Caribbean Life - General Discussion

[CherryAmes]

On 4/10/2018 at 9:25 PM, AnnieBeez said:

Don't ever watch Escape to the Country then! [Actually, I loved the show, and everyone who likes house porn should watch.] It took me forever to get used to it. 

I watch this show even though it drives me crazy.  It is realistic of course - I mean do most people really look at 3 houses and buy one of them? - but it's so maddening nonetheless when they claim they like a particular property but the voice over at the end almost always says they changed their minds upon a second viewing or whatever.  I think I did actually see one episode where they actually made an offer on one of the properties they saw.  I was in shock!

[answerphone]

Re: The couple moving from Southern California to St. John's... It was refreshing to see a married couple who respected each other and got along so nicely.❤️

[sempervivum]

I never watch these shows ('Tropical Paradise House Hunters,), but was stuck inside due to rain yesterday and caught the newest Caribbean Hunters episode. This was set on an island called 'Bonaire' and the hunters were a couple from (I think) Phoenix.

I was uninterested in the actual houses, however, I am burning with curiousity to know how a yoga instructor and a 'diet instructor(?)' can afford a $450K place. Also, both appeared to be early 50's at most.

[Tony]

Latest episode of Caribbean Life with Miami --> Dominican Republic house hunter having the worst case of upspeak for a guy I've ever heard. I couldn't make it past 10 minutes into the show. He turned every single line that came out of his mouth into a question. Considering he was doing the show solo while nearly all of these include a friend or family member, I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't many people around him that could tolerate hearing him speak.

[LittleIggy]

Just saw an Island Life episode in which young single mother who is a bartender moves to Key West with her six year old son. Her budget was $600,000. How can she afford that? Is “bartender” a euphemism for something else? ?

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Just saw an Island Life episode in which young single mother who is a bartender moves to Key West with her six year old son. Her budget was $600,000. How can she afford that? Is “bartender” a euphemism for something else? ?

Divorce settlement or trust fund,

[Diane M]

I watched an episode of a married couple from Tampa buying a home in Costa Rice.  There wasn't a single word about HOA fees.  That would be one of the first things I'd ask about when telling the realtor what I wanted.  Those fees at condos can be very expensive, so why wouldn't that be important to them?  It makes the entire episode seem very phony.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm sure 99% of the vacation, beach and international homes or condo that are purchased for investment.   The clear give away on that is when one of the buyers keeps asking about if there is a weekly rental program (longer term rentals are not as lucrative, it's mostly to avoid the Airbnb crowd), if the complex manages the rental, and how many people they can sleep.     THat's why someone who has a bunch of kids says they'll make it work, when they buy a one bedroom condo in a resort, or when they keep raving about how many people the property can hold when they're shopping for properties.     And I'm pretty sure that a lot of the foreign resort, or beach U.S. resort shoppers are actually investors.    

I wondered about the number of people we've watched buy places in Hawaii, and how they're doing between volcanoes, and hurricanes, and flooding.    Also, a bunch of the caribbean buyers were right in the path of two major hurricanes, and from what I've heard some places are still ghost towns.     There have been a bunch in Puerto Rico too.   

Edited August 29, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[KLovestoShop]

What I get frustrated with is when the people look at multiple houses and then either don't buy anything or they choose the empty lot.  Unless they show the house they build on the lot, I don't care about the episode.  

[3 is enough]

Just saw an episode of Island Hunters that featured a couple looking for an island home in Nicaragua.  Their budget was 1 million.

Nicaragua?  Who in their right mind would think that could possibly be safe?  Do the honestly think that because they are rich white Americans they are exempt from any threats? I googled "is Nicaragua safe?", and the first hit was a warning from the State Department that gave very detailed information about how unsafe it was.  Included were warnings that reliable healthcare was not readily available, suggestions to keep a low profile and avoid displays of wealth ( and they were going to renovate and throw lots of cash around), and the suggestion to keep your passport with you at all times and have an escape plan ready, because the embassy does not have a mass exit plan in place.

