House Hunters International - General Discussion

[Kenzie]

Meet Myriam 

Home Renovator, Podcaster, and  Selfcare Coach for Moms 

Born and Raised in France and originally from Madagascar, I have been brought up with two beautifully curated way of what motherhood should look like from 2 very different countries. 

My Journey to a fulfilled a mother was not an easy one but I am here to show you it is possible. 

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Hmmm ... her home page could use some editing.

Probably a good idea that she pursued using a podcast and not a blog. 

1 minute ago, Kenzie said:

Meet Myriam 

Home Renovator, Podcaster, and  Selfcare Coach for Moms 

Born and Raised in France and originally from Madagascar, I have been brought up with two beautifully curated way of what motherhood should look like from 2 very different countries. 

My Journey to a fulfilled a mother was not an easy one but I am here to show you it is possible. 

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Hmmm ... her home page could use some editing.

Probably a good idea that she pursued using a podcast and not a blog. 

Whoops, I just noticed she does have a blog.

[Notabug]

7 hours ago, Kenzie said:

Meet Myriam 

Home Renovator, Podcaster, and  Selfcare Coach for Moms 

Born and Raised in France and originally from Madagascar, I have been brought up with two beautifully curated way of what motherhood should look like from 2 very different countries. 

My Journey to a fulfilled a mother was not an easy one but I am here to show you it is possible. 

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Hmmm ... her home page could use some editing.

Probably a good idea that she pursued using a podcast and not a blog. 

Whoops, I just noticed she does have a blog.

I took a look at her website, and besides the grammatic difficulties, it's a whole lot of nothing.

She is selling herself as woman who has reached fulfillment while also being a mother, as if this is something rarely seen.  Most of her stuff is spoken in that hip, happenin' newspeak where she uses a lot of trendy words to say absolutely nothing.  I have no idea why she thinks having given birth to 2 kids, she is now a lifestyle expert for women with children.  She seemingly has no formal education in anything useful for counseling women.  It seems that all one needs is a 'mom cave' and a large ego and their career path is set.

[Crashcourse]

Maybe I missed it, but did her husband ever say what he did for work?

[laredhead]

Oh, the stairs in the Amsterdam episode last night.  Even the more modern ones in the house they chose would be difficult for me.  Guess I won't be moving to Amsterdam unless I could find a one story house.  I liked the couple, and the realtor.  I wonder if the couple had a house in Seattle that they sold at a good profit, because $700,000 for the house they bought is a hefty mortgage payment, when one person won't be working.  That got me to thinking about whether it's difficult for a non-resident to buy property in Amsterdam.  

They really loved their older dog, and it was sweet that they showed the younger dog they adopted to keep Roscoe company.   

[Notabug]

1 hour ago, laredhead said:

Oh, the stairs in the Amsterdam episode last night.  Even the more modern ones in the house they chose would be difficult for me.  Guess I won't be moving to Amsterdam unless I could find a one story house.  I liked the couple, and the realtor.  I wonder if the couple had a house in Seattle that they sold at a good profit, because $700,000 for the house they bought is a hefty mortgage payment, when one person won't be working.  That got me to thinking about whether it's difficult for a non-resident to buy property in Amsterdam.  

They really loved their older dog, and it was sweet that they showed the younger dog they adopted to keep Roscoe company.   

I realize it was probably scripted, but I found their whining and complaining that they wanted someplace just like they had back home to be tiresome.  Sarah seemed to feel the same.  

It really rubbed me the wrong way when the husband, in a talking head, discussed their wish list and how European homes are unlikely to meet their demands;  made a snotty remark about how he had given Sarah a list of what they wanted and how much they were willing to pay and she was obligated to find them what they wanted at their price. Like, if it didn't exist, she needed to conjure it out of thin air.

I thought the inside of the place they chose was nice, but the building itself, with its 1970's block-like structure was really ugly.  There are a lot of buildings like it in Europe, and they're all ugly, IMO.

