[Libby] The yard could be a little bit bigger.
[Justin] I think it could be smaller.
[narrator] Justin bought his first home in Pennsylvania on his own.
Now that he's buying again as a married man, his wife, Libby,
has her own agenda.
[Libby] I don't personally like this type of stuff.
I love projects, but I don't like fixing things that
aren't broken. -This is broken.
His plan is to buy low and renovate.
We could make this straight, get rid of this protrusion,
and make the closet a little bit bigger.
[Libby] I don't know.
But Libby is happy to buy turnkey in a great location.
You have the walkability to go downtown and get a drink,
but then you can bring everybody back here and host
in your backyard. -No, I love that.
That price point's hurting me a little bit.
I know.
Why would we waste the money to pull this all up?
-[Liz] This is all brand new. -[Libby] Because we're already
saving money. -Have you ever heard of
the phrase, "Just because it's on sale doesn't mean
you have to buy it"? -Whatever.
-[doorbell rings] -[theme music plays]
[joyful music playing]
[Justin speaks foreign language], Marco.
Oh, you like mango?
I'm Libby, I'm an account executive and I sell software.
I'm Justin, I'm a senior analysts in communications.
We have one child, Marco. I absolutely love him.
And I would just like to multiply 'em by three.
Not the first three months, but everything else after that.
Multiply them. I only want one other kid.
-You're a baby making machine. -It's too much.
-I am not. -[Justin chuckles]
[Justin] We currently live in Bristol, Pennsylvania.
I love that it's a small town. We get to walk everywhere.
And it's a real tight-knit community.
[Libby] Whoa, no. It's so mmm.
-It's so good. -[Justin] Mmm.
My family and I come from a small town called
Monte di Procida, which is located in the suburbs of Italy.
A lot of my family migrated here to America in the '70s and '80s.
My parents actually met here in Philadelphia.
They both came here from Portugal when they were young.
Growing up, I was taught that family is everything.
We could have nothing, but we can always have family.
I'll put him down for a nap. If you just wanna grab that paint,
I'll meet you upstairs. -OK.
Before I even came into
the picture, Justin bought this duplex
as an investment property.
He started fixing up the place and rented
the upstairs apartment.
We decided that once we had baby Marco, we didn't want any
more tenants living up there. I'll clean up up here.
-I know it's a little dusty. -[Justin] I know.
Getting this back to normal.
[Libby] The last tenants ripped off the paint with
their paintings and everything.
The reason why we're not using the space upstairs
is because it is really separated.
There's a whole 'nother kitchen up there.
It's a complete different living space.
We would just much rather find a new home.
The perfect price point is $550,000 or less.
Are you crazy? With what we're looking for,
we're gonna find a dump.
-We're spending at least $650,000. -I'm not crazy.
I'm really realistic. We can renovate.
We can really make it our own and build value in there.
[Libby] I don't wanna do that, though.
I don't want a concept project.
I just wanna live in a place where we can move in
and not do anything to it.
The market is super competitive.
We actually found this one house that we absolutely loved.
And, as soon as we left, it was under contract.
We didn't even get a chance to put an offer in,
but we were going to. -Yeah.
Which means we would probably have to spend more
money to get the house that we both liked.
If we get a house that we absolutely love,
and we spend a little bit more, we may just have to sell this.
I bought this house as an investment property,
I definitely do not wanna sell it.
-I wanna keep it as a rental. -We'll see about that.
Wherever we move to, I wanna be in there
for a very long time.
It's really important that we have stability
for our family. -I agree.
I don't want something too loud.
I don't wanna be on a main street.
I really wanna live in an area where I can walk
downtown, kind of like what we have here in Bristol.
There's a ton of surrounding areas here,
like downtown Yardley and downtown Langhorne.
Maybe a Victorian-style household that we could
make it more modern.
I want it to look a little bit more Mediterranean.
It would be amazing if there was tile throughout the house.
The fake wood in the kitchen, it's not the vibe
I'm going for. -It's luxury vinyl plank.
I think this is way better than tile.
I think you're wrong.
Whatever we get, we have to make sure we get a big kitchen.
Our families are huge, and we need an area to host.
It's really important that we have a nice backyard.
I just don't want it too big.
I don't wanna spend all my time maintaining a backyard.
Yeah, well, that's what you hire landscapers for.
Justin got to buy his first home all by himself,
and now that we're both buying a house together, it's both
of our decisions.
This is a huge milestone, and I want it to be
my dream home.
I don't really like compromising.
-Yep, you're setting your ways. -Yes, I am
♪♪
This is where we drop off the kayaks.
Oh, cool.
