House Hunters International - General Discussion

[biakbiak]

Texas to Dubai them cooing over the views perplexed me, I typically like city views but those were ugly.

Sharing a bedroom with your much younger sister is one thing, sharing a bed is ridiculous.

[mojito]

Texas to Dubai:

I guess we'll hear about her torn jeans, too.

I was unimpressed with the place they chose and the views were boring. I would've gone for the villa with the outdoor area and three bedrooms. In the pics we saw of the daughters, it seemed that they had a close relationship, maybe because of their age difference (5 years or so?). Sharing a room wouldn't be a hardship. Besides, just how long do you think they'll be in Dubai? I can't imagine lasting very long there.

The woman doesn't work, her kids are in school, her husband works, and she's fretting about having to wash dishes (by hand) all the time? The oldest is 14; why wouldn't she pitch in? Well, at least she's getting her nails taken care of at frequent intervals. Quite the diva. I wonder if she's still "designing" that 2-bedroom apartment?

[KLovestoShop]

I could not stand the Dubai wife. Boo hoo, she had to wash dishes.  I guess she hasn’t heard of rubber gloves?  I don’t think it’s fair that the girls have to share a bed.  Maybe if Diva Mom cut back on her manicures, they could buy another bed  

I laughed when the husband said that they didn’t realize what Dubai was all about when the agent showed them the stand alone house with the fake grass. Like, you didn’t know that the temps in summer are 120 degrees?  

I agree that the views weren’t good. If you want good views, you have to be right on the water, but then they would double their budget.  I wonder how Diva will like it when she’s constantly cleaning desert dust off all her furniture?  Dubai is infamous for sand storms.  

[LittleIggy]

Re: Brooklyn to Granada, if I had downed a shot ever time Alajandra said “Spanish Charm,” I would have passed out! ? Good thing she found a job to pay for that Spanish charm. Granted, the place was cool, but there was no tub for the little girl and it had those dangerous stairs. 

That view from No. 3’s kitchen was to die for.

Does anyone know how long a Fulbright grant like JJ’s lasts?

[biakbiak]

6 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Does anyone know how long a Fulbright grant like JJ’s lasts?

Typically a year.

[LittleIggy]

13 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Typically a year.

Ah, wonder if Alajandra will convince him to stay?

[juliet73]

Granada ep: the house they chose was awful. Not only was it over budget, it was also not toddler friendly - no tub, awful spiral staircase, rocky street, etc I felt bad for the husband. He had to duck for EVERYTHING! He was 6'6 and the house they chose was the worst for his height. The wife bugged me because she was more concerned about getting a house with Spanish charm than her husband hitting his head multiple times a day or her 2 year old's safety.

I thought the husband looked like Ben Affleck.

Edited May 18, 2018 by juliet73

[crimsongrl]

The husband was a nice combo of John Krasinski & Zachary Levi. 

Didn't love any of the houses but the couple was pretty.

[Irlandesa]

23 minutes ago, crimsongrl said:

The husband was a nice combo of John Krasinski

Yeah he was giving me strong Krasinski vibes.

1 hour ago, juliet73 said:

Not only was it over budget, it was also not toddler friendly - no tub, awful spiral staircase, rocky street, etc I felt bad for the husband. He had to duck for EVERYTHING! He was 6'6 and the house they chose was the worst for his height.

The spiral staircase was in the third house, I believe.  As was the rocky road outside.  (And I think he was ducking for the third house but he might have been doing it for the second as well.)

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Good thing she found a job to pay for that Spanish charm.

She did but in an unusual twist for these shows, it was going to be relatively easy for her to find something since she's a citizen and speaks the language.  Usually the trailing spouse is the outsider.

[Ohwell]

The wife reminded me of Shakira.

[LittleIggy]

10 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Yeah he was giving me strong Krasinski vibes.

The spiral staircase was in the third house, I believe.  As was the rocky road outside.  (And I think he was ducking for the third house but he might have been doing it for the second as well.)

