House Hunters International - General Discussion

[DownTheShore]

Those would require some ingenuity, I agree. My remarks were about those HHs who see a shower stall with no rod or curtain and make some comment about never showering like that before.

Those bathrooms with no defined shower area, I think that I'd velcro a shower curtain up on the ceiling. It probably then wouldn't be long enogh to reach the floor, but at least it would cut down on the water spray.

If you replaced the bathroom carpeting with the same type and color that was initially there, you'd have actually improved the rental.

My walls are supposed to be white but we painted them other colors. My landlord is required to paint the apt if needed. Since they've never painted it since I've lived here, it's way overdue. Whenever I'm finally ready to move, I'm going to ask them to paint the apt and they can paint it back to whatever color they want. I didn't use dark colors so one coat will cover my paint.

[proserpina65]

Those would require some ingenuity, I agree. My remarks were about those HHs who see a shower stall with no rod or curtain and make some comment about never showering like that before.

 

Yeah, I realized we were kind of talking at cross-purposes.  Those people bug me too.  Go to the local equivalent of Home Depot or IKEA and buy an extension rod, you bobos!

[proserpina65]

I don't know if it was a new episode or not, but I just saw one with a couple moving from Georgia to Milton Keynes, England.  They were supposedly downsizing, and it was going to be just the two of them most of the time, but apparently they're expecting the entire state of Georgia to come visiting at the same time because they (and by they, I mean she) needed at least 4 bedrooms and just had to have an equal number of bathrooms.  The last house they were shown was really nice and would've been the one I chose, but they went for the big character-less house out of town because they needed the space.  For the two of them. Ugh.

[AlleC17]

I didn't get the Milton Keynes couple either, although the large place had a great outdoor space.  While I loved the 3rd house, it was right on a busy street, which I wouldn't have enjoyed myself.  the 2nd one was pretty awesome though.   The one they chose had 6 bedrooms!  Why would she think she needed that many?  lol

Edited February 5, 2016 by AlleC17

[TwirlyGirly]

I agree, proserpina65.

 

I don't recall them mentioning how many kids they have, but they did say they're all adults. Which means they all are either in school, or have jobs, so the likelihood of ALL of them being able to visit at the same time is slim. Except, perhaps, for Christmas - if they are able to coordinate it. And even if they are able to work that out, you're probably only looking at a week, max, when they'd all be together. To go over budget just so that the kids can all have their own rooms when visiting one week out of an entire year seems ridiculous to me.

 

Heck, when my parents bought the house I grew up in, I was four and my brother was 19 and in college. They bought a 3-bedroom house; one bedroom for my parents, one bedroom each for my older sister and I. When my brother came home for the occasional weekend and school vacations, he slept on the convertible sofa in the playroom.

 

When both my brother and sister married, usually the only time both of them came home with their spouses and spent the night was for Christmas. I remember my brother and his wife took the convertible sofa (it was in two sections, each opening into a twin-size bed), my sister slept in her old room, and her husband took the living room sofa (which was just a sofa - it did not turn into a bed). It never occurred to my parents to even replace the twin bed in my sister's old room with a larger bed, just for the few nights a year it might be used by a couple.

 

Somehow, we all survived those arrangements. Generally it was only for two or three nights, and while I am sure both couples would have preferred having their own rooms and the ability to sleep in the same bed together, our house simply couldn't accommodate those preferences. Yet, it was cheaper than either couple paying for a hotel, so nobody complained.

Edited February 5, 2016 by TwirlyGirly

[proserpina65]

I didn't get the Milton Keynes couple either, although the large place had a great outdoor space.  While I loved the 3rd house, it was right on a busy street, which I wouldn't have enjoyed myself.  the 2nd one was pretty awesome though.   The one they chose had 6 bedrooms!  Why would she think she needed that many?  lol

I wasn't thrilled about the street, but given the types of windows those houses had, you probably couldn't hear street noise in the house.  I liked the look of the 2nd house on the outside, less thrilled with the inside although some of that was the decorating.  Still way better than the house they chose, and six bedrooms is just nuts.

[TwirlyGirly]

Does anyone remember the episode from awhile back with the older, single woman moving to France? One of the places she was shown had either a ladder or very narrow spiral staircase that led to a lower level with an underground grotto.

 

I'm trying to find that episode online (or pictures of the grotto) to show someone and I'm not having any luck. Does anyone remember anything more about that episode that will help me to find it?

