House Hunters International - General Discussion

[doodlebug]

10 hours ago, rlc said:

Vincenza: oh sweetie, you can move him to Mars, and Chris will still be a mamas boy. I used to be married to one of those. Used to being the operative term. Tread lightly, but at least she’s 87...

That was a weird one.  They'd supposedly spent 20 years traveling all over the globe teaching, and, yet, he couldn't possibly buy a place in Italy without including a fully accessible posh suite for his 87 year old mother? How did he cope with being apart from her all those years prior to this? How often is she going to come and stay for a month?  Do all the women in her family live to be 110?  I have a feeling his plan is to move Mama in permanently ASAP; I hope his wife is on board with it.  To make space for your very elderly mother to visit and stay the number one priority when purchasing a home?  The mind boggles.

[Pickles]

I almost wonder if the 87 year old mother was helping pay for the Vincenza place? Didn't they go $60k over budget? Maybe that was part of the deal--Mother helps out with the money, providing she has a nice place to stay for extended periods. 

[sempervivum]

59 minutes ago, Pickles said:

I almost wonder if the 87 year old mother was helping pay for the Vincenza place? Didn't they go $60k over budget? Maybe that was part of the deal--Mother helps out with the money, providing she has a nice place to stay for extended periods. 

I was trying to figure out how 20 years of English language teaching could fund a half million dollar house. I'm guessing Mommy's bank account has been playing a part in the story for a while. 

[proserpina65]

I totally would've said "to hell with your mother" and taken the apartment in town.  That place was fantastic.

Swedish opera singer and wife - all three places were nice, but clearly only the one they chose had good space for the dog.  It didn't look like a young dog, so I wouldn't have wanted to go as far as they would've needed to walk to get to a park at that first place.

[Bronx Babe]

7 hours ago, sempervivum said:

I was trying to figure out how 20 years of English language teaching could fund a half million dollar house. I'm guessing Mommy's bank account has been playing a part in the story for a while. 

This was a very confusing episode.  After revealing their chosen house the husband said something about "we're already booked".   

[KLovestoShop]

It's  obvious the Japan woman didn't do any research before she went over there. First she says that she wanted to live in a Sub-tropical environment but then the first thing out of her mouth was how terribly hot it was.  Does she not know what Sub-tropical weather means?  Then she complained that everything was written in Japanese.  Seriously?  Did she expect everything to be in English?  And then were the complaints about how small things were. I'm glad the agent told her "small island small places".  I'm dumbfounded that this woman wasn't prepared for anything.  

[Bronx Babe]

@KLovestoShop, what cracked me up with that Maryland-to-Okinawa social worker:  "I can make my macaroni and cheese in this oven!"

[Ohwell]

Aaaack!  Crazy Tina in Okinawa!  She was just too much and I hated her mugging for the camera.  And how did she get a job as a social worker in Okinawa and not know any Japanese?  Are ex pat Americans her only clients?  I really did think something was "off" with her mentally, and it seems to me that she's the one who needs help.  The daughter was level headed but she annoyed me with the whining about needing a bedroom, but I'm guessing that was producer-driven.   

I wouldn't be surprised if the woman is back in the U.S. by now.  Either that or someone threw her in the ocean.  

Edited October 19, 2018 by Ohwell

[sempervivum]

Okinawa- There's a huge US base on Okinawa (20,000 workers/service people) so I assume this is where Tina works. I did think it was odd that there was none of the usual discussion of 'how far is this house to my work'.

My mom was a clinical social worker; CSW's work under the supervision of an MD/psychiatrist (unlike regular social workers). So at least in theory, Tina is licensed at a more advanced level. Her hair trigger emotionalism and stubborn/illogical personality seem like an odd fit with her profession. Was her face dirty or did she just have a lot of wispy facial hair?

[Ohwell]

5 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

Okinawa- There's a huge US base on Okinawa (20,000 workers/service people) so I assume this is where Tina works. I did think it was odd that there was none of the usual discussion of 'how far is this house to my work'.

Yes about the U.S. base on Okinawa.  However, I still don't see how someone as quirky and unstable as she appears to be got the job.  Maybe she interviewed by Skype or something, so they didn't really know how she was?

[TVForever]

16 hours ago, Bronx Babe said:

This was a very confusing episode.  After revealing their chosen house the husband said something about "we're already booked".   

As soon as I saw that, it confirmed (at least to me) what I already suspected- they were always looking for a place with space to rent out.

That "lovely downstairs space" that just happened to have a second oven? Please. That's not for the 87- year old mom. That's for the Airbnb apartment (probably with separate entrance) that allows 2 teachers to afford to pay almost 600k for a house. The thing that drives me nuts is why the show doesn't just go with what's more likely the real story? It's compelling enough. We know the husband isn't going through all that drama to accommodate a 87 year old woman who may not even be up to the trip. 

[ML89]

Miami to Italy - wow, I was sick of both of them by the end. The wife yammering about how the last place wasn't really Italian - uh, not if the shelter mags/sites are anything to go by, it's right on trend Italian. Not just your Godfather influenced idea of what Italian is. I wondered about the "booked" too - I agree, had to be Air BnB or something similar, otherwise why go so far over budget? They already looked really strained, like this was a horrible idea.  I did have a colleague at one time who had been a fighter pilot in Vietnam who straight up said the hardest thing he'd ever done was run a bed and breakfast. I think of that every time I see people all excited to go buy one.

I agree @TVForever  why not say "we want a third bedroom kind of set off because we intend on financing the move with Air BnB"?  They do on some shows, I've seen several of the Caribbean ones talking about renting out places.

[LittleIggy]

On 10/18/2018 at 11:28 AM, sempervivum said:

I was trying to figure out how 20 years of English language teaching could fund a half million dollar house. I'm guessing Mommy's bank account has been playing a part in the story for a while. 

I thought they said they had taught in 20 countries. The narrator kept saying a series of “temporary teaching jobs.” Since the husband was older than the wife, I figured he had a prior career then turned to teaching ESL in order to travel around. No way they socked away a half million bucks on ESL pay.

[LittleIggy]

Antwerp: Why wasn’t the unemployed husband fixing dinner at the “three months later”segment?  Too busy playing computer games??

Wny didn’t they get little booties for the little doggie to wear in the house so she wouldn’t slip? 

[Babalooie]

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 9:03 AM, Ohwell said:

Aaaack!  Crazy Tina in Okinawa!  She was just too much and I hated her mugging for the camera. 

Can you imagine what the real estate agent thought of her?  She did nothing to change people's impressions of Americans for the better.

 

22 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Was her face dirty or did she just have a lot of wispy facial hair?

I would call it a post-menopausal 'stache.  There are many ways in which she could fix that.

[lgprimes]

On 10/19/2018 at 9:03 AM, Ohwell said:

Aaaack!  Crazy Tina in Okinawa!  She was just too much and I hated her mugging for the camera.  And how did she get a job as a social worker in Okinawa and not know any Japanese?  Are ex pat Americans her only clients?  I really did think something was "off" with her mentally, and it seems to me that she's the one who needs help.  The daughter was level headed but she annoyed me with the whining about needing a bedroom, but I'm guessing that was producer-driven.   

I wouldn't be surprised if the woman is back in the U.S. by now.  Either that or someone threw her in the ocean.  

This one! I had the same questions of wondering how she got a job!

I fell asleep during the commercials before the reveal- can anybody help me out? House place with water view or affordable apt?

[Ohwell]

11 minutes ago, lgprimes said:

This one! I had the same questions of wondering how she got a job!

I fell asleep during the commercials before the reveal- can anybody help me out? House place with water view or affordable apt?

She took the first place, ocean view, $100 over budget.  

Edited October 20, 2018 by Ohwell

[Spunkygal]

16 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Antwerp: Why wasn’t the unemployed husband fixing dinner at the “three months later”segment?  Too busy playing computer games??

Wny didn’t they get little booties for the little doggie to wear in the house so she wouldn’t slip? 

OMG! All the giggling by both of them made me stabby! After every few words one of them giggled which usually spurred the other to giggle.

[SmithW6079]

If the wife of the LA to London couple called her husband "babe" one more time, I wanted to slap her upside the head. I don't mind terms of endearment between couples, but "babe" is the one that sets my teeth on edge. 

I think in this episode and one of the others (Italy? Australia?) that the phrase "happy wife, happy life" was trotted out again. Enough with that idiotic, sexist phrase.

A grown man being concerned about his 87-year-old mother is not a "mama's boy." Granted, that might have been a fake scenario (as several others have pointed out, a studio apartment on the first/lower level would lend itself to an Airbnb pretty easily), but other than his mentioning his mother several times, I don't see anything wrong in being concerned that an 87-year-old woman (who might or might not have health issues) would have trouble navigating an enormous number of steps).

I found the South Africa to Brisbane couple annoying, especially the husband's insistence on a "man cave." I always thought "man cave" was an obnoxious US concept. A young couple with no children doesn't need a three bedroom place. And I felt a little sorry for the wife, still harping on the electric stove three months later. To me, that's a sign that she regretted moving into that place. I do kind of understand her insistence on gas. I don't cook much, but I've used both electric and gas stoves, and I prefer gas.

I watched the first opening seconds of the Japan episode, found the women's screeching to be so off-putting that I turned it off & deleted it from the DVR. 

[Ohwell]

2 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

I watched the first opening seconds of the Japan episode, found the women's screeching to be so off-putting that I turned it off & deleted it from the DVR. 

You did the right thing.  If you had watched the whole episode, you might have had nightmares. 

[lgprimes]

11 hours ago, Ohwell said:

She took the first place, ocean view, $100 over budget.  

Thanks! Practicality was not her style so I’m not surprised

[Kenzie]

3 hours ago, Ohwell said:

You did the right thing.  If you had watched the whole episode, you might have had nightmares. 

What a way to open the show with that horrendous screech.Throughout the show I kept thinking that this women has been hired by someone to help people and she was a coo-coo case herself. Amazing her daughter grew up to be so normal.

1 hour ago, lgprimes said:

Thanks! Practicality was not her style so I’m not surprised

No, she wasn't practical but I have to say that the #2 house was a very depressing studio with a depressing view.

[Kemper]

Last night I came across a couple from - maybe Connecticut?  They were medieval reenactors.  I had no idea there was such a thing but whatever floats your boat.  They were looking for a castle in Ireland.  I was immediately pulled in; Mr. Kemper took a gander and thought they were a bit batty.  I will hesitate to poke fun at them because they were so enthused.  We missed the first part so thought they were looking for something to live in immediately; they were going to stage festivals at The Castle.  

The first one was a complete ruin (no walls, roof, floor, etc).  The second one was ok if that is what you are looking for; it did have living quarters; so did the third one (that one cost over a million dollars).  The first one was in the $200,000 range; cannot remember the second one because they didn't show very much of it.  The husband (who kept saying "it isn't medieval enough" or some other ridiculous, made-for-tv comment.  They surprisingly went with The Ruin.  Last they showed them, they were pitching a tent to sleep outside of The Ruin; they had a young woman with them...may have been their daughter.  They are supposedly going to live in the states while restoring the castle (Ruin).  I don't know what kind of time frame they were looking at; I am surmising that they were going to retire to Ireland and conduct reenactment festivals.  Was this a rerun?  Does anyone know anything further about this episode?  The realtor was called an Auctioneer; she had a good sense of humor (you would need it with this couple) and was perky.  Liked her.

