House Hunters International - General Discussion

[snarts]

Florence: I want to know what happened to their dogs.

[chessiegal]

My husband's comment on Florence was - if you're a couple packing up and moving to Florence, wouldn't you decided as a couple if you wanted city or country side before you left? It was nice to see the properties.

[ArtFossil]

5 hours ago, Grizzly said:

I got the impression the husband was an introvert. Since he and the son were the ones who had traumatic accidents, mom was going to make them happy. They can always try the city center in a year after everyone is comfortable with Italy. With covid, they're probably grateful to have all that room. My pet peeve with this show is everyone acts like they can never move again.

I am puzzled how cutting his hand makes the husband want to live in the country. If he was traumatized by his accident, wouldn't he want to be closer to medical care?

[ArtFossil]

7 hours ago, NYGirl said:

I LOVED the Florence episode, especially that I was there last summer.  Every time I see the Duomo my heart races.  It was just so beautiful.  In fact the whole city and countryside is beautiful.  

Anyway I would have jumped at the first apartment.  It was just so beautiful..and the outdoor space was to die for.

The husband was probably the boss in that marriage.  I can't believe he got his wish to live in the country.  Now they need to drive to the city for the kid to go to school every day.

Speaking for myself, I would have ditched the husband and kept the first apartment. 😀

[aghst]

On 11/14/2020 at 7:24 AM, Dehumidifier said:

The daughter did not look all that thrilled to me to be following her mother's dream. She kept mentioning wanting to be near town. I thought she would probably rather spend her school breaks hanging out (literally in her case!) with her friends in Detroit.

She does love her mother but she’s at an age when she’d be socializing.  And giving her a name like Narges could be unconsciously sabotaging her ability to socialize.

Is the mother taking her away from that?  Seems like empty nest syndrome would be devastating to her.

The mother has a genuine affinity for Galicia though sounds like nostalgia from her youth exchange experience and the health scare has pushed to make this move though maybe I missed it, it wasn’t clear if this was a permanent move or just a second home.

She certainly articulates her interest in the place she chose than most house hunters on this show.

[laredhead]

With regard to the Florence episode, I got the impression they were only going to stay in Florence (or nearby) for about a year.  Did not sound like they had sold their house in California.  I don't remember what he did for a living, but it must be a high paying job to have a nice house with acreage in Truckee.  That's a beautiful place too.

I'm just catching up on a lot of HHI episodes, and last night I watched the one with the couple moving to China with 2 young children.  She wanted to be near the beach and he wanted to be near his work.  Sound familiar?  All I could focus on when they showed the beach scenes and the traffic, was the pollution.  I guess living in a "small" city of 4 million people doesn't sound like a day in the park to me.  Then when they discussed the odor of sewage in the last apartment,  and explained that many apartments in China smell like that because of old plumbing, I said no way.  So did the HH's.   

[aghst]

Bologna is really known for food.  Well all of Italy is but they should budget for going out.

Ferrari is in nearby Modena but Parma is nearby, though you can get prosciutto and Parmesano reggiano everywhere.

I think you can get to a lot of cool places within a 1-2 hour train ride, though she probably wouldn’t want to take those day trips without her bf/fiancé.

They showed the arcades but that’s also a big attraction there.

Prosecco is much better known but Lambrusco is a nice sparkling wine there.

[aghst]

Utah family going to Qingdao, China, seemed like a real move.

The couple had fond memories spending time in China during college and she referred to living long term there.  She also said she wanted her daughters to experience diversity, which they didn’t experience themselves growing up in Utah.

But probably a lot of it is based on what’s good for the husband’s career, which may have been a primary reason for the move.

She was batting down all his complaints about the long commute and told him to get over it, it was 3 vs. 1.  The girls were adorable with each other.

[aghst]

On 11/20/2020 at 5:11 PM, chessiegal said:

My husband's comment on Florence was - if you're a couple packing up and moving to Florence, wouldn't you decided as a couple if you wanted city or country side before you left? It was nice to see the properties.

Maybe she realized she didn’t have to go to a cafe every day.  Or you can only go to the museums so many times.

Yeah they might have kept their CA property because if they sold it, they can certainly afford way more than $1600 a month.

The more ambitious Americans with money go buy up farms in the Tuscan countryside.

But regardless of how much they could afford, it’s a good way to dip their toes and see how they like living there without a huge commitment.  They could have waited until their son was older or at least out of high school.

[aghst]

On 11/18/2020 at 3:31 AM, Sheikh Yerbouti said:

From Botson to Granada, Spain. A cultural take we very rarely see on the HH franchise, and one I would love to see more. The storyline was a view of Alhambra for a Muslim family moving to explore the Islamic history of Moorish Spain. The third house had a perfect view but was $100 over budget. I’ve posted about my budget peeve before. No way an engineer and NP would not have a $100 leeway. Glad they focused on each tween having an own bedroom to justify the final choice.