[magemaud]

My first thought when I heard she wanted all those bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms was when the family wasn't visiting, they would be listed on Airbnb. 

[izabella]

Does anyone remember the episode from awhile back with the older, single woman moving to France? One of the places she was shown had either a ladder or very narrow spiral staircase that led to a lower level with an underground grotto.

 

I'm trying to find that episode online (or pictures of the grotto) to show someone and I'm not having any luck. Does anyone remember anything more about that episode that will help me to find it?

 

Yes, I remember the lady who put her daughter in the dungeon bedroom.  I thought she was a screen writer or something.  I can't remember anything else, but if you search on this thread and "dungeon," you might be able to get some info from the posts on that episode. 

[TwirlyGirly]

izabella, on 05 Feb 2016 - 3:20 PM, said:izabella, on 05 Feb 2016 - 3:20 PM, said:

Yes, I remember the lady who put her daughter in the dungeon bedroom.  I thought she was a screen writer or something.  I can't remember anything else, but if you search on this thread and "dungeon," you might be able to get some info from the posts on that episode. 

 

From what I remember (not that my memory is always right), it was a single woman, not mother and daughter. I don't remember a dungeon at all. I remember the woman who went along to look at places with the house hunter was concerned about her getting up and down the narrow, steep, ladder or spiral stairs leading down to the grotto because of the house hunter's age. There was water in the grotto, and some interesting lighting casting shadows on the rock. I remember thinking how out of place the grotto seemed, because the rest of the place was a completely different style. But it was cool nevertheless.

 

I did search trying "dungeon" and also "grotto" and nothing came up except our posts.....

Edited February 5, 2016 by TwirlyGirly

[izabella]

Sorry - maybe some of the other regulars will come along with better memories than mine!  I swear there was a lady who moved to France and put her daughter in a dungeon bedroom, lol.

[chessiegal]

Sorry - maybe some of the other regulars will come along with better memories than mine!  I swear there was a lady who moved to France and put her daughter in a dungeon bedroom, lol.

You are definitely correct. I remember it.

[Mondrianyone]

Does anyone remember the episode from awhile back with the older, single woman moving to France? One of the places she was shown had either a ladder or very narrow spiral staircase that led to a lower level with an underground grotto.

 

I'm trying to find that episode online (or pictures of the grotto) to show someone and I'm not having any luck. Does anyone remember anything more about that episode that will help me to find it?

 

I think that the one with the grotto was in Italy, not France (although I do also remember the one in France where that mother put her daughter in the windowless dungeon room).  The woman in Italy was a British costume designer who was retiring from her Hollywood career to a town called Ostuni in southern Italy.  I just tried Googling it for you to see if the episode is watchable online, but I couldn't find anything.  I didn't look for pictures of the grotto, though, so maybe you'll have some luck finding those.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Mondrianyone

[magemaud]

I definitely remember the France one. I believe the mother was a screenwriter or had something to do with Hollywood. I think she was blonde and wealthy. Maybe it was a French realtor Adrian episode. My attempts to search are also turning up nothing. Maybe it was so long ago that the episode was discussed on TWOP? 

[Mondrianyone]

Here's a transcript of the grotto episode, for lack of a video:  http://tv.ark.com/transcript/house_hunters_international-%28ostuni_vista,_bobbie%29/6324/HGTVP/Monday_July_06_2015/838280/ But it does prove there was a grotto!  The HH's name was Bobbie Read, and you can look at her credits on IMDb.

 

The dungeon mom in Paris is Katherine Fugate, and she was a screenwriter.  Also very Googlable.  You can watch her episode on YouTube for $1.99, but once was enough for me.  ;o)

 

Obviously I'm desperately trying to avoid work.

[aguabella]

IIRC, the blonde, French screenwriter's episode is older.  She found a nice pad but I recall the "dungeon" as a basement, i.e. not a grotto.  IIRC, her place was a carriage house.

 

The Ostuni episode is more recent.  The British costume designer, retired from LA, had an adult daughter who functioned as her buying buddy but resided in England.

 

ETA - Thanks for the links and info, Mondrianyone.  We were posting simultaneously.  Nice to know that my memory served me correctly at least WRT the info you located.  (And, good luck with that work avoidance strategy.  I know exactly what you mean, lol!)