I realize that the State Department warnings were designed to discourage Americans from travelling to the country, and that some people may go and have a perfectly lovely time, but to actually move there as an obviously affluent  American would, to me , be tempting fate.

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, 3 is enough said:

Who in their right mind would think that could possibly be safe?

People who are clueless about how the world works and think that throwing money around will buy them safety.  Just stupid.

[CrazyInAlabama]

People do think being American will insulate you from the ugly realities of life, which is totally stupid of them.      I think some are also actually fronts for religious or other organizations who will use the property for a missionary or religious center, or some kind of conference center.     I think some are also moving out of U.S. jurisdiction for a good reason involving extradition treaties.

A friend's old house was built by a local developer who did an OK job, but his construction quality got worse as the years went by, so his last builds were total ripoffs, and according to the indictments, was embezzling too.     He relocated to the Dominican Republic just ahead of the arrest warrant, and unfortunately for the people there, started building again, but there isn't an extradition treaty so we won't be seeing him here again, and I suspect that may be a factor with a few of the buyers who actually move to the resort areas.  

I suspect that the house hunters who all claim they can do all of their business over the internet are the most likely fakes, who are only going to rent the place and never live there.    

Edited September 1, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[CrazyInAlabama]

I bet the husband was totally embarrassed when that aired.     The one I found irritating tonight was the lady with the million dollar plus budget, I'm not sure why I found her irritating, but I did.   

My guess is they only do the Hawaii show to publicize the agency, so I'm betting some of the buyers who don't get a house are friends or relatives of the agents, and are just a chance to show the houses we could buy if we only had that much money.   

The Dominican Republic shopping was strange.   It was supposedly for the grandma to live there, and her daughter with two kids would visit sometimes, but the entire hunt seemed to be focused on what the daughter wanted.   The two bedroom where the daughter said they could put a bunch of bunk beds, and she would sleep in there with her kids was ridiculous.       I'm betting they wanted maximum sleeping space for rental,   If the grandma gets a place it won't be in a resort condo, but a smaller place for her, or she'll move somewhere else during rental season.    

Edited December 17, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama

[chessiegal]

I'm watching a new Bahamas Life, and I swear the real estate agent looks anorexic.

[snarts]

I've found that I only like the episodes where the people are actually going to live there and I delete the vacation home buyers (unless it's in an area I'm extremely interested in).  The ones I love the most are the people retiring or able to work remotely from paradise with reasonable budgets.

Edited January 1, 2019 by snarts

[oakville]

I am always surprised that the homebuyers rarely ask about property taxes or utility costs. 

[Booklady1017]

On 1/1/2019 at 7:30 PM, oakville said:

I am always surprised that the homebuyers rarely ask about property taxes or utility costs. 

Why doesn't anyone comment about these episodes? Just curious.

[AlleC17]

I didn't see a topic for Mediterranean Life, but I am loving seeing these locations.  So beautiful! 

[Booklady1017]

On 4/1/2019 at 7:52 PM, AlleC17 said:

I didn't see a topic for Mediterranean Life, but I am loving seeing these locations.  So beautiful! 

I wonder who makes the topics for this. Since it's a new show, maybe that person hasn't done it yet. 

[chessiegal]

5 minutes ago, Booklady1017 said:

I wonder who makes the topics for this. Since it's a new show, maybe that person hasn't done it yet. 

You have to request forums for shows.

[Booklady1017]

How would one do that?

[chessiegal]

There used to be a place at the top of the page where you could get to a request new show, but I'm not seeing it now. I'd contact a moderator and ask.

[chessiegal]

Found a place that says you don't need to request a forum, just go and start one with the show's title. I think Mediterranean life would go in this thread.

[Booklady1017]

On 4/3/2019 at 9:10 PM, chessiegal said:

Found a place that says you don't need to request a forum, just go and start one with the show's title. I think Mediterranean life would go in this thread.

Could we start talking about it here? 

[chessiegal]

4 minutes ago, Booklady1017 said:

Could we start talking about it here? 

