BearCat49

If you're interested, their actual story was much different than what tptb filmed. It was discussed extensively, upthread, after the episode's initial airing. No, he's definitely not slaving away at some little factory. Surfer dude is well-known within those circles and the couple had been together for much longer, IIRC. In fact, they were living together in another pad, i.e. not the place that was filmed. (Guess the episode's unique, given that factoid.) He had retired and was working in pr, along with her brother. IIRC, the episode was essentially bought and paid for as Bali travel marketing. JMHO, from my memory of what they'd posted on social media ... tptb produced a little drama on that episode, right?

That was probably me, Ms. Tree. When you think about it from the production company's perspective, they're not concerned with touring houses. The participant has previously purchased the home and closed escrow. Their job is to produce the best, most dramatic reality show, possible. In fact, they say the production company gets a laugh each time a prospective HH participant calls their offices and asks if they'll help them purchase a home! They technically wouldn't be considered "re-shoots" but my understanding is what takes up the time is they must shoot every scene from each and every angle. They don't return at a later date for the final postscript scene (e.g. "two months later") or to shoot B-roll, correcting any previous errors, so they must capture enough footage for the post-production team of editors, producers, etc. to put each episode together. The schedule is apparently 1 day per house, 1 day for the introduction and final scenes plus 1 additional day for the location scenes around town so 5 - 10 hour days. Within that schedule and those procedures, my understanding is when they're shooting each scene from the different angles, the participants / "house hunters" must recite the same spiel, i.e. "lines" from each and every angle. Could be difficult for many non-actors or anyone, for that matter, within a long day. Interesting, IMHO, to consider how seamless each episode appears. When they complete the filming process, they're not close to completing an episode. The editing and post-production process is an additional, extensive set of procedures. Someone must review all those many hours of footage and meld together 22 minutes of cohesive television. Don't know how many hours each episode requires during the post-production process but when I've checked, the filming dates and air dates typically differ by approximately 6 months. Always interesting, IMHO, to learn how the sausage comes together!

Speculating (again) - perhaps they kept their lake home and that was her parents' home ??? Otherwise, why - just, why? You never know, lol! IIRC, they did say she'd grown up in the area.

Ugh - couldn't stand the "smarty pants" look on her face after her dump truck maneuver. Matt needed to wipe it off.

WRT his stuff, it appeared he could afford it. They purchased the home with major upkeep and maintenance expenses. (The complaints were the episode's red herring, IMHO.) So, that's his problem, i.e. the storage, etc. Ridiculous but whatever ... Speculating here but the lake home appeared to be a vacation home - or could be used as one. Have to wonder if they retained it. WRT the precious urinal, tptb have each and every guy, IIRC, make those same, stupid urinal comments each and every time a urinal appears in a home! Just sayin' ...

I feel the same way. Glad she decided to hook up with Cruz, a nice guy. If she eventually goes after Severide - no, just no ...

The participant's stipend was $250 per person fairly recently. Haven't heard about any changes - they receive numerous applications these days. Not enough IMHO for the 50 hours (5 long 10 hour days) filming to score that 15 minutes of fame.

Don't know if I previously posted about it above, DownTheShore, but did consider the basement for an additional bathroom and rejected that idea. Their main living and entertaining area is the main floor so IMHO, that's where a powder room s/b located. Besides the physical needs of both their existing family and guests, it's the logical place WRT resale. And, as mentioned previously, I doubt they'll own this home for a total of 5 years. The designer destroyed that dining room, space that I would have set up as a family room, b/c he wanted to tap into the existing kitchen plumbing. I get it but determined that they could have carved the powder room out underneath the center stairs and the two upper bathrooms. Yes, it would have cost them a few more $$$ but they'd retain that living space, valuable RE in a row home. Next, very importantly, they should complete a minor renovation of the 2nd bathroom, upstairs. If they complete that and can make another change before they move, assuming they have sufficient s.f., I believe they'd maximize value by converting the man cave into an additional bedroom / 2nd master, including a full bath and closet. They can consult with their (eventual) listing realtor but that would give them the option of either staging the space as a bonus room / family room / man cave or showing it as a 2nd master for professionals, e.g. roommates living downtown, close to work. Always nice to have options, IMHO. JMHO

Have heard that brass and gold are coming back and am seeing designers using them. I'm sure many home centers, contractors and designers, etc. are pretty frustrated with how long certain things have stuck, recently. (Granite and stainless steel, anyone?? lol !!) They have to do something to drive sales, right?

