House Hunters International - General Discussion

[El maestro]

I loved the Taipei couple. No excessive whining. No “In the USA we have....” comments. Of course they are teachers, they know how to control their expectations. 

I found it funny that the realtor depended on her uncle for transportation.

[sempervivum]

12 hours ago, doodlebug said:

don't know how well a business leading hikes would do when run by a non-Peruvian.  There are plenty of tour companies featuring hikes along the Inca Trail that are lead by locals who've lived there all their lives and many of whom speak excellent English. 

Yeah, I assume this is yet another HHI with part of the backstory left out. How would a recent ex-lawyer from DC know local lore like how to spot upcoming threatening weather, snakes and the like-stuff you want a trail guide for? And while the elevation in Cusco is about the same as in Boulder CO, unless she's done a lot of training in the Rockies, she's not going to be up for real exertion in thin Peruvian air for a while.

She annoyed me by claiming she wanted to get close to 'the community', yet didn't want to see roofs when she looked out the window, and complained about neighbors and noise. I also noticed she seemed tentative speaking with the street vendor, wonder if she even speaks Spanish?

However, it would be interesting to know what guides can make, because as cheap as it is to live there, she could be doing well making $10K a year. (Although anyplace that features 'dog packs' is a big no for me).

[biakbiak]

Her business doesn’t lead hikes and does things all over, not just Peru. Peak Explorations is basically a middle man who hires local guides. They apparently specialize in solo travelers who can often find it difficult. She also writes about her travels and tries to promote diversity (women and people of color) in trekking on her blog Brown Girl Trekker. She was an Assistant Attorney General focusing on child endangerment cases which I have to imagine would lead to burnout.

[doodlebug]

48 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

Yeah, I assume this is yet another HHI with part of the backstory left out. How would a recent ex-lawyer from DC know local lore like how to spot upcoming threatening weather, snakes and the like-stuff you want a trail guide for? And while the elevation in Cusco is about the same as in Boulder CO, unless she's done a lot of training in the Rockies, she's not going to be up for real exertion in thin Peruvian air for a while.

She annoyed me by claiming she wanted to get close to 'the community', yet didn't want to see roofs when she looked out the window, and complained about neighbors and noise. I also noticed she seemed tentative speaking with the street vendor, wonder if she even speaks Spanish?

However, it would be interesting to know what guides can make, because as cheap as it is to live there, she could be doing well making $10K a year. (Although anyplace that features 'dog packs' is a big no for me).

The Inca Trail is some very rough hiking in parts, rocky, steep drops, narrow paths.  It is not for the faint of heart and leading others on a hike in that area would not only require hiking knowledge but a fair amount of survival skills.  Also, there are about 6 centuries of Incan history that has occurred in the Sacred Valley area.  She would need to dive deep into that and become very familiar with a lot of the ancient stories and traditions if she wanted to compete with the tour businesses already there.  I spent 3 hours at Macchu Pichu with an English speaking Peruvian guide and we barely scratched the surface. I would expect most hikers hiring a guide to lead them in the area would want the historical background of such a culturally rich place.

Presuming she learned Tagalog since her family is Phillipino, she might have a head start on learning Spanish since a lot was incorporated there.  From my travels in Peru, especially high in the mountains. I learned from many people who were fluent in Spanish that the accent in the area is quite thick and it can be difficult to understand or to speak understandably if one speaks typical Castillian Spanish or even Spanish typical of Mexico, etc.  In addition, in dealing with the locals, many Quechua do not speak Spanish at home, they speak their own language which is most similar to the language of the Incans and doesn't resemble English or Spanish at all.  They learn Spanish in school, but without the need to practice it in the outside world, many of the locals up there are less than fluent in it.  The majority of people living up there are Quechua and a goodly number really don't speak Spanish which can make everyday life challenging since you'd need to know Quechua (which sounds like no language you've ever heard before) in addition to Spanish.

3 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

Her business doesn’t lead hikes and does things all over, not just Peru. Peak Explorations is basically a middle man who hires local guides. They apparently specialize in solo travelers who can often find it difficult. She also writes about her travels and tries to promote diversity (women and people of color) in trekking on her blog Brown Girl Trekker. She was an Assistant Attorney General focusing on child endangerment cases which I have to imagine would lead to burnout.

Good to know, makes a lot more sense now.

Edited October 23, 2019 by doodlebug

[sempervivum]

Boston to Rome- I would have found the extra $400 for that first place with the giant terrace with a view of St. Peter's dome.

He had had such a thick accent I could hardly understand him in places, and was trying to imagine him pitching an ad campaign to Americans. I was assuming he had relatives in Italy, but he never said anything about that, right?

