This is absolutely gorgeous,
the trees the landscaping.
[narrator] Nyisha's relocating from Vegas to Houston.
And bringing along dad, Michael and son, Jacob.
- Ooh, you got the double ovens. - [all laughing]
[narrator] But, buying a spacious home
for her entire family wasn't always possible.
I was on welfare, um, I was on housing assistance twice.
Over the last couple of years my career has grown.
[narrator] Even though the time is right to buy
everyone in the family wants something different.
[Jacob] Or, you could put a big ol' basketball hoop rim right here.
- [Michael] Where's the pool? - [Star] It's right here.
[Michael] That's a big bathtub.
[Nyisha] Are they serious about this? Am I being Punk'D?
It's nice, but, it's not big enough.
I'm trying to compromise with y'all.
- [doorbell ringing] - [theme music playing]
[upbeat music playing]
- Am I the only one that didn't get any sleep? - I didn't get any sleep.
- Oh, you want something to drink too. - Yeah.
My name is Nyisha and I'm a mortgage loan officer.
I currently live in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I have two sons that live with me, Jacob and Christian.
My dad, Michael.
And, we have three fur babies, Storm, Sunshine, and Dollar.
Here, here's a plate for you.
[Michael] You want me to... Thank you, thank you.
[Nyisha] I was a single mom for a long time and I did everything by myself.
I was on welfare, um, I was on housing assistance twice.
I would lose jobs all the time 'cause I didn't have daycare.
Or, my kids would get sick and I would have to leave work
'cause, you know, kids come first.
And, um, I struggled.
After my grandmother passed away my father and I decided to move in together.
When we moved in together,
he took a lot of the responsibilities off of me.
So, he would help me take the kids to school and pick 'em up.
He would help pay the bills. Sometimes he paid all the bills.
'Cause it took time for me to get on my feet.
Some sweet tea or orange juice.
- Um, oh yeah, you got sweet tea last night. - Perfect.
The turning point for me was, I decided to get into the mortgage industry.
I got my mortgage license in 2015.
And got licensed in, like, 23 states and here I am now.
Did you do your research on the basketball teams,
- and camps, and trainings, and all that stuff? - Yeah.
- And, I also looked at colleges. - Did you schedule your tour?
- Mmm-mmm. Not yet. - Let's get a tour scheduled.
Over the last couple of years my career has grown.
And, now that I can afford it,
we have decided to move to Houston to buy my first home.
Because my son wants to go to college in Texas and I want some good BBQ.
[narrator] So, while her older son, Christian,
has school obligations in Vegas
she, Jacob, and her dad are here in Houston for the weekend.
It's really important that we have at least five bedrooms.
Five bathrooms so this guy here can have his own bathroom.
[Jacob] I do not want to share with Christian anymore.
Well, I'm sure he doesn't wanna share with you anymore either.
I'm looking for a very large home 5,000 square feet.
'Cause I have a large family and I intend on extending
my home to additional family members if they need it.
And then, also, I need a big, spacious home office.
I spend about 16 hours a day in my office
so, I need it to be somewhere where I want to be.
I would prefer brick exterior.
My grandmother had one and that was one of the most exciting places
that I went as a child, so, that's the kinda house I want.
I'm looking for a house actually with a pool in the backyard
or a large enough lot where we can put a pool in.
My dad's never had a big dream house before,
I would love to be able to give my dad his,
you know, dream house while he's retired.
What about a basketball court in the backyard?
I'm big on basketball.
And I feel like, I like a pool, but,
a basketball court is personally more important to me.
[narrator] Nyisha will be paying the mortgage,
but, her dad is making the down payment.
He wants to keep the price low so he can put down a full 20%.
Are you open to, at least, looking at some houses that are up to $750,000?
I'm still stuck on the $500,000 home.
I really want a house that's ready, move-in ready.
I don't wanna do anything, Daddy.
I'd rather spend extra money and just buy a house that we can just move in to.
'Cause my grandmother passed away I pretty much
took over the construction of her house.
I've lived in a construction zone already
and I don't wanna go through that again.
I am putting the down payment down, so,
I do feel like I should have a little say in this.
I'm just trying to be cautious I wanna make sure we don't get in over our heads.
Thank you for putting the down payment,
thank you for having a say so,
I wanna spend $750,000.
[upbeat music playing]
This house is about 5,000 square feet.
Five bedrooms, five bathrooms.
It's only $450,000.
-So, I don't know. I don't know. -Yes. Yes.
