Skip to main content

The Block: Glasshouse

Those reserves really were set too high.

As they are apparently calculated through a range of valuations, they aren't set at the "break even" cost so production is ensuring they are making their money (on top of the profit made from selling the series and advertising etc). If they were assholes (and if it made good TV) they could set the reserves at any amount and never have the contestants make any real cash in theory.

But it was obvious that they thought that those apartments were going to hit the low 2Ms and probably figured there was enough money to be made all round by setting the reserves at the level they were and really what does it matter to them if they don't. After all the competition is for one prize of $100K - money above reserve is a bonus.

Perhaps they should do a percentage of sales rather than above reserve with the "Reserve" to be used as it is in normal auctions as only the point of withdrawal from the auction to move into private negotiation. Even gaining 20 percent of the final sales price would ensure that the majority went to the producers while still guaranteeing that the contestants were rewarded for their hard work. It would still be a competitive auction process.
 
Did people make this much of a fuss when previous teams won zero?!

CHANNEL Nine has ruled out compensation for three couples who walked away almost empty-handed after months of hard work on The Block Glasshouse.
Newlyweds Maxine Stokes and Karstan Smith who won $40,000, Melbourne’s Dee and Darren Jolly ($10,000) and parents Michael and Carlene Duffy ($10,000) were all devastated, and some left in debt, after a controversial auction ended the series.

The only real winners were brothers Shannon and Simon Vos, who took home $435,000 and Chris and Jenna Susetio, who won $310,000.

Channel 9 director of television, Michael Healy said it was the real estate market that determined who won. He said competitors would not be further compensated.

“While we hope that all contestants walk away with a financial reward for the time and effort they commit to The Block, it is the buying public that determines the outcome of this program,” Mr Healy said.

As anger swirled about the finale yesterday, rumours were rife that Darren and Dee planned to sue for compensation. But Dee rejected the claims. “I think it’s a business. I would never expect that. I understand how the world works,’’ she said.

“Of course, that would be lovely, and we would all love that, but it’s a business and the chances of that is zero. That’s all I can say.”

The Vos brothers said victory was “bittersweet”.

They plan to shout their builder, Maurice Del Vecchio, an overseas trip. A local “sign writer” bought their apartment for $1.9 million.

Meanwhile, just who was it that bought the winning apartment on The Block Glasshouse?

The Herald Sun understands the mystery buyer is a tattooed, muscular, local Melbourne sign writer.

The man bought Shannon and Simon Vos’s apartment for $1.9 million, $335,000 over the reserve.

The buyer listed the help of prominent buyer’s advocate Frank Valentic.

Shannon Vos said the man wanted the apartment from the start, which helped the boys win.

“The buyer was an emotional buyer, he put a $70,000 bid on which is huge,’’ he said.

The boys had a beer with him after the auction.

Vos said the brothers now plan to invest their winnings wisely — which totalled $435,000 after winning an extra $100,000 for making the most money.

They also plan to shout their builder, Maurice Del Vecchio, an overseas trip.

“He has put as much into this as we have, he put his life on hold for us, he helped us win to be honest,” Shannon said.

The boys were sombre yesterday, feeling for the there mates Dee and Darren Jolly, Michael and Carlene Duffy, and Maxine Stokes and Karstan Smith who walked away with not much.

“Mike and Carlene have been away from their kids for four months, I really feel for them,’’ Shannon said.

The boys said everything goes on hold for The Block, so not to walk away with much is tough to handle.

“Everything goes backwards, your bank balance, it’s difficult to maintain a relationship with your girlfriend and fiancee when they are in Sydney,” Shannon said.

“100 per cent of your energy is sucked up by this build, it has to be as you pump out a room every week.

“It’s blood, sweat and tears every week.

“So you want to be compensated for that as much as possible.

“If you did it in the afternoon after work it probably wouldn’t be as bad.”