Up first is a home in Yardley, a lively, walkable borough
15 minutes north of their current home.
I would love to live in this area because I can
walk downtown. I can go to the restaurants.
I can get my nails done.
[Justin] This house is $615,000, way over the price point
that I was thinking about.
But if you're in love with this area, you have to be OK
with spending more. That's just what it is.
The stone really gives off the Mediterranean vibe,
really reminds me of Italy. -[Justin] Yeah.
[Libby] The landscaping looks nice.
[Justin] Yeah, it looks like I'm gonna be spending a lot of time
doing some yard work, ain't I? -[Libby] Good.
I'll keep you busy.
-[Liz] Hey, guys! -[Libby] Hi!
[Liz] So you guys know we're in Yardley Borough, so you know
that this is gonna be a hot area.
It's not gonna sell for $615,000.
Are you guys prepared for that kind of battle?
Well, you know my budget's at $550,000 right now.
I know. I tried so hard to find
something closer to that price point, but it's just not
gonna happen for this location. -All right.
This house is all about location.
This is a very desirable part of town
because of the walkability.
They have the small-town feel out here.
I know Libby is open to upping the price point.
This is a market that none of us have really seen.
I brought them here to show if this is the location that
you want, this is the price you're gonna have to pay.
-All right. -[Libby] I like the fireplace.
[Liz] You like the fireplace?
[Justin] And I like the wood, but I'm really not crazy
about the color. -[Liz] You can refinish these.
Or we can just re-tile them, like I would love.
I know you love your tile, but it just doesn't feel as
warm as the wood. -[Libby] Who's here?
We're a little early for our showing.
Are you guys showing it too?
-Um, yeah, we just got started. -Yeah, we can go up.
-OK. -I'm sorry.
[Liz] No, that's OK. No, thanks.
-[man] No problem. -Thanks.
This one's gonna be competitive.
I'm not surprised there's other people here, so just start
thinking about if this is gonna be worth it.
OK.
-All right, what do we think? -[Libby] Too small.
-I need a big kitchen. -OK.
I love to have family over. I love to cook.
-[Liz] OK. -So we would have to probably
knock this wall down.
I think it'd be a little bit more, too, because I'm not
a big fan of these brown cabinets.
You're looking at an easy $30,000 to $45,000.
We're already at such a high price point.
Is it worth spending all of that extra money to where it
makes prevent us from traveling to Italy and Portugal
every year, doing things with Marco, going on family trips?
I mean, I guess we could consider selling our current
home 'cause there's a lot of equity in it.
[Justin] On one hand, we could keep it as a rental.
And on another hand, we can sell it and get that
equity up front.
Right, you can decide between kind of keeping that
passive income or getting that upfront cash.
Yeah, I guess it's something we're gonna have
to just consider.
There are no deals to be found in this market.
Buyers are having to make sacrifices that they never had
to make before,
so Libby and Justin are gonna have to make
some compromises. -[Justin] I love this.
Maybe we can host a holiday.
[Libby] Yeah, I can really see us putting a long table here
and having all our family in.
Having a big old dinner or lunch here,
all 56 of our cousins. -[Libby] Yes.
All right, let's check out the outside.
-[Justin] Yeah, this is amazing. -[Liz] I mean, look at that.
And you have this in Yardley Borough.
-Yeah. -So not only do you have
the walkability to go downtown
and get a drink, but then you can bring
everybody back here and host in your backyard.
[Libby] No, I love that.
That price point's hurting me a little bit.
[Liz] I know.
It's what you have to pay for the location.
[Justin] Um, and I -- but I love this backyard.
I'm just worried about is it gonna be a bidding war?
[Liz] I mean, it is a very popular area.
[Justin] I wonder how serious those people are.
[Libby] What if they're all-cash buyers?
[Justin] How bad do you wanna live in Yardley Borough?
Um...pretty bad.
I mean, I really love the location.
It's literally a seven-minute walk.
[Liz] I do think this is gonna be one of those we're gonna
have to fight for. -Wow.
We have to decide pretty quickly if we're gonna put
an offer on this house.
[Liz] Now we have kind of an office flex space.
This is a kind of like a weirdly placed room.
-There are wood floors. -[Liz] These look original.
So, this would be your primary bedroom.
[Libby] I love the natural light.
[Liz] I thought this would be a great room, uh, for Marco
'cause you're right by the primary.
[Justin] So there's two bedrooms down here
and two bedrooms upstairs? -Yep, exactly, yep.
There's two full baths in the house.
Your primary bath is right across the hall.
[Justin] Let's take a look at that.