- I don't know. - My price range, let's do it.
You know, Daddy, you always taught me
that if it's too good to be true, it probably is.
[Jacob] This a nice house.
[Nyisha] It's big, it's beautiful, it's brick.
- Hi, welcome. - [Nyisha] This is beautiful.
Michael, when I thought about this house, I thought about you.
- It's prefect in price. - [Michael] I'll take it.
So, I'll just wait back here while you guys look at Michael's house.
- [Nyisha] Really big, oh my. - [Jacob] This is nice.
The market right now in Houston is absolutely insane,
just like it is everywhere else.
Everything is hot.
There's not a whole lot of inventory on the market
so everybody's trying to go and fight after the same houses.
So, it's gonna be a bidding war for them.
It's definitely a seller's market here in Houston.
- Carpet. - [Star] Carpet?
-[Nyisha] We have dogs, three. -[Star] I know. I know. But, it's fixable.
This could be your study, French doors.
[Nyisha] But, it's kinda dark.
[Michael] We can sand it and get it lighter for you.
[Star] Thank you.
[Nyisha gasps] More work. More construction.
Or, we can pay more for a home
and have a home that's already finished.
But, it's not gonna be perfect.
Just 'cause it's $750,000 doesn't mean it's gonna be perfect.
- You're still gonna change stuff up. - [Nyisha] I feel attacked.
[Jacob] I'm just saying.
[Star] Nice, huge family room.
[Nyisha] They don't even go up to the top!
[Star] We could put something there, like a plant for something.
[Nyisha] What plant is gonna go up there?
[Jacob] Or, you could put a big ol' basketball hoop rim right here.
And then, I could just stand right here
and just, you know, have a perfect little...
- [Michael] So, this could be your room. - [Jacob] Yep.
[Michael] Your basketball hoop in the house.
Jacob, I know you were talking about you like to cook.
[Jacob] Yeah, this is a nice kitchen.
My mom got me interesting in cooking I use to sit in the kitchen for hours.
Like, hours having conversations, talking to her about school,
everything while she was cooking.
And so, I feel like the kitchen would be important to me because
I'd be able to make the stuff that my mom taught me to make.
- I like-ish the countertops. - [Star] Okay.
[Nyisha] I like that the kitchen is open to the family room.
It's dark.
[Jacob] If we did some dark blue cabinets and paint the handles gold.
And put a basketball hoop right there on the cabinet
and you can just shoot basketball from the kitchen.
I wouldn't complain.
I know she said she didn't wanna do renovations,
but, with it being a seller's market,
we're gonna have to bend a little bit and make it work for them.
I know that you guys said that you wanted a pool
you wanted a basketball court, but, look at the space.
- [Michael] I see a pool right there. - [Nyisha] I see $100,000.
So, you do realize when we put a pool in it's gonna be messy,
it's gonna be dirty, you know how I am.
[Jacob] So, you're telling me you're not gonna put a single piece
of work into a new house?
Don't wanna put a single piece of work into the new house.
I don't like renovating I've been through renovations before.
And, there's a lot of work that needs to be done here.
[Star] So, this is the main floor primary.
[Jacob] I think it's prefect for Grandpa.
I like it, it's big enough.
[Nyisha] This is all right, it's a little dark.
I like the shower. But, I need a tub.
A tub that I can actually sit in where my whole body fits in the tub.
- [Star] So, a whole body tub? - [Michael] Yeah.
I want my torso and my legs to be in the tub at the same time, in the water.
- [Star] Look at these beautiful stairs. - [Nyisha] They're beautiful.
[Star] We have two rooms on each side.
And, one bathroom on each side as well.
Then we have a nice media room.
[Jacob] Some recliner chairs right there.
[Nyisha] I think this would make a good room for me.
[Jacob] Mmm-mmm.
No, this is a bedroom. Like, we don't need two living rooms.
But, you said you didn't wanna do any work in the house.
[Nyisha] We could put some doors right there.
[Jacob] I thought you wanted something move-in ready?
- That's a lot of money. - I'm trying to compromise with y'all.
Working with a three generational family is very difficult.
I've worked with a two generational family, super easy.
But, now I'm trying to tie in three. Very, very difficult.
It's like having multiple different personalities
just going around like a little octopus.
[Jacob] I like this room for me.
[Star] Natural light.
I got my own little toilet area.
And I got my own little sink. I like this closet, I can walk into it.
[Jacob] Yeah, Christian would like this room.