She was quite the ignoramus. The only thing she seemed to appreciate about Italy was the food. I could hardly believe my ears when she said something like 'What's up with all these ruins' as they were biking around. And she could only tolerate his love for wood beams if they were painted gray, um.

[ECM1231]

3 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Boston to Rome- I would have found the extra $400 for that first place with the giant terrace with a view of St. Peter's dome.

He had had such a thick accent I could hardly understand him in places, and was trying to imagine him pitching an ad campaign to Americans. I was assuming he had relatives in Italy, but he never said anything about that, right?

She was quite the ignoramus. The only thing she seemed to appreciate about Italy was the food. I could hardly believe my ears when she said something like 'What's up with all these ruins' as they were biking around. And she could only tolerate his love for wood beams if they were painted gray, um.

I liked the first place with the terrace too.  He was an Italian native and seemed to know his way around Rome but I wondered in which region he was reared. They were an interesting couple but what was up with their 'music video' at the end? I saw lots of twirling around but didn't hear any singing. lol

[Ohwell]

I liked the Rome couple, they weren't annoying and were cute with each other.  Then at the end they got on my nerves with that "music video" with the bad dancing at the end.  I wonder if they put that crap on youtube?

[LittleIggy]

Peru: I noticed that when the HH and her friend were walking across a field, her breathing seemed labored due to the altitude.

[QQQQ]

Barcelona: This couple bugged me big time. He seemed like a fuss pot, and her laugh was so freaking annoying. They were like Portlandia characters. I don't think the relocation expert liked them either. And dude, if you're going to be paying over $400,000 for the property + $4,000 in airfare to get from AZ to Spain every visit, but you're worried about the cost of purchasing furniture for an apartment, maybe this isn't the right move for you.

[Grrarrggh]

I couldn't believe the Barcelona people would put anyone in that windowless bedroom. 

[proserpina65]

20 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

I couldn't believe the Barcelona people would put anyone in that windowless bedroom. 

They probably don't, but I wouldn't mind it.  When I'm in my bedroom, I want to sleep, so no window is good.

[biakbiak]

34 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

They probably don't, but I wouldn't mind it.  When I'm in my bedroom, I want to sleep, so no window is good.

A complete dark cool cave would be my ideal bedroom (minus any wildlife).

[Grrarrggh]

4 hours ago, biakbiak said:

A complete dark cool cave would be my ideal bedroom (minus any wildlife).

I once thought that until I had to spend more than 12 hours straight in a windowless bedroom. 

[biakbiak]

When I go to my sisters house and there are a lot of people I always sleep in the windowless room in the basement best sleep I ever get.

11 minutes ago, Grrarrggh said:

I once thought that until I had to spend more than 12 hours straight in a windowless bedroom. 

[Bastet]

I have a hard enough time getting out of bed in the morning with sunlight in the room; if the bedroom was cave-like, I'd sleep until noon.

[Pickles]

Was it Barbados last night? I can’t even remember, but I found the girlfriend so off putting and abrasive. She was the one with no job, but all of the demands. Definitely not the personality type for me.

[Ohwell]

Yeah, the Barbados girlfriend got on my nerves, mainly because of her abrasive-sounding voice.  I guess the guy doesn't mind it since he brought her to Barbados with him.  I wonder how long he'll be there.  At the end she was shown slathering herself with suntan lotion on the beach.  

[proserpina65]

20 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

I once thought that until I had to spend more than 12 hours straight in a windowless bedroom. 

I can't remember the last time I spent that many hours in my bedroom, but I understand.

I don't know if Paris chick from Monday was a rerun or not, but she was yet another of those annoying "I must live in the Marais!" people.  I really don't get that.  Yes, the Marais is very nice, but there are plenty of nearby neighborhoods which are just as nice, with fewer tourists and lower costs.  And, as Adrian pointed out, you get a more authentic Parisian experience outside of the touristy areas.  At least she realized that getting more for her money was more important than being in that one single neighborhood literally only a 10-15 minute walk away.

Edited October 30, 2019 by proserpina65

[Jodithgrace]

Re: Barbados couple  I was fascinated by the girl's hair. Sometimes it was mostly brown, sometimes it was half brown and half gray and in one shot, completely gray! It wasn't natural, because when her hair was half gray, the gray was at the bottom, but it all just confused me. Proof positive that this show is not shot chronologically, I guess. 

She was also so abrasive for a Canadian, if the stereotypes are to be believed. 

Re: Kaiserslautern, Germany  Lord, was that husband for real with his fear of ghosts? He was so annoying! An overstuffed drawer opened by itself and the house is a no go? I couldn't picture him in the military at all. Kids looked like they would be annoying but there weren't. Dad more than made up for it.