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/compensation-claims-hit-a-block/story-fn8yvfst-1227089011941
 
Sure The Block contestants worked hard, but it’s a reality show and it’s not always puppies and roses

AS The Block hammer fell so did the tears. Sure all the Blockheads slogged their proverbial off, but at the end of the day it’s a reality show and it’s not always puppies and roses.
And walking away with some money — as pitiful as it might have seemed on auction day — is a whole lot better than most reality show runners-up and contestants who receive bugger all, other than a few invites to the latest clubs and events during their five seconds.

Perhaps the last few seasons of The Block and the staggering prize money they all received come auction day, gave The Block Glasshouse contestants some false hope.

But people have to remember, one it’s a reality show, two it is real estate and three IT’S A REALITY SHOW. None of it has any certainty.

The game, which they all signed the dotted line to, is built around risk and that’s how the cookie crumbles.

The Block Sky High contestants Bec and George — who cleaned up $242,000 for their apartment last year — spoke out following last night’s finale, saying everyone that competes on The Block deserves to win money.

“As contestants you get paid living expenses whilst filming but this barely covers all the bills for your life you leave behind as well as eating everyday,” they lamented on their Facebook page.

“Yes we can win money and it’s a gamble at auction BUT we also put our lives on hold for six months and work bloody hard for that money.”

As Donna Summer’s said “She Works Hard For The Money’ and who may I ask doesn’t work hard for their money?

Gamble is the operative word here. No one goes into an auction — reality show or not — knowing what the end result is, that’s why it all makes such good TV.

Just last month I watched my heavily pregnant best friend and her husband sell their much loved beautiful blue-chip suburb home. They had lived in that house for over a decade, had children there, celebrated Christmas’s there, she spent well more than a few months making that home their own, tended to it, fixed it up and thrown thousands upon thousands of their own dollars on it.

Come auction day they didn’t get the result they were hoping for. ‘Why’ they asked? ‘That’s just how it goes’ said the auctioneer — ironically one of the same real estate agents who looked after The Block auctions — ‘There are just so many variables’ he said.

They accepted that, they realised they might not have got the return they were hoping for, but both agreed that’s what they knew when they signed up to put the house on the market.

Instead of tears and temper tantrums they sucked it up and cracked open a bottle of bubbly, which my poor pregnant bestie couldn’t even enjoy.

Other reality shows may have singers performing just one or two songs a week, or living in a house together for a gruelling few months, or kissing a Lothario bachelor and going on swanky dates.

So, yes, there is no doubt the Blockheads work hard on the show, but they all know that’s what they are signing up for.

For many the alluring chance of fame (fortune comes down the track) is the holy grail for the hopefuls wanting to become reality show contestants.

We don’t get upset when the Big Brother housemates walk away with not only no prize money, but without their dignity and sometimes relationships too.

And where were the tears for the jilted Bachelor contestants, the winner Sam Frost, who also left her job to appear on the show, didn’t even get the man as promised by the end.

But she sure has the fame, and the endorsements, magazine deals, ‘ambassador’ roles and post-show business opportunities come later.

The last few weeks has been all about the authenticity of our homegrown reality shows, people just couldn’t believe The Bachelor result and have lapped up every word following poor jilted Sam.

But we tuned in not because of the reality of the reality shows, but because it is great viewing.

So think of The Block more as a somewhat reality Melrose Place or Number 96.

As one TV insider said, if they all won more than $500,000 it wouldn’t be realistic and everyone would stop watching.

“At the end of the day the auction is just one tiny part of the show, it’s not always going to be puppies, flowers and prize money it kicks you in the guts sometimes.”

And it is that very reason that I — and many others — tune in night after night, it is pure escapism and just damn good telly.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/enterta...y|Compo claims hit a Block&itmt=1413204969301
 
Mrs Butterface said:
'Particularly Dee and Darren who left their kids at home for a long period of time,' she said.
Click to expand...

