Cullen and Katie: Moving On Up | Part 10

[wishes]

I may be the only one, but I actually like the way the kitchen and house looks -shrug- I would get new appliances though such as the ovens, microwave and faucet but overall, it's not too bad for me. A little too bright but would switch up the counter tops down the road. Agreed the placement of the fridge is awkward, very crammed. I believe the arch over the stove top is decorative for the hood range.

What is that second island in the kitchen with the chandelier over it? Weird placement. Way too many cabinets beside the stairs and in the living room. Strange, but at least they won't complain about storage!

What about that random room that has a fireplace with the couch? Seems out of place to me. I don't know but I actually like the majority of the home too and would make a few changes here and there with light fixtures/appliances over time. Everything else wouldn't bother me. Modern homes now-a-days are way too modern for me.

[lmmomSD]

I think the second island is supposed to be a breakfast bar. That's what the listing says anyway.
The spike in views last July could be from Brooks' birth, but the weird thing is that a _lot_ of vloggers have a spike in July 2016. Maybe it's bored kids home from school. Or Playlist in DC. It's weird. If you look at a few vloggers, they all seem to have that spike. I just found it interesting.

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[Playsinrain]

I didn't so much mean advice so much as just sharing the fun of looking for a new house. I was close to my parents, and C&K are too. It's hard to put into words. I know that what I said sounded like it would be for parental advice, but I just meant that being close to my parents the way C&K are, I would likely share the process with them. Don't know if that makes sense.

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It does make sense and I would have a hard time not saying to wait and find another home. The reasons being the price, location and the amount of work this house needs. If they really wanted to optimize YouTube views, they should have looked at building a home. Can anyone comment on the attic where you had insulation out in the open. Is this normal since I've never seen this before and the house passed inspection from the sounds of it or did they have a home inspection?

I see their "New House Sneak Peak" vlog had over a hundred thousand views so they should get a bump up in views due to this house move. Looking at the graph you see subs/views peak last July and I believe this is at the time their son was born. Graphing their subs/view after this you see a deep trend downward which is troubling. VidIQ shows CK are in the monthly revenue is 5,000 and a comparison is to another channel who is Bonnie (close in subs 554K) she is bringing in 21,000...and for now they are staying in their smaller home! Add to this the amount of time it took to get over the 500K sub, I wonder what is going wrong? If they did receive some type of money from a trust fund, it does enable them to remain with a career in YouTube where growth is questionable so this may or may not be a good thing. I am sure the brand deals help, but to live large, I question to what extent.

I believe Katie could have capitalized on being a working mom with YouTube which most women are and Cullen could edit her vlogs. She showed how hard it was to return to work and she would be relatable to many of her viewers. I was hoping she would stick it out with work (part-time hours) since I think she would have done fine after getting into a routine, but it is their choice. When she decided to stay home she was going to do weekly vlogs, didn't do this and her channel hasn't seen much growth. Cullen would also have to get up at six in the morning with the kids if Katie worked. At least I hope he would...

Since it's unfinished attic space it's totally normal. Most unfinished attic have exposed insulation. It's mostly just used as storage.

I guess i'm one of the only ones that doesn't see them "living large". the house is the largest purchase we have seen them make and i feel like that's completely normal for a growing family of their age. Sure the home is large and expensive, but other than the house and the suburban (which i also think makes sense with the kids, dogs and traveling they do) we don't see them living the high life at all. Katie buys shoes and baby clothes from target, not jimmy Choo. Cullen might buy a new drone once every couple years, but its a work related expense that he puts to good use. Other than that, and maybe new phones once a year we just don't see them being extravagant. Things might change now that they are in the new house, they might start dropping cash like crazy, but i don't expect it.. i do expect them to be blowing through some money in the next few months coming up, but remodeling and furnishing a new home is a justified expense to me. (unlike ripping out a perfectly fine pool and replacing it with a mini water park designed by disney designers *cough* db *cough*) I just have a feeling C&K are better off financially than they present themselves, i think they are WAY smarter with money than most YTers bc they havent seen a big windfall and are "used" to having money. I feel sure that they have retirement, emergency and college funds for the kids and are regularly contributing to that. C&K are "older and wiser" than their YT "friends" and i think they will be just fine in this house. I hope they don't prove me wrong.