- [Star] You want to have that room over there? - [Jacob] Yes.
- [Star] Christian over here? - [Jacob] Yes.
I think it's perfect for my dad and Jacob. I need a house for me now.
[Star] Okay. Jacob?
If I were to give it a 1 through 10, I'd give it a 9.
Only because, not pool, not basketball court, none of that.
- [Star] Okay. - [Jacob] No backyard.
I like it for the suit.
- [Star] The suit. - [Michael] My bathroom.
I'm concerned about all the work that we need to do in this house.
The paint, the floors, the room conversions.
This is just a starting point, go look at some more properties, okay.
[narrator] So, Star has found a more move-in ready place.
But, it comes with a higher price.
- Is it true this has a pool? - Yes, ma'am. It has a pool.
So, spending more money [fake cough] does get us what we need.
[Michael] We'll see.
[upbeat music playing]
So, the house that we're on our way to is, four bedrooms, five bathrooms.
It's bigger than our house in Vegas.
It already has a pool.
It's $657,000 this is more in line with
what I wanted to spend on a home.
Okay, but we need five bedrooms all ready.
Who knows, 4,500 square feet, you never know, maybe there's a den or something.
Here's the house. This is absolutely beautiful.
- [Jacob] Hey. - [Star] Hi.
This is absolutely gorgeous,
the trees, the landscaping, ooh, the bugs.
- Welcome to Texas, right. - [Michael] Yes.
[Star] You said you wanted brick.
- [Nyisha] Mmm-hmm. - We have the brick.
This looks like it's new brick not just brick, it looks really good.
- Is it true this has a pool? - Yes, ma'am. It has a pool.
So, spending more money [fake cough] does get us what we need.
[Michael] We'll see.
[Jacob] I like this. This is really nice.
It looks like it's done.
It looks like it doesn't need a contractor.
- Just needs a... - [Michael] So, you ready to move in right now, huh?
Let's see the house.
This is beautiful, I love the floors, I love the stairs,
I love the entry, I love this house.
[Star] So, with this house being priced at $657,000
and Nyisha wanting to be at $750,000 no more,
and Dad wanted to be no higher than $500,000
I think it's a good comparable medium for them.
It has the "wow" factor on the outside as well as the inside.
[Jacob] This is a really nice living room.
I love the fireplace, I love the amount of space you have in this living room.
[Nyisha] We could seat a lot of family and extended family in this room.
[Star] I mean, here's the kitchen.
- Ooh, you got the double ovens. - [all laughing]
[Star] The double ovens.
[Nyisha] I was stuck on the view outside,
while I'm not washing dishes, 'cause I don't do dishes.
I like this kitchen, I honestly like this kitchen.
A nice island, huge.
[Nyisha] I wouldn't do anything to this kitchen.
- Okay. I love the office, I would paint it. - [Michael] This is beautiful.
[Star] Super easy.
Here is the primary on the main floor.
- What'd you think Daddy? - It's nice, but, it's not big enough.
Where I came from I have a lot more room than this.
But, honestly Daddy, I really feel like you could
put your desk over there in that corner,
and you could put your bed here, and then, I think, it would work.
- And, you love barn doors. - [Michael] I do.
That tub is a soaking tub, it's a nice size.
- This closet is... - [Jacob] Oh, it's a lot deeper than I thought.
Uh, I don't think that's big enough for you.
- [Star] There's two. - Oh, there's two.
[Michael] There's two of these?
Yes, you have two, tons of space.
Hang your clothes up, your collectables.
- [Nyisha] Bowling balls. - [Michael] That's big enough then.
This is absolutely gorgeous, I love it.
-This pool is huge. -[Jacob] This is really nice. Humungous, seriously.
[Nyisha] This backyard is everything.
- Oh, my goodness. - [Michael] Look how far back it goes though.
- Whoo-ho-ho. - See that basketball hoop?
- Check. - Whoo, nice basketball hoop.
- I love this bathroom for me. - [Michael] For you only?
Yeah. 'Cause you... You want this bathroom?
No, I don't. I'm thinking about your brother, that's all.
I'd like this room for me, it's a good size.
I like the ceilings in this room.
Do you know if all the bedrooms have their own bathrooms, Star?
No, they don't.
There's two bedrooms that actually share a bathroom.
There you go, there's your bathroom, you and your brother.
[Jacob sighs] I'd love to have a basketball court, I'd love to have a pool.
But, my bathroom is more important than both those to me.