Michael and Carlene left their kids in a different state. Dee and Darren were in the same city as theirs. Aaannnyway. (To the article - not you @Mrs Butterface )

It's all over now. Shit happens to some.

I find it rather interesting that if the last two couples didn't win anything in the challenge weeks then their apartments wouldn't have reached the reserve and would have been passed in.
 
Cass0907 said:
I find it rather interesting that if the last two couples didn't win anything in the challenge weeks then their apartments wouldn't have reached the reserve and would have been passed in.
Click to expand...
They would have been better off if that had happened, because it buys them time to negotiate a better sale post-auction. In fact, that's what Michael & Carlene wanted to do at their auction but their bidder came back with a bid that forced them to sell on the day.
 
I've only really watched the last 3 seasons. What happens if one is passed in, is there still a winner on the day? It's unlikely that a passed in property would go on to get the most money, but what if it did?
 
Meglos said:
I've only really watched the last 3 seasons. What happens if one is passed in, is there still a winner on the day? It's unlikely that a passed in property would go on to get the most money, but what if it did?
Click to expand...

I believe the winner is whoever sells the most at auction, there was one year where only one house sold at auction and it did so for just $15 grand above the reserve, but other houses sold for much more later on, but the one from the auction was deemed the winner.

If they all get passed in though, well I don't know what happens then.
 
The next Block

main.jpg



http://www.realestate.com.au/property-unitblock-vic-south yarra-115459247

They are filming NOW.

@Mrs Butterface
 
That one above is at least in a nice part of the world, with the botanical gardens just around the corner, nice restaurants, close to city, and it is very expensive.

They have the eyesore after - this one Melbourne would like to see demolished, ugly horrible building, in the worst location.
Punt rd is a nightmare, that intersection is a nightmare.

download (1).jpg images.jpg download (2).jpg
 
Kaz said:
Unfortunately, Scott Cam, Keith, Shelley & the judges are back.
Click to expand...
Julian Cress really needs to get rid of at least 2 of those judges, the recent auction has proved that what the judges say mean almost nothing at all.
Who got slammed every single week bar the bathroom week? Chris and Jenna..... Who came 2nd overall? Chris and Jenna.

I would love to see an real estate agent as a judge and perhaps an architect as the 3rd judge. I did think that a builder could be a judge, but thinking about it further, the contestants don't do that much of the actual renovation. It would only be fair to have a builder as the judge if all the teams did the same amount of the actual build themselves. Now an architect can judge on some of the more structural designs that teams do like voids, those bar things that C &J had this season.
 
are they planning on doing the whole street because what's the point of renovating that building when you are surrounded by other ugly apartment blocks?
 
I heard the plans fell through.

It could be the block with Dee & Darren, if they do return.
 
Nice parents. Imagine living in that place at 20 because your gf's parents bought a splashy place overseas that they *might* live in some day? I suspect Dee and Daz will be spewing that they picked the auction order # that they did. Sounds like they got a bit excited at their first auction and just started bidding even though they really wanted the Ds' apartment.


"The couple Jackie referred to were the buyers of Max and Karstan’s apartment, Chinese student Yue Pan, 20, and her boyfriend Shija Ma, also 20, who did the bidding.

Yue purchased the property for her parents in China who own a factory Nanjing, but an auctioneer revealed Dee and Darren's apartment had originally been the favourite of the young student.

Since they purchased Max and Karstan’s place, the buyer pool had dried up by the time Dee and Darren’s went under the hammer, and it sold for just $10,000 above the reserve price.

Shija told Daily Mail Australia that being on the renovation reality show had not influenced their interest in the apartment.

‘We actually looked at the apartments before we found out it was going to be on the TV series. I have seen one or two episodes from the previous series,’ he said.

He said he and Yue will live there for the meantime, and it would potentially be a home for her parents in the future.

He added it was his first auction."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...host-jackie-o-block-asian-couple-comment.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top