Cullen and Katie: Moving On Up | Part 10

[teahathspilleth123]

I agree much HashtagBlessed!

Another thing to keep in mind is if you have been out of your field for many years it is not easy to get a job anymore. It doesn't matter if you graduated from college 10 or 15 years ago.
That's irrelevant now. That is the truth in the current job market.

Recent college grads in that field are far more sought after and they will get the job way before a mid thirties person who has a dusty degree from 10 years ago and hasn't worked in that job field in many many years would

[WhatSheSaid]

I'm wondering if Katie's parents haven't purchased the new house for them or at least contributed in some way. Their current home sold for $240,000 and their new home is $640,000...an increase of $400,000! How can they afford that being stay at home parents with sole income from youTube? What will happen if they lose subscribers or youTube fizzles out in the end? How can a young couple afford such a huge mortgage? Has anyone else wondered about this? Are they going to live way above their means? All these young couples on youTube who have (temporarily) struck gold have all gone on a huge spending spree with fancy homes, cars, etc. Will they all be facing the same disaster down the road?

In my opinion, and it always seems like an unpopular one, people tend to forget that Katie is from old money, and lots of it. Her parents are affluent, and have been for quite some time, I also assume Katie's grandparents were also wealthy. I'm talking, no student loans (even with her doctorate, which cannot be overlooked either. Katie made good money before and has the best "roots" to find another well paying job, out of all the YT parents i watch) trust fund baby kinda rich. Katie has lived the "country club life" her entire life, hell she has driven a Lexus since she was 16 if im not mistaken (they have shown that on older vlogs). She grew up in a home that is valued at over a million dollars. I don't think that her parents paid for the home, not our right, no way. I do think that she has money, they have saved money for quite some time, and are not making a stupid decision. They are not huge spenders like 90% of youtubers that have struck it rich. They know how to manage money, i think anyway, and i don't think they are living beyond their means at all. Even if they quit youtube today i have no worry in my mind that Katie and Cullen both could find jobs that would keep up the lifestyle they are living and making for themselves.

I agree with you. Consider this too, Katie doesn't have any living grandarents to our knowledge. Isn't it customary for grandparents to leave money to their grandchildren to send them through college or put a down payment on a home? I really believe that her grandparents gave both kelley and Katie a leg up in life.

[WhatSheSaid]

Have Cullen or Katie said something in their vlogs that would lead you to believe there is a trust fund in play? I am not asking to argue, I truly am curious.

Not to my knowledge. But then it would be gauche to talk about such things. There is money on both Katie's parents' sides. And G-Mother was no slouch, so I'm sure she left some money to Cullen. I think they will be fine. Even as a doctor or dentist, making a good deal of money, one's future is not always secure. A car accident can screw up your back and leave you unable to work. So, nobody's life is really secure unless you have family money and ties that will support you in any event. It seems to me that Katie and Cullen are about as secure as anyone can be, with youtube or without.

[tratra58]

Have Cullen or Katie said something in their vlogs that would lead you to believe there is a trust fund in play? I am not asking to argue, I truly am curious.

Not to my knowledge. But then it would be gauche to talk about such things. There is money on both Katie's parents' sides. And G-Mother was no slouch, so I'm sure she left some money to Cullen. I think they will be fine. Even as a doctor or dentist, making a good deal of money, one's future is not always secure. A car accident can screw up your back and leave you unable to work. So, nobody's life is really secure unless you have family money and ties that will support you in any event. It seems to me that Katie and Cullen are about as secure as anyone can be, with youtube or without.

No one knows for sure where the money comes from, but I think some have question this price range with a house purchase based on their so-so YouTube channel even if you count endorsements. There are employee benefits with disability and medical that are better than YouTube so traditional jobs do give you security. But think of your subs/views going up filming a YouTuber's car accident that could include the scene of the accident, hospital footage and recovery...only in the YouTube world would a misfortune garner views. Most have a camera on them at all times!!!

[WhatSheSaid]

I thought it was so sweet and caring of Gaines to feed the dogs and then get not one, but two buckets of toys for her little brother to play with. Brooks looked at her like she was the greatest! Then all of them looking out the window, including Emma three times, to wait for the trash truck to come was just the sweetest thing to me!

I think C&K may have some kind f deal going with GNC but I don't expect it will address weight issues. I don't believe they will ever take off, and keep off, the weight until they call a halt to all the processed foods they eat in the home and outside. Those foods are chemically engineered to make you want more! Whole foods you cook from scratch at home is the way to reboot your metabolism and purge the water C&K carry. Food is more than calories, it is information for your body. Eating certain foods are really good for you and you can eat as much as you want. Anyways, when they are ready to address that they will. No sense stressing about it.

I'm really excited to get a tour of their new house! One question, is the fridge suppose to be bulging out if that tiny space in the kitchen? It looks really odd to me.

[lmmomSD]

That fridge is WAY too big for its space! They won't be able to open the cabinets next to it!
Roman Atwood was talking about how weird vlogging is-- a cop went by him with lights on, and he was saying that getting a ticket is a worthwhile investment because he gets more views.

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[Lovethesnark]

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.

[Playsinrain]

Have Cullen or Katie said something in their vlogs that would lead you to believe there is a trust fund in play? I am not asking to argue, I truly am curious.

Not to my knowledge. But then it would be gauche to talk about such things. There is money on both Katie's parents' sides. And G-Mother was no slouch, so I'm sure she left some money to Cullen. I think they will be fine. Even as a doctor or dentist, making a good deal of money, one's future is not always secure. A car accident can screw up your back and leave you unable to work. So, nobody's life is really secure unless you have family money and ties that will support you in any event. It seems to me that Katie and Cullen are about as secure as anyone can be, with youtube or without.

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.

[Playsinrain]

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)

[tratra58]

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...

[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.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

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!