[Playsinrain]

I may be the only one, but I actually like the way the kitchen and house looks -shrug- I would get new appliances though such as the ovens, microwave and faucet but overall, it's not too bad for me. A little too bright but would switch up the counter tops down the road. Agreed the placement of the fridge is awkward, very crammed. I believe the arch over the stove top is decorative for the hood range.

What is that second island in the kitchen with the chandelier over it? Weird placement. Way too many cabinets beside the stairs and in the living room. Strange, but at least they won't complain about storage!

What about that random room that has a fireplace with the couch? Seems out of place to me. I don't know but I actually like the majority of the home too and would make a few changes here and there with light fixtures/appliances over time. Everything else wouldn't bother me. Modern homes now-a-days are way too modern for me.

I'm just not a fan of an all white kitchen, i like more natural wood and an all around organic feel. This whole house is not at all something i would pick for myself, but i do think it's beautiful and has potential.

That random room is a bedroom that the previous owners were using as a "sitting room" according to the listing. I was confused about that one too until i reread the listing. I LOVE the cabinets by the stairs. I was just looking at the same idea in Lowes the other day and thinking about how amazing it would be to have those. One for each person to store coats and shoes ect, my dream house would have those with built in benches by the entry. Seems so convenient!! I also love all the built in storage in the living room!

[Playsinrain]

personal, and yeah nobody cares, lol but this kitchen is more my speed than the all white sterile look that is so in right now. But then i'm like ImmomSD (i think it was you that said it a few pages ago. Correct me if im wrong) I don't care whats trendy and cool, i like what i like and if i'm going to redo or build a home its going to be based on what i love and not what's plastered all over the trendy home magazines. But that is personal taste.

[HashtagBlessed]

The fridge shouldn't sit so far out into the floor. It's blocking a few of their cabinets and it looks terrible. I assume the space was custom built for an integrated fridge and once it broke the owners just went out and purchased a new one. I think they would have a hard time find a fridge to fit into that space without looking odd. They're going to need new cabinets in the kitchen. I think the space between the top of the cabinets and the ceiling is too large.

I would gut that kitchen, what is up with that ugly archway over the stove???? It makes it look like it would be hard to get in there and use the stove! I also HATE the fan shaped window treatments over the arched windows they scream 1983 to me. I would have those suckers ripped out asap. lol Let in all the natural light i could! (We also live in a house that gets hardly any natural light. Wooded on 3 sides and bad window placement. We call it The Cave. lol)

It looks like the fridge is not counter depth and the cabinets are very shallow and the built-ins around the fridge were not done in a smart way. That whole kitchen needs to go and get a redesign.

When we bought our home, the previous owners had a fridge that was not counted depth, and it's a small kitchen. The built-ins around the fridge are great, so a counter depth fridge solved that design dilemma and I love it now. But it was challenging to find what I wanted: counter-depth, stainless steal, French doors with freezer on the bottom drawer, and small enough to fit in the opening left for the fridge. There was exactly one fridge on the market that fit that criteria. I love it, but it is smaller than your average fridge. If they want a large fridge without demolishing that kitchen, they're going to have to get used to it sticking out like that. Or get a smaller fridge and learn to live with less fridge space.

Even if they live frugally in terms of clothes and home furnishings, a $650,000-ish home is a huge expense. They don't know where YouTube will take them in another 5 years. There's the monthly payment, the maintenance, the insurance, the taxes, etc. Assuming they got a 15 or 30 year mortgage, they need to be thinking about their earning potential down the road. They wouldn't be able to find jobs outside of YouTube to comfortably afford a home in the mid $600,000s, so it seems risky to me. Even with YouTube, unless they're making the very tippy top of their estimated earnings range, that house looks like it's out of their budget. They must be making way more than estimated, or they used a trust fund to make the downpayment. But just because you have a large gift to use as a down payment, that doesn't mean it's a smart financial move. You have to look at your ability to afford that house for the next 15-30 years.

[nutbagmcgee]

New countertops, appliances and pulls and the kitchen will look fine. I like the shutters on the windows myself. They are classic. They aren't really out of style, just classic.