That house had charm and character but looked too much like a guys' rental, IMHO! Have a feeling that I have a pretty good guess WRT the question of why they all lived there together, as follows: The NYC guy (Craig, IIRC) posted on social media. Incidentally, different topic, but he mentioned that his beach house desire was merely faux drama and that tptb required him to repeat that desire each and every scene for the sole purpose of creating conflict where none existed. Anyhow, he works at a smaller competitor of my international consulting firm. I've done 100% travel. The NYC guy said he was starting a 2 year Sydney stint. One of the guys mentioned he'd already lived there for 1-1/2 years. Based on their approximate ages and my guesses of their positions, I'd estimate they probably have at least 1or 2 travelling (within the Sydney area) most of the time. So, someone probably rented that crash pad several years ago. Whoever cycles in and out of that particular office, assuming they're single, during their 2 year posts uses it, given the convenient location, close to downtown and the office. They most likely maintain a fairly constant, revolving door of colleagues. (That is, constant but revolving, lol!) With 4 guys at any given time, it's probably easy to at least find one good friend out of each new group, if not more. And, whenever necessary, they each have a separate space and at least a little privacy. Plus, they don't need to worry about a fixed, finite lease, and furnishings, etc. Funny that the professional probably neglected to read the fine print from the non-disclosure agreement before he let the faux beach drama slip out, hahahahaha ... JMHO and YMMV but have seen this type of arrangement work well for single ex-pats.

Thanks for posting the schedule, DownTheShore. (Meant to do that, earlier, but was in a rush over at the HGTV website.) I see it's replacing HHR b/c S4 was recently completed. Tells me how my dvr missed it. Mine's set to record by show instead of time slot. I meant to say "thread" - will edit. Thanks, Bastet. Yes, it's fine when they're weekly until tptb begin airing rerun marathons at all hours of the night and day. They're already, very quickly, up to 4 entire seasons of HHR. To keep it clean and segregated from the others, I'd rather separate it into a new thread, from the get-go. JMHO

I believe I remember the episode they're referring to and yes, it's a rerun. laredhead, do you mean when did it originally air or when did it air this week? You probably know this but new episodes (U.S. version) only air between 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. If your dvr's set up for new episodes only, it wouldn't have recorded it this week. Hope that helps. ETA: According to the HGTV website, it aired Friday night at 11 p.m. so yes, that was definitely a rerun.

That house so looked like a guys' rental home. Guys barely see any dust or dirt - let alone get excited about it, IMHO. They should have been making enough money so hopefully at least one of them had a cleaning person come in occasionally and they split the cost.

No worries, DownTheShore. You're welcome, any time.

There's nothing new under the sun in fashion, IMHO. Everything gets reworked or reimagined. That said, this particular style does not include shorts. It was shown on the runways and then a designer version was recently worn by the Duchess of Cambridge. So, this latest version may be relatively new. Not a DWTS viewer so don't know when Ms. Lake appeared. That said, ballroom dance frequently uses period costumes so it may not have been current fashion, at that particular time. JMHO I hope Erin received an allowance to cover her costs.

Agree, izabella. It's done often and that, quite frankly, makes me wonder why someone hadn't already done it. The answer might be very simple - the other condo owners / homeowners' association (HOA). That type of change would probably require HOA approval. Unfortunately, although I agree with you that the 20's buildings are typically structurally solid, the other homeowners won't simply make that assumption. In a larger association, a design committee might be involved. For her smaller building, it'd probably require each of the other homeowners to sign off. I suspect they'd require a structural engineer's report. It's all easily doable but that might double the cost of installing a stackable unit. Another possible cost might be a slight increase in her annual insurance premiums. The add'l cost(s) is/are my guess as to why the homeowners continue to use the basement laundry.

