letusprocrastinate

Quoting this (see pages 229-230 for those who want to look at the discussion) so I can link this article from the Forum newspaper of Fargo-Moorhead. A few things of note: The husband applied for HHI "on a whim". The place they chose is about the same distance to St. Andrews as Fargo is to Grand Forks, ND, which is home to University of North Dakota. So they're 70-odd miles away from their daughter when they're in Scotland but the drive isn't that long if they come visit, and it would be what they'd be doing distance-wise if she was at UND. Also, they split their time between Scotland and Fargo, where they have an apartment downtown and still have active law practices. But they'll be in Scotland for American Thanksgiving. https://www.inforum.com/news/fargo/fargo-couple-totally-restructures-life-to-follow-daughter-to-scotland

It's all freight rail. Amtrak does go through Minnesota but the route is north of Alexandria.

If you're talking like the basement House #2 had, no. The new build is a split level and the lowest of the 3 levels, where some of the bedrooms are located, is partially underground. If you watch the drive to House #3 and when they look through the windows to the backyard area you'll see a bunch of houses in the same style.

DC also does the alphabetical thing on the east-west streets, but then there are the diagonal state-named streets and the quadrants. Knowing the quadrant is important; for example 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue SE puts you next to the Anacostia River and near a McDonalds vs. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW which is the location of a certain famous building. House #2 was 4 blocks east and a bit north of the intersection you mention. The whole Fargo/West Fargo thing quite something. Besides the street naming issues, one part of Fargo (including the area immediately to the east of House #2) belongs to West Fargo Public Schools and it's all because of the West Acres shopping mall; at the time it was built in the early 70s there wasn't much, if anything, around there and Fargo refused to pay for the infrastructure that was needed (water, sewer, etc) for the area so the much-smaller municipality of West Fargo stepped up and paid for it. Ergo, the mall and the area around it are physically located in Fargo but for property tax and school purposes are in West Fargo. Fargo even went to court years later to try to get those sweet, sweet tax dollars to come their way but was told too bad, so sad, you should have ponied up the infrastructure money back then.

Fargo episode. I'm a bit familiar with the Fargo-Moorhead area so watched it with interest. First observation: This certainly wasn't filmed recently (it was last fall). House #1: I know this show is pre-determined but it was easy to tell from their facial expressions that it was a no-go. The voiceover said, "Close to downtown in an area busier than they'd like" but their faces were screaming, "No, no, no!" and it for sure wasn't due to that rather flimsy voice-over excuse. The house obviously stands out from the rest of the neighborhood; it's either one heckuva flip or a tear-down and rebuild. Her: "The location of the house isn't my favorite". No kidding. House #2: West Fargo, but it's West Fargo just by 1 block. In that area of town the north-south border between Fargo and West Fargo runs along a street which is 22nd on the Fargo side and 47 1/2 on the West Fargo side, so it's easy to tell you've gone from one to the other. Once again, their driving-up-to-the-house enthusiasm is rather muted. Just like House #1 there's a big backyard, although they'd need to use part of it to expand the single-car garage. There's baseboard heating. Even if only half of their "wants" were true there would be a lot of renovating going on to get the house to that point, especially the garage thing since they have 2 cars and several motorcycles and there are only 2 seasons (winter and construction). House #3: As mentioned by @CrazyInAlabama, it's a model house in "nearby" (right across the river!) Moorhead, MN, but they could get the custom build on the south end of Fargo, where there is a lot of new construction going on. Hemming and hawing about waiting for a new build to be finished and cost of customizing (ie. upgrading to a 3-car garage instead of the 2-car included in the base price). He notes the quartz countertops in the kitchen; at the start of the show he mentioned quartz countertops as something he'd like to have. In segment showing them in the new construction house, I liked the olive green cabinets in the kitchen. They also upgraded the flooring and tacked on that much-desired 3rd garage.

You got them all: dried ancho chilies (seeds and stems taken out), coconut, lime zest, and sugar. Pinch of salt at the end. BTW, that episode (S7, E11) is being rerun next Monday morning, February 13.

I don't know if ATK still does The Test Cook series, but 5 episodes covered the development of its Cuban sandwich recipe. The link below is for all of them together, but if you search for "America's Test Kitchen Cuban sandwich" you can also find the 5 episodes individually.

"Each entrée serves 2–4". Or 1 teenage boy until he eats the next entree sometime between immediately and 5 hours later.