Edited February 5, 2016 by aguabella

[Homily]

Just watching the one with the military couple relocating to Guam.  If the needs of their dog was mentioned once it was mentioned 1000 times.  I swear I've never seen anyone on these shows be as concerned for the needs of a child.  And the contrived "oh I need a huge house for all the visitors who are coming" as opposed to "I just want a small condo and let's not spend too much".   They really didn't have their hearts in their big dramatic difference though and it was obvious from the minute the saw it which one they were going to choose.

Edited February 6, 2016 by Homily

[DownTheShore]

I've always wondered how many of their friends and relatives made that trek to Guam.

--------

That bbq grill he bought [Milton Keynes episode) costs about a thousand dollars, so I guess her having a car to drive during the day probably wasn't going to be an issue for them.

I would have taken the city house, though.

[Peanut]

According to friends who have been stationed on Guam, NO ONE comes to visit you.  They wait until you are stationed somewhere more cool, like Korea or England. 

 

Speaking of England, there was an episode on recently about a young couple from Texas (maybe?) relocating to London and they were shocked that their budget barely got them more than a studio.  They wound up in Notting Hill, which is cool but there was a second flat with a kind of interesting outdoor space that I would've chosen, because outdoor space in London?  Awesome. 

Edited February 6, 2016 by Peanut

[DownTheShore]

I'd always go with the outdoors space choice.

That's what always bemuses me about the London episodes - some of those house hunters are so adamant that they absolutely MUST live in a particular neighborhood, just for the cachet of that particular neighborhood (in their minds). Yet there are other areas just as nice or as vibrant or even more so, where they can get a better deal but they seem to have tunnel vision. It like someone Stateside told them, "You must get a place in X" and they accept it as gospel.

The Paris ones are like that too: ”The Marais! The Marais! "

[DownTheShore]

Oregon family to New Zealand:

Wife was annoying; she's afraid of tsunamis, spiders, open flames on the gas stove. Idiot woman - she'd be in more danger living in the center city of Wellington from earthquake damage than from a tsunami by the water.

[magemaud]

I was amazed how many times the husband said "Kiwi adventure" in a 23 minute episode! 

[Mittengirl]

What is it with all of these grown women who are so eager to admit all of these fears? Like all of ones who are terrified by basements? I am not a fan of spiders, but they don't scare me. I wouldn't want to be in a fire or tsunami, but I don't think I would pass on a great house because of a concern about a rare event. (Luckily for me, Lake Michigan has had very few tsunamis in its history.)

[DownTheShore]

"How will five of us ever share one bathroom???" Funny how when that's your only option, you make it work.

And what was with the tennant having to seal the windows in that house themselves? Wouldn't that be a housing violation in a rental property - not to mention a potential hazard and lawsuit if the window should blow in during a storm?

[MsTree]

Apparently most of the HHI locations don't have strict building codes, so I doubt sealing windows is a prerequisite to renting there. Haven't we seen some HHI shows where there are no windows in "bedrooms"?  And of course, there are always those "suicide showers" ;-)

[DownTheShore]

I'd think, though, that New Zealand would have them, especially after the earthquakes.

[proserpina65]

God, I hated Canada-to-Tortola woman.  Of course she had to have the over-budget apartment with all the brand new appliances, despite the fact that her husband was worried about the budget and was the sole wage earner.  If she'd expressed it as being concerned about being too far from town with two small children and only one car, she'd have been sympathetic, but no, it was all about the affordable 3 bedroom place having dated appliances.  Ugh.  Made me start hoping that they'd break up and she'd move back to Toronto.

[Tara1665]

If you are moving to a new country, isn't it already an adventure? Why must the house be a Kiwi adventure too? Your living there! It's already an adventure. How many more times do I say adventure before I break his record?

[CherryAmes]

I liked the episode I saw yesterday with the couple relocating from South Africa to Switzerland.  Those prices for rentals though!!  Wow.  It could not have been more obvious that they had set up the phoney tension between her wanting to live in Zurich and him wanting to live near his job.  No way did I buy that she was expecting him to commute by train for an hour each way just so she could be in a big city.  If they want us to buy into the "he wants but she wants" story they really need to work a little harder to find something believable.

[DownTheShore]

Did they ever mention what he did that he was able to pack up his family and spend a year in NZ?

[Pickles]

I looked him up. He is a surgeon.

[MissT]

I looked him up. He is a surgeon.

Wait -- What?    He was a surgeon and he could only afford $1,800 a month????   Not for anything, but I'm no surgeon and my mortgage on my house is $1,500.  I do watch what I spend and I'm still able to have a little extra money for savings, etc. 

 

He sounds like a cheap-a$$.   

Edited February 9, 2016 by MissT

[CherryAmes]

Could he still have a  house back in the US that he's paying for? I know a lot of expats who were in that situation.

[Kohola3]

He may not be able to function as a physician in NZ.  You can't just waltz into a country and set up shop.  There are a lot of regulations and licensure issues that have to be overcome.

[SmithW6079]

Add me to the disbelievers of the Wellington family. I grew up in a household of six people and one bathroom. Little did I realize that puts me on par with the pioneers who braved Indians, starvation, and other dangers to settle the West.

Well, at least that annoying woman has to climb a hike a huge set of steps every day just so she doesn't have to share a bathroom.

[chessiegal]

I have a stepdaughter who has 6 children under 9 (she started with twins) and they live in a 2 bedroom 1 bath rental in New Orleans. I'm surprised every time I hear HH on any version complain about the # of bedrooms, because our kids are happy as can be.

[laredhead]

Just watched the Wellington episode, and while the wife said she thought the year abroad was good for the family, I got the distinct impression that she just wanted a change of scenery and not a change in the amenities she was used to having back in Oregon.  After every objection to something she didn't like, she smiled and looked at the husband in a way that you knew she was only going along if she could have her way mostly.  I really thought they were going to rent that over budget apartment.

 

I did a little research and found this quote from a description of the medical practice with which he is affiliated.  It clarifies this was not a permanent move and that he was probably being paid for his time in New Zealand.  "Dr. Giss spent 2015 in an academic position with the Wellington New Zealand Breast Cancer and Trauma Surgery Group and is particularly excited to bring his new breast cancer care expertise to the (Coos) Bay area."

Edited February 10, 2016 by laredhead

[DownTheShore]

I concur with MissT's "cheap-a$$" label in that case.

[DownTheShore]

Family from SC to Clermont-Ferrand France:

First thought: around the area where Matthew Clermont from the book "Discovery of Witches" has his castle

Second thought: another American princess who wants to bring American suburban life with her. The husband seemed like a nice guy but it was clear that she held all the cards in that relationship.

Once again, the cry is heard throughout the land: "Mon Dieu! Comment pouvons-nous laver le bébé?"

The place they chose was the roomiest of the bunch. The third place seemed to be the best compromise choice - in town and next to a park and seemed to have the French charm in the apt layout that he wanted. That second place had crappy furniture and a poor kitchen; no way on God's earth she would have chosen that.

[biakbiak]

I knew they were going with the first house as soon as I saw the barbecue in the backyard. My mom's childhood best friend lives in Clermont-Ferrand so I have visited several times so that was fun. I liked the wife's point that they would still be living and experiencing France in the suburbs, not everyone lives in the heart of the city.

I am wondering how long they have lived there because the little girl seemed very comfortable with the neighbor dad.

Edited February 10, 2016 by biakbiak

[proserpina65]

I liked the wife's point that they would still be living and experiencing France in the suburbs, not everyone lives in the heart of the city.

 

True, but the house they chose looked exactly like it had been picked up in an American suburb and plopped down in France.  There was nothing French about it other than the location.

 

I hate people on this show who claim they want to experience another culture but cannot possibly live like the people in that other culture actually do.  "Oh no!  This house/apartment is not exactly like what I had at home!!!!" 

[SmithW6079]

Just watched the Wellington episode, and while the wife said she thought the year abroad was good for the family, I got the distinct impression that she just wanted a change of scenery and not a change in the amenities she was used to having back in Oregon.  After every objection to something she didn't like, she smiled and looked at the husband in a way that you knew she was only going along if she could have her way mostly.  I really thought they were going to rent that over budget apartment.

 

I did a little research and found this quote from a description of the medical practice with which he is affiliated.  It clarifies this was not a permanent move and that he was probably being paid for his time in New Zealand.  "Dr. Giss spent 2015 in an academic position with the Wellington New Zealand Breast Cancer and Trauma Surgery Group and is particularly excited to bring his new breast cancer care expertise to the (Coos) Bay area."

I think it's great that he got paid. If I could get paid to live in another country for a year, I'd jump at the chance.

 

I concur with MissT's "cheap-a$$" label in that case.

I don't see anything wrong with having a budget and not wanting to go over it, even if you have a source of income for your adventure.