Yeah the other house made way more practical sense.

The Albicin is on a hill opposite the Granada, which is on a different hill.  It has very narrow streets or more like alley ways so difficult to have a car to go to and return from the main city.  If they have to walk down to school or the markets or whatever and then walk back up, especially in the summer, it could get old.  I think many residents own scooters up there.

There was an older episode in Granada where one of the choices was well away from the city center but had stupendous views below — no views of the Alhambra but still beautiful.  But they’d need a car and would probably need to drive the kids to school.

Beautiful city but they could raise their children as Muslims in the US just as well.  In fact some would say that Muslims are better integrated and better treated in the US than in many European countries.  There is not so covert discrimination vs. Muslims there.

Kids sounded so Americanized, maybe they will miss their friends and classmates after the initial excitement of moving away from the only life they’d known.

[LittleIggy]

Utah to China: Brought back memories of living in China and breathing in that thick and chunky air. Perfect for young lungs!

[LittleIggy]

Granada: Odd that they moved to Spain to expose their kids to Islamic culture. The dad was from Egypt. Why not move there? Safety issue?

[LittleIggy]

On 11/13/2020 at 8:35 PM, Grizzly said:

Galicia. I could listen to realtor Nick all day! What an interesting part of Spain, a region I didn't know about. Wonder how much the renovation will be.

Nick is the Silver Fox! I love him! 🥰

[aghst]

3 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Granada: Odd that they moved to Spain to expose their kids to Islamic culture. The dad was from Egypt. Why not move there? Safety issue?

If they had family there it might make sense, though I think dad was planning to work at Boston hours so Spain would be 6 or 7 hours ahead.

That would mean he would be working from around 2 to 10 or 11 PM in Spain.  Or maybe he would have to be available during those times for phone conferences and email exchanges.

Egypt would be 3 or 4 more hours further ahead.

Maybe the wife was really that serious about being able to see the Alhambra.

Granada is great though, as good as or better than any other Spanish or even European city.  The bars there, you order one drink and you get a free tapa.  It's not as varied or the choice of gourmets as the tapa scene in San Sebastian but it's a great place to visit.

Only thing is it gets cold there in the winter but that means you see the snow-capped Sierras in the background when you look at the Alhambra from panoramic points in the Albicin.

[aghst]

Essex, UK — young couple moving to England.  The wife talks about losing her young brother and that loss being impetus to make this move.

That makes at least 3 episodes in this new batch of episodes in which the house hunters reference loss of family or loved ones as a reason for them to move abroad.  Or family members going through a serious illness or injury.  Or supposedly escaping death in a big tsunami as was the case with one couple.  

Is this going to be a new HHI trope now, like wanting kids to be exposed to the world or wanting to travel?

I’m sure the hunters are being genuine when they show pictures of their lost loved ones and talk about them but maybe the producers are prodding them or encouraging them to come up with reasons for why they’re making a big life-changing move and they cite examples including loss of loved ones.

She talks about it a lot more than the other house hunters and it seemed heartfelt so maybe that really drove her than other reasons.

FOr a change it’s the husband who wants a home with charm.  He must have lost the coin flip.

None of the choices seemed great give their wants and budget.  Maybe that little dog is going to have to deal with the gravel or she will walk it in the cemetery, though the loved ones of those interred there might object to the dog trodding on the graves and sniffing around the headstones or worse.

[Grizzly]

Cambridge. They should just move back to Tampa. 

[Gwendolyn]

Cambridge couple are making me crazy. She's being a child. Unlike the US, you can get anywhere in the UK without a car, you don't need to be in the center of town. He's not proposing she live in the middle of nowhere without a car or access to public transportation or neighbors. Both houses had neighbors. A cozy village is much nicer than a college town. I mean it's been over 2 decades since I lived in the UK, but the people speak English and are nice, but she's over there playing the ugly American to the hilt no wonder after 3 months she doesn't have friends.

[buttersister]

Cambridge couple—of jerks. At first I was disappointed that realtor Richard wasn’t their agent. Then I thought, nah, he’d have blown them off. (Sure he could be working closer to London or on the continent, but I still think he wouldn’t have tolerated them well.)

So they get the place in the village with stuff nearby. And apparently, Cambridge was only a bike ride away?! 

[aghst]

The first village though was like 40 minutes away?

With kids, they'd want space and they don't want a noisy city center anyways.

Probably all for show.

But why was the realtor taking a separate car than the couple and they were on speakerphone?

I would have said maybe it's during the pandemic but would have been difficult for the couple to fly to the UK, though if the husband had a job there and documentation, maybe he would have been allowed in.

 

 

[MsTree]

On 11/25/2020 at 11:44 PM, buttersister said:

Cambridge couple—of jerks. At first I was disappointed that realtor Richard wasn’t their agent. Then I thought, nah, he’d have blown them off. (Sure he could be working closer to London or on the continent, but I still think he wouldn’t have tolerated them well.)