I read your post before seeing the episode, so I figured it had to be in a gentrifying area or way out in the suburbs (or both) to get something not sky-high. Since it was a "DC or suburbs" episode the first place was a condo in Old Town Alexandria. It looked very much to be in North Old Town, which has had a ton of new construction in the past decade and is considered the gentrifying part of Old Town (in random facts for those not familiar with Alexandria, one can tell where the school boundary is in Old Town based on the real estate prices, because they're noticeably higher on the south side of the boundary). No amenities. 1 bed/1 bath, 640 sq ft, $410,000/$330 monthly HOA. Hopefully it has parking included otherwise he'll be in for some on-street parking fun. He hates that the building doesn't have any historical features (well, it is new construction that looks like a whole bunch of the other new construction going up around there). It's 110 sq ft less than his current place. #2 is in Mount Vernon Triangle, which is in downtown DC and north of the sports arena. It's a house built in 1887 that has been converted into condos and is surrounded by new construction office and residential, so it sticks out a bit. Close to work and a park where people walk their dogs, so good for his dog-walking needs. 1 bed/1 bath, 579 sq ft, $450,000, $230/mo HOA because, once again, no amenities. Exposed brick in addition to the modern kitchen and bathroom (I don't know if I'd want exposed brick in my bathroom). Layout is a bit weird, IMO. Lots of talk about downsizing to make everything fit. Even though it's described as a quieter street I hope the windows are good because there will be plenty of traffic and siren noise. #3 looks like more of your standard "suburban" location. If it's in City of Alexandria (not the part of Fairfax County called Alexandria) that house will be somewhere west of Old Town. They call it a townhouse, I'd call it a duplex since it's a 2-story attached to another 2-story. Built in 1951 (cue the "not historic enough"), 2 bed/1 bath, a bit over 1100 sq ft "so it's pretty big". Kitchen has a dog door, and there's a fenced-in backyard with a deck. #1 is the one, $410,000 listed, got it for $415,000. No, dude, it is not "far out" from the city. Sure, if he's driving or taking the subway to work then it may feel like he's coming from Siberia if traffic is bad or Metro is screwed up that day, and I know they play up the "so far away" for dramatic purposes, but that part of Alexandria was originally part of the District of Columbia and helped give DC its original diamond shape (it was given back to Virginia in 1841, if I recall the year correctly).

I'm wondering if it was because of her schedule, which for the most part won't be your typical 9 to 5. For example, "Team Bus to (Name of School) leaves at 6 a.m." would incentivize me to want to live as close by as I could.

Alas, Love It or List It doesn't film in the Detroit area.

I had the same thought. Sure, it may stand out from the rest of the immediate neighborhood, but it wouldn't in many places elsewhere in Florida. If they don't like the green accent, that can be changed Although I had the thought that Alison Victoria and her black paint should be allowed nowhere near it. As for the bathroom, plenty of people have this same type of situation, although there may not be a church 50 feet away. When I first saw the rock house I wondered if it is this season's version of the house in California in season #1, which had so much going on inside that $150,000 wouldn't have made a dent. I agree. Some things are structural and would take a lot of time, effort, and/or $$$, while there are others which fall under, "You could do something about this, but just haven't."

The first half hour of season #2's premiere is in the Mountain West (two houses in CO and one in MT). Whoever is doing the graphics needs a dictionary and a map. I caught two big typos: chords instead of cords when referring to the kind that get plugged into walls to provide electricity; and Kalispel, Montana, which is the location of House #3. It's Kalispell.

Yes. Also, provided you have the floor space, there are dishwashers on wheels (I know a few people who own them, and I've used them in the past). The electrical cord goes into a normal outlet, the water hose gets connected to the kitchen faucet, and the top of the dishwasher can be used as extra counter space.

If you're a U.S. citizen living abroad, you're required to file a tax return every year and it has to include income generated in the other country or countries in which you reside. If your income and asset situation is as such that you'd just be filing a return to show the government you're still alive and kicking, or if you're a citizen who has never resided in the United States and spends 24/7, 365 living elsewhere, you're still supposed to do it. But "required" doesn't mean that everyone does it (goodness, no), so a number of years back Congress passed FACTA, which means the government, especially the IRS, is paying more attention to Americans living abroad. In particular, they are looking for those people who may be using that status as a means to keep significant amounts of income, assets, etc away from the U.S. taxman. They can also use this to keep an eye on dual citizens who may live in the States but use the citizenship of the other country to have bank accounts, etc in that country. So there is a market for ex-pats needing accounting and tax-related assistance, and if she's on the European side of the pond it's easier for French and other European clients and anyone else in Europe she needs to contact on behalf of her clients to work with her since they're not dealing with the time zone difference with California. BTW, I did see that episode and I also felt bad for the teenagers. I bet they'll be spending as much time as possible away from the flat. Another quick thing: Think of all the business-related expenses she can deduct on her own taxes.