Thanks for the info, laredhead. Checked the HGTV website and sure enough, as I speculated previously, this is a new series, House Hunters International Renovation. So that's why my dvr didn't pick it up and others may be missing out. Has anyone requested another forum? I noticed add'l episodes on HGTV's schedule.

Johannesburg? Has HHR done any international episodes? I may have heard about a new series, similar to HHI, but never heard any airdates. Do you have a season and episode number, laredhead?

Response to shallow note (!): Duchess Catherine (England) wore a similar cutout style in the last couple of weeks so Lindsay's stylin with the best of them. Many people called the Duchess' long, blue cutout gown a "mullet dress". An international background check might make sense for anyone dealing in diamonds. OTOH, I didn't understand why Antonio's situation was so dire b/c he obviously wasn't involved.

Her ultimate choice was obviously going to be Lincoln Square so that told me the realtor probably had a decoy home, approved for filming, available in Ravenswood so they worked that into the storyline. The sisters came across as good natured, sibling ribbing, to me. --------------------------- Agree with everyone WRT the SD wife. When they display that type of personality throughout an episode, I assume they're showing us their true colors! No need for the production team to manufacture conflict!

For the Federal Hill row house, DownTheShore? IIRC (from viewing the initial house tour), the basement had a family room / additional living area that the husband planned to use as a man cave. So no additional bathroom and like the bedrooms, it didn't appear to need any renovation. I don't remember the couple ever contemplating or planning any updates to it in the future, either.

NBD but IIRC the other truck unit, the one I'd previously mentioned, was #70. Good idea to add a few police officers. Boden was in charge of the scene so perhaps he needed to call for add'l fd and pd assistance. When he flipped the orange, I assumed Casey meant all of Chicago plus Milwaukee! That was my interpretation of that line.

They called 2 truck units - had 2 aerials up, IIRC. I agree, however, seems as if that'd be 4 or 5 to evacuate all the surrounding buildings. And only 1 squad? I don't know - perhaps 2 wouldn't be necessary but they did show other personnel performing minor rescues. Granted, during a major incident, they all need to step up but ??? Guess tptb didn't care to bring in more extras! That was my fave line, too, "Et tu Brette"!

Thought they told us during their final scene. She lost her sister - had the large tattoo ("Kathleen") on her side. So that explains their bond. Not sure that's enough to sustain either a ltr or marriage, however. I know it's difficult to be the spouse of anyone involved in emergency services. That said, most prospective spouses use the courtship period to figure out their own coping mechanism. Didn't surprise me when Severide mentioned to her that no other spouses were on scene. Plus, she doesn't appear to have any other activities, e.g. work, to occupy her time. Thought she was from another city - didn't she mention that in Vegas? Feels as if tptb expect the viewers to suspend disbelief for the sake of drama that this woman immediately pulled up stakes to follow Severide?? Although she did ask Kelly to call in sick to check out a burger joint on Rush so perhaps she's from Chicago. Yeah, that would have gone over well when they ran into someone they knew or Casey talked, lol. I agree that there's definitely something missing - Severide doesn't know enough about this woman. But, we all knew that immediately when the character arrived on the scene and Kelly held up his ringed finger in Boden's office (last episode). We'll see if she makes it to 6 weeks so Casey wins the pool!

Agree, ChelseaNH - many, if not most homeowners don't technically "need" a home office. That said, it's not about their "needs" but their "wants" or desires. If a prospective homeowner expresses a want / desire for a dedicated home office to their realtor, then the realtor, as a sales person, should respond appropriately and attempt to satisfy that want/desire, within any other constraints or limitations expressed by their client, e.g. budget. OTOH, if a dedicated home office wasn't included on the client's wish list, then a realtor's simply wasting everyone's time if/when they address it during the house hunt. JMHO