[Nyisha] So, now I see why you showed us the four bedroom,
'cause this is definitely a great option for me, me, me, me, me.
- You know, me, me, me. - [Star] It's more like a flux
- gives you an opportunity. - [Michael] So, bedroom number five.
- And the doors are already up, I can convert this easily. - [Star] French doors.
Yep, I love French. Comment allez vous?
I like it. I do like the pool, I like the basketball,
for you, so I don't have to hear you screaming on the video game.
- What'd you think of the price, Dad? - Little high.
This house is priced at $657,000
but it lacks the suite that I've had before and I want again.
I need that space.
[narrator] Star wants them to see a lower priced option
with a guest house for Michael.
But, they'll have to get pass the location.
- Are those cows back there? - Those are cows.
[upbeat music playing]
Last night, I went to go step down and I missed the step...
- The whole step? - I missed the whole step.
- Broke your ankle already. - Didn't break it, just had a hurt.
- It's not broken. - She's got a little fluffy foot.
[narrator] With inventory low and only a weekend in town
Nyisha, Dad Michael, and son Jacob
are expanding their search to the Houston suburb of Willis,
to see a place that agent, Star, hopes has something for each of them.
This house I'm getting ready to show you is, a four bedroom, five bath.
Three fulls, two halves.
It is sitting on a literally half an acre, it does have a pool.
Why I suggested this house is, there is a guest quarters, nice space.
- Well, I'll take it. - I don't want you way out in the back
in the guest house.
I want you right in the house with us, so I can check on you and get on your nerves.
[Star] This is it right here.
[Michael] That the guest house right there?
[Star] Yep, that's the guest house.
- Three car garage. - [Michael] Okay.
Color's pretty. I like the wrap around porch.
- Are those cows back there? - Those are cows.
- They're saying moo-ve on it. - [all laughing]
I like the balcony. I mean, looks like it's brand-new.
It's got the steel bars and everything in it.
- You know I wanted a brick house. - Okay, keep an open mind.
[Michael] It looks nice.
[Star] This house has actually been on the market for 75 days it's priced at $589,500.
The market out here is very different.
Over here in this area it's a lot more reserved.
It gives a little bit of negotiations
to drag the price down a little bit more and get them a great buy.
[Nyisha] The floors are beautiful,
the stairs are beautiful, I love the character, I love the molding.
[Jacob] Yeah, I like the chandelier.
[Nyisha] It's kinda tight in here, it's kinda small.
[Michael] Yeah. It's not as big as I thought, yeah.
- [Nyisha] This color I like. - [Star] Okay.
[Nyisha] I like the backsplash.
[Jacob] This kitchen is not it for me at all, way too small for me.
- [Michael] Where's the pool? - It's right here.
[Michael] That's a big bathtub.
[Nyisha] Are they serious about this? Am I being Punk'D?
[Jacob] An aquarium? Spa?
[Nyisha] This is a spool.
This should have been over here.
[Star] You can put the basketball court there.
[Nyisha] That's true, that would be a great basketball court
[Michael] Oh, it would.
- [Nyisha] For another family to live here. - [all laughing]
I could see, maybe, making the pool larger.
But, that's a project. I'm really not wanting to start off with projects.
[Star] Beautiful stairs.
- Here's room number one with its own bath. - [Jacob] Mmm.
- I like the bathroom a little bit. - [Nyisha] I like the counters.
[Michael] Not real big.
- [Star] Here we are entering into the main ensuite. - [Nyisha] It's beautiful.
[Michael] I love the tub. Definitely love that tub.
Old school bear claws, the whole nine yards.
Oh, we got a lot of balcony it looks like here.
[Star] Beautiful green rolling pastures.
[Jacob] So quite, so peaceful.
[Nyisha] The closet's small.
The bathroom's beautiful.
If we have more bedrooms I could use this as my office.
- [Jacob] How many bedrooms is this house again? - [Michael] Four.
- [Star] This is four. - [Jacob] Looks like two to me.
[Nyisha] And they're all four upstairs?
[Star] No, there's three up here, the fourth is there.
[Nyisha] Where's the extra family gonna go?
Where's Jacob and Chris... I don't see room for our family here.
[Star] That's actually the guest quarters.
[Nyisha] It's got a nice little patio.
[Jacob] This is real nice, I like this.
[Star] There is a half-bath right here.
- [Nyisha] Daddy, is this area big enough? - It's not a lot of space.
Wanna get a soaking tub.
