as flipping.) The idea is to locate a home that shows potential, spending money (which is often in limited supply) to do whatever repairs and upgrades are necessary, and then to resell the house at what the owners hope will be a substantial profit. The programs follows the efforts of people tackling homes of various sizes and in need of varying amounts of work, with sometimes vastly varying results. It can be quite emotional at times as investors tackle jobs that they didn't anticipate and much more costly than they had assumed.

If you're a real estate junk

If you're the kind of person who loves the intricacies of buying and selling real estate, here are three television shows that can help you fulfill your need for information and excitement. You'll find two of them are on Home and Garden Television (HGTV) and the other on The Learning Channel (TLC).

HGTV offers its program "House Hunters" every weeknight at 10:00 Eastern and Pacific, with new episodes premiering every Thursday night. It's hosted by Suzanne Whang, and takes viewers on a behind the scenes tour of the experiences of homebuyers as they look at homes to choose which one is right for them. Every week, an individual, couple, or family is followed along with their real estate agent as they go through the often emotional process of first finding and then financing a new home. It can make for some entertaining and enlightening viewing, especially if you've never bought a home before and are interested in seeing what to expect when you begin your own search for a home.

The other HGTV real estate-related offering is "Designed to Sell," which airs on Tuesdays and Sundays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. This program focuses on the opposite end of the real estate transaction: the trials and tribulations of sellers as they prepare their homes for the market. The premise of the show is that homeowners don't necessarily have to spend vast sums to make their homes most attractive to prospective buyers. In each episode, sellers are given a budget of $2,000 and a team of experts to give their home the best chance of standing out from the competition. In the end, the results are seen exactly where it counts the most: on the bottom line once the transaction has reached its conclusion. This series is a treasure trove for folks looking to learn more about the improvements that are most effective in obtaining quicker sales at higher prices.

TLC's contribution to the real estate junky's arsenal is called "Property Ladder," and is aired on Saturday nights at 8:00 Eastern and Pacific. This show is geared toward individual (and often first-time) investors who want to engage in one of the most popular real estate investment strategies today, that is, buying a home that needs work, fixing it up, and reselling it. (The process is also known as flipping.) The idea is to locate a home that shows potential, spending money (which is often in limited supply) to do whatever repairs and upgrades are necessary, and then to resell the house at what the owners hope will be a substantial profit. The programs follows the efforts of people tackling homes of various sizes and in need of varying amounts of work, with sometimes vastly varying results. It can be quite emotional at times as investors tackle jobs that they didn't anticipate and much more costly than they had assumed.

If you're a real estate junky

mes to choose which one is right for them. Every week, an individual, couple, or family is followed along with their real estate agent as they go through the often emotional process of first finding and then financing a new home. It can make for some entertaining and enlightening viewing, especially if you've never bought a home before and are interested in seeing what to expect when you begin your own search for a home.

The other HGTV real estate-related offering is "Designed to Sell," which airs on Tuesdays and Sundays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. This program focuses on the opposite end of the real estate transaction: the trials and tribulations of sellers as they prepare their homes for the market. The premise of the show is that homeowners don't necessarily have to spend vast sums to make their homes most attractive to prospective buyers. In each episode, sellers are given a budget of $2,000 and a team of experts to give their home the best chance of standing out from the competition. In the end, the results are seen exactly where it counts the most: on the bottom line once the transaction has reached its conclusion. This series is a treasure trove for folks looking to learn more about the improvements that are most effective in obtaining quicker sales at higher prices.

TLC's contribution to the real estate junky's arsenal is called "Property Ladder," and is aired on Saturday nights at 8:00 Eastern and Pacific. This show is geared toward individual (and often first-time) investors who want to engage in one of the most popular real estate investment strategies today, that is, buying a home that needs work, fixing it up, and reselling it. (The process is also known as flipping.) The idea is to locate a home that shows potential, spending money (which is often in limited supply) to do whatever repairs and upgrades are necessary, and then to resell the house at what the owners hope will be a substantial profit. The programs follows the efforts of people tackling homes of various sizes and in need of varying amounts of work, with sometimes vastly varying results. It can be quite emotional at times as investors tackle jobs that they didn't anticipate and much more costly than they had assumed.

If you're a real estate junk

program focuses on the opposite end of the real estate transaction: the trials and tribulations of sellers as they prepare their homes for the market. The premise of the show is that homeowners don't necessarily have to spend vast sums to make their homes most attractive to prospective buyers. In each episode, sellers are given a budget of $2,000 and a team of experts to give their home the best chance of standing out from the competition. In the end, the results are seen exactly where it counts the most: on the bottom line once the transaction has reached its conclusion. This series is a treasure trove for folks looking to learn more about the improvements that are most effective in obtaining quicker sales at higher prices.

TLC's contribution to the real estate junky's arsenal is called "Property Ladder," and is aired on Saturday nights at 8:00 Eastern and Pacific. This show is geared toward individual (and often first-time) investors who want to engage in one of the most popular real estate investment strategies today, that is, buying a home that needs work, fixing it up, and reselling it. (The process is also known as flipping.) The idea is to locate a home that shows potential, spending money (which is often in limited supply) to do whatever repairs and upgrades are necessary, and then to resell the house at what the owners hope will be a substantial profit. The programs follows the efforts of people tackling homes of various sizes and in need of varying amounts of work, with sometimes vastly varying results. It can be quite emotional at times as investors tackle jobs that they didn't anticipate and much more costly than they had assumed.

If you're a real estate junk

clusion. This series is a treasure trove for folks looking to learn more about the improvements that are most effective in obtaining quicker sales at higher prices.

TLC's contribution to the real estate junky's arsenal is called "Property Ladder," and is aired on Saturday nights at 8:00 Eastern and Pacific. This show is geared toward individual (and often first-time) investors who want to engage in one of the most popular real estate investment strategies today, that is, buying a home that needs work, fixing it up, and reselling it. (The process is also known as flipping.) The idea is to locate a home that shows potential, spending money (which is often in limited supply) to do whatever repairs and upgrades are necessary, and then to resell the house at what the owners hope will be a substantial profit. The programs follows the efforts of people tackling homes of various sizes and in need of varying amounts of work, with sometimes vastly varying results. It can be quite emotional at times as investors tackle jobs that they didn't anticipate and much more costly than they had assumed.

If you're a real estate junk

as flipping.) The idea is to locate a home that shows potential, spending money (which is often in limited supply) to do whatever repairs and upgrades are necessary, and then to resell the house at what the owners hope will be a substantial profit. The programs follows the efforts of people tackling homes of various sizes and in need of varying amounts of work, with sometimes vastly varying results. It can be quite emotional at times as investors tackle jobs that they didn't anticipate and much more costly than they had assumed.

If you're a real estate junky, you can get your fill every night of the week by watching these three informative and entertaining shows, and if you take notes, you just may be able to put them to practical use in your own real estate buying and selling life.

Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher