House Hunters International - General Discussion

[sempervivum]

3 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I am well aware that when you’re  getting your PHd you don’t actually have to be at the specific location of your topic but I did laugh when she stated that her PhD topic was the intersection of class and race in the NYC school system and she was moving to a sleepy town in Scotland to do it.

A sleepy, all white town at that (no stats for Stirling, but Scotland overall is less than 1% black or African, from what Wikipedia says). 

[Mittengirl]

I am glad someone else caught the researching-NYC-schools-while-in-Scotland thing.  I thought I surely must have misheard that.

[chessiegal]

I didn't understand why it was cheaper to get a PhD in Scotland vs the US. Was she talking about the cost of living for the location? When I got my MS and PhD, my tuition was free because I was a TA, plus got a monthly stipend.

[biakbiak]

7 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I didn't understand why it was cheaper to get a PhD in Scotland vs the US. Was she talking about the cost of living for the location? When I got my MS and PhD, my tuition was free because I was a TA, plus got a monthly stipend.

It varies by institution, department, and program. 

[LittleIggy]

Scotland: I hope they were putting on a show, because that couple didn’t act as if they even liked each other. Couldn’t he have shipped his motorcycle over to the UK for cheaper than buying one in Scotland? 

11 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I am well aware that when you’re  getting your PHd you don’t actually have to be at the specific location of your topic but I did laugh when she stated that her PhD topic was the intersection of class and race in the NYC school system and she was moving to a sleepy town in Scotland to do it.

I did a double take when she said that! 😮

[Koalagirl]

I was on vacation and am just catching up with episodes so I’m sorry to be late to the party.  Canada to Athens. Why did the husband have an accent that was more Greek than Canadian?  So weird.  Wifey needs to cut the apron strings a little more - no husband is going to want his in-laws to influence decisions he and his wife will be making.  

[Kohola3]

41 minutes ago, Koalagirl said:

Wifey needs to cut the apron strings a little more - no husband is going to want his in-laws to influence decisions he and his wife will be making.  

Not happening.  That's the way with Greek families.

[NYGirl]

What's my TV boyfriend Richard Blanco doing in Spain?  He's supposed to be in London!!  He's cheating on me.

I love when he's the realtor.  They should fly him all over the world to show people houses. 

[ML89]

55 minutes ago, NYGirl said:

What's my TV boyfriend Richard Blanco doing in Spain?  He's supposed to be in London!!  He's cheating on me.

I love when he's the realtor.  They should fly him all over the world to show people houses. 

He was in one maybe three months ago and we found out his family is Spanish and still lives there. He and Adriane of Paris and the droll Irish realtor should go everywhere.

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, NYGirl said:

What's my TV boyfriend Richard Blanco doing in Spain?  He's supposed to be in London!!  He's cheating on me.

I love when he's the realtor.  They should fly him all over the world to show people houses. 

Richard has handled Spain before. He is actually a Spanish national who grew up in the UK and has family in Spain. The more Richard the better!

I’m so sick of people griping about how “small” a kitchen is when it really isn’t. They are just used to oversized kitchens.

[NYGirl]

15 hours ago, ML89 said:

He was in one maybe three months ago and we found out his family is Spanish and still lives there. He and Adriane of Paris and the droll Irish realtor should go everywhere.

They could have a show of just the 3 of them.... Realtors International!!  They can just travel everywhere and show houses.  I love all 3 of them.

[LittleIggy]

Costa Rica: The wife didn’t seem any happier three months later. Can’t blame her. I like having four seasons too. Plus, she had an actual career back in the states.

[doodlebug]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Costa Rica: The wife didn’t seem any happier three months later. Can’t blame her. I like having four seasons too. Plus, she had an actual career back in the states.

That one made no sense.  She obviously had a job she loved and worked hard and didn't want to leave.  It seemed like they were moving to Costa Rica on a whim and she was not at all looking forward to being a full time mom while keeping the kids quiet and out of the way while dad worked from home.  Of course, the whole story might be bogus and they were buying a vacation rental.

[Ohwell]

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

Of course, the whole story might be bogus and they were buying a vacation rental.