[Nyisha] Just seems like projects. That's gonna be a pretty hefty expense.
[Jacob] The kitchen's bigger than the other kitchen.
- [Nyisha] I love this. - [Star] It could be all Dad.
[Michael] This is my room.
This your house?
- Your casita. - Yeah.
Yeah, there ya go.
[Star] The guest quarters mainly is for Dad.
It gives him his own. You know, yes, he's connected with his daughter.
But, it's like, "Hey, I'm still a man, I got my own space."
The house was new inside.
One of my biggest concerns about this property is,
the lack of space for extended family.
And I just... We need something much larger.
And that so called pool.
[Nyisha] This is literally way out in the middle of nowhere.
[Star] Okay.
[upbeat music playing]
Did you guys get packed? You know we have to leave in the morning.
-[Jacob] Yes. -Yes, we're packed. I'm ready to go.
[narrator] Before Nyisha, Michael, and Jacob head back to Las Vegas
they have to decided which of the homes they've seen in Houston
will be the best choice for their family.
So, let's talk about the houses.
The first house was the five bedroom.
That was in my price range it was $450,000
and I like it a lot.
[Nyisha] It had that great downstairs bedroom for you,
it had plenty of room upstairs.
Even if I didn't get the room that I wanted, either way I'd have a good room size.
[Nyisha] I don't think that it's gonna be $450,000
when we're done with it, with all the work we're gonna need to put into it.
I know there's gonna be a bidding war,
we have to put the pool in, basketball court.
I don't know if I have the energy to deal with contractors.
So, that's something to think about.
What about that beautiful house
that had just about everything we liked?
It had the basketball court, it had the pool.
[Michael] Now, that house is more money.
- Mmm-hmm. - We can afford it, Daddy.
[Jacob] The double ovens and the white counters,
[exhales] that was dope. That had a dope kitchen.
[Nyisha] The house was spacious, completely updated.
But, I'm tired of sharing a bathroom.
[Michael] The suite was not big enough.
[Nyisha] What about the other property that we looked at,
the one that had the quest house?
- [Michael] The one in the country? - Yeah.
I don't like the area.
The backyard was big, but, I don't want any cows in my backyard.
- [Michael] That's an issue. - [Nyisha] But, it had beautiful floors,
it had the nice crown molding,
- it had that wrap around deck. - [Michael] Yeah.
- And, you have your own private suite. - Yeah.
My favorite part about that house was the spool.
I thought that was comedy.
Now, that house is $589,500 and that's not a good value at all for what it offered us.
You could put your bed here, the TV would go great right there, just saying.
I chose the five bedroom, five bath home for $450,000.
The house was listed at $450,000
because I work in the mortgage industry
I knew I had to be aggressive if I wanted to get this house.
So, we offered $550,000 and offer was accepted.
Let's just order something
we don't really have enough food right now to really cook anything.
- Let me see what's in the freezer. - We don't even have furniture.
We close just about two weeks ago.
We're still waiting for all of our items to shipped here,
our cars just got here.
And, we've been camping on air mattresses for the last few days.
Right here, you have a little three pointer.
- Maybe somewhere around here, you know. - [Nyisha] No.
- No basketball hoop in here. - [Michael] No.
[Nyisha] This house had the floorplan we needed,
it had the space we needed.
Large enough for my immediate family and for my extended family.
I made minor compromises for my family.
I think we should pull these built-ins completely out.
I say we put a three seater here.
Two recliners right here.
And then we can see the wonderful pool we're gonna put in,
- since we cut the trees down. - [Jacob] Yep.
And the beautiful dog that'd be running around the pool too.
[Nyisha] Oh, look. They're being so good.
I had some contractors come out and give me some great ideas
to take the media room over upstairs.
And, the fifth bedroom will be converted into a beautiful closet
and a spa-like bathroom.
So, I don't have to share anything with anyone.
The space in this house is, for me, just what I was looking for.
It's a lot more room than what I use to have.
I just feel like we made the right choice with this house
because everybody has their own space.
Texas for me is the...
[exhales] It's a huge decision for me.
I have a lot more opportunities.
I mean, I'm ready to get started.
I feel like this could be a life changer for me and my brother.
I'm so proud of you for this though, this is crazy we've been through so much.
- Made it so far. - We did this together, honey.
We all worked as a family for this.
I got my family into a neighborhood that's loving and welcoming.
I got my Dad, he loves his room.
I hooked my family up.
I'm proud of myself.