She did but in an unusual twist for these shows, it was going to be relatively easy for her to find something since she's a citizen and speaks the language.  Usually the trailing spouse is the outsider.

The second house (the one she...I mean they picked) had a staircase without a bannister. JJ was ducking in both the latter two houses.

[KLovestoShop]

I don't know what it is, but there's something I didn't like about the Tulum woman.  She was nitpicky about everything.  And I just didn't get her complaining about the condos looking like Florida, and reminding her of the Golden Girls.  Hey, you're in a warm weather place with palm trees.  Of course it's gonna look like South Florida.  I mean, what did she think Mexico was going to look like, Utah?   

[LittleIggy]

Tulum: I can’t stand hot weather, but if I could, I would have picked the beach front property. I loved the shutters opening into the living room from the bedroom. Paint and reupholstering would take care of the rest. 

I’m sorry her husband died, but I found Carmen annoying. How did she suddenly get a job as a yoga instructor? She said “ I signed up to be a yoga instructor.”

[LittleIggy]

I watched an episode On Demand in which a family moved from Pittsburgh to Thailand. The father worked in Afghanistan and saw his family only every 3 or 4 months so they wanted to be closer to him to have more time together.  The wife annoyed me because she wouldn’t compromise with her husband. If she didn’t want TV, AC, and internet, unplug while he is back in fun ‘Stan earning a living. I get that she and the two young kids would be living there more than him, but give the poor guy a break. She said he didn’t have those things where he was working.

[mojito]

Romania to Ireland

Two doctors (ophthalmologist, dermatologist, the former is hard to spell, by the way), one employed, in Limerick. The other will stay at home with small child. She stated that she wanted a cozy home so she wouldn't be so homesick. She balked at the house they eventually got because it was too large, they didn't need so much space. Some of the story felt pretty fake, though. The wife wanted to be within walking distance of everything, which created a hardship for the husband as the hospital isn't that close to "everything". But if she's a doctor, too, couldn't she also end up working at the hospital?

They came to Ireland for better economic opportunities. It was a little startling that they had a budget of only $1100/month. Made me wonder how much he made in Ireland vs Romania. 

Anyway, it was nice to see two non-North Americans looking for a home. Their likes were refreshingly modest.

Edited May 22, 2018 by mojito

[Vivigirl10]

The Romanian couple was very sweet and likable.  The Realtor was so dry!

Wife: "It's so small you can't swing a cat in here!"

Realtor: "No pets allowed."  Ha - loved it!

[Ohwell]

I love seeing the Irish realtor, also love listening to his voice.

[laredhead]

The Irish realtor has been on previous episodes.  I could listen to that man read a phone book.

[LittleIggy]

At the end of that episode, the wife mentioned getting some kind of position at the hospital. I thought she said “observer,” but that doesn’t sound right. 

[biakbiak]

16 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

At the end of that episode, the wife mentioned getting some kind of position at the hospital. I thought she said “observer,” but that doesn’t sound right. 

She said she got an "observership" which is unpaid and you shadow doctors, you can do one of you aren't a doctor to see if you want to be one or if you are already one you usually observe a different specialty.

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, biakbiak said:

She said she got an "observership" which is unpaid and you shadow doctors, you can do one of you aren't a doctor to see if you want to be one or if you are already one you usually observe a different specialty.

Thanks. I figured it was an unpaid position, but at least it keeps her in the game, so to speak.

[doodlebug]

4 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

At the end of that episode, the wife mentioned getting some kind of position at the hospital. I thought she said “observer,” but that doesn’t sound right. 

I think it meant that she wasn't able to get a license to practice medicine in Ireland, so she was doing some sort of shadowing of other doctors, maybe in hopes of eventually being qualified for a license.  In general, medical licenses aren't transferrable from country to country without jumping through some hoops.  Her husband may have had better training or more experience than she did.

In general, a dermatologist would be working out of their office and would rarely, if ever, have inpatients in a hospital.  So, if she does eventually find work as a dermatologist, living near the hospital wouldn't be that important.  Meanwhile, ophthalmologists do surgeries, so working in the hospital would be part of the job.

