Review: HGTV's Beat the House

Kara and David Oliver, an attractive young couple with a toddler son, want to move from Hoboken, N.J., to a more suburban part of the state, and their budget is around $300,000. They find a cute brick house, listed at $299,000, with a small backyard that’s near a local park. The Olivers are ready to bid. “We need a house to start feeling like a family,” says David, who appears on HGTV’s Beat the House, yet another series about middle-class couples playing real estate roulette. In this one, two competing brokers try to woo the Olivers and other couples like them away from a reasonable house on which they’ve already decided to put an offer.

The agents are distinguished by their opposing sales strategies. JoJo Jones, an aging Southern belle who favors statement jewelry and bright makeup, “sells with her heart.” In the first two episodes, she tries to nudge couples over their agreed-upon budgets by gushing about beauteous backyards for their kids to play in. The other broker, Christopher Kromer, is a gravelly voiced ex-financial consultant who “sells with his head.” He emphasizes things such as how a gut kitchen renovation will improve a property’s resale value.