Parade of homes

bpmcclain

Well-Known Member
Nov 17, 2010
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Ames
Ames is having the parade of homes later this week and tickets are $5.00 I think. Has anyone been to this before, and is it worth it?
 
we went once. It's not the worst thing I've ever done. We were looking to buy our first house at the time, and we thought it might be a good idea to see what was out there. The problem was most of the houses that we saw were well above our price range for a first home. I think the cheapest one we saw was a $180,000 condo. Several of the locations were well over $350K. Some were even more than that. Our price range at the time topped out at about $200K, so there wasn't much for us to look at from a purchasing standpoint. Once we got that notion out of our heads, it was enjoyable to see some very nice homes and think about what we might do with our "second" home purchase.
 
Do you enjoy looking at nice homes? If the answer is yes it's probably worth it.
 
They don't throw Candy at the parade so no it's not worth it. turns out it's not even a parade. Just some realtor showing you houses that rich people can afford.
 
We've gone when we were looking for a new house. Never paid the $5.00, though. Just walked in and looked at the houses.

It is basically just a bunch of open houses all on the same day. The biggest difference is the builders pimped up the houses in the parade with upgrades and finished basements. We used it as a way to decide what builders we liked/disliked, what styles we liked, and what options were available.
 
Best reason I've heard to go is if you're planning on building a new home and want ideas for specific rooms.
 
I've went 3-4 times in Des Moines. Even though I would never spend that much on a house, you can pick up some cool things that anyone can put in their house.

One of my favorites was the fake bookshelf. You pulled out a book and behind the rotating wall was a hidden poker room. Also some great home theaters and garages.
 
Best reason I've heard to go is if you're planning on building a new home and want ideas for specific rooms.
Exactly. It's a great way to gather ideas, even for renovating your existing home or for what you might like down the road. Also might be good for making your goals real in your mind and giving you that extra drive to excel.