[tratra58]

I totally agree with this, and the comment you made about Katie's grandparents. C&K are the least of my worries for when the YT crash comes. They have a great support system, are educated, and likely have enough in savings to survive just fine until they got back on their feet. They aren't stupid with their money. DB and E&J worry me much much more than C&K ever will. If YT flopped today, Missy and Bryan would be homeless in 3 months. I don't care how much websites say they bring in a month, they hemorrhage money as fast as it comes in. We have never seen that type of behavior with C&K.

I can see what you are saying, but the money DB or EJ spend, indirectly or directly is to vlog for their viewers to see especially the "toys" with the kid viewers. So I equate their spending to business expenses. Viewers are watching DB to see their outdoor kitchen and pool being built and kids look to see their sons latest toys they purchased. I am not a DB follower, but I was surprised watching a few of their vlogs, their ads were more mainstream so I am guessing these ads pay channels more money. Brand deals also have to be more attracted to channels with millions of subscribers too.

Bottom line, if you don't have money to hemorrhage or spend, you don't see this behavior. Believe me, I am quite sure CK would love to be in DB's position seeing 1.8 million (vs their 115K) daily views collecting over 80,000 monthly revenue. I also don't think DB is dumb with money and they have a financial advisor/accountant telling them where to put their money for tax purposes and investments. I would say E+J also has an accountant like all small businesses do who give them tax advice and helps with investing for the future. That is the one thing I have to hand it to both DB and most of the Griffith sisters who vlog is they don't have any business experience, but have grown successful YouTube channels. I don't put CK in this group. I think the biggest threat at this time to vloggers or YouTube channels is if something damaging happens to their reputation like the Shaytards.

[Playsinrain]

The fridge situation to me looks like they had one of those built in fridges with the cabinet fronts (idk what the specific name for that type of fridge is) and it must have bit the dust so they had to replace it, and since it was inside a custom build, they were not able to find something that fit correctly (or just haphazardly bought a replacement and made it work). Personally i wouldnt be able to deal with that lol I would, at the very least have someone come in and rip out that section and rebulid around the fridge that is there now (assuming it's newer and in great condition)

[wishes]

Ah yes - after I reread the listing too I figured it was the sitting room too! That's what I get for not reading I totally agree the kitchen has too much white going on, maybe have a dark counter top to balance things out.

Playsinrain - See, your ideal kitchen seems way too dark for me!

[Playsinrain]

Ah yes - after I reread the listing too I figured it was the sitting room too! That's what I get for not reading I totally agree the kitchen has too much white going on, maybe have a dark counter top to balance things out.

Playsinrain - See, your ideal kitchen seems way too dark for me!

I really want to see a layout of the house. I'm SO ready for them to move in lol. I also love that upstairs loft type area for a playroom.

Our dream house is a rustic, but modern log cabin. Lots of rock work and natural wood, huge floor to ceiling windows, open floor plan and lots of fireplaces. I'm more drawn to darker finishes and colors.

[Lovethesnark]

I totally agree with this, and the comment you made about Katie's grandparents. C&K are the least of my worries for when the YT crash comes. They have a great support system, are educated, and likely have enough in savings to survive just fine until they got back on their feet. They aren't stupid with their money. DB and E&J worry me much much more than C&K ever will. If YT flopped today, Missy and Bryan would be homeless in 3 months. I don't care how much websites say they bring in a month, they hemorrhage money as fast as it comes in. We have never seen that type of behavior with C&K.

I can see what you are saying, but the money DB or EJ spend, indirectly or directly is to vlog for their viewers to see especially the "toys" with the kid viewers. So I equate their spending to business expenses. Viewers are watching DB to see their outdoor kitchen and pool being built and kids look to see their sons latest toys they purchased. I am not a DB follower, but I was surprised watching a few of their vlogs, their ads were more mainstream so I am guessing these ads pay channels more money. Brand deals also have to be more attracted to channels with millions of subscribers too.

Bottom line, if you don't have money to hemorrhage or spend, you don't see this behavior. Believe me, I am quite sure CK would love to be in DB's position seeing 1.8 million (vs their 115K) daily views collecting over 80,000 monthly revenue. I also don't think DB is dumb with money and they have a financial advisor/accountant telling them where to put their money for tax purposes and investments. I would say E+J also has an accountant like all small businesses do who give them tax advice and helps with investing for the future. That is the one thing I have to hand it to both DB and most of the Griffith sisters who vlog is they don't have any business experience, but have grown successful YouTube channels. I don't put CK in this group. I think the biggest threat at this time to vloggers or YouTube channels is if something damaging happens to their reputation like the Shaytards.

