Drew and Jonathan Scott of HGTV's "Property Brothers."

Numerous reality television shows spotlighting renovation nightmares have popped up in recent years, and some are questioning their impact on potential homebuyers.

Displaying the ugly side of buying a beautiful home, several of the shows were highlighted in a recent article published in the New York Times that addressed the shows’ impact.

“Forget what the economists say; it’s obvious that the housing market’s plunge in recent years parallels the proliferation of shows whose main message is that only an idiot would buy a house,” wrote Neil Gezlinger. “Would-be homebuyers don’t need to watch many of these shows before reaching a few conclusions that will make them renters for life.”

The problem with most of these reality TV shows is they show everything that can go wrong when buying a home will go wrong, and potential homebuyers must be prepared to see thousands of their hard earned cash literally disappear in the blink of an eye. This happens on shows like “Homes Inspection” on HGTV, where contractor Mike Holmes comes to inspect the homes of unlucky owners and tell them that he must gut their whole house.

Gezlinger’s advice is to “pray this guy never stops by your place for a visit. He’ll notice some flaking paint on a shutter, and the next thing you know, he’ll be ordering up the kinds of repairs that can be paid for only by selling all of your stocks, cars and children.”

Another HGTV show is “Property Brothers,” where real estate agent Drew and inspector Jonathan Scott help homebuyers find houses that are in less-than-perfect condition and renovate them. The home owners usually end up spending a lot more money than they had hoped.

What is being called “possibly the worst” of these shows is “Flipped Man.” Brothers Russell and Shawn Hantz find and buy properties that are in bad condition in the Houston area and flip them for a profit. Once the brothers find a property they want, the nightmare begins.

To make things worst, homebuyers who do not have their homes inspected usually get unpleasant surprises later, from $8,000 in plumbing repair to to $7,000 in stolen pipes from a swimming pool.

“That’s the kind of thing that can make a prospective house buyer decide that raising two kids in a cramped one-bedroom apartment isn’t so bad after all,” wrote Gezlinger.