This is how they handled the landscaping.
-Landscaping. -Well, they took...
-They took it all out. -Loose word.
[female narrator] Tyler and Carly have been looking for
a house in her hometown of Appleton, Wisconsin
for eight months.
They've been staying with her parents
and are ready to move out.
This space is beautiful.
This is what we get for the money.
But fierce competition in their price range
has left them consistently outbid.
It's just... it's just a frenzy.
Carly wants to move up to the calmer, higher priced market.
Like that's not crazy.
But Tyler is worried that will drain their finances.
I am terrified of living here because I don't know
if we can afford it.
But I also don't think that we shouldn't do it
because we're scared.
[theme music playing]
Look what Dad has. What's that?
We met in Chicago.
We argued about sports for probably an hour.
And then he didn't call me for, like, two months.
Life was busy at that point in time.
[Carly] Then he called me and gave one more shot.
-Here we are, married with a kid. -Eight years later.
Hi.
[Tyler] I work in corporate partnerships
within a large sports team.
I work in executive recruiting as a project manager.
We came back to Appleton because we were getting married
and then the next natural step is that you want to start a family
while I knew I can't do that by myself.
I needed family.
Do we have a house to go see today?
I don't think so, not today.
Not today.
The first house we bought here just wasn't great for kids
or just functionality
or was just our cars didn't fit in the driveway.
There was no garage.
I don't see anything happening with the cookie...
Do they need--
-You're measuring. -Hold your horses.
-You want to do it yourself? -Step it up just a little bit.
We live in my parents' house right now.
We sold our house very fast and didn't realize how hard
it was going to be to buy one.
-Anything for Mary? -We put in a offer over asking.
It didn't matter because Mary called us
and said that somebody put in an offer at 40 over asking in cash.
So we've been looking for a house probably every weekend
for the last four or five months.
And it's been incredibly stressful.
There were times when we would go to a showing
and there'd be eight or nine other families
looking at the house at the same point in time.
You have to walk in with an offer because
by the time you do that, this one might be sold.
Based on what you've been seeing,
what do you gotta have?
Dream of all dreams is the midcentury modern
unicorn, it doesn't exist here.
-So... -No.
I like a split level house because that's the type of house
that my family grew up in.
You walked in from the garage and then you immediately
walked upstairs to go to the kitchen.
Every grocery bag you bring in,
immediately up the stairs.
What are you proposing, like, all walk in, one level?
I know I don't care if it's, like,
the bedrooms are upstairs or whatever,
but I don't want to have to carry things
-from the garage upstairs. -Okay.
I don't necessarily have to have that.
As long as it has a finished basement where
I can put a treadmill.
I like to run in the morning. That's the first thing that I like to do.
So it's important to have a space where I can have
a little bit of a workout area
that's quiet, that way I'm not waking everyone up
while they're sleeping.
What are you talking about room wise?
[Carly] I think we need at least four.
Say we do have another child, I do not want to have a bedroom
that's an office that's going to have to be taken away
from me and, like, I don't want to do that.
I want an office.
I work remotely and I have worked remotely
for a long time, so I want a home office.
It's a three bedroom, but has a fully finished basement
and a space for that, then I'm more than willing
-to compromise in terms of number of bedrooms. -My office.
I think you're doing wanting to do reno is a little ridiculous.
Plus right now everything costs more to renos.
We can make the house exactly how we want it to be.
My all in end of day price, $250,000.
You're getting a stop because...
everybody's after the same house.
[Carly] They're after the same price.
The more you go up, the less competition you have.
Tyler has a point and you need to think about,
like, maybe compromising a little.
My mom is heavily involved in the house
because she and our real estate agent Mary
are best friends.
I butt heads with her, but also at the same time,
like, she knows me best.
You have to make sure that Tyler is not going to have
a flippin' heart attack or a stroke because
he's worried about paying the bills either.
-So... -That's fair, I'm not saying that.
You need to not railroad him in everything.
How'd your run go this morning?
I wish that it would actually be warm outside,
that would be pretty nice.
Every podcast, every murder show
you ever listened to, you know who finds dead bodies?
-The runners. -Runners.
That's where Carly draws the line on exercise.
Listen, no one found a dead body on their couch at home.
