eat these turkeys.
Hi, friends.
-So in this neighborhood -- -yeah.
...We have a lot of bears and we have a lot of turkeys.
Lot of bears. A lot turkeys. I'm not gonna lie.
They're a little scary. Look at them go.
-They won't mess with you. -Are you sure?
They seem aggressive. -They look delicious.
No, they're not.
♪♪
All in all, I love that it's newer
And it's the style that we really like.
I'm thrilled that we have a two-car garage here.
My main reservation is that it doesn't have four bedrooms.
In this situation,
We would actually have to put an addition on the house
Or maybe up above the garage
In order to get a fourth bedroom.
Yeah, I'm really not interested
In doing any kind of construction or renovation.
Narrator: But now they need to make a decision
And nick's not giving up on vintage.
What about that old brick tudor that we saw?
It is old and needs a lot of work.
That delays our move in,
That delays us leaving the apartment.
♪♪
-Hey, what's going on? -Hi, how are you?
Hungry, how are you?
Good. I am ready to eat.
Narrator: Emy and nick have been married for a month
And are ready to start a family in their first home,
But they need to decide on old versus new.
Maybe we can start by talking about
This craftsman house that we saw.
We could move right into that and get to living our life
And that's ultimately what we want to do.
I think it's move-in ready, but I'm not sure about
The quality of that house and the lack of garage.
But it does have a recently redone kitchen,
Which is really good.
There's a good basement sort of.
You can store some things down there, at least.
It is walking distance to downtown,
Which would be so, so nice for us.
And let's not forget, this house has four bedrooms
And it's priced at a price point
That's pretty comfortable for both of us, I would say.
What about that old brick tudor that we saw?
It is old and needs a lot of work.
That delays our move in,
That delays us leaving the apartment.
But I've always really wanted a home
That had some really good quality craftsmanship to it.
And there is a garage.
We did have the potential
To maybe do a little work on the basement,
Make that a fourth bedroom.
So then let's talk about this
Other craftsman house that we saw.
I was not thrilled that it did not have a basement,
But it did have a two-car garage.
Right, and it is a really good price.
But we're giving up a fourth bedroom
And we're giving up proximity to downtown.
It is the newest house that we've seen -- mm-hmm.
...And that's kind of one of my issues.
But at least he does have some good bones.
♪♪
What do you think of putting this here?
We chose the new build move-in ready craftsman
Because it provided the most for us
And it's an open floor plan with a big kitchen that I love.
Also the craftsmanship.
This house is really well put together.
And then the builder was extremely thoughtful.
So you will take these for me.
The original asking price for the house was $449,000
And that was what we paid.
For what we're getting $449,000
Is completely reasonable.
I am extremely happy
That he does not have to do any major renovations.
It means that we can move right in
And get started living our life in the way that we wanted.
The process of moving is always really hard
And pretty stressful.
So being able to move right in was very convenient.
Emy: This is just too tight.
I can't imagine having this be a bedroom.
The biggest compromise that I made in choosing this home
Is that this house only has three bedrooms.
But I think ultimately, at some point down the line,
I'd be open to doing a little bit of renovation.
I think the house definitely does have the potential
For a little bit of expansion
To create a fourth bedroom of some kind.
I really have come to love the neighborhood
And the location.
If we wanted to walk, we'd be about a 40-minute walk.
There's no basement in this house,
But it does have a two-car garage.
We also have plans to put in a soundproof shed in the back
So that I can play some drums.
I have all the warm and fuzzy feelings about this house
And the idea that this could be and probably will be
Where we start our family.
It's an exciting time.