[debbie311]

Maryland to Okinawa - Once again I don't get how someone would not thoroughly research a place before moving there.  If I wanted to move somewhere, I'd be on the internet in two seconds looking at housing options.  She said she didn't handle money well; I got the feeling that her daughter was trying to keep her from getting in over her head, which I imagine has happened in the past.

And needing a guest room for friends from home.  Does she really think she is going to have that many people flying from MD to Japan?  I can imagine it would be a pricey plane ticket.

Her place is only "ocean view" if she stands up and looks over the balcony.  But the second place with the view of all the power lines was plain awful.  I'd be on the next plane back to MD.

[SmithW6079]

I remember the Irish ruins episode. Reenacting is huge. I don't recall if they did Renaissance fairs and festivals, but there are all sorts of reenacters for different periods in history.

I wonder if they did ever manage to get the work done on the ruins. I would love to see what they did with it. 

Edited October 22, 2018 by SmithW6079

[laredhead]

Kemper, I think this was a rerun.  I remember seeing this, or a very similar episode, a year or so ago.  Ruin was an apt name for the one they chose.  

[proserpina65]

On ‎10‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 12:18 AM, LittleIggy said:

Antwerp: Why wasn’t the unemployed husband fixing dinner at the “three months later”segment?  Too busy playing computer games??

Wny didn’t they get little booties for the little doggie to wear in the house so she wouldn’t slip? 

I questioned the wisdom of taking an elderly dog with health issues overseas.  I realize they'd already been there for sometime when the episode was filmed, but if it had been me, I'd have waited if that was possible.  (I guess maybe her job didn't allow for a wait.)

[LittleIggy]

10 hours ago, SmithW6079 said:

I remember the Irish ruins episode. Reenacting is huge. I don't recall if they did Renaissance fairs and festivals, but there are all sorts of reenacters for different periods in history.

I wonder if they did ever manage to get the work done on the ruins. I would love to see what they did with it. 

I think they had a website.

[LittleIggy]

NY to Lisbon: After all that, we didn’t get to see Ms. High Society’s place after she moved in? Wonder what her NYC place sold for.

[LennieBriscoe]

Lisbon: Thank you, LittleIggy! I thought I'd missed the post-reveal!  I think the realtor was not impressed by the buyer: "This is Lisbon, not New York." Merching art to the rich is apparently a lucrative career. And I don't get the "open room" concept, popular though it be. I like my kitchen and its sensory sensations kept separate from other rooms! 

Sitges, Spain:  Get a job, Chef Boy! For being on the Mediterranean, the beaches and city didn't seem to be, IMO, shown at their "travelogue" best.

[debbie311]

On 10/3/2018 at 8:06 PM, Ohwell said:

Holy shit that Lyon, France couple must have used the same plastic surgeon because their faces looked similarly awful.  I would have chosen the first apartment with the balconies, but the second one was fine, too.

Just saw it last night.  The couple looked like characters from a Twilight Zone episode.  The husband really bugged me.  He sure seemed intent on getting a place close to the "action!"  Weren't there restaurants right around the corder from the balcony apartment, which I would have chosen?

Not judging here, but I personally would not want to move that far away from my children, even though they are adults, unless I had the money to fly back to the U.S. every few months or so.  They won't really be a part of their lives, or potential grandchildrens' lives.  And how often are those guys going to be flying over to France? They can say they will, but life gets in the way - jobs, families, etc.  But it's a personal choice.  They made it clear that they were more into each other.  Nothing wrong with that, just a personal choice.

[javajeanelaine]

I wonder Ms. High Society spent so much on the apartment that she couldn't afford furniture!

[abbyzenn]

The teachers moving to Italy episode.  I too was floored that they had saved over half a million dollars.  I doubt they could have made much as ESL teachers.  My brother was an ESL teacher in Thailand and Cambodia while waiting for his fiancé to get a US visa and the pay was very little.  At least in that part of the world there are so many volunteers teaching English that paying jobs are scarce.  However if you teach at an International School the salaries are much higher - those schools are also quite expensive to attend even in places like Cambodia since they're geared for expats, embassy personnel and the local rich.  I often wonder when there are episodes where they have to put their kids in an international school how they can afford it unless the jobs give them some money for it (like they often do towards housing).