Bingo!

[Pickles]

1 hour ago, Ohwell said:

Bingo!

I was thinking the story was fake as well. I googled the husband and Linkedin says he works in Tennessee. But, maybe that is just where the employer is based and it wouldn't list the husband's physical location. The wife has a Pinterest and she has some Costa Rican recipes, but that is all I could find. 

[Ohwell]

44 minutes ago, Pickles said:

I was thinking the story was fake as well. I googled the husband and Linkedin says he works in Tennessee. But, maybe that is just where the employer is based and it wouldn't list the husband's physical location. The wife has a Pinterest and she has some Costa Rican recipes, but that is all I could find. 

Yeah, the husband said his employer was based in Tennessee but that he could work remotely.   It did sound like they weren't actually going to live in Costa Rica, that they were there to find a rental property. 

The HHI stories tend to be even more made up than the HH stories because I think a lot of these HHI people are just looking for extra income rentals. 

Edited June 29, 2019 by Ohwell

[Grrarrggh]

On 6/29/2019 at 11:56 AM, Ohwell said:

Yeah, the husband said his employer was based in Tennessee but that he could work remotely.   It did sound like they weren't actually going to live in Costa Rica, that they were there to find a rental property. 

The HHI stories tend to be even more made up than the HH stories because I think a lot of these HHI people are just looking for extra income rentals. 

They were filmed looking at a school, so that definitely made it seem to me like they were going to live there, not just holiday. 

[Ohwell]

2 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

They were filmed looking at a school, so that definitely made it seem to me like they were going to live there, not just holiday. 

All the more reason why it could be fake.  We just don't know.  

[DonnaMae]

They weren't buying the condo, just renting it for $2,000/month.

[laredhead]

Having been waiting for someone to chime in about the woman lawyer from Sandy Hook buying property on the coast of Brazil at Pontal de Maceio.  She spent $100,000 on what reminded me of a bunker, and another $100,000 on 2 ocean front lots for a future house.  I kept thinking how remote that place seemed to be, and of all the things that could go wrong living there.  The realtor was touting it as an untapped tourist mecca, and said the real estate market was booming.  She was recommending that her friend, the buyer, get in on the ground floor of that beach front property while it is "cheap".  How do you get to that place?  The roads did not look great, and the nearest airport is 2 hours away.  I have read about unreliable power sources, but one scene showed a wind farm, so I guess you could have a personal windmill, as well as solar panels to provide power. She probably rents out the house to tourists when she isn't there, but it did not look inviting to me.  The finished beach house that was shown was lovely.

[blueray]

I missed the beginning of the episode. So the whole time I was wondering how she was affording this. I thought where the plot of land was to isolated. The house that her friend showed her was nice but I feel like that would be very lonely and creepy. Maybe that's why she was hoping she will build and become a neighbor. Which she did.

Edited July 2, 2019 by blueray

[biakbiak]

28 minutes ago, blueray said:

So the whole time I was wondering how she was affording this.

She’s a corporate lawyer. 

[LittleIggy]

Brazil: Yeah, I was thinking that the town didn’t look as if it was all that (maybe the production staff agree and that’s why the director included the shot of the street dog hiking its leg on a building😆). Didn’t see anything to do. The house she bought was a charmless concrete bunker. I bet the HH bought the unimproved lots to sell if land prices go up.

[kirklandia]

On 6/20/2019 at 10:00 PM, Bastet said:

There are a metric shit ton of street cats in Greece.  They're generally not feral, though - while "owning" a cat is something of a foreign concept in Greece (although certainly not unheard of; there are indeed pet cats), there is still a good deal of human interaction with many of the strays.  It's quite a mixed bag in terms of how they're regarded and treated, and on the whole one that was difficult for me to be around upon visiting - but beautiful cats lazily sunning themselves in one of the world's most beautiful settings is not readily forgotten, either.

This explains a lot!  My ex is of the Greek persuasion and has always "had" cats (plural), yet has never "gotten" a cat.  Maybe he is sending out a Greek vibe  - they always find him.  Currently both Vinnie and Cougar have adopted him and now Fred spends most of his time there as well.