Hey, guys, so tell me what we're going to see today.
It has four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms.
This is 324,900. That is a lot of money.
I'm not going to buy a house that I don't want to live in
-for the foreseeable future. -And you guys feel like
these price points can help?
I think going up in price is going to help.
Okay.
I wish that the front yard was a little bit bigger.
-There's Mary. -It's definitely nicer than some of the other houses
we've looked at from the outside.
It is a Colonial which I know we've been looking more at
ranches, but this one gives us a lot more space.
-Two story, are we good? -Yeah.
I've never lived in a colonial house.
As long as it's just, like, one set of stairs
and not 12.
It's closer to Mom.
You ran it?
I couldn't run it. Could walk it.
I know Rhea from doing Iron Mans.
She's one of my best friends.
Showing three people, especially one person
who's not going to live here is a strange dynamic.
You know, we do need to get mom's approval.
But, all three people are really important
in this decision making process.
-What is the feature of this wall? -The feature wall is,
-you know... -[all screaming]
[all laughing]
Tyler...
You guys, we don't live here.
We don't live here.
Don't touch anything.
-This is a nice, big office. -It's huge.
This is awesome.
I've never had a personal office,
-so this is, like... -Right in the front doors.
First floor, it's big. Big windows.
Yeah, and I don't have that one.
I don't have to like, you know, pack up my laptop
from the kitchen and move it every day.
So this is the space where you're gonna see
a lot of the updates.
-This is open. It's exactly what we were looking for. -Yeah.
Is that, like, a ton of counterspace?
It's got plenty of cabinets, though.
Oh, a pantry.
No, I think that's the pantry.
-Two pantries. -What's this?
For vacuums inside.
Hans' little fingers may get pinched in here.
Okay, well, we'll put a curtain up then.
[Tyler] Wow, there's a big backyard.
That's an issue.
You're just gonna have to replace a post
it looks like, so probably with the work maybe,
$1,000.
Why is it all muddy, like, why is there no grass
-in this area. -So if you can see the grading,
what it's done is it's caused like a valley.
So you're gonna really need to put in some fill.
We're talking $150.
324,9. I thought this would be no projects.
The projects you're looking at at your price point
are way worse than this.
Okay, so this is, like, big, huge.
Huge first floor bathroom.
I like this.
It's bold. Like, it's weird, but I like this.
-It is bold. -It is unique.
Originally, this would have been the dining room.
-Yeah. -If it's this close to the office,
you could, we could put Hans' toys in here.
Oh, okay.
[Tyler] This is a little much for a kid's toy room, though.
Would you leave this wallpaper in a kid's toy room?
-[Rhea] He's gonna have nightmares. -He's not.
-They're birds. -He's not.
So this is the big chunk of stairs in this house.
I mean, it's...
I like that it's carpeted at least, so it's...
-That is nice. -it's easier for Hans to get some grip.
[Mary] It's not the biggest bedroom we've seen,
but I do think the king size bed will fit.
As long as the bed fits, I... Yeah.
-[gasps] -Oh.
[all laughing]
I like the tub. I don't know if I need to put everyone
in my family in the tub.
This can be a room for Hans or guest bedroom.
They're nice and big.
This would give us a space to actually put a bed
for friends and family to actually stay.
That stays a bed.
-Pink. It needs a little finesse. -[Tyler] Updating.
At this price, we do not have the budget to update the pink.
[Tyler] It is very dark down here.
-But... -It does.
-It does have taller ceilings than most. -Finished.
It's not a Wisconsin basement without a bar.
I could put a treadmill right here.
-Little corner basement. -I mean, it's kind of in the corner,
but I could put up a TV over here
-and then I could just watch all of my friends. -If you have TV,
-yoga mats. -You're truly happy, then that's fine.
I just want proof that this backyard
isn't just, like, a major disaster.
The offer has to be as we talk about all the time
as clean as possible.
So if you have to feel comfortable
not having an inspection.
Let's go see one that's a little bit more
that has nothing to fix.
But the more and more we go up, the less and less things
we're gonna have to fix and I get that,
but then the more and more I'm going to be nervous.
The one we just put an offer in
and got out bid.
They always end up going for nearly this price,
so let's say we go a little bit higher
and see if we can find one totally turnkey.