All of those places were quite nice - huge rooms.

[CherryAmes]

36 minutes ago, abbyzenn said:

I often wonder when there are episodes where they have to put their kids in an international school how they can afford it unless the jobs give them some money for it (like they often do towards housing).

When we moved to England we looked at the International schools as an option for our kids just so they could keep up with their Canadian based education since we knew we'd be heading home eventually.  But my husband's company wouldn't pay (they would if we'd move to a country where English wasn't the first language) which seemed a little unfair to us as the expat package should be the same for everyone IMO but anyway there was no way we could afford that tuition otherwise!

[LittleIggy]

4 hours ago, abbyzenn said:

The teachers moving to Italy episode.  I too was floored that they had saved over half a million dollars.  I doubt they could have made much as ESL teachers.  My brother was an ESL teacher in Thailand and Cambodia while waiting for his fiancé to get a US visa and the pay was very little.  At least in that part of the world there are so many volunteers teaching English that paying jobs are scarce.  However if you teach at an International School the salaries are much higher - those schools are also quite expensive to attend even in places like Cambodia since they're geared for expats, embassy personnel and the local rich.  I often wonder when there are episodes where they have to put their kids in an international school how they can afford it unless the jobs give them some money for it (like they often do towards housing).

All of those places were quite nice - huge rooms.

As I said before, I don’t believe they were career ESL teachers. The husband was older than the wife and was probably on a second career. 

[Pickles]

The Manchester UK episode is not over yet, but the wife is annoying. Her glasses do her no favors and she seems quite pleased with herself for being so picky. Saying she would trash the furniture in the first apartment, just because she didn’t like it. Wow, entitled much? The husband seems reasonable. Too nice for her. 

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

The Manchester UK episode is not over yet, but the wife is annoying. Her glasses do her no favors and she seems quite pleased with herself for being so picky. Saying she would trash the furniture in the first apartment, just because she didn’t like it. Wow, entitled much? The husband seems reasonable. Too nice for her. 

I agree with you. She was irksome. The furniture wasn’t hers to “trash” to begin with. And all the angst about the entrance being in an alley. ? The first place was my fave. The husband was nice and good looking.

[sempervivum]

Manchester- I wish that the real estate guy had said something about how crappy the weather there is; the view from the last one was lovely, but how often would they really  be able to sit out there comfortably?

Also, did she really say she was getting a doctorate in 'museum studies'? What even is that?

[proserpina65]

13 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I agree with you. She was irksome. The furniture wasn’t hers to “trash” to begin with. And all the angst about the entrance being in an alley. ? The first place was my fave. The husband was nice and good looking.

The 'alley' which looked like a regular street to me.  I disliked her intensely.  And all that fussing about wanting a balcony and a view - it's Manchester, the view is not that great, and how often will you actually get to sit on that balcony with the crap Midlands weather anyway?

2 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Also, did she really say she was getting a doctorate in 'museum studies'? What even is that?

It's a real program of studies which prepares people to work in museums at a higher level than ticket taker, guide or gift shop cashier; it actually prepares students to run museums.  I considered it myself, but ended up going with Medieval & Renaissance Studies instead.  Because that's so much more likely to get one a job. ;-)

Edited October 24, 2018 by proserpina65

[proserpina65]

On ‎10‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 2:43 AM, LennieBriscoe said:

Sitges, Spain:  Get a job, Chef Boy! For being on the Mediterranean, the beaches and city didn't seem to be, IMO, shown at their "travelogue" best.

I thought Sitges looked very nice.  I'm glad the agent kept pointing out how small their budget was for the area, though.

[ML89]

4 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Also, did she really say she was getting a doctorate in 'museum studies'? What even is that?