[TVForever]

11 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Brazil: Yeah, I was thinking that the town didn’t look as if it was all that (maybe the production staff agree and that’s why the director included the shot of the street dog hiking its leg on a building😆). Didn’t see anything to do. The house she bought was a charmless concrete bunker. I bet the HH bought the unimproved lots to sell if land prices go up.

Couldn't agree more! There was nothing about that town (at least what I could see in this episode) that would inspire 15-20 hour flight time (there don't seem to be any non-stop flights) and a 2 hour drive once you land in Brazil. If that was where my family was from and I had some sort of sentimental attachment to the place, maybe, but that didn't seem to be the case here. I definitely think there's some real estate speculation going on here. I'd be curious to check in 5 years later to see what the area looks like.

Edited July 3, 2019 by TVForever

[Pickles]

I liked the couple last night in Australia. They seemed nice and normal and like a good match. Sad about his mom dying. 

[WI GIRL56]

I liked the Australian episode.  She had a great personality.  I figured they would go with #2 and she could add her touches.  Sad about his mom she looked so young.

[Ninamags]

Hi all! 🙋‍♀️

I plotzed when Richard spoke Spanish. I kinda figured he might be Latin of some sort because of his name but I didn't dare to dream he was Spanish. 

Love his beard. 

La Leeds is a force to reckon with as well. Love the HHI episodes with either of them. I'll follow this thread from now on.  

[TVForever]

1 hour ago, Ninamags said:

Hi all! 🙋‍♀️

I plotzed when Richard spoke Spanish. I kinda figured he might be Latin of some sort because of his name but I didn't dare to dream he was Spanish. 

Love his beard. 

La Leeds is a force to reckon with as well. Love the HHI episodes with either of them. I'll follow this thread from now on.  

Welcome aboard, Ninamags! We have a lot of good snarky fun on this thread! 

[ECM1231]

Watching NJ to Grand Cayman couple. 1 million budget. She will work remotely and he works there. She wants to rent 1st and he wanted to buy. They want 3 bedrooms. 1st house  the realtor showed them was 3 bedrooms and 4 baths. Price tag: 1.7 million! 😲 I would have fired her on the spot. I realize there is a lot of fakery but did this realtor think that was funny?

ETA: their rental budget is $5,000. They decided against buying. 1st rental came in at $5200. Next rental shown was $6000. My hubby has been watching and just looked at me and said "She has some pair of balls!" 😄

The realtor is making me stabby!

Edited July 4, 2019 by ECM1231
Spelling

[javajeanelaine]

I thought the Grand Cayman husband was a complete jerk.  Telling her what to eat and then force feeding her fish. 

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, javajeanelaine said:

I thought the Grand Cayman husband was a complete jerk.  Telling her what to eat and then force feeding her fish. 

I would have slapped that fork out of his hand! It does seem odd that she hates fish but wants to move to a Caribbean island.

BTW, gainfully employed adults should pay for their own weddings. If the parents want to contribute something, fine, but it shouldn’t be an obligation. Just wanted to throw that in. 🤨

[Lisa418722]

NJ to Grand Cayman: both the husband and the wife drove me crazy.  You are wanting to buy a house on an island. You have a million dollar budget, but I would think any place on an island would be expensive.  Sell the house in NJ and tell your kids to rent an apartment.  I think mom wants the wedding. I wonder if the daughter and the fiancé are more about having a wedding or having a marriage.  You can contribute to your other daughter's wedding, but let her and her fiancé pay for it.

[doodlebug]

5 hours ago, Lisa418722 said:

NJ to Grand Cayman: both the husband and the wife drove me crazy.  You are wanting to buy a house on an island. You have a million dollar budget, but I would think any place on an island would be expensive.  Sell the house in NJ and tell your kids to rent an apartment.  I think mom wants the wedding. I wonder if the daughter and the fiancé are more about having a wedding or having a marriage.  You can contribute to your other daughter's wedding, but let her and her fiancé pay for it.