-Well, look at this tub. -[Libby] Oh, my gosh.
-It is really nice. -[Liz] It's nice and updated.
But we don't have our true shower.
We have our clawfoot tub.
[Libby] Well, we can make it work.
[Justin] The quirks. The quirks of the house.
[Liz] Yeah. Yeah, always the quirks.
Again, we got two bedrooms up here and a full bath.
-[Libby] OK. -This is too small.
-Yeah. -[Liz] It's not huge.
It's a nice sized room.
[Libby] This closet, we would have to do something about.
We could make this straight, get rid of this protrusion,
and make the closet a little bit bigger.
[Libby] I don't know.
I mean, location is amazing.
But we do have to spend money if we're gonna live here,
because it's not everything I've ever dreamed of in a home.
Financially, I'm more of a risk taker.
[Justin] One day, I was sleeping on the couch.
I wake up, she's like, "I bought kayaks."
I'm like, "Oh, great." I like a sure bet.
I'm a little bit on the safer side of things.
Can we see something a little bit closer to my price point?
Yeah, of course.
So Liz delivers a more move-in ready and cheaper place.
But as she warned them, they can't have everything.
I feel like we're in the middle of nowhere.
[gentle music playing]
[Libby] I feel like we're in the middle of nowhere.
-Like, where are you taking me? -[both laugh]
[Justin] So it doesn't look too bad.
No, it's the boondocks. There's no sidewalks.
Today, Libby and Justin are seeing
a move in-ready home priced at $499,000.
But it's in Bensalem as opposed to Yardley,
and there's no downtown within walking distance.
It's under my price point that I'm looking for, so that's
definitely a huge plus.
[Libby] It's five bedrooms, but I think the house overall
is small. -[Justin] It is on a main road.
[Libby] Oh, and look, there's a sign that says,
"Watch children," probably for a reason.
-Hi, Liz! -[Liz] Hi, how are you?
-Good, how are you? -[Liz]Good.
I know it's not exactly where you want it to be,
but this is turnkey.
I do think there won't be such a bidding war here.
One just down the street
sold recently, the buyers were able to snag it
for asking price.
[Justin] It's on such a noisy road.
[Liz] It is a busier street, but it makes up for it inside.
All right, what do we think so far?
-First impressions? -Big open space, I love that.
[Liz] This is kind of your living, dining area.
[Libby] So, I'm trying to picture, like, where the TV
and the couch would go.
I thought the TV could go over here.
I feel like it'd be very awkward for guests to come in.
That's true, yeah, to come in the front door.
-Yeah. -Unless you have the couch
on this side.
[Liz] Right. And then you have...
Just get a hundred-inch TV so you can see.
-[Liz] Yeah. -[Libby] There you go.
-[Liz] Well, there you go. -Yeah.
[Liz] You could put a chandelier or all that good stuff.
-Yeah, this is a good space. -[Liz] Yeah.
We don't need it to be too big.
[Liz] Do you think this is big enough?
-Yeah. -[Liz] OK.
[Justin] And you know what? I do love the color scheme.
You have the granite countertop.
It has a little bit of color in it, so it breaks it up.
It would be nicer, though, if we did remove everything
and put tiles here. -Yeah, but think about this.
With an open concept, it would look even better.
Yeah, but wait. Time out.
-Because think about this. -Time out.
Yeah. Time out,
'cause this house is already done.
Why would we waste the money to pull this all up
and put a tile here? -Because we're already
saving money though by buying this house.
So if we put maybe $20,000 to put tiles everywhere,
it would look so nice.
Have you ever heard of the phrase,
"Just because it's on sale doesn't mean
you have to buy it"? -Whatever.
This is my first time buying a home.
So for me, it's really important to make
sure I get the things that I want in a home.
He already bought a home without me.
So he got to get what he wanted.
Now it's my turn.
I absolutely take that into consideration, but I don't
think Libby's seeing the practicality.
So there's five bedrooms.
So you've got one down here and four upstairs.
OK.
[Liz] This is one of the two full bathrooms.
[Justin] Walking through, the house is a little bland so far.
[Liz] Well, it's a blank slate, ready to kind of
put your spin on it. -[Justin] Yeah.
[Libby] Yeah.
[Liz] All right, so check out your backyard space.
-I am your garage. -[Justin chuckles] Yeah.
Since the price point is so low, we could use
our imaginations to make it a bigger space, maybe with
a loft, 'cause the house is
feeling a little smaller. -[Libby] Yeah.
Yard is usually in the back, like a backyard.
-This is more of a side yard. -Side situation.
So I'm a little concerned for Marco and our future child.
