House Hunters International - General Discussion

[stillhere1900]

Thank you. OSM Dad and I bought a new house two years ago. It's got a huge garden tub in the master. Which has never been used and probably never will. But it's pretty.

 

Dh and i bought a house with a huge oval tub, 11 yrs later, and it has never been used When we were first looking at the house, my first thought was 'damn! how much water would it take to fill that tub ?

[Kohola3]

For those of you who are cat owners but who won't take baths because of "butt water":

 

Yet another reason why would never own a cat!

[CherryAmes]

For those who worry about "butt water" I hope you never use hot tubs, saunas or swimming pools.  Especially public swimming pools!  Lot of stuff goes into that water that you really don't want to think about if you're squeamish about your own or your families body bits!

 

On topic - I tried to watch an episode the other way with a couple relocating to Senegal.  At first I assumed they were Mormon missionaries but then they showed them drinking booze so figured nope, that's not why they were there.  Turns out he works for the World Bank or some such and had a reason for being there -- which is more than you can say for most of the participants of HHI who end up in less than nice locations!  I found the episode unwatchable though because they still seemed, even going in there with their eyes wide open, to have such unrealistic expectations of what they wanted and a smaller budget than made sense given he was over their for his job.  I found it way to fake and producer driven.

Edited February 29, 2016 by CherryAmes

[NYGirl]

So last night's wife in England was expecting her Irvine California house to be magically transported to Islington.  She wanted open concept, ground floor so God forbid she had to carry the carriage up 3 steps, 2 bathrooms because she didn't want to share with guests.  The budget was $3000 and the husband wanted to keep it there or under because he was the only one working.  She was a self publisher of her children's books.

 

The saving grace?  Richard Blanco was the realtor.  When I saw his face I perked right up!  I love him.

[roseslg]

The woman last night was a tad ridic.  You're in England!!!!   It's like when people want an open concept in a Victorian house.   I don't think she's gonna break into the children lit market...

[proserpina65]

So last night's wife in England was expecting her Irvine California house to be magically transported to Islington.  She wanted open concept, ground floor so God forbid she had to carry the carriage up 3 steps, 2 bathrooms because she didn't want to share with guests.  The budget was $3000 and the husband wanted to keep it there or under because he was the only one working.  She was a self publisher of her children's books.

 

The saving grace?  Richard Blanco was the realtor.  When I saw his face I perked right up!  I love him.

I wanted to reach through the tv screen and stab her.  The way she was whining about the place they ended up with having steps - six bloody steps!!!  It's not like it was a fourth floor flat with no lift.  Ugh - I hate house hunters like her.  I did enjoy seeing a bit of Islington - that'd be my ideal area were I ever to move to London, although I'd probably end up with a flat even tinier than the first one they looked at.  Or, with my budget, a cardboard box in some alleyway.

Edited March 1, 2016 by proserpina65

[CherryAmes]

2 bathrooms because she didn't want to share with guests.

 

This reason always kills me, especially if they go over budget to get it. Sure you will have guests if you live in a part of the world that friends and family want to visit, but it won't be constant, and do you really expect to make so many friends right away that you will be entertaining non-stop with all the new chums you've magically met and befriended as soon as you hit town?

[Spunkygal]

Regarding the shrew moving to Islington, I wish I hadn't been so quick to delete the episode because I swear at the end when she was reading one of her books to kids, it was something about traveling the world, something that sounded encouraging about broadening one's scope. I thought, how freaking ironic since you are looking for your Irvine house in a perfectly lovely neighborhood in London. If anyone still has that episode, could you please post what she actually reads?

And yes! Finally we get an episode with Richard! He is so joyous and personable. He should have his own show.

[biakbiak]

Yes she reading her book A is for Ant .

[JoyousSpring]

 

Edited March 2, 2016 by JoyousSpring

[magemaud]

I started to watch the episode about Jennifer, who moved from Illinois to Broome, Australia just because she had always wanted to live abroad and was so adventurous. She was supposedly moving there without a job and going to be using her savings to pay the $ 2,000 a month rent. I decided pretty quickly the first place they showed her was a decoy, it was a new build and she would have to buy all the appliances except the stove. I don't think it was even really a rental property, I mean, do people BUY major appliances for a rental?  They kept talking about her moving so far from friends and family and how she was going to have to find some "flatmates" to help with the expenses. But they left out a few key points: http://www.prdbroome.com.au/Jennifer-Reinert

She actually moved there in 2013 with her boyfriend, who is now her husband! So much for the adventurous, independent woman who moved halfway around the world all by herself. 

[biakbiak]

it was even really a rental property, I mean, do people BUY major appliances for a rental

In several places, even a few markets in the US, you do.

[CherryAmes]

I grew up in Montreal and when I was apartment hunting back in the day it was pretty common for apartments not to have appliances and from what friends tell me that's still pretty much the case.  "Everyone" moves on July 1st and they take their appliances with them.  Of course you can find rentals with appliances but it does take newcomers to the province by surprise that this isn't actually the norm.

[TVForever]

I started to watch the episode about Jennifer, who moved from Illinois to Broome, Australia just because she had always wanted to live abroad and was so adventurous. She was supposedly moving there without a job and going to be using her savings to pay the $ 2,000 a month rent. I decided pretty quickly the first place they showed her was a decoy, it was a new build and she would have to buy all the appliances except the stove. I don't think it was even really a rental property, I mean, do people BUY major appliances for a rental?  They kept talking about her moving so far from friends and family and how she was going to have to find some "flatmates" to help with the expenses. But they left out a few key points: http://www.prdbroome.com.au/Jennifer-Reinert

She actually moved there in 2013 with her boyfriend, who is now her husband! So much for the adventurous, independent woman who moved halfway around the world all by herself. 

        Why do the producers bother to tell us anything at all at this point, if they're just going to lie like this? Just show us the houses, that's what we really want, anyway!

[DownTheShore]

Good catch, magemaud!

I nominate Jennifer of Broome into the Lying Liars Who Lie Hall of Shame. She can keep Florida Shipping Container Man and his family company.

[proserpina65]

Regarding the shrew moving to Islington, I wish I hadn't been so quick to delete the episode because I swear at the end when she was reading one of her books to kids, it was something about traveling the world, something that sounded encouraging about broadening one's scope. I thought, how freaking ironic since you are looking for your Irvine house in a perfectly lovely neighborhood in London. If anyone still has that episode, could you please post what she actually reads?

And yes! Finally we get an episode with Richard! He is so joyous and personable. He should have his own show.

What got me was when she made some comment about how everything was so easy to get to in Irvine, just a few minutes away by CAR.  Yes, that's soooooo much more convenient than a 5 minute stroll down the street.

[magemaud]

 

She actually moved there in 2013 with her boyfriend, who is now her husband!

Back to the Broome woman, when they show her tearfully waving good-bye to her family in Illinois, there is a shot of a dark haired man standing on the porch with her parents and friends. Then in the scene at the end where she and her quickly-made "new friends" are sitting around the pool, we see the back of a dark haired man. I'll bet that's the conveniently never-mentioned husband! I just wish HH would drop the fake back stories and producer driven drama which I feel insult our intelligence. 

 

edited to add: Since Jennifer works for a property management company, I'm also going to speculate that her realtor and the pool people are all her co-workers. 

Edited March 2, 2016 by magemaud

[Dewey Decimate]

I haven't watched any Australian eps in a long time; for some reason they always seem so ludicrous and staged, but decided to give one a shot last night. Amazingly, the acting has gotten even worse and the stories more ridiculous. Sorry, HH, I'm sticking to Europe.

 

Speaking of which, I would watch the shit out a show that's ALL Adrian Leeds and Richard Blanco just touring homes and apartments in their respective areas. No hunters needed.

[buttercupia]

I caught our dear friend Adrian Leeds on Tiny House World over on FYE? FYI? network the other day. Showing tiny apartments in Paris! One was in the oldest building in Paris, which she showed previously on HHI.  Different unit, though.

[izabella]

Speaking of which, I would watch the shit out a show that's ALL Adrian Leeds and Richard Blanco just touring homes and apartments in their respective areas. No hunters needed.

 

YES, this.  Make it happen HGTV!!

[DownTheShore]

And the other London realtor, Toby. He's nicely skewered some of the HH's pretentiousness in the past.

I also have a sneaking fondness for that English lady realtor who suggested (jokingly) that the American HH might want to put some of her pack of dogs down (I think that she had like four or something and was trying to find a place to rent that would allow that many) .

[abbyzenn]

So glad someone found the real story on the Broome lady.  I kept thinking something was off about her story. 

I thought the house she decided on was very weird.  One building for your kitchen/living room, another building for your bedroom, and another still for your bathroom. I just can't imagine living in such a situation.  And certainly not when there's snakes around!!!!!

[magemaud]

 

...and another [building] still for your bathroom

I don't know about Australia, but in the US that's usually considered an OUTHOUSE

[SmithW6079]

Anyone feel cheated that the realtor -- while attractive -- wasn't Australian (or at least didn't have an accent)?

The third property was pretty cool. However, with the bathroom in a separate building, I could see the return of chamber pots. And what if you really did live there with roommates? You trek all the way to the bathroom in the rain and someone's already there.

***

What? She actually took that one? I started my post before the end of the episode. I figured the second house was the one.

If I hadn't read her bio, I would still have figured she'd been in Australia for a while -- she was using some Australian/British words and phrases, which always sound affected when Americans do it.

I kept expecting Broome-hilda's "twins" to come popping out of that dress she was wearing.

Is HGTV under some obligation to pretend these are real? I watch for glimpses of different countries and what homes look like there. I'd watch just a tour of homes.

Edited March 3, 2016 by SmithW6079

[magemaud]

Broome episode. My theory about the dark haired man being Jennifer's husband is all wrong. He's blonde and Australian. They got married in Australia in 2012: http://www.nwherald.com/2012/11/13/reinert-and-alexander/a2j2wqc/

[zipbags]

With regards to the Broome episode. Thanks for explaining she married an Australian. Was trying to figure out how an American with no job to sponsor her was able to move and find a job to Australia. Their immigration laws are very tough.

[DownTheShore]

You have to wonder why on earth HGTV made up that whole false backstory? Couldn't they have just gone with her looking for an investment property? And her and her entire family going along with the lie? I wouldn't trust any of them in any kind of business deal as a result of that episode.

[zipbags]

Going back a few weeks to the girl going to vet school in Scotland. I watched the episode with my daughter who just spent a semester abroad in London. She was dying watching the episode. She wants to move back to the UK. So seeing this girl in Scotland and showing her being so blaise about it..just pissed my daughter off. Lol

[DownTheShore]

That's one of those episodes that seems to have a lot more backstory than the show told us, I think.

[SmithW6079]

You have to wonder why on earth HGTV made up that whole false backstory? Couldn't they have just gone with her looking for an investment property? And her and her entire family going along with the lie? I wouldn't trust any of them in any kind of business deal as a result of that episode.

Or why didn't they just say she was joining her Australian boyfriend? That's been a storyline before.

[zivadanielle]

OMG just now reading the posts upthread about the Broome, Australia woman!!!  GAH, I totally thought the ep was absurd and now I know why!  Good catch, magemaud.

 

I did like the bungalow compound, but was having similar thoughts about chamber pots or what not.  Also, it seemed like there should've been a bathroom  and maybe even a bedroom in the main house but they never mentioned it.

 

Also, I was duped by Jennifer's authentic reaction to leaving her little doggie behind in Illinois. She completely blubbered.  I guess she is a good actress. 

 

Lastly, I was wondering, too, if she got the real estate job via her realtor (whose accent seeme

[DownTheShore]

I looked up that realtor; he's legit, based in Perth. But according to his bio, he graduated from the University of Colorado, so he's probably an American ex-pat himself. He also speaks Japanese, which was interesting.

[proserpina65]

Okay, what the hell was wrong with that couple moving to Dusseldorf?  They had reasonable expectations, moderate complaints, low-key personalities and tried to stick to their budget without being assholey about it.  However did they get on HH?

 

(In case the snark didn't come through, I actually loved them.)

Edited March 3, 2016 by proserpina65

[magemaud]

I'd really enjoy the show more if I wasn't constantly trying to fill in the gaps of an suspicious backstory or catch everyone in a lie. What harm would it do to tell the truth, Jennifer is an American who married an Australian guy, works as a realtor, and they relocated from Perth to Broome. As far as crying when she said goodbye to her dog, I think that was for real. She was obviously home in Illinois for that part of the filming and really did get upset when leaving. I should have been more suspicious when someone said to her something about her going there without a job and she just laughed it off and said, "Oh, I'll find SOMETHING!" 

[zivadanielle]

I also liked the Düsseldorf couple.  Realistic, not overly demanding, interested in blending into the new country's culture and language etc. 

 

They were moving from Denver, where my sister lives--the traffic *is* horrible and has gotten worse.

[proserpina65]

I hated the couple moving to Fagersta, Sweden.  Although some of that hatred is based on the whole "my budget is x, but really I can spend tens of thousands more" bullshit, which is more the fault of the producers.  But honestly, if you can go $20,000 over budget for a house, your budget is not $200,000; your budget is $220,000.  I wish the show would stop with this bullshit.  I'm watching for foreign real estate porn and don't need fake drama.

 

I would've bought the friend's mother's house.  It was cute as hell.

[DownTheShore]

I'm guessing that getting two cars, for the husband to get to work and for the wife to get to town, wasn't going to be a financial burden for them.

Although I liked the mom's house, I would have gone with the lakefront house, too. Closeness to water is always going to win with me.

[SmithW6079]

How much do you think Mr. Fergasta's daughters from his first (and maybe second) marriage hate his current wife? There was quite an age gap between the second daughter and the third.

So not even a realtor now to show houses, but a marketing executive? Oh, HHI, you're not even trying anymore.

[biakbiak]

They are apparently spending every summer with them and had cute pictures with their little brother so there is no reason at all to suggest they hate her.

[DownTheShore]

It probably made more sense for them to stay in the US in their current schools. They looked to be high school age, didn't they?

[proserpina65]

Okay, the ep with the people moving from Catonsville to Ambergris Cay, again with the lying to me, HHI?  (More than usual, that is.)  As if there was any chance they were going to choose that condo, when they wanted/needed space to build a wine cafe.  There's no way the condo association would've allowed that, and it was over their alleged budget so renting/buying elsewhere would've been a stretch.  It's like they're not even trying to pretend the three choice thing is real anymore.

[DownTheShore]

I was wondering what their neighbors think about having a wine bar next door? Boats pulling up and all?

[DownTheShore]

Private chef from NYC moving to small Italian hill town to start up her business there:

Why? Who's going to hire her services in such a small town? How is she going to source a wide variety of foods out of the growing season? She doesn't have a car and doesn't know how to drive. Where's she going to get the money to remodel the kitchen and add a bathroom, if the price of the house was at the top of her budget already?

[magemaud]

and how does an American chef think she's going to be successful catering Italian food for ITALIANS? On a totally shallow note, I hate that stupid hairstyle! 

[DownTheShore]

I thought that she looked rather scary, to be frank. Not the best look to give prospective clients the warm and fuzzies about your cooking ability.

There's got to be more backstory to this thing.

Maybe she plans on taking advantage of the summer tourists, and make most of her income then?

[Peanutbuttercup]

Yeah I totally don't buy that she's going to make a living in Italy as a private American chef. I doubt she's even serious about that. My guess is that's an investment/vacation rental/airbnb type property and she visits there part-time, or she's actually moving for a love interest or something. I mean, where is she even going to get enough business in a town of 6,000 people even if she is a totally amazing chef and is able to overcome what is likely a lot of skepticism from the local Italian people about her abilities?

[Kohola3]

Maybe she's going to open a McDonald's franchise.

[NYGirl]

Wow. She had a giant forehead and didn't smile. She should have taken the smaller house. It was under budget. I think she moved there to be with that woman friend. They stood awfully close during the talking heads.

[laredhead]

Since HHI has been inventing back stories for their HH's, i.e. the Australian woman recently referred to on this thread, the viewers might as well do the same.  I think the viewers versions are more entertaining.  I haven't watched the American chef episode yet, but look forward to adding my ideas to her bio.

[proserpina65]

I was wondering what their neighbors think about having a wine bar next door? Boats pulling up and all?

That particular house seemed pretty isolated, but that definitely would've been a concern for either of the other locations.