 

[snarts]

Seattle to Amsterdam: finally, a woman after my own heart. You want us to move to Europe which means I won't be able to work & can be a stay at home dog mom? Hell yes :) 

I liked seeing options outside the canal ring. That man made island is interesting. Curious if there are shops/restaurants close to all the housing. 

Also curious for any Dutch watchers, how do the elderly handle stairs? Even middle aged me struggled in a row house we rented in Baltimore that did not have bathrooms on all levels. The stairs weren't even as steep or narrow and s the ones I've encountered in the Netherlands. 

 

[proserpina65]

2 hours ago, Notabug said:

I realize it was probably scripted, but I found their whining and complaining that they wanted someplace just like they had back home to be tiresome.  Sarah seemed to feel the same.  

I had a thunderstorm in the middle of the episode but I hated this couple and found their out-of-touch demands and reactions so tiresome and annoying that I'm going to erase the later airing from my dvr without watching it.  Life's too short to spend time with people like this.

[Crashcourse]

Sarah, the realtor, has an annoying voice so I muted a lot of the Amsterdam episode.

[Grizzly]

I liked how often they showed Roscoe but did not drag him to all the showings. The couple's script was tiresome but at least the dog came first.

Edited July 18 by Grizzly
Punctuation

[Irlandesa]

I appreciated that they admitted they wanted something American.  None of this "I want Amsterdam charm" crap while they choose a home that could have been lifted from US suburbia. 

I liked the one they chose. 

For the other homes, I think I'd rather have a ladder than those stairs.

[aghst]

The one they chose is the most remote.

OK, she's never been and he's been there once and liked it so they're ready to spend $600k and end up spending $700k?

Maybe he has a very lucrative deal, which allows her to stop working.  Plus, they may have money left over from selling their Seattle home.

And he's going to work mostly from home so who knows how well he can set up a new sales organization that way.

Was it his dog and when they married she became really attached to the dog?

In any event they add another dog.  Seems like they're both at an age where they have to decide if they want to start a family.

In any event, there was no discussion of future needs for children and Sarah said it's only the two of them and their dog(s).

 

[Notabug]

12 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I appreciated that they admitted they wanted something American.  None of this "I want Amsterdam charm" crap while they choose a home that could have been lifted from US suburbia. 

I liked the one they chose. 

For the other homes, I think I'd rather have a ladder than those stairs.

If I had those stairs, I'd never leave the first floor.  I wonder how older people with arthritis do it.  It doesn't matter how active and fit you are; stairs are the bane of my existence and everyone else' with arthritis.  I've got two fake knees and one fake hip and no way I could manage those stairs on a regular basis.  I'd have to hire a couple of sherpas to haul me up and down.

[aghst]

34 minutes ago, Notabug said:

If I had those stairs, I'd never leave the first floor.  I wonder how older people with arthritis do it.  It doesn't matter how active and fit you are; stairs are the bane of my existence and everyone else' with arthritis.  I've got two fake knees and one fake hip and no way I could manage those stairs on a regular basis.  I'd have to hire a couple of sherpas to haul me up and down.

The other aspect was bathroom was downstairs from the bedroom.

So first thing in the morning, going to the bathroom when you're not fully awake or in the middle of the night.

Plus, they used to tax homes in Amsterdam by width so you had these narrow and tall houses. But that was over 100 years ago, I believe.

Clearly the homes they saw were all like 30 years or newer.

Just doesn't make sense to repeat that pattern since in a couple of cases, these homes were not the classic narrow and tall canal homes.

[chessiegal]

Google tells me Amsterdam houses are still narrow because of the scarcity, and therefore expense, of land.

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, aghst said:

Clearly the homes they saw were all like 30 years or newer.

Just doesn't make sense to repeat that pattern since in a couple of cases, these homes were not the classic narrow and tall canal homes.

Space constraints in a city to which a lot of people move.  If you can't realistically build out that far, you build up and narrow.