[female narrator] That might make Carly happy,
but, Tyler, not so much.
This is what we get for the money.
I don't want to walk into a house and be, like,
we don't have to touch anything, like,
when you built your house.
Didn't you have a sense of pride of, like...
-She didn't do any of it. -Like, we made that decision
-for it to be like that. -His mom got railroaded.
She wanted a green roof.
Exactly. Oh, so that's exactly how I feel.
I did. I got railroaded.
[female narrator] Tyler will need to prepare himself
since this second house is priced much higher
than what he's comfortable spending.
This house is going to be, like, 350.
[exhales]
We asked Mary for that yesterday.
The numbers will speak for themselves.
[Carly] I like the big trees.
-I do like the neighborhood. -[Carly] It's landscaped,
-which is gorgeous. -[Mary] Hi.
Hi, Mary.
What are you guys thinking?
I love it. I think it's beautiful outside.
Yes, it's very updated.
[Tyler] I like the entryway.
These hardwood floors are throughout
-and they're gorgeous. -They're actually hardwood.
They're actual hardwood.
-It's vinyl. -Gorgeous.
This is gorgeous. That's so, like, bright.
I honestly have never seen a room with a black wall.
This is bright.
This is granddaddy.
-Beautiful granite. -Oh, wow.
And these cabinets, I mean are these gorgeous
and the handles and they just didn't do backsplash.
This is what we get for the money.
You know, you put everything together,
I would think that they maybe spend about $20,000
in this kitchen to update.
-They put in a lot. -In a less expensive house,
how much is it to update something like that?
Do you know how to put in a backsplash?
Yeah, I could probably learn.
-Tyler. -Or we could pay someone who knows how to do it.
-People go to school for that. -Yeah.
[Tyler] How much would something like that cost?
About $20,000 in this kitchen.
This is gorgeous, need to touch it.
That tile wall. Go ahead and touch it.
It is spectacular.
Okay, this, Tyler, come on.
That... there's your difference.
[all laugh]
Okay, explain to me this situation, like,
so this is the office I was thinking about
for Carly.
[Tyler] This is going to turn into Hans' playroom.
You don't care, but I do.
I don't want his toys all end up picking up
all the toys that are in here.
We could put up doors. Easy fix--
-Yeah, let's look at that. -But I thought if we were spending 400k,
-we're not going to be... -But I don't need the doors.
You want the doors.
It's not very typical in Wisconsin to have
this great three season room.
-Definitely reminds me of Florida. -It is three season, not four.
For Wisconsin weather, this is a one month room.
It is very chilly.
Okay, well, we don't use this room today.
-[Carly] This is really nice. -[Mary] This is a nice backyard.
[Tyler] Yeah, it is very peaceful back here.
Hans can be watched from this kitchen which I like that.
That's kind of nice.
-This is a huge... -It's a huge bedroom.
-Is this the primary? -Mm-hmm.
-I really like the... -Hey, we could do cartwheels in here.
Okay, no bathtub. Zero bathtub.
-That's an issue. -There's not a hot tub in here.
How are we supposed to be getting in this room?
I mean, I don't think that Hans can take a shower yet.
This is a primary bath tub. There's a whole 'nother bathroom somewhere.
[Tyler] This just doesn't feel like the size of a primary,
this just feels like the size of a guest bathroom.
Oh, this is a big bath.
-Yeah. -This is a big--
So there is a nice, big bathtub.
So this will be Hans' bathroom then.
I do have an issue with the carpet.
Why is the carpet different colors
in every single room?
The apartment is fine.
Tyler's finding any minor thing wrong
with this house, even if it's not a problem,
he will make it a problem today.
-Whoa. -Now, we're getting to the ace.
-We're getting to the meeting part. -Whoa, okay, some wood.
This is an '80s house.
So they did a lot of painting, but they also put an inner ceiling.
-A gym. -Oh, wow.
This is gonna be all my space.
-Absolutely. I agree. -All right, so once...
once that door at the top opens, this is my zone.
I love how bright it is and how open it is
and that I did not see one project that has to happen
before we are... it's livable.
I don't necessarily think that I would make any major changes,
but I am terrified of living here
'cause I don't know if we can afford it.
Realistically, what are we talking?