I think most of the toys we see in DB's vlogs are product placements. Most people here think that's ridiculous because they don't state that their videos are sponsored, but product placements are different. An example would be that worm toy DB showed in their vlog a few weeks ago. C&K had that same game in their vlog like a day later. I imagine the cotton candy machine will make an appearance in other vlogger's videos soon. Or every vlogger will start using those vitamins Missy was buying yesterday. Each vlog is an ad for something. Product placements may be the reason C&K can afford this house.

[tratra58]

I guess i'm one of the only ones that doesn't see them "living large". the house is the largest purchase we have seen them make and i feel like that's completely normal for a growing family of their age. Sure the home is large and expensive, but other than the house and the suburban (which i also think makes sense with the kids, dogs and traveling they do) we don't see them living the high life at all. Katie buys shoes and baby clothes from target, not jimmy Choo. Cullen might buy a new drone once every couple years, but its a work related expense that he puts to good use. Other than that, and maybe new phones once a year we just don't see them being extravagant. Things might change now that they are in the new house, they might start dropping cash like crazy, but i don't expect it.. i do expect them to be blowing through some money in the next few months coming up, but remodeling and furnishing a new home is a justified expense to me. (unlike ripping out a perfectly fine pool and replacing it with a mini water park designed by disney designers *cough* db *cough*) I just have a feeling C&K are better off financially than they present themselves, i think they are WAY smarter with money than most YTers bc they havent seen a big windfall and are "used" to having money. I feel sure that they have retirement, emergency and college funds for the kids and are regularly contributing to that. C&K are "older and wiser" than their YT "friends" and i think they will be just fine in this house. I hope they don't prove me wrong.

I agree and I guess living large might not be true if they were able to put a good chunk down (downpayment) on the house. Suburbans are pricy and I would say the average family buys minivans. I said this before, but those daily or every other day shopping trips to Target add up. I wasn't going to watch DB since I think both of them are are nutty, but now I want to see what their new pool looks like LOL. I see Drone purchases, cell phones, cameras all as business expenses for any vloggers.

I do think all the JK/CK children have a college fund set up by grandparents. That is a nice thing to do! I see nothing wrong with affluent parents helping out their adult children too. JK/CK seem to be appreciative adults with their parents.

[Playsinrain]

I totally agree with this, and the comment you made about Katie's grandparents. C&K are the least of my worries for when the YT crash comes. They have a great support system, are educated, and likely have enough in savings to survive just fine until they got back on their feet. They aren't stupid with their money. DB and E&J worry me much much more than C&K ever will. If YT flopped today, Missy and Bryan would be homeless in 3 months. I don't care how much websites say they bring in a month, they hemorrhage money as fast as it comes in. We have never seen that type of behavior with C&K.

I can see what you are saying, but the money DB or EJ spend, indirectly or directly is to vlog for their viewers to see especially the "toys" with the kid viewers. So I equate their spending to business expenses. Viewers are watching DB to see their outdoor kitchen and pool being built and kids look to see their sons latest toys they purchased. I am not a DB follower, but I was surprised watching a few of their vlogs, their ads were more mainstream so I am guessing these ads pay channels more money. Brand deals also have to be more attracted to channels with millions of subscribers too.

Bottom line, if you don't have money to hemorrhage or spend, you don't see this behavior. Believe me, I am quite sure CK would love to be in DB's position seeing 1.8 million (vs their 115K) daily views collecting over 80,000 monthly revenue. I also don't think DB is dumb with money and they have a financial advisor/accountant telling them where to put their money for tax purposes and investments. I would say E+J also has an accountant like all small businesses do who give them tax advice and helps with investing for the future. That is the one thing I have to hand it to both DB and most of the Griffith sisters who vlog is they don't have any business experience, but have grown successful YouTube channels. I don't put CK in this group. I think the biggest threat at this time to vloggers or YouTube channels is if something damaging happens to their reputation like the Shaytards.