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

Google tells me Amsterdam houses are still narrow because of the scarcity, and therefore expense, of land.

Exactly.  Looking at it on a map, I can see why the houses are still tall and narrow, because land to build on is extremely limited.

1 hour ago, aghst said:

The other aspect was bathroom was downstairs from the bedroom.

So first thing in the morning, going to the bathroom when you're not fully awake or in the middle of the night.

That would've been the biggest drawback for me.

[CrazyInAlabama]

A man house hunting in Ko Pha-Ngan, Thailand is looking at homes, and the second one has the most spectacular infinity pool. 

[Grizzly]

Koh Phangan, Thailand. Jay does have a nice voice but not a great personality. So particular. Isn't he a little old to be partying so hard? Love how his mom wondered if he was running from the police. I wouldn't want a wet bathroom either but I wouldn't berate my agent if the place was under budget. #2 did have a great pool. #3 seemed the most pleasing. On a shallow note, I love Lee's hair. Glad he's getting along with his roommates. Wonder if he wore those tunics in RI. 

[Pi237]

When he chose the roommates, I felt sorry for them. He’s kind of a diva. Thankfully, his space is like his own apartment. However, that DJ equipment looked to be in a shared space.  I wouldn’t live with him. But I’d go to his parties lol

[aghst]

They mentioned a couple of times about falling or slipping.

All the homes had these steps going up or down.

When it's raining a lot, those might not be the best places to navigate.  Plus, he wants to get to the beach, not much mention of how he'd get there.

Is he going to ride mopeds?  Especially in weather?

Lee had a nice SUV, probably a luxury on that island.  Is she earning enough on $700-800 rentals to pay for that car as well as probably pricey gas?

Or was she hired to play a realtor and production rented a big SUV so that they'd have room for camera crews, or at least GoPro cameras to film them driving around?

The homes were okay, I suppose.  Wouldn't want a wet bathroom either.  They don't have to go to a small island to find the partying lifestyle.  It's all over the southern part of the country, like the better-known Phuket and Krabi or even Koh Samui, which is nearby Koh Phangan.

Maybe it's relatively undiscovered so more affordable and less crowded?  I visited Phuket and also did a day trip to Koh Phi Phi.  Place was packed, with day trippers and people also staying there.

Since Thailand attracts people from all over the world and is relatively affordable, it's probably crowded everywhere with beaches and bars and restaurants.  Maybe when the weather is at its worst, the crowds aren't there.

[Pi237]

Australian realtor is a real pissah. 
 

Nice couple, pretty homes. 

[Grizzly]

I couldn't understand why the realtor kept saying the husband never cracked a smile. He seemed to wear a perpetual grin. I'd be a little sore looking at a house so over budget.

[Pine]

Moving from Santa Cruz, USA to the same lifestyle Australian beach town isn't really a big change.

 

[aghst]

That $900k home which they didn’t choose is not typical for Santa Cruz and would be a lot more.

i guess they’re moving for real though, he takes a pay cut and she’s not going back to work for now.

If they had a 4 bedroom home in Santa Cruz, it could be a couple of million that they sold it for so depending on equity they could have some to cover the loss of income, his lower salary, her not working.

but how does health care work, if she needs more care?  Maybe his employer sponsored work and residence visas and access to health care in Australia.

[Chit Chat]

On 7/24/2024 at 4:01 PM, Grizzly said:

I'd be a little sore looking at a house so over budget.

They tend to do this with every show.  A couple thinks they can get everything on their wish list within their budget, but surprise, they didn't research the area so now they have to be shown what it would take to meet their demands!!  I mostly think it's just to showcase the more expensive homes.  I did love the $900,000 home though.  The view and location were really nice.  The home they chose was nice too, so hopefully they're still enjoying it.  

I guess the trend now is to have a dedicated game room.  I suppose that's nice to have a separate area away from the main living room.  

[proserpina65]

On 7/24/2024 at 5:01 PM, Grizzly said:

I couldn't understand why the realtor kept saying the husband never cracked a smile. He seemed to wear a perpetual grin. I'd be a little sore looking at a house so over budget.

They had very unrealistic expectations regarding size & location.  They needed to see what living at the beach would actually cost.  And that house was actually a bargain for the location.

I started off like them but ended up being really annoyed at their insistence that they had to have a game room for the kids.  And then giving that little brat any say in the choice just pissed me off.

17 hours ago, Chit Chat said:

I guess the trend now is to have a dedicated game room.  I suppose that's nice to have a separate area away from the main living room.  

We just called that a family room.

Edited to note that we actually just called it the back room, but it was where the tv lived after it was added on in the late 70s.  Unlike the living room where we were allowed to sit on holidays only.  Same with the dining room.  We ate in the kitchen except for special occasions.

Edited July 26 by proserpina65

[Notabug]

20 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

They had very unrealistic expectations regarding size & location.  They needed to see what living at the beach would actually cost.  And that house was actually a bargain for the location.

I started off like them but ended up being really annoyed at their insistence that they had to have a game room for the kids.  And then giving that little brat any say in the choice just pissed me off.

We just called that a family room.

I'm generally annoyed at any househunters who reject perfectly reasonable options because they 'promised' the kids a pool or their own bedrooms or own bathrooms or otherwise painted themselves into a corner by essentially bribing their kids into moving.  Sorry, if you don't contribute to the mortgage, you don't get veto power over the choice.

I'm all for family meetings and discussions and letting the kids choose paint colors for their rooms, etc; but, in the end, someone has to be the grown-up and have the final say and it shouldn't be a kid.

Edited July 26 by Notabug

[aghst]

Yeah it used to be trendy for people to have separate family and living rooms, at least in the US suburbs.

People would buy nice furniture for the living room for guests so it wouldn't be used on a daily basis.

The big TV would be put in the family room, not the living room.

I guess Australia has big suburban homes like the US so it wasn't difficult to find homes with 4 or more bedrooms and 3 or more bathrooms.

That wouldn't be the case in Europe.

However there was one episode recently, forget where, in which one or more of the homes had 2 or 3 living areas.  They didn't use the terms "family room" or "games room."

I guess the kids are old enough to be put into their own space for play, which is a departure on HHI from mothers who want to keep an eye on them from the kitchen.

[Chit Chat]

8 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

We just called that a family room.

Lol!  Yeah, I forget that most homes nowadays have a separate family room/den.  We've moved quite a bit over the years, and only one home had a den & formal living room, but our son was already out of the house, so we didn't need an extra game room.  I'm used to having a single living room.  

7 hours ago, Notabug said:

I'm all for family meetings and discussions and letting the kids choose paint colors for their rooms, etc; but, in the end, someone has to be the grown-up and have the final say and it shouldn't be a kid.

My thoughts exactly! Parents shouldn't promise their kids certain things when moving abroad.  They have no idea if those things are actually available in their price range.  

[snarts]

Saskatoon, Canada to Dominical, Costa Rica: am I remembering correctly that she was a nurse and he was a firefighter/EMT?  They vacationed in Costa Rica and while decided to buy a restaurant. They went home and sold all their stuff, packed up 3 dogs and some cats and drove 5k+ miles.

Budget $1700/mo. He wants three beds, A/C, and a pool. His adult sons will visit and he wants separate rooms for them. She's the one worried about the budget.

Option 1: two bed/one bath, no A/C or pool $1650/mo

Option 2: two bed/two bath, A/C & pool $1950/mo

Option 3: four bed/three bath, no A/C or pool $1800/mo

Inexplicably, they choose option 3 and buy a couple portable A/C units. She mentions that they thought owning a restaurant would allow them more free time but they're there from open to close six days a week.

The reason given for the more was to be a slower paced lifestyle and get rid of the stress. Gee, wonder how that's working out for them?

Curious while they didn't pursue something in the medical field with their training/background. They'd still get to enjoy the warmer climate/slower paced lifestyle...

[chessiegal]

34 minutes ago, snarts said:

Curious while they didn't pursue something in the medical field with their training/background. They'd still get to enjoy the warmer climate/slower paced lifestyle...

Maybe it had to do with licensing issues? Running a restaurant is hard work! My husband knew someone who bought a restaurant and sold it after 2 years because it was too time-consuming.

[Chit Chat]

8 hours ago, snarts said:

Saskatoon, Canada to Dominical, Costa Rica: am I remembering correctly that she was a nurse and he was a firefighter/EMT?

She was an O.R. nurse.  I didn't catch was his job was.  

8 hours ago, snarts said:

She mentions that they thought owning a restaurant would allow them more free time but they're there from open to close six days a week.

That would get old very quickly.  The first house was cute, but the kitchen was lacking in cabinets & storage space.  As much as he talked about wanting a pool, I thought they'd choose house #2, but house #3 had the fenced in yard, so I think that helped with the decision.  I'd be concerned with the drive up to that house though, especially if they have much of a rainy season.  

[Notabug]

46 minutes ago, Chit Chat said:

She was an O.R. nurse.  I didn't catch was his job was.  

 

He was a firefighter/EMT as the other poster said.  

[buttersister]

Quote

She mentions that they thought owning a restaurant would allow them more free time but they're there from open to close six days a week.

No, tell me she was joking. OR nurse and EMT help people, so I’d like to be kind, but did they think they’d hire a complete staff that was 100% trustworthy, knowledgeable and vested in making someone else’s place successful? And what—they’d show up for lunch? 🤡

[Notabug]

15 hours ago, buttersister said:

No, tell me she was joking. OR nurse and EMT help people, so I’d like to be kind, but did they think they’d hire a complete staff that was 100% trustworthy, knowledgeable and vested in making someone else’s place successful? And what—they’d show up for lunch? 🤡

It is really hard to believe that any reasonable person would think owning a restaurant was going to give them more free time.  From what I can tell, your life is not your own when you run that sort of business.  Unless they had a restaurant manager with a lot of experience who was going to be working for them, they were inevitably going to be spending a significant chunk of their day at the store.

[chessiegal]

HHI backstories are always full of holes and nonsense. I tend to ignore them.

[Chit Chat]

1 hour ago, Notabug said:

It is really hard to believe that any reasonable person would think owning a restaurant was going to give them more free time. 

I'll take 'What are unreasonable expectations' for a $1000, Alex.  

[laredhead]

If I want to decompress in my life, I would never choose to own a restaurant or a B&B, or anything where I would have to deal with the public.  I'm happy with my yard and my cat. 

[abbyzenn]

London episode - Texas couple moving for their jobs (although I thought he originally said only she had a job but later they said both were working in the Carnary Wharf area).

Had a woman agent I haven't seen before - but then the HHI schedule has been so confusing  so I might have missed her previous episode(s).

THis is the first time I thought all three choices were bad.  Can't believe for $4000 a month there wasn't something better.  Option 1 was realistically the only choice for them.  As a dog owner I wouldn't want to be 4 flights up - dogs don't always go on a set schedule or maybe get an upset stomach and who wants to go down 4 flights of stairs in the middle of the night.  Plus I wasn't sure how healthy that dog was.  With a dog you really need outdoor access although that outdoor area of Option 1 wasn't good for much more than a dog run.

And who names a dog Goose?????

[laredhead]

London episode reinforced my belief that I could never afford to live there.  How do people afford to live there?  If you don't make $200,000+ salaries, where do you live?  Miles away and commute?  I'm thinking about the people who have lower paying jobs and laborers who keep the hotels, restaurants, running.  Where do they live?  Idle thoughts as I watched that couple willing to pay $4,000/mo for a place about 1/4 the size of my relatively small house. 