Well, since the Mediterranean is not in the Caribbean, I'd say no. Plus it's a different show.

Edited April 8, 2019 by chessiegal

[chessiegal]

I created a Mediterranean Life forum.

[Booklady1017]

43 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I created a Mediterranean Life forum.

I emailed a forum monitor on here but you beat me to it. I'll check it out. Thanks.

[Neurochick]

On 8/11/2018 at 5:03 PM, LittleIggy said:

Just saw an Island Life episode in which young single mother who is a bartender moves to Key West with her six year old son. Her budget was $600,000. How can she afford that? Is “bartender” a euphemism for something else? ?

One of my UO's is that I get tired of this, "how can they afford...."  To me it's simple.  Family money.  I used to have a boss and she and her husband bought a house in the suburbs, in the 1960's.  They sold it in the late 1980's and the value had doubled or tripled.  They bought an apartment in an expensive part of the city.  Their kids will both probably get a pretty penny from their estate, and that's one way some of these folks can afford homes like that.

[alexvillage]

On 4/10/2018 at 12:54 PM, KLovestoShop said:

I find it annoying that so many of these beach, islands and whatever shows wind up with the Hunters turning down every option they've been shown and at the end you see the couple saying things like "We haven't found our dream place yet".  Why even tape these people if they can't find a property?  Even during the updates at the end, they still didn't find anything.  

One possibility is that after they chose the house and contacted the show, they visited the other places to pretend they were actually choosing the house and then the deal fell through. Maybe they just want to be on TV, like the people who know they will choose a lot and build the house, then they call the show to pretend they are looking for something. They get their 15 minutes, HGTV gets the episode.

[Islandman]

Killing time during this covid19 lockdown and can not even fly to the place I bought in the carribean. Hgtv filmed an episode on the buy for caribbean life. Any questions let me Know!

[Tony]

The gay couple in St. Maarten couldn't be any more of the annoying bitchy gay stereotype even if they tried. Couldn't stand them dismissing most of the properties because they were too small for entertaining (which they weren't). Unless St. Maarten is filled with pudgy middle-aged whiny gay men, I doubt they're going to have issues with accommodating their gigantic house parties.

That second property with the glass mezzanine is gorgeous.

[TVForever]

On 3/30/2020 at 7:24 PM, Islandman said:

Killing time during this covid19 lockdown and can not even fly to the place I bought in the carribean. Hgtv filmed an episode on the buy for caribbean life. Any questions let me Know!

Congrats!(on the purchase and episode, I mean).

Which episode is it? I'd love to check it out! My husband dreams of moving us there someday; I'm still in the "I'm happy just to vacation there" frame of mind, but I'm open to being convinced!

😏

[Islandman]

The eps are produced by a new york company called left/right productions and you sign off pages and pages of legalize to not discuss the process in any negative light pre or post the release of your ep. So ill mention the ep and keep it generic or do not and spill the beans on how it works behind the scenes. Rather fascinating...

[chessiegal]

On 4/1/2020 at 7:57 PM, Islandman said:

The eps are produced by a new york company called left/right productions and you sign off pages and pages of legalize to not discuss the process in any negative light pre or post the release of your ep. So ill mention the ep and keep it generic or do not and spill the beans on how it works behind the scenes. Rather fascinating...

Has your episode aired yet?

[Tony]

Dominican Republic lesbian couple with the Valley girls' voice who speaks like 18 year old bimbos. Sorry ladies, you're in your late 30's. It's not cute any more.

Total nails on the chalkboard for me.

[EyeintheSky]

On 4/3/2016 at 9:10 PM, chessiegal said:

New episode tonight on US Virgin Island St. John - they screwed up on the intro, saying St. John was 1 of 4 US Virgin Islands. Wrong - there are 3, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. Fact check people.

There are 4 - you left out Water Island which is one of the 4....I realize you put this comment FOUR years ago but I figured I would respond here anyways....

[LisainCali]

I’m currently watching Caribbean Life on Hulu, Season 5, Ep. 11.  Couple from New Jersey.  