We would have to definitely fence it in, though.
[Justin] I just feel like it's so loud.
I work from home, and across the street,
there's an Italian restaurant. There's constant music playing.
I guess it's called parking lot music,
and it's Frank Sinatra on repeat.
What's wrong with Frank Sinatra?
There's nothing wrong with Frank Sinatra.
Just, I wanna live on a quiet street.
♪♪
[Liz] All right, so we've got our four bedrooms.
That one would be your primary, and then these would be
your secondary bedrooms.
[Justin] I was hoping that this bathroom was gonna be
a little bit bigger than the one downstairs.
[Libby] Yeah. What is this?
-[Liz] Oh, linen closet. -[Justin] Closet?
[Libby] That's not even a real...
[Liz] You just have to add shelves.
I can barely fit in it. Look at this.
-Hello, I'm in the closet. -[Libby] Hello, I'm in the closet.
[Justin] It is move-in ready.
-[Libby] Yes, which is great. -[Liz] It definitely is.
[Libby] There's not gonna be any headaches.
-I just wanna move in. -[Justin] Great price point.
But what about when we start to grow our family?
Are you gonna outgrow it?
As I was growing up, I did move around a lot.
I want more stability for my kids.
Our next home, we envision being there
for a very long time.
[Libby] I mean, the good thing is that this is not gonna go
as quickly as the other homes. It's not as competitive.
[Justin] So we could take our time.
[Libby] So we have some time to think about it,
which is nice for once.
So now they're seeing another possibility,
but it has its own set of trade-offs.
That looks like a shed, maybe?
[gentle music playing]
A breakfast spot, that's always a good
thing, right? -Oh, cool.
Libby and Justin are seeing a house listed for $525,000 in
Langhorne, a borough with a vibrant downtown.
I'm really looking forward to seeing this one
because it's got that Victorian feel from the pictures,
Yeah, but it's only three bedrooms.
But you know, it's a play on words sometimes,
it's three bedrooms with a bonus room, and...
-That's true. -[Justin] And there is a garage.
[Libby] That looks like a shed, maybe? It's not a garage.
[Justin] OK, then we'll take a look at it.
[Liz] Hey guys. Hi, how are you?
[Libby] Good, how are you?
[Liz] Good, welcome, welcome,
We have the walkability here.
I like the fact that there's sidewalks.
It's near the borough, but it's just on this main road.
[Liz] You do have the road, but I think you'll be really
happy with what you see inside.
-Oh, cute. -Do you like it?
-[Justin] It looks great. -[Liz] Right?
-[Libby] Yeah, it's really cozy. -[Liz] Yeah, it has a really...
[Libby] I can see, like, our family coming over,
and they are really comfortable in here.
Yeah, I mean, this looks super real.
So these are LVP, but they look like wood.
But that's the real wood, right?
[Liz] These are wood. Yeah, these are real hardwood.
And then, Libby, I'm really excited for you
to see the kitchen. -[Libby gasps] Stop!
-[Liz] Isn't it nice? -I love it!
This is literally my dream kitchen.
-Yeah, it's really nice in here. -[Libby] Finally.
[Justin] This is incredible looking.
-[Liz] Yeah, see? -It really, really is.
That's a drop-in stove top,
and you have the drop-in ovens to the side.
I didn't know you were a professional oven connoisseur.
-I used to sell appliances -Oh, OK.
-So you know what you're doing. -[Libby] I love this.
[Liz] And then you've got your giant island.
[Libby] My mom and your mom always love
to come over and help us cook.
[Liz] So this is your first full bath.
I felt like it was a big enough space.
[Libby] Tile.
[Justin] It's got the subway tile.
That's a timeless design. Really nice touches.
♪♪
[Liz] This is your garage. Just have some vision.
[Libby] This looks like we're going to the barn.
[Justin] Feels like it needs a lot of work.
[Libby] Feels like more of a shed, to be honest.
[Liz] It goes really far back.
You could definitely get
the car in there. -[Libby] Yeah.
The yard could be a little bit bigger.
[Justin] You think it could be bigger?
I think it could be smaller because I'm the one spending
the time doing some landscaping. It's not fenced in.
[Liz] I know, so you would have to have the expense of a fence.
♪♪
[Justin] You can tell these stairs are all original.
[Liz] Yes, so you got a lot of original hardwood up there.
[Libby] We have to redo them because they're, like, so small.
My foot doesn't fit on them.
[Liz] So this is your primary bathroom.
[Libby] I don't personally like, like, this type of stuff.
[Justin] Libby, this bathroom is fine.
I love projects, but I don't like fixing things that
aren't broken. -This is broken.