[blueray]

I watched an episode yesterday not sure if it was new.  The girl was from Columbia and the guy was from the US and they were moving to Port Rico.  Anyhow, I unfortunately fell asleep and didn't see what house they picked.

[biakbiak]

14 minutes ago, blueray said:

Anyhow, I unfortunately fell asleep and didn't see what house they picked.

The third(?) the one that was actually a house not an apartment/condo.

[izabella]

Newsflash to HHI - Puerto Rico is part of the United States.

[Pickles]

The Amsterdam episode airing right now. The girlfriend’s voice and the agent’s voice—-they both sound like Minnie Mouse. Also, so much ‘this isn’t like our place in America’. Not a pleasant couple. 

[Spunkygal]

Hey Amsterdam couple, guess what!? I can’t stand you or your realtor! Just stay there and don’t come back. We have enough twits!

Edited November 1, 2019 by Spunkygal

[buttersister]

Ha, Amsterdam realtor thought she was (1) in a sitcom? (2) auditioning for Adrian, Richard & Me, coming to HGTV next season? Or (3) Fed up to here with her asshole clients and so, having zero effs to give?

 I‘ve got $5 says that couple has already split up—unless he was pretending not to be a clone of his insufferable girlfriend.

[El maestro]

The Barcelona couple didn’t do their homework.

Barcelona's mayor, Ada Colau is a radical leftist who defends squatters. 

If this couple ever has squatters in their property or tenants stop paying their rent, good luck trying to recover their property. 

Spain is full of horror stories involving squatters and tenants who stop paying rent.

Edited November 1, 2019 by El maestro

[LittleIggy]

I don’t understand why the couple was buying a place in Amsterdam. Expecting to sell and make a profit? 
As for Barbados, I kept thinking “Can’t you get a bike a pedal to the beach if it is so damn important?” The realtor was hot.

[abbyzenn]

Amsterdam:  I also didn't understand why you're buying immediately but then again I didn't understand these two being a "couple".  Nor did I understand her desire to only live in that one area (of a town she had only been to for a couple of days before), so yes go $45,000 over for the much small place with no yard.  I think it was the first time we heard someone complain about too much light in a bedroom.  She certainly wasn't someone to look at something and see its potential.

[Pine]

Amsterdam couple were awful hard to watch.  The vocal fry, and her attitude such a turnoff.  House 3 was the best by far.  Who cares if you don't use the backyard in the winter.

[Chippings]

I wondered how Amsterdam couple even got on this show, except for the 'drama'.  If there had been an interview before they were chosen, her voice should've disqualified them.  I got to thinking about the realtor, though.  Obviously she's a "perky" person, but it seemed almost as if she were auditioning, with hopes of being the next Toby or Richard B. in London, or [you know who I mean] in Paris.   Let's see if we see her again.  

[proserpina65]

Obviously de Pijp is the Amsterdam equivalent of Le Marias.

Yes, both women were annoying as hell.  I felt sorry for the guy being stuck with his girlfriend, who acted like living in an area with lots of families meant she had to have babies.  She was insufferable.

But any excuse to look at Amsterdam.

[Mar]

Amsterdam: one minute into the show, the young woman said, “Do they have the ketchup I like?” I had to pause the show and so far have been unable to resume play.

[seacliffsal]

I was really put off by the Barbados couple-especially after the man made fun of the realtor for sweating (he pointed out the sweat on the realtor's shirt).  The realtor seemed really nice (and was nice looking), but, wow, I thought that comment was way out of line.

[suebee12]

10 hours ago, Chippings said:

Let's see if we see her again. 

Amsterdam: We have seen this realtor before! I am pretty sure she is the one whose car was hit in the rear in one show.

This was one of the strangest couples I have ever seen! Why was he with her? Too light, too much room, didn't want a garden because it would be too cold! Didn't want to see kids out and about. Where did they find this couple anyway??? One of the worst HHI I have ever seen. Seeing Amsterdam didn't even help!

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, Mar said:

Amsterdam: one minute into the show, the young woman said, “Do they have the ketchup I like?” I had to pause the show and so far have been unable to resume play.

And they were buying in Amsterdam.  Buying! A half a million dollar house.  People buying usually are those who want adventure or a "slower pace of life" but they're usually both interested in the new country.  The Amsterdam's wife's attitude is usually found in a trailing-against-their-will spouse.

And I get that these  people aren't actors but usually the house hunters come off as real people.  These two couldn't manage that.

[Pickles]

9 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

And they were buying in Amsterdam.  Buying! A half a million dollar house.  People buying usually are those who want adventure or a "slower pace of life" but they're usually both interested in the new country.  The Amsterdam's wife's attitude is usually found in a trailing-against-their-will spouse.