I have a master's in public history which covered archives and museum work. There just wasn't much of it when I graduated so, after about 18 months of making minimum wage in a state archive where I had to wait for people to die to move up, I went to law school. See also @proserpina65  comment.

[mojito]

Utah to New Zealand

Liked the wife, liked the agent, was so unimpressed with the husband with his demands for ocean view, space, and gas stove. He was a horse's ass and the agent did a good job of controlling herself while still allowing a few comments to filter through. I'm so glad that the couple chose the first home, which might have been smaller, but it was still near the water and was a five-minute walk from the hospital where the wife worked. Maybe being difficult is the schtick used when the more reasonable home is what's ultimately chosen. The thing is, you're still remembered as a horse's ass. Best foot forward, house hunters. We're watching and judging.

[Ohwell]

The Utah to NZ husband did, indeed, come off as a horse's ass.

I liked the wife but there were times when I had difficulty understanding her because she talked so fast and some of the words were unintelligible.  Same thing with the real estate agent, but not as bad.  I guess it's the accent.

[BlossomCulp]

7 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

The Utah to NZ husband did, indeed, come off as a horse's ass.

I will never understand this.  It happens way too often and I get that some of it has to be editing and the desire of the producers to have conflict etc.  But do these people watch the finished product and not see how badly they come off?  If they really aren't like that in "real life" you'd think they be pretty embarrassed!

Edited October 25, 2018 by BlossomCulp

[sempervivum]

Utah-NZ couple: The husband should get a job to afford that ocean view if that's what he thinks he was 'promised' by his poor wife. He grandly said he was in 'the culinary arts', which I'm guessing means a plain old cook (since he didn't say 'head chef' or such); I would assume he wouldn't need any licensing to practice his 'art' in NZ. Between the 2 of them, they should bring in enough to cover child care and higher rent.

[Thumper]

On 10/20/2018 at 6:58 PM, SmithW6079 said:

If the wife of the LA to London couple called her husband "babe" one more time, I wanted to slap her upside the head. I don't mind terms of endearment between couples, but "babe" is the one that sets my teeth on edge. 

I think in this episode and one of the others (Italy? Australia?) that the phrase "happy wife, happy life" was trotted out again. Enough with that idiotic, sexist phrase.

A grown man being concerned about his 87-year-old mother is not a "mama's boy." Granted, that might have been a fake scenario (as several others have pointed out, a studio apartment on the first/lower level would lend itself to an Airbnb pretty easily), but other than his mentioning his mother several times, I don't see anything wrong in being concerned that an 87-year-old woman (who might or might not have health issues) would have trouble navigating an enormous number of steps).

I found the South Africa to Brisbane couple annoying, especially the husband's insistence on a "man cave." I always thought "man cave" was an obnoxious US concept. A young couple with no children doesn't need a three bedroom place. And I felt a little sorry for the wife, still harping on the electric stove three months later. To me, that's a sign that she regretted moving into that place. I do kind of understand her insistence on gas. I don't cook much, but I've used both electric and gas stoves, and I prefer gas.

I watched the first opening seconds of the Japan episode, found the women's screeching to be so off-putting that I turned it off & deleted it from the DVR. 

Mine too!

[CherryAmes]

Totally agree about "babe",  there is a flipper show on right now that I really enjoy, like the couple and like (mostly) what they do to the houses but the wife calls the husband babe all the time and it really  grates!

Edited October 25, 2018 by CherryAmes

[Babalooie]

3 hours ago, Ohwell said:

The Utah to NZ husband did, indeed, come off as a horse's ass.

I kept thinking that behind the scenes he tried to hit on the agent.  After all, she ticked all his boxes.

[rlc]

2 hours ago, Babalooie said:

I kept thinking that behind the scenes he tried to hit on the agent.  After all, she ticked all his boxes.

I’m a straight woman, but I must admit the NZ agent ticked a number of my boxes...

[Ohwell]

The NZ agent was attractive in the face, but she looked like she had a small animal curled up on top of her head.