[Liz] Now I wanna show you the primary bedroom.
[Libby] It's a little bit small. It just feels very old.
Is that door open for the other room?
[Liz] It is. So this is what you get --
some quirkiness with a Victorian.
[Libby] I could see Marco's room being in here if that's the primary,
because if we need to check on him, we can just go through.
Walk through the primary closet.
Let's check out. There's a bonus space upstairs.
This could definitely be a usable space for you.
[Justin] I really love this space.
It's listed at your desired price point, but I do think
you're gonna have to go higher. Again, it's the location
in the borough. -Yeah.
I mean, we would have to at least add $100,000.
-[Justin] Oh, you think so? -And more, yeah.
I mean, it already has that charm, but let's make it
a little bit more Mediterranean.
I guess I'll just write the check.
-[Liz] There you go. -There you go.
I mean, I just had a baby not too long ago, and looking for
a home on top of that, it's just very stressful.
I have to make sure it's the right choice.
I think we would really outgrow it pretty quickly,
especially if we have more kids.
She's not really seeing how we can creatively
use this space.
Now, since the market won't wait, it's go time.
We have to make a decision soon.
[mellow music playing]
There's already two offers on the Yardley house.
[Justin] I knew that was gonna happen.
What do you think we should do?
Justin and Libby have run out of time and have to decide
whether to offer top dollar for a house in their ideal area
or spend less farther out.
[Justin] I mean, I like the house.
It's just so expensive, and it still needs work.
[Libby] Yeah, but the location is prime.
I can walk to town.
I can go get my hair done and get my nails done.
I can go to a bar. I can do everything.
But, a two-minute walk,
and I'm not in the middle of nowhere.
Liz said we were gonna have to be really aggressive.
Yeah, but we're paying for the area.
We could host a lot of people there.
It's spacious enough to be a long-term home.
To even consider this home, we're gonna have to consider
selling our current home.
We're no longer gonna be able to keep that as a rental.
We would need the capital upfront.
[Libby] Um...
But I don't wanna be on vacation with a tenant calling
us about light bulb, anyways.
[Justin] What about the house in Bensalem?
[Libby] It was fully renovated, which is nice.
We don't have to do anything to it.
[Justin] It was all very generic.
[Libby] And honestly, that kitchen, I liked it 'cause it
was modern, but it was a little bit too small.
Also, the yard, it wasn't like a backyard.
It was more of a side yard
and it was right off to the street.
So we would have to consider putting in a fence.
[Justin] Yeah, but the price point of that house was the best.
So, I think that would really give us the flexibility
to add that fence and also build my dream garage.
[Libby] There's no sidewalks.
[Justin] What did you think about the Victorian house?
[Libby] It is walkable to town, which I really liked.
[Justin] I actually really liked that it had so much charm.
[Libby] Yeah, it's historic charm.
It's not like Mediterranean charm.
It has a beautiful kitchen, but it feels old.
I feel like their rooms are a little bit too small,
and we would probably outgrow the place really quickly.
This is such a tough decision.
♪♪
[doorbell rings]
[Libby] Marco, play with this.
[Justin] That's a great ornament.
[Libby] And then I thought the matching pillow
with the ornament was really cute.
-That's really cool. -Yeah.
We bought the big fixer in Yardley.
The house was listed at $615,000 and we had to come
all the way up to $675,000.
[Libby] It was definitely over our price point, and we really
didn't have any time to think about it because we knew
this house was gonna sell right away.
[Justin] What we ended up doing was selling our home
that we were living in to make it more affordable.
And that was a really big concession for us, but we
loved it so much, and this is a bigger house.
[Justin] And it's the area where we really wanted to be in,
and we could really see our family grow here.
I feel like we need more color. What do you think?
[Justin] No, I absolutely agree.
We decided to put our room upstairs, right next to Marco.
And we were able to make the primary bedroom
the family room.
When we first saw this house, we knew we needed to make some
renovations to make it the way we wanted.
[Libby] In Marco's room, we decided to paint it blue like
his old room, and we decided to put luxury vinyl plank, which is
very good because babies like to spill a lot of stuff.
When we finally get to renovate our kitchen, I will be able
to have tile in there.
[Justin makes playful sounds]
So we're gonna go see Santa Claus and get pictures.
Let me show you the outfit that I picked out for him.
[Justin] Yeah.
-[Libby] Cute, right? -That's gonna be perfect.
This is my first house officially, so it was really
important to have a house together,
especially now that we're married.
[Justin] Purchasing this home is so symbolic because it means
growing our family.
It means spending holidays together.
It means so much.