So if we just break down some of the numbers,
350,000. The 4%, it's going to be approximately $1,600 a month.
Like, that's not crazy.
This is one of those, time is everything.
This is what worries me about falling in love with the house,
so because when we do get into a bidding war,
do you love it for 390?
Do you love it for 400,
-415, 450, 4...? -But here's the thing...
But I also don't think that we shouldn't do it
because we're scared.
Isn't that your elementary school?
Yeah.
[female narrator] Tyler and Carly have been at odds
over price in their house hunt.
Today, they're seeing something that Tyler
is more comfortable with.
And it's still close to Carly's parents.
I think this one is around 270.
-Three bedrooms. -Is one of the bedrooms big enough
to be Hans' room plus an office?
Or an office, guest room.
I don't want to do plus an office.
-I just want to do... -Okay, guys, guys.
We haven't even seen it yet. Let's not argue.
I know.
This house reminds me of my grandma's house.
It's a nice big front yard space.
What happened to the trees?
Just around the entire home, they...
This is how they handled the landscaping.
-With a chainsaw? -Landscaping.
-Well, they took it all out. -Loose word.
They cut it all down is what they did.
So they handled it with a saw.
It's not as big as you've been seeing,
but there are a lot of updates here that are really classy
and beautiful.
And I think you're really going to like 'em.
We do have to move kind of quick today
'cause we have lots of showings coming on this house.
-So... -All right, here we go. Bidding war, let's go.
-Here it is. -Anything from 150
to 300 is an... a fire sale.
They'll start showings on a Friday
and then they'll present offers on a Monday.
So they just literally collect offers all weekend long.
-It's just a frenzy. -It's open.
It's very open.
-I think this is the most open house -Isn't that huge?
-that we've seen. Open concept. -It is.
Truly.
-[Tyler] This space is beautiful. -It smells new.
Okay, so this is...
Their money went here and not out there.
Where would you put a TV?
I would probably put the TV above the fireplace
or we could put it on the wall that's adjoining to the kitchen.
-Yeah... -I think so.
Yeah, it would. I think it would.
Okay, I just feel like this... we're shoving stuff into a space
that's too small already
and we're trying to grow into this house.
Yeah, but I think that square footage
can be very different if it's livable square footage
and square footage that works.
I think that's completely different.
We could have a house with 800 square feet
in the basement like we did at our old house.
And we don't spend any time down there
because it's not great, livable space.
I mean, this kitchen is...
-They put a lot of money in this kitchen. -This kitchen.
-I love this sink. -Yeah, this is really nice.
-So... -This is not... I mean,
This says...
The microwave in the dishwasher will come with it,
-but no oven, no refrigerator. -And how much are those?
I mean, we haven't had to buy one, so...
This is gonna be about $2,000.
[Tyler] Okay.
FYI, giant step down.
-Okay. -You'd obviously have to have a proper stoop.
Hans will tumble out right now.
That stays, she said, right?
-So... -Yeah.
The air conditioner is not new.
That is not new.
The roof is not new, the furnace is not new.
You know how old it is?
Would they, like, undisclosed.
-It's a little small. -A little bit smaller is, like,
really...
This is a nice sized room for Hans,
so it would help ensure that we're tidy
-and we're strong cleanliness. -Oh, yeah. That's true.
Well, I do like the way that this bathroom is set up.
-For rooms with, like... -Where people would have their own space.
For bedrooms that smaller.
This is not the bathroom I expect.
[Tyler] This is a nice size primary.
-Okay. -I mean, but...
This would suffice for what we need.
Okay, one thing I will say positive,
I hate pedestal sinks.
-This is not a pedestal sink. -Yeah.
That is a...
Probably could be, so at least we can hide our toothbrushes.
Well, I've never had an ensuite before,
so this would be a step up compared to what we've had in the past.
Hans gets a room, we have a room.
Okay.
Now where are your parents gonna stay if this is an office?
My dad had an office that had a day bed in it,
so when people came to visit, they could stay on a day bed
and it was still an office.
I just, like, that wasn't clear when you were saying, like,
I want somewhere for my parents to stay,
I didn't realize it's also going to be my office.
Oh.
There are doors. There are doors everywhere.
-Oh, my. -Look at all of these storage options down here.
