A recent article by David Bauder in the Associated Press discussed the fact that real estate investing television and the real estate market seem curiously at odds at the moment. While reality television depicting house flipping and providing a venue to learn real estate investing continues to do well, the real estate market has noticeably cooled.

Bauder likens the television shows to out-of-touch developers, noting that TV programmers continue to tout real estate deals featuring a fast sale while many properties across the country languish in “for sale” status. The A&E Network's "Flip This House," TLC's "Flip That House," and Bravo's "Flipping Out" all continue to rake in ratings and advertisers.

The networks are even expanding with new shows. TLC will be launching a new show, "Date My House" as well as five other related programs supposedly to help people learn real estate investing, yet the programs we’ve seen thus far are fairly untypical of the commonplace investing dilemmas investors face throughout North America. HGTV enjoyed some of its best ratings this past January, and a good part of that success stems from real estate shows.

Nine of HGTV’s most popular 10 shows deal with real estate. Shows such as "House Hunters," "My First Place," "Hidden Potential," "Buy Me" and "Design to Sell" seem to draw in viewers in spades. HGTV even did a special in February about buying a first home.

As foreclosures increase, the economy goes from “Bad to Worse”, we’re witnessing the worst type of “learn real estate investing” shows that can be offered – an often glitzy, glamorous look to the upside of real estate investing….that mostly glosses over the fact that the true “reality” is that sellers nationwide are frustrated in trying to sell their properties. Since ratings are what television networks need to show advertisers in order to garner ad revenue, isn’t it a wonder why the television shows sometimes reveal an interesting lack of reality then?

Take for instance the following 5 items:

A&E "Flip This House," TLC's "Flip That House," and Bravo's "Flipping Out all tend to open their shows AFTER the property has already been bought. Much of the show focuses on what happens after the property has been bought and financed. However, most professional investors agree that a great of the profitability when house flipping comes from the initial buy. The less money you spend on the house initially and the better you finance the property, the more you stand you make. Moreover, there is little “learn about real estate investing” tips and information shown…after all, if you buy the wrong property in the wrong place and choose the mortgage incorrectly, it does not ultimately matter how “pretty” you can make the house – it will stay on the market a while.

TLC new show, "Date My House" is slated to hire a former “Bachelor” reality show star as the host. When hiring your own power team, hiring actors and former dating show stars with a sketchy track record would not be viewed lightly by any real estate investor who needs to add high caliber, highly proven members to their team. Most good deals happen because there is a level-headed investor involved – and he or she is backed by a team of superstar professionals.

TLC’s vice president of programming has said that "Flip That House" will start to outline how each investment deal panned out, but this little touch of realism is still in the future. Again, there is very little “learn real estate investing” information – if at all – taught on each episode, and instead, focuses on the entertaining and rosy upside. Today, most of these shows suggest that investors make a lot of money fast – each time. That’s simply not true in today’s economy, where investors who do not know what they are doing stand to lose their shirts.

"Flip This House" currently tends to focus on renovators in San Antonio and New Haven, and the show promises to add renovators from Atlanta and Los Angeles in the new season. In truth, however, larger and pricier markets are not always the best sites for flipping. Areas where house values are inflated tend to price many homebuyers out of the sale. Smart investors look at many markets to find not an attractive home but a market with good home values and the potential for growth.

There is an upside to the current programming about house flipping – as long as you are not using the shows to learn real estate investing. Brad Wozny, writer and creator of "8 FIGURE Empire™: A Proven System That Shows Investors How to Generate a 6 Figure Bank Account and Realize 7 Figure Real Estate Gains in as Little as 7 Months," points out that these shows are basically infomercials for real estate professionals (e.g. Realtors). The high ratings plus this feature can make a reality show a powerful venue for real estate pros. Don’t learn real estate investing practices from TV shows is the bottom line – instead consider aligning yourself with a proven real estate investing mentor to learn real estate investing from the ground up.