House Hunters International - General Discussion

[proserpina65]

On 1/22/2025 at 12:15 PM, aghst said:

Linda chooses House 1, goes to the park across the street every day as well as enjoy the balcony with the wide views.

It was the best choice for her.  Not too terribly far from her friend but with pretty much everything she wanted.

[Chit Chat]

On 1/24/2025 at 8:43 AM, proserpina65 said:

It was the best choice for her. 

I thought so too.  The third home had terrible views!  It felt like a big box with a few windows in which you can see the building next door.  I have to have windows and a view!  I was afraid that her friend was going to talk her into that one.  I'm glad she went with her gut and bought the one that she knew was best, not what her friend wanted. 

Maybe the renovations won't be as bad as her friend kept suggesting they'd be!  The town where the third home was looked really nice.  That whole area was pretty.  

[Grizzly]

Boblingen, Germany. I don't mind Hunter's Hawaiian shirts, it's the shorts that I can't stand to look at. Poor Kevin doesn't evaluate apartments based on if there's room for a stripper pole. It actually looked like he was blushing. When Dee complained about who would clean #2, Hunter said she was great at cleaning and to not sell herself short. I snorted. Really liked Duke but did they give him a man bun?

[snarts]

Christchurch, New Zealand: young newly married couple from Omaha, NE. Grew up traveling in a singing/dancing group & wanted to move abroad. Chose Christchurch sight unseen. He landed a job but she was still looking or waiting for visa approval. She wants to be close to the beach & they want to get a dog.

Initially were going to rent, budget $1400. First choice is a tiny place for $1600 with no backyard for the dog & far from the beach.  Then decided to buy with $475K budget. Option two is a smallish ranch $20k under budget 10 minutes from the beach. Option three is a larger newer build for $485k that's within walking distance.

They chose #3. She got a job at an accounting firm. They got a dog & shared that they were expecting (which was obvious if you watched the episode, the long coat wasn't fooling anyone). 

[Crashcourse]

12 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Boblingen, Germany. I don't mind Hunter's Hawaiian shirts, it's the shorts that I can't stand to look at.

I agree.  It was those shorts!

[proserpina65]

4 hours ago, snarts said:

Christchurch, New Zealand: young newly married couple from Omaha, NE. Grew up traveling in a singing/dancing group & wanted to move abroad. Chose Christchurch sight unseen. He landed a job but she was still looking or waiting for visa approval. She wants to be close to the beach & they want to get a dog.

Initially were going to rent, budget $1400. First choice is a tiny place for $1600 with no backyard for the dog & far from the beach.  Then decided to buy with $475K budget. Option two is a smallish ranch $20k under budget 10 minutes from the beach. Option three is a larger newer build for $485k that's within walking distance.

They chose #3. She got a job at an accounting firm. They got a dog & shared that they were expecting (which was obvious if you watched the episode, the long coat wasn't fooling anyone). 

I thought they should've gotten house #2, but that's probably because it was the one I liked the most.  I didn't like #3 at all, other than the proximity of the beach.  And they got a pug, so how much yard did they really need?

I have to say, they annoyed me, especially her.  She acted like she was just the most special thing ever.  And who the hell choses to move to a country they've never visited and clearly know nothing about?

 

[aghst]

17 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Boblingen, Germany. I don't mind Hunter's Hawaiian shirts, it's the shorts that I can't stand to look at. Poor Kevin doesn't evaluate apartments based on if there's room for a stripper pole. It actually looked like he was blushing. When Dee complained about who would clean #2, Hunter said she was great at cleaning and to not sell herself short. I snorted. Really liked Duke but did they give him a man bun?

 

Kevin was talking like it would be no big deal to install the pole or to reconfigure some of the rooms, like remove closets to install the pole.  This is on rentals.

Meanwhile, in the NZ episode, the house hunters decide they have to buy rather than rent so that they can make changes to the homes if they want.

The husband didn't say he'd help her clean though did he?  Or pay for help to clean?  That's also a big yard for their dog but they have to maintain it.

She's moving to Germany but has a job in CA. Whatever happened to one house hunter recognizing the greater sacrifice and making concessions?

 

 

[aghst]

8 hours ago, snarts said:

Christchurch, New Zealand: young newly married couple from Omaha, NE. Grew up traveling in a singing/dancing group & wanted to move abroad. Chose Christchurch sight unseen. He landed a job but she was still looking or waiting for visa approval. She wants to be close to the beach & they want to get a dog.

Initially were going to rent, budget $1400. First choice is a tiny place for $1600 with no backyard for the dog & far from the beach.  Then decided to buy with $475K budget. Option two is a smallish ranch $20k under budget 10 minutes from the beach. Option three is a larger newer build for $485k that's within walking distance.

They chose #3. She got a job at an accounting firm. They got a dog & shared that they were expecting (which was obvious if you watched the episode, the long coat wasn't fooling anyone). 

Yeah they wanted a 4 bedroom for $1600.  They're not in Kansas any more, or Nebraska.

They didn't say if they were going to have a car.  Strange, they said it was great to be near family in the first year of marriage.  But they just decide to move?

Maybe the husband's job really paid well that they were willing to sell their home -- unlikely they bought a home on doing theater unless they had some really successful play that ran for years.

I understand the argument about rent vs. mortgage, building equity with the latter.  However, is that true in NZ as well?  Do they have tax advantages for homeowners like writing off mortgage interest on taxes?  Can they even get a mortgage in NZ as newcomers?  They have to really know that market, whether they would expect their home to go up in value or at least retain the same value as when they buy it.  I would hope they researched all this rather than make a spur of the moment decision to buy.

I guess the commute wasn't that bad and they chose the one closest to the beach.  For me, I prefer Lyttleton Harbour for the water views (which they did show briefly as an example of where they go hiking) but there aren't any beaches there.  But the commute might be tougher, especially the area around Diamond Harbour.  Probably more expensive homes as well.

 

[proserpina65]

On 1/28/2025 at 11:01 PM, Grizzly said:

Boblingen, Germany. I don't mind Hunter's Hawaiian shirts, it's the shorts that I can't stand to look at.

The shorts would've been fine at Venice Beach or Santa Monica.  They and the shirts and everything the wife was wearing were wildly inappropriate for Germany.  Talk about ugly Americans.  They were both annoying.  Poor Kevin.