[chocolatine]

11 hours ago, mojito said:

They came to Ireland for better economic opportunities. It was a little startling that they had a budget of only $1100/month. Made me wonder how much he made in Ireland vs Romania. 

I bet he's making more in Ireland. Romania doesn't have a strong economy, so I'm not surprised they were looking for opportunities abroad. He seems like a relatively junior doctor though (didn't they say they met four years ago while still in med school?), so even in Ireland he's not yet making the big bucks, hence the $1100/month budget. Though they did pick the house that was $1400/month when there were cheaper options available, so they're not doing too badly.

I thought they both seemed very nice, and I hope the wife manages to find a paid position soon.

[LittleIggy]

On 4/7/2018 at 9:37 PM, doodlebug said:

I thought he had an accent, too.  His last name was Hispanic, Ruiz, I think, but his accent didn't really sound Hispanic to me.

Her hair was not a color of red found in nature.  Maybe she was a natural redhead, but she'd obviously done something to it.

Her hideous hair color (and frumpy hairstyle) matched her personality. Every time she opened her mouth, I muttered “bitch.”

Edited May 23, 2018 by LittleIggy

[debraran]

I have to watch that one tonight, re Ireland. This article was interesting about training and Ireland losing doctors and being too reliant on overseas doctor. An American friend had a grandson go to Ireland to finish medical training and he (for now) stayed.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/hospitals-too-reliant-on-overseas-doctors-as-graduates-quit-ireland-1.3128314

I found articles on how a Romanian doctor (not him) was unfit and facing charges. Africa, Romania and Hungary make up a large amount of doctors. They seem to have very long day and not a lot of pay and are attracting doctors from other countries even less well off, but training is not always the same. The long hours in a few articles makes it seem a large reason the salary alone doesn't keep doctors after a while, even if higher than where they go. Eventually that wears you down. Interesting to read how similar and different training and medical practices are there but I'm looking forward to HHI to see the scenery.  : )

Edited May 23, 2018 by debraran

[Kohola3]

Who the heck puts a big ass fountain in the middle of a house?  That was bizarre!

[LittleIggy]

54 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

Who the heck puts a big ass fountain in the middle of a house?  That was bizarre!

I liked the fountain because it was bizarre! ? The husband could stand going up and down stairs. Shame on you, doctor, for being so out of shape! I did like him better than her though.

[KLovestoShop]

I could not stand the Costa Rica wife.  She had the balls to talk about her husband complaining when that's all she did.  As far as his not liking stairs, we don't know, but maybe he has knee problems or something like that.  And, if they are retiring there, as they get older, stairs are something they might not want. 

[magemaud]

Amy wanted complete privacy and no neighbors. Thanks to her sparkling personality, I wouldn’t want to live near her, either. 

[LittleIggy]

On 5/8/2018 at 11:08 PM, Pickles said:

The couple and their 17 year old daughter moving to Amsterdam. Did not like the mother or the daughter. They came across as very entitled. The daughter started out the show by saying something along the lines of--I had a walk in closet in our old house and I expect to have one here. Nice. The mother and father both seemed overly invested in the daughter, in my opinion. No need to worry about the daughter. She was 17, but appeared supremely confident and self assured to the point of being off putting. Appearance wise, she was  a clone of the dad.

In one of the places they didn’t take (City Center?) the parents were talking as if daughter would get the biggest bedroom with the biggest bathroom (mother asked if she would let her use the tub!) and the walk-in closet. Seriously? BTW, I bet they got tired of those stairs awfully fast. 

I’m glad the husband in Edinburgh got a chance to keep working with his old firm back in NC (why not discuss that before leaving?). He seemed like a nice guy. I got sick of the wife and her “water view.”

On 5/12/2018 at 8:08 AM, mojito said:

Wild-ass guess: the daughter needed to get away from her high school and surroundings for social/emotional reasons.  

But her mother is her BEST FRIEND!

[mojito]

North Carolina to Edinburgh

Fake drama doesn't get much more transparent than in this episode. Wasn't it established from the beginning that the wife's job is nowhere near a body of water? Yet, the demand to be near water and work persisted? And the husband not knowing that he could work remotely was only established after he got to Scotland? Really, HGTV? 

I know how people hate to see others get into bath tubs and showers when they're hunting (I kinda have a problem with people doing that with shoes on), but really, jumping on the bed with your shoes on and allowing your dog to jump on the bed while you're hunting? Show a little courtesy and class.

The agent didn't seem too impressed with these two and their child-dog.

[rlc]

Edinburgh- honey, since you moved here for me, it’s important we live where you want to live so you choose, as long as you remember that I really want a water view because me, me, me.

[biakbiak]

13 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

glad the husband in Edinburgh got a chance to keep working with his old firm back in NC (why not discuss that before leaving?

They most likely did. HH always make up things like this for the storyline.

[LittleIggy]

Reno to Costa Rica: I loved the pool house more than the main house the moment I saw it and would have moved in there, too. What was funny was that she complained about the main house being so small then moved into the smaller pool house. Wonder if her hubby ran off with a cocktail waitress back in Reno...

[chocolatine]

I'm always happy to get an Edinburgh episode. I lived there in my early 20s and it'll always have a special place in my heart. I'm glad the HHs chose the Bruntsfield flat, it was the best location out of the three. Bruntsfield is pretty quiet and residential - at least compared to nearby Marchmont - but still very close to everything. I too thought it was rude to allow the dog to climb into the beds; I hope the owners/tenants of the decoy flats were told to wash their bedding after filming. I agree that the husband must have had his remote working arrangement all along, that was a fakeout along with the wife's desire to be on the water.

[debraran]

6 hours ago, chocolatine said:

I'm always happy to get an Edinburgh episode. I lived there in my early 20s and it'll always have a special place in my heart. I'm glad the HHs chose the Bruntsfield flat, it was the best location out of the three. Bruntsfield is pretty quiet and residential - at least compared to nearby Marchmont - but still very close to everything. I too thought it was rude to allow the dog to climb into the beds; I hope the owners/tenants of the decoy flats were told to wash their bedding after filming. I agree that the husband must have had his remote working arrangement all along, that was a fakeout along with the wife's desire to be on the water.

my daughter watched because she went to Univ of Edinburgh for a year in college. She loved it and still wants to Scottish dance. ;) If they said the word "water" one more time though...geez! Water was the last thing she thought of there and it's usually so cold.

I liked the flats but it was so obvious they made up the "problem" and we also kept thinking, "Get the dog off the bed"I love dogs but that was a bit much. My daughter said, they can't be real rentals, you wouldn't let people do that especially filming.

[sempervivum]

Reno to Costa Rica-Every other word from those 2 was 'awesome'. I couldn't figure out why this woman didn't just try renting at first, to make sure she was actually going to be able to support herself and liked the lifestyle. I'm guessing she got some $$ from the divorce and is using that for the property payment.

I can't imagine being a single, 50-something woman, moving to a place I've never been, putting all my savings down on a property and just hoping it all works out. Oh, and expecting not to have to work a 9-5 job! Good luck to her.

She looked like her skin was getting seriously fried in that last shot.

[LittleIggy]

I never get moving to a foreign country without having a job lined up, unless you young and very adaptable!

[doodlebug]

6 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

I never get moving to a foreign country without having a job lined up, unless you young and very adaptable!

That's why I think most of the stories they tell us about these people are pure fiction.  Unless they're independently wealthy, there is no way these folks don't have something lined up before selling all their worldly goods and moving to a foreign land.

[LittleIggy]

Just saw the show about the Seattle radio guy moving to Berlin with his family. How exactly does he do a Seattle morning drive time show in Berlin? BTW, the art gallery apartment is on AirB&B.

[LittleIggy]

On 4/18/2018 at 4:30 PM, mojito said:

I chuckled when the Wisconsin wife stated that she wanted an American back yard. I wondered if that made more sense in her head?

The real estate agent seemed boggled by the woman's attachment to the dog. Oddly, I can't remember the dog's name, but they must've stated it at least 15 times in the episode. The wife seemed off to me.

The agent said that at first she thought that Odin must be their baby! The wife’s flat affect bugged me too. The husband was nice. Too bad the dog seemed more important to her than him. As for sharing a yard, pick up after Odin and don’t leave him out all the time. Guess that would have been to much for her.

[chocolatine]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Just saw the show about the Seattle radio guy moving to Berlin with his family. How exactly does he do a Seattle morning drive time show in Berlin?

Berlin is nine hours ahead of Seattle, so he probably does the show in the late afternoon/early evening Berlin time, unless he pre-records it.

[Irlandesa]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Just saw the show about the Seattle radio guy moving to Berlin with his family. How exactly does he do a Seattle morning drive time show in Berlin? BTW, the art gallery apartment is on AirB&B.

He can set up his own studio that connects with the Seattle studio.  There's a morning radio show here where the main guy will go on a trip for a month or so and he'll just patch in from wherever he is.  There's a local ESPN radio show that does the same.  One guy and the producer is in studio and the other guy is usually at his home or at his office in the stadium of a team he covers. I imagine that's what he'll do; although it will be a bit awkward if it's a morning show since he'll have to patch in the middle of the day. 

[LittleIggy]

Oh, I know he can do it through the wonders of modern technology. What I meant is how do you do a local show while you are living thousands of miles away in another country? You aren’t sharing the experiences of your listeners.

[Kohola3]

30 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

What I meant is how do you do a local show while you are living thousands of miles away in another country?

If I recall, at the time this show originally aired, there was something fishy/illegal/bizarre about this guy.

[biakbiak]

4 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

If I recall, at the time this show originally aired, there was something fishy/illegal/bizarre about this guy.

He and his neighbors cut down trees on public land to improve their view. They paid a significant fine and it was settled a few years before they moved.

On her blog she said they only planned on being there for a year. The kids and him were German citizens so it was easy to move.

Edited May 26, 2018 by biakbiak

[Kohola3]

3 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

He and his neighbors cut down trees on public land to improve their view.

Oh, yes, I remember that now.

I wonder if they are still there.

[doodlebug]

3 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

He can set up his own studio that connects with the Seattle studio.  There's a morning radio show here where the main guy will go on a trip for a month or so and he'll just patch in from wherever he is.  There's a local ESPN radio show that does the same.  One guy and the producer is in studio and the other guy is usually at his home or at his office in the stadium of a team he covers. I imagine that's what he'll do; although it will be a bit awkward if it's a morning show since he'll have to patch in the middle of the day. 

But why?  Why would the station want to use a DJ living thousands of miles away?  Doesn't the job include making promotional appearances, hosting events, etc in the town where the station is located?  This guy isn't available for any of that, he cannot be that wonderful; morning DJ's are not exactly a rare breed.  It seemed weird to me.

[biakbiak]

43 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

But why?  Why would the station want to use a DJ living thousands of miles away?  Doesn't the job include making promotional appearances, hosting events, etc in the town where the station is located?  This guy isn't available for any of that, he cannot be that wonderful; morning DJ's are not exactly a rare breed.  It seemed weird to me.

In his wife's blog sge said since he was under contract for part of the year he was planning on flying back and forth every few weeks until his contract was up but then the station who wanted to keep the morning team in tact thought it was worth it to keep him on. I actually think it could interesting and provide a different perspective. Also, he coukd fly back for important promotional things. They were only planning to be gone a year.

[irisheyes]

8 hours ago, doodlebug said:

That's why I think most of the stories they tell us about these people are pure fiction.  Unless they're independently wealthy, there is no way these folks don't have something lined up before selling all their worldly goods and moving to a foreign land.

Plus, you wouldn’t be able to get visa (unless you were a citizen) without a job. I have a friend whose an expat, and the hops she has to jump through to live somewhere are crazy.