Agree they were jerks, but I still missed Richard. Even if he couldn't tolerate them...that's why we love him, right? 😉 

[Neurochick]

On 11/4/2020 at 12:18 AM, Grrarrggh said:

Yikes, not only was she a quintessential ugly American but they had the guts to lie about researching prices. 

And she had annoying vocal fry/upspeak. 

There's only two of you; you don't need all that freakin' space!  Your friends and family will probably want to stay in a hotel anyway.

[LittleIggy]

Noosa, OZ: I really liked that couple. I wish she had gotten her pool. That first house with the ginormous spa master bath was amazing. It was way over budget, of course.

[Neurochick]

On 11/6/2020 at 4:13 PM, Dehumidifier said:

I just watched this. She said went to Italy with her husband. The monk took her to the altar and the congregation said a rosary for her. When she returned to the US she was pregnant. Sort of Hilary's story of how she and Bill created Chelsea while on vacation. Not digging the anti-Catholic jibes here.

I didn't see anything strange about that either.  I assumed the mother and the father were divorced or something.  Didn't seem like a big mystery to me.

I liked the young woman who went to live in Thailand and ended up living in the same building as her BFF.

Edited November 29, 2020 by Neurochick

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 11/6/2020 at 2:13 PM, Dehumidifier said:

I just watched this. She said went to Italy with her husband. The monk took her to the altar and the congregation said a rosary for her. When she returned to the US she was pregnant. Sort of Hilary's story of how she and Bill created Chelsea while on vacation. Not digging the anti-Catholic jibes here.

I'm not familiar with Chelsea Clinton's literal origin story.  Did it involve divine intercession like this one?  That's the part that I found grating, and the fact that it was Catholic had nothing to do with it.  If it had been a church full of Protestants saying a prayer for this stranger, I would also have rolled my eyes.

[biakbiak]

16 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I'm not familiar with Chelsea Clinton's literal origin story.  Did it involve divine intercession like this one?  That's the part that I found grating, and the fact that it was Catholic had nothing to do with it.  If it had been a church full of Protestants saying a prayer for this stranger, I would also have rolled my eyes.

She is hardly the first person struggling with fertility who got pregnant who looked reasons why it finally happened and found her in hers faith, I don’t get the issue. Others above said she made it sound like the Immaculate Conception, I didn’t get that vibe at all and in fact when they were shopping they talked about his father and he was clearly in his life.

[Dehumidifier]

45 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I'm not familiar with Chelsea Clinton's literal origin story.  Did it involve divine intercession like this one?  That's the part that I found grating, and the fact that it was Catholic had nothing to do with it.  If it had been a church full of Protestants saying a prayer for this stranger, I would also have rolled my eyes.

No, Hilary didn't credit God, just the vacation. 

[Dehumidifier]

27 minutes ago, biakbiak said:

She is hardly the first person struggling with fertility who got pregnant who looked reasons why it finally happened and found her in hers faith, I don’t get the issue. Others above said she made it sound like the Immaculate Conception, I didn’t get that vibe at all and in fact when they were shopping they talked about his father and he was clearly in his life.

I'm not particularly religious, but under those circumstances, hmm, maybe it was Him?! 🤔

[doodlebug]

On 11/26/2020 at 2:44 AM, buttersister said:

Cambridge couple—of jerks. At first I was disappointed that realtor Richard wasn’t their agent. Then I thought, nah, he’d have blown them off. (Sure he could be working closer to London or on the continent, but I still think he wouldn’t have tolerated them well.)

So they get the place in the village with stuff nearby. And apparently, Cambridge was only a bike ride away?! 

They also annoyed me with their talk of being so adventurous and risk takers.  They were moving to England, for goodness' sake!  A completely modern nation with better public transportation and more affordable health care than the US!  Where people speak English!  Not much risk or adventure for Americans to move anywhere in western Europe, IMO, and England is the least risky of all.  Not that I wouldn't want to live there for a while if I had the chance, just that I wouldn't brag about my daring and courage if I did.

[buttersister]

Heh, doodlebug, their biggest problem is driving on the other side of the road. Risky! (Friends of mine lived near Oxford for a few years, the biggest problem was their co-workers reacting when they said they were driving into London on a Sunday; for the others, it was such a long way away. Living on an island;-)

[Kiddvideo]

Vietnam: Watching Sam go in with his American money and American demands reminded me of Russian Oligarchs coming into the US and dropping $$$$ on things we can’t afford. (Disregarding any legalities or origin of the money.)

[blixie]

I don't think I've seen a bigger asshole on this show than Sam. Like to the point I thought he was trolling. I did like the realtor trying to all but murder him with her mind. 

[LittleIggy]

Vietnam: Sam was a dipshit, wasn’t he? He expected a penthouse for $750! 🙄 I loved Tammy the Real Estate lady and her comments. They were hilarious. The beds in Vietnam must be the same as those in China - rock hