'House Hunters' to Feature Farmington Home Search

Farmington resident Meg Day will be watching HGTV's House Hunters on Thursday with a closer eye than most viewers.

Day and her Realtor, Ailene Corlin, are featured in Thursday's episode, titled “Fresh Start in Farmington, Michigan."

“It was five very long days," Day said of last summer's shoot. “It was interesting to get a taste of what it’s like to be an actor. It’s a lot of sitting around, waiting and doing it again, so it will be fun to see what the outcome is of five days of taping cut down to 22 minutes.”

The show was a unique opportunity for Corlin, who has been selling homes for 11 years. In each episode, a real estate agent is challenged to help a buyer find a home within the area desired, as the buyer's budget allows.

“It was an amazing experience,” said Corlin, who likes to work as an extra for movies filming in Michigan when she’s not selling homes.

She made the first contact with House Hunters to see whether the program was ever in need of a real estate agent in the Detroit area. She had to go through a long screening process to determine whether she was the right person for the show.

“I had to do an audition tape and a phone interview," she said. “There was a lot to it all. It was challenging, because not only are we screened to be picked for the episode, but each home we showed had to sign a release, and not every seller was interested to be a part of it.”

Day, who wanted to stay in a specific area in Farmington, was looking for a new home after a divorce and other changes in her life. Corlin said they looked at a lot of houses together, along with Day’s friend Julie, described on the House Hunters Web site as someone “who isn't afraid to express her opinions."

While deals are out there, finding a home that fits the needs of the buyer within a budget is a challenge, Corlin said. It’s even harder when a cable show is documenting it all—and also expecting a sale.

“It was a lot of fun," Corlin said. “Hopefully people will watch the episode and see that I’m a good Realtor, and maybe contact me if they’re ever looking to sell.”

Because the show features before-and-after looks, a crew returned to see all the upgrades Day made to the home.

“It motivated me and got me doing the renovations before I planned," she said. "But it’s now nice to have all of that done, and I can enjoy the house sooner than I expected in the condition I want it to be in.”

The episode of House Hunters featuring Corlin and Day will air Thursday night at 10 p.m. and will reair Friday morning at 1 a.m. on HGTV, Channel 48 on Bright House Cable.