I think most of the toys we see in DB's vlogs are product placements. Most people here think that's ridiculous because they don't state that their videos are sponsored, but product placements are different. An example would be that worm toy DB showed in their vlog a few weeks ago. C&K had that same game in their vlog like a day later. I imagine the cotton candy machine will make an appearance in other vlogger's videos soon. Or every vlogger will start using those vitamins Missy was buying yesterday. Each vlog is an ad for something. Product placements may be the reason C&K can afford this house.

I agree somewhat. I do think the game, and the cotton candy machine were product placements, but those things are a drop in the bucket compared to what they spend. The RC cars, the dune buggy, the $20k pool, the sports car.. all the big purchases aren't product placements (or at least they don't seem like it at all). The viking fridge they bought bc theirs was making a noise, the wolf range bc one eye was out... The purchases that put the biggest dent in the paychecks can be business expenses, but they aren't getting that crap for free. They loooove to show off that money. Buying a game or toy for the boys isn't going to bankrupt them if they do it with out endorsements, but if they keep buying $900 rc cars and $6000 dune buggies every week it will...

[lmmomSD]

Ah yes - after I reread the listing too I figured it was the sitting room too! That's what I get for not reading I totally agree the kitchen has too much white going on, maybe have a dark counter top to balance things out.

Playsinrain - See, your ideal kitchen seems way too dark for me!

It's too dark for me too. I do like the natural wood, but I would want something to break it up and lighten it.
Yep, it was was me that said I don't care what is trendy when it comes to decorating my house. I just know what I like. If I bought a showplace, I would probably get help because I know what I like, but don't know how to put it together, but for now, I just fantasize what I would do. I do think the kitchen is too white, and I would get rid of that gold faucet, but I don't _hate_ the kitchen. It's going to be interesting to see what they do.
I think they're in a better position overall, but I think this house was out of their price range. And I am positive that DB are ignoring advice from their financial advisor. Even if purchases can be justified by vlog views, I don't think going to the extremes that they do is getting the views they'll want. They may get a bump the day they show the new pool, but I don't think it will justify ripping out a perfectly good one, nor do views make up for the way they are constantly redoing things that don't need redone. Buying a Sub Zero with bad reviews just because their milk isn't cold enough? It's like buying a new Mercedes because the ashtray is full.
But enough about DB. I am really interested in how C&K are going to redo and decorate the house.

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[Lovethesnark]

I agree somewhat. I do think the game, and the cotton candy machine were product placements, but those things are a drop in the bucket compared to what they spend. The RC cars, the dune buggy, the $20k pool, the sports car.. all the big purchases aren't product placements (or at least they don't seem like it at all). The viking fridge they bought bc theirs was making a noise, the wolf range bc one eye was out... The purchases that put the biggest dent in the paychecks can be business expenses, but they aren't getting that crap for free. They loooove to show off that money. Buying a game or toy for the boys isn't going to bankrupt them if they do it with out endorsements, but if they keep buying $900 rc cars and $6000 dune buggies every week it will...

Of course they spend a ton of money, but they're making alot of it too. The product placement for the worm toy probably paid for the RC cars and more. They're doing this every day on top of making $80,000 a month from ad sense. I don't think they're in any danger of going broke anytime soon.

[tratra58]

I think most of the toys we see in DB's vlogs are product placements. Most people here think that's ridiculous because they don't state that their videos are sponsored, but product placements are different. An example would be that worm toy DB showed in their vlog a few weeks ago. C&K had that same game in their vlog like a day later. I imagine the cotton candy machine will make an appearance in other vlogger's videos soon. Or every vlogger will start using those vitamins Missy was buying yesterday. Each vlog is an ad for something. Product placements may be the reason C&K can afford this house.

I agree product placement is revenue and the YouTube channels/vloggers have to give full disclosure.

[tratra58]

But enough about DB. I am really interested in how C&K are going to redo and decorate the house.

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Do you thinking they are going to redo the house? I thought they said this is move in ready.

[Playsinrain]

But enough about DB. I am really interested in how C&K are going to redo and decorate the house.

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Do you thinking they are going to redo the house? I thought they said this is move in ready.

i think they mean move in ready as in the home is in livable condition, they aren't going to have to do repairs or work to the house for it to be functional. They did say they would be updating the master bath, so we know at the very least that is coming.

[marshmallowfluf]

Wonder why Gaines was talking about a horse at the new house. Cullen said he would tell more about that soon.. maybe they have bought a house on a farm somewhere and they are just trying to throw us off lol


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