[buttersister]

7 hours ago, abbyzenn said:

With a dog you really need outdoor access although that outdoor area of Option 1 wasn't good for much more than a dog run.

Fwiw, I live in a dog-friendly high-rise, near other high-rises that are dog-friendly buildings. Elevator accidents are rare and the dog park is six blocks away. 

Goose? Do you suppose someone was a Top Gun fan and thinks he has a canine wingman?

[aghst]

The agent was literally rolling her eyes when saying she couldn’t tell if the apt. was for them or the dog.

The guy referred to their time there so it’s probably a year or two assignment and then they return to TX.

It’s been awhile since they’ve had Richard on.  My DVR isn’t showing a new ep until August 14!

[Dirge]

I love seeing London episodes, but my God that female house hunter's uptalking. Drove me crazy. 

[Chit Chat]

22 hours ago, laredhead said:

Idle thoughts as I watched that couple willing to pay $4,000/mo for a place about 1/4 the size of my relatively small house. 

I would be leery of being in the basement of the building, just out of concern for any flooding issues.  At least the apartment seemed bright, not dark & dingy as one would expect.  The kitchen didn't seem very functional, but maybe it works for them.  

[Bastet]

On 7/31/2024 at 8:01 PM, buttersister said:

Goose? Do you suppose someone was a Top Gun fan and thinks he has a canine wingman?

Ha - that was my first thought upon reading:

On 7/31/2024 at 12:18 PM, abbyzenn said:

And who names a dog Goose?????

 

[QQQQ]

On 7/27/2024 at 5:41 PM, Notabug said:

He was a firefighter/EMT as the other poster said.  

He said he worked for the police force. Did he specifically say firefighter/EMT? 

Edited August 4 by QQQQ

[proserpina65]

On 7/31/2024 at 3:18 PM, abbyzenn said:

Can't believe for $4000 a month there wasn't something better. 

London is exceedingly expensive.  Those flats were actually quite good for the price in the areas where they were located.  We've seen smaller for not much less money.

On 7/31/2024 at 9:34 PM, laredhead said:

London episode reinforced my belief that I could never afford to live there.  How do people afford to live there?  If you don't make $200,000+ salaries, where do you live?  Miles away and commute?  I'm thinking about the people who have lower paying jobs and laborers who keep the hotels, restaurants, running.  Where do they live?  Idle thoughts as I watched that couple willing to pay $4,000/mo for a place about 1/4 the size of my relatively small house. 

They share small houses & flats with lots of other people, or live south of the Thames in historically dicey neighborhoods.

 

[aghst]

The guy's office was in Canary Wharf?

Still expensive but maybe not as expensive as where they were looking?

Or they could have stayed maybe an hour away by train to the East?

Of course it wouldn't be the same lifestyle as being in central London.

[Notabug]

2 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

London is exceedingly expensive.  Those flats were actually quite good for the price in the areas where they were located.  We've seen smaller for not much less money.

They share small houses & flats with lots of other people, or live south of the Thames in historically dicey neighborhoods.

 

Yep, they were looking in some of the nicer neighborhoods and those flats and those prices were typical.  Those flats would've been considered quite good for London.

They could've found something in a cheaper neighborhood for less but that usually means not as nice, perhaps a longer commute, not as many parks and amenities, more crime.  Just like in the US.

Many Brits share flats with roommates or divide a flat into even tinier rooms to be able to afford to live in London.

[proserpina65]

2 hours ago, aghst said:

The guy's office was in Canary Wharf?

Still expensive but maybe not as expensive as where they were looking?

Or they could have stayed maybe an hour away by train to the East?

Of course it wouldn't be the same lifestyle as being in central London.

They didn't want to be farther than 30 minutes away from work, which seriously limited where they looked.

[Notabug]

2 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

They didn't want to be farther than 30 minutes away from work, which seriously limited where they looked.

Yep, Canary Wharf is quite close to central London including the Tower of London, Parliament, St Paul's, etc.  Very touristy areas where prices are bound to be higher.