[DownTheShore]

It's not about having a budget, it's about having what we can all tell is a low budget and then poor-mouthing about a choice that is slightly above it - when it's clear that the people involved can afford twice that amount without financial hardship and still have money leftover for their trips and things.

[biakbiak]

True, but the house they chose looked exactly like it had been picked up in an American suburb and plopped down in France.  There was nothing French about it other than the location.

 

I hate people on this show who claim they want to experience another culture but cannot possibly live like the people in that other culture actually do.  "Oh no!  This house/apartment is not exactly like what I had at home!!!!"

Lots of French people live in houses just like that one. The notion that it's all quaint houses or old classic apartments with charm is just not accurate. They were speaking French and hanging with their French neighbors which is living and experiencing French culture.

[proserpina65]

Lots of French people live in houses just like that one. The notion that it's all quaint houses or old classic apartments with charm is just not accurate. They were speaking French and hanging with their French neighbors which is living and experiencing French culture.

I guess I just visited the wrong people the times I was in France.  I didn't see any houses which looked THAT American.  Or maybe it's just that I don't watch HHI to see American-style houses and really wish they didn't use people who end up buying them in these episodes - that's what the US version is for, imo.

[TVForever]

Lots of French people live in houses just like that one. The notion that it's all quaint houses or old classic apartments with charm is just not accurate. They were speaking French and hanging with their French neighbors which is living and experiencing French culture.

 

         I find myself thinking of this with nearly every episode. "i really wanted a home with more _____ charm", is a common phrase on this show. Fill in that blank with whatever country they happen to be in. German, English, Spanish, French, etc. It's as if these folks want to come from 21st century USA and move into theme park Old Europe. I think most often about an episode in England where, bless her heart, the wife was determined that they have a thatched-roof cottage. Face-palmed the entire time. Because, dear, the English don't really live like that anymore. I felt the same with this episode. Except for houses that were clearly built for an expat market (and you tend to recognize this more in episodes set in developing areas), these more "mundane" places are pretty much how the middle-class in that area live. If you're like the couple in the Paris episode from a few years back with a 4 million dollar budget, then , yes, you get to look at the gorgeous classic French apartments with proximity to and wonderful views of the Eiffel Tower. But if you're a "working Joe (or Jill)" who's doing the same decently paid job that afforded you a middle class lifestyle here, you're just now doing it in a different country, yep, you're going to find that middle-class housing abroad is not all that different than it is here at home. In fact, you're probably going to find that in many countries, the overall spaces are smaller. Some stylistic differences exist, sure, but not usually enough to dismiss a place out-of -hand because it didn't have them. It's as if people would move here from abroad expecting to get a log cabin because that's what they imagine as having "American charm", and being disappointed by the offerings in most American cities and suburbs. Well, we've still got some of those around, but they exist mostly as museums. Or if anyone actually lives in one, they had enough money to completely modernize the interiors, or were way too poor to modernize the interiors. 

But then again, maybe the "disappointment" of the HHIs at not finding that house with French charm is part of the point of the show. Maybe.

[AlleC17]

I just watched the one with the family moving to Panama because the oldest daughter wants to have horses.  Soooooo...you move to Panama?  Really?  What if the middle child wants something that can be more cheaply obtained in South Africa...move again?  It was just such a random reason.  Mom and Dad can work remotely, so they could live anywhere, and there are many places in the US where you could get some land and horses fairly inexpensively.  Its not like the horses the kid ended up with were world beaters (going by what was shown).  Also, they ended up buying 2 houses, next to each other and the son gets a whole house all to himself while the two girls had to share a room.  lol I guess if they are happy...

[laredhead]

AlleC17, when the Panama episode aired it generated a lot of comments as you can imagine.  Someone later posted that they saw one (or maybe both) of the houses listed as a vacation rental property.  You can probably find the discussion upthread somewhere.  Most people had the same thoughts as you.

[AlleC17]

AlleC17, when the Panama episode aired it generated a lot of comments as you can imagine.  Someone later posted that they saw one (or maybe both) of the houses listed as a vacation rental property.  You can probably find the discussion upthread somewhere.  Most people had the same thoughts as you.

Thanks, I will look for the discussion.  I am new to all the House Hunter shows, so am way behind.  :-)

[DownTheShore]

The Amsterdam one - is that wife really going to bike ride 30 minutes to work each way every day in all kinds of weather?