And I get that these  people aren't actors but usually the house hunters come off as real people.  These two couldn't manage that.

I don't think they were married, were they? They were a really odd, miserable couple. 

[Irlandesa]

16 minutes ago, Pickles said:

I don't think they were married, were they? They were a really odd, miserable couple. 

No you're right but it sounds like they've been together for a long time.

[izabella]

I guess the Amsterdam couple moved there because the guy's friends were starting a new tech? venture of some sort, and he thought it would be cool to be a part of it.  She does some sort of marketing.   If that's a desirable area, and the rents are high, buying an apartment could make sense if they expect property values will go up.   She talked about wanting to do a lot of traveling, so maybe they would put it on airbnb, too.

What were they saying about Amsterdam not being as bad as its reputation?  I missed what it had a bad reputation for, but both the HH and the realtor talked about it.

[biakbiak]

42 minutes ago, izabella said:

I guess the Amsterdam couple moved there because the guy's friends were starting a new tech? venture of some sort, and he thought it would be cool to be a part of it.  She does some sort of marketing.   If that's a desirable area, and the rents are high, buying an apartment could make sense if they expect property values will go up.   She talked about wanting to do a lot of traveling, so maybe they would put it on airbnb, too.

What were they saying about Amsterdam not being as bad as its reputation?  I missed what it had a bad reputation for, but both the HH and the realtor talked about it.

He works for Booking.com so not a start up and he has been there since 2017 so it wouldn’t surprise me if they were renting but decided to buy. I have two friends who interviewed with Booking but both decided to stay in SF. She appears to still be working for Florida companies but both are listed as being in Amsterdam on their LinkedIn. 

As for the “bad reputation” I assume they were referring to the partying tourists who come for the drugs and prostitution and behave like assholes and has lead to the government trying to control the behavior. 

Edited November 2, 2019 by biakbiak

[Irlandesa]

54 minutes ago, izabella said:

What were they saying about Amsterdam not being as bad as its reputation?  I missed what it had a bad reputation for, but both the HH and the realtor talked about it.

Maybe the famous red light district? Which is a weird thing to point out since I don't think it's ever mentioned in other Amsterdam episodes. It just felt like another retro opinion.

[biakbiak]

6 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Maybe the famous red light district? Which is a weird thing to point out since I don't think it's ever mentioned in other Amsterdam episodes. It just felt like another retro opinion.

Controlling tourists has been a hot topic in Amsterdam and the Netherlands as a whole including coming up in elections in the last two or three years so mentioning partying tourists, which is what the GF referenced, is very topical. 

Edited November 2, 2019 by biakbiak

[awaken]

Couldn’t stand Boston to Rome couple. They seemed like a total mismatch and she didn’t seem to like or appreciate anything about being there. 

[LittleIggy]

On 11/2/2019 at 12:34 AM, Irlandesa said:

Maybe the famous red light district? Which is a weird thing to point out since I don't think it's ever mentioned in other Amsterdam episodes. It just felt like another retro opinion.

Amsterdam episodes: I’ve seen “Red Light District” on those not to scale maps they use.

Edited November 3, 2019 by LittleIggy

[QQQQ]

On 11/1/2019 at 11:40 PM, biakbiak said:

Controlling tourists has been a hot topic in Amsterdam and the Netherlands as a whole including coming up in elections in the last two or three years so mentioning partying tourists, which is what the GF referenced, is very topical. 

My mom and I could have used a bit of controlling during our day trip to Amsterdam. We bought way too much stroopwafel.

Edited November 3, 2019 by QQQQ

[biakbiak]

The realtor in Spain looked and sounded so much like my brother-in-law’s dad, I texted him to tell him his father might be living a double life. Weirdly his parents just sold their vacation condo near Valencia a few months ago. 
The 14 year old had a deeper voice than many adult men that I know. 
I didn’t like any of the options. 

[TVForever]

5 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I didn’t like any of the options. 

I'm with you there. This episode gave me just enough curiosity about Gandia, Spain to want to look further at the area. But the housing choices we saw were just meh.

[LittleIggy]

Gandia, Spain: Nice to see Nick the Silver Fox again! Yeah, the choices weren’t all that. The Brit wife was thoroughly Americanized with her comments about how small the bedrooms were. What did she say her business was? Poor dad hadn’t found a job after three months.

[javajeanelaine]

Amsterdam: I don’t know who I just liked more the female house hunter or the real estate “agent“. 

[javajeanelaine]

I mean disliked.

[LittleIggy]

Italy: That third place (the one the husband wanted) must have been a decoy because who would pass that up otherwise? It was fabulous.