-No, no. -So it's not first floor laundry.
It's down here.
The basement definitely needs some work.
But I do think this can be a perfect hangout space for us
where I have a gym or things like that.
And this basement would work perfect for those things.
This is exactly what we asked for.
-Yes. -Yeah. Space is beautiful.
First floor, did a great job.
The square footage is an issue.
Listed at 270.
I think it's going to go closer to 300.
Okay, good to know...
If you want to be in on this home,
that's gonna need to happen ASAP.
So Mary said that we need to make this decision, like, now.
[female narrator] Carly and Tyler need to decide on
a house or risk losing their chance to another bidder.
[Tyler] Let's talk about the home with the tub.
The giant bathtub.
What's the asking price on this one?
324,900.
This also had a dedicated office.
Tyler gets a basement. All pros.
Only issue I did see there was, like, a divot.
[Tyler] It seemed like there could be a flooding issue.
[Carly] It wasn't next to the house.
I don't know if we're ever gonna get grass to grow there.
It's just going to be a mud pit forever.
The house I love is going to be the incredible
midcentury feel.
An '80s home which was absolutely incredible
how they did that.
[Tyler] Three, it's 344,9, babe.
[Carly] The benefit of that house is
we don't need to do anything.
As mom, the dad projects.
The... "Hey, Dad, can you come help us fix?"
Are slim to zero.
But we could find stuff to break.
But the pluses just got a lot higher
Baby, the entire kitchen was updated granite countertops,
-and it had an office. -Okay.
[Tyler] I think at that price point, it's doable. It's possible.
But I think that we really have to look at
what we're willing to give up at that price point.
Another house that we saw that I like.
I felt like they did a really good job on it.
And I felt a lot more comfortable with that price range.
Mary did say that she felt like
we could get into a little bit of a bidding war
and it could go up.
I still am very comfortable with that price.
[Carly] I will concede that that kitchen was gorgeous.
They did a great job.
However, 1300 square feet.
The basement was another 1000 square feet.
That basement will live rent free in my brain
for the rest of my life.
I think the most important part in my mind is that
we could get in a bidding war in that house
and still feel comfortable in terms of price point,
in terms of monthly payments.
These other homes, I worry about falling in love
with them, getting into a bidding war
and very, very quickly.
I get very uncomfortable with the payments.
-[doorbell rings] -[grunts]
Okay.
[Carly] We went with the yellow house with the big bathtub.
Okay, no, no, no. Don't 'cause we're gonna...
That's gonna make a bigger hole.
-But, okay, let's let Dad maybe figure it out. -Okay.
We called six days ago and we're moving in
-in two days. -Two days.
-Honey. -Come on, kid, let's go.
Hans, you wanna go see your house?
Let's go.
We got this house at list price which we are both shocked.
The homeowners were so fed up with showing the house
and having to get kicked out of the house
when they had showings.
-We saw it on the right day. -They accepted the offer within 24 hours
after we put it in.
And we did waive the inspection.
And we didn't ask them to fix anything.
So I think that made them very willing to work with us.
Go, go, go. Go, go.
You drive like your mother.
I really liked that there's a office space
that's on the first floor.
It's exactly what I asked for.
[Tyler] It has doors that we can easily close.
There's a great spot for a treadmill with a TV,
so I can work out in the morning.
And it's still hidden.
They may have had something over this.
But it's no big deal.
We asked about the flooding, they were really honest.
You know, it's just kind of a thing that happens
in the spring in the yard.
But it has never been to the basement,
never been an issue.
Well, that's one nice thing about living in that town
is that everybody knows everybody.
So our lender knew the woman who was selling this house
and really vouched for us which was really nice.
I am just really, really happy to see that both of you
got what you wanted.
Compromise is absolutely necessary.
I mean, it was a real test of our, like,
how, how much can we... how much stress
can we handle.
People call us the Bickersons for a reason.
We said we don't get in big fights because we fight all the time,
we're just always fighting.
We ended up in a great space and I think that, you know,
all that bickering paid off.
So, but can we just all agree that I was right about
going up in price?
You were right. I will agree.
-I was right. I was right. -I will agree to that
if you promise not to bring that up again today.
-I'll give you about 12 hours. -[all laugh]