I’m ready to kill her.  He is busy analyzing the home, she repeats everything he says while talking over him!  She is like an annoying insect that buzzes around your ear and you just can’t swat it away...ugh.  

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I'm watching a new episode (at least according to my cable guide that lies to me) about some young woman who met a guy from Aruba, and she didn't even know Aruba is a real place.    So she fell in love with Aruba, wants to move there, and rent rooms or a guest house out.   

Her mother (I guess her mother) has the most bizarre skin I've seen in years.   She has hideous sun damaged skin from the neck down, and her face is totally smooth, and pale.     I guess some kind of skin peel?              

Edited August 31, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[CrazyInAlabama]

The latest episode have the same realtor (very sun damaged body from the neck down, and a smooth, very pale face), and the couple are from Texas, and have a nice budget.    They are willing to spend $1.5 or even more.    The second house looked very familiar, I bet it's one that they showed on one of the other Caribbean episodes on HH International.   I guess the realtor didn't explain that the tiny bedrooms downstairs are for the nanny.   

[ArtFossil]

St Thomas. I pre-hate anyone who says "If we have to stretch the budget to one million we'll probably have to rent it out some of the time." And I actively hate jet skis. And then the realtor doesn't know how to pronounce "cay." And those poor people in the open ceiling house when the next hurricane hits. But at least I got to see St Thomas (have visited St Croix several times but never St Thomas).

[Neurochick]

15 hours ago, ArtFossil said:

St Thomas. I pre-hate anyone who says "If we have to stretch the budget to one million we'll probably have to rent it out some of the time." And I actively hate jet skis. And then the realtor doesn't know how to pronounce "cay." And those poor people in the open ceiling house when the next hurricane hits. But at least I got to see St Thomas (have visited St Croix several times but never St Thomas).

I've been to St Thomas many times.  The first two time for an island tour, but that last few times, I was there to shop, as I was there around Christmas, always on cruises though.

[chessiegal]

I've been to St. Thomas several times, once for work (lucky me!) that also included a visit to St. Croix. Good sailing and snorkeling.

15 hours ago, ArtFossil said:

And then the realtor doesn't know how to pronounce "cay."

Did they pronounce it Kay?

[ArtFossil]

On 9/21/2020 at 12:39 PM, chessiegal said:

I've been to St. Thomas several times, once for work (lucky me!) that also included a visit to St. Croix. Good sailing and snorkeling.

Did they pronounce it Kay?

Yes. 

[stcroix]

On 9/20/2020 at 7:44 PM, ArtFossil said:

St Thomas. I pre-hate anyone who says "If we have to stretch the budget to one million we'll probably have to rent it out some of the time." And I actively hate jet skis. And then the realtor doesn't know how to pronounce "cay." And those poor people in the open ceiling house when the next hurricane hits. But at least I got to see St Thomas (have visited St Croix several times but never St Thomas).

I moved to St Croix at 16, my parents lived there several years and we all called Hotel on the Cay -- "Kay".  I cringe now when I think of how many times I spoke about it since I even rented out sailboats from the Cay for a summer, and NO ONE ever corrected me in all those years! Whyyyy?! Years later when my husband and I started vacationing there again I discovered it was really ''Key" and just cringed at my family and myself.  Oh well, we came from Texas where there were no Cays... 

 About 5 yrs ago my husband and I were staying out at Coakley Bay condos on one of the top buildings and as we were sitting out on the balcony one afternoon we noticed a bit of commotion going on in the building below us only to discover the realtor Chris Hanley and camera crew filming for Carribean Life! How exciting for us and how eye opening.  They had the couple going into the condo several times, brought out furniture to film inside without it, and had the couple say their 'lines' in several different ways before finishing.  It felt like watching a play.  I love seeing St Croix featured but they choose the strangest houses and sometimes condos to show! There are lovely homes for sale all over and for some reason they choose a very normal looking house or one you wouldn't look at twice.  I want to see inside the beauties! 

When is this show coming back on?!