I thought the same.  Their house in Jersey was huge and looked quite nice.  It should be worth a small fortune,  If they sold it, they could afford to buy most anything in Cayman.  They could've even bought a small condo in NJ for their college age son to live and for them when they were in the US.  The husband said they were 'paying for it all' for the daughter's wedding.  Sorry, no adult working person should expect her parents to foot the bill for a big wedding without putting in some of her own money.  Nor should she and her fiancé expect to move into her parents' nice house and hang since they're out of the country.

I don't blame the realtor for showing them places out of their budget, it seemed pretty clear that they wanted ocean front and a lot of other amenities and I suspect their budget was too low to get those things.  Also, I suspect she knew they were able to afford more that spurred her to show them stuff above their asking.

The husband was a jerk but the wife was kinda awful, too, IMO.  Lots of whining.about perfectly decent furniture and appliances that she deemed out of date.

[chessiegal]

Anyone in finance moving to work in the Cayman Islands is wealthy.

[Pickles]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Anyone in finance moving to work in the Cayman Islands is wealthy.

I found this guy online. He is a retired colonel--30 years in the army. Went to work for Ernst and Young as a senior manager. So, he would have a great retirement coming in every month from the army, right? Plus, his manager salary. Would his employer be paying part of his living expenses in Cayman?

[LittleIggy]

Party bus to Mexico: I thought the point of getting a place in Mexico was to get away from it all. Nope, guess they are trying to relive their frat party daze. 🙄

[doodlebug]

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Party bus to Mexico: I thought the point of getting a place in Mexico was to get away from it all. Nope, guess they are trying to relive their frat party daze. 🙄

It seemed obvious to me that they used the party bus as a gimmick to get cast on the show.  Because, of course, no one in their right mind would think that bringing along their party pals who are NOT paying the mortgage to hunt for a house is a good idea. However, a middle-aged couple claiming that they need a place in Mexico where they and their friends can get together and get drunk and pretend they're back in college is really very pathetic.

The fact that the agent said he was the 5th agent they'd worked with and they had yet to place an offer on any home was telling, too.  He also seemed quite perturbed by their antics on the bus with their drinking buddies, as anyone would. Can someone do the research and find out if they actually purchased that place? It really was a nice one.

Not to be too shallow, but the wife had a huge vein on her forehead that popped out and was really distracting in her talking heads.  She was otherwise quite pretty.

Edited July 5, 2019 by doodlebug

[TVForever]

22 hours ago, doodlebug said:

I thought the same.  Their house in Jersey was huge and looked quite nice.  It should be worth a small fortune,  If they sold it, they could afford to buy most anything in Cayman.  They could've even bought a small condo in NJ for their college age son to live and for them when they were in the US.  The husband said they were 'paying for it all' for the daughter's wedding.  Sorry, no adult working person should expect her parents to foot the bill for a big wedding without putting in some of her own money.  Nor should she and her fiancé expect to move into her parents' nice house and hang since they're out of the country.

I don't blame the realtor for showing them places out of their budget, it seemed pretty clear that they wanted ocean front and a lot of other amenities and I suspect their budget was too low to get those things.  Also, I suspect she knew they were able to afford more that spurred her to show them stuff above their asking.

The husband was a jerk but the wife was kinda awful, too, IMO.  Lots of whining.about perfectly decent furniture and appliances that she deemed out of date.

I had less of a problem with the wife’s complaints because they would be renting, and you have to live with whatever’s there. I have more of a problem with BUYERS who complain about things like the curtains ( exact scenario from a Beach Hunters episode from a few days ago). When you’re buying, anything the sellers leave behind is yours to keep or discard as you wish, but it’s not a dealbreaker to whether you buy the house. 

My daughter and I were rooting for that last place . Sell the big NJ house, put those 2 young adults in a 2 bedroom apt, and scale back on the eldest daughter’s wedding. $6000/ month probably would’ve been doable.

[scootypuffjr]

2 hours ago, doodlebug said:

It seemed obvious to me that they used the party bus as a gimmick to get cast on the show.  Because, of course, no one in their right mind would think that bringing along their party pals who are NOT paying the mortgage to hunt for a house is a good idea. However, a middle-aged couple claiming that they need a place in Mexico where they and their friends can get together and get drunk and pretend they're back in college is really very pathetic.

The fact that the agent said he was the 5th agent they'd worked with and they had yet to place an offer on any home was telling, too.  He also seemed quite perturbed by their antics on the bus with their drinking buddies, as anyone would. Can someone do the research and find out if they actually purchased that place? It really was a nice one.

Not to be too shallow, but the wife had a huge vein on her forehead that popped out and was really distracting in her talking heads.  She was otherwise quite pretty.

Yes to ALL of this. I remarked to my mother that if you were part of the party crew, nothing could be better or more fun, but if you weren't part of the crew, they were just loud and annoying and not nearly as funny or as cute as they thought they were. Rather immature, as mentioned above. The agent obviously didn't care for them at all. At least the one female friend did tell them not to choose a house based on them as a priority.

For the record, I thought the first house was fine; I couldn't find much to complain about. Accept the murals as local charm and/or quirk, or paint over them. I thought the rest was great. (And yes, I know it was all a done deal before filming, but it's more fun to pretend everything is an option 😏 )

[biakbiak]

I had no idea that jazzersize was still a thing.

[javajeanelaine]

On 7/4/2019 at 12:41 AM, LittleIggy said:

I would have slapped that fork out of his hand! It does seem odd that she hates fish but wants to move to a Caribbean island.

BTW, gainfully employed adults should pay for their own weddings. If the parents want to contribute something, fine, but it shouldn’t be an obligation. Just wanted to throw that in. 🤨

 I live in Florida and there are lots of people here who don’t like seafood. They don’t necessarily move to a certain locale because of food. 

Edited July 5, 2019 by javajeanelaine

[Ninamags]

So which house did the party van people pick? I dozed off and completely missed the ending. 😛

Did they say it was an hour and half ride from their US home? That's great! 

I recall the agent saying something about if they were actually really planning on putting in an offer. He didn't want to waste time with these flaky people. 

[biakbiak]

25 minutes ago, Ninamags said:

So which house did the party van people pick? I dozed off and completely missed the ending. 😛

Did they say it was an hour and half ride from their US home? That's great! 

I recall the agent saying something about if they were actually really planning on putting in an offer. He didn't want to waste time with these flaky people. 

They went with the second one Casa Blanca.

[Ninamags]

Thanks, biakbiak. 

Was that the one with the 3 beds in one room?

[DonnaMae]

It was the all white house that she said looked like it belonged in Greece.

[eel21788]

5 hours ago, javajeanelaine said:

 I live in Florida and there are lots of people here who don’t like seafood. They don’t necessarily move to a certain locale because of food. 

However, other forms of protein are readily available in Florida. The husband made the valid point that no cattle are raised on the island, so she needed to learn that beef wasn't going to be easily accessible. 

[eel21788]

8 hours ago, TVForever said:

My daughter and I were rooting for that last place . Sell the big NJ house, put those 2 young adults in a 2 bedroom apt, and scale back on the eldest daughter’s wedding. $6000/ month probably would’ve been doable.

They were more interested in the status symbols of where they live. Thus, the desire to only be on Seven Mile Beach. You can find larger beach-front properties at half the cost if you go to the less touristy areas of Grand Cayman. They never even considered that as a possibility. 

[LittleIggy]

Charleston to Mexico: Was he going to be working some of the time in Charleston while the wife and kids were in Mexico? They mentioned living off the income from renting out their Charleston home, but I doubt that would be enough to live on. The first house was my fave except for the living area and kitchen being open to the elements. Yikes, the bugs!

[PennyPie18]

On 7/4/2019 at 1:18 PM, doodlebug said:

The husband was a jerk but the wife was kinda awful, too, IMO.  Lots of whining.about perfectly decent furniture and appliances that she deemed out of date

I would have serious doubts about those two kids they left in charge of the NJ house. Neither one seemed mature enough to handle the responsibilities of running a household. How long before one, or both, turn  that house into "party central"????? Just saying! Of course, like every HH Int'l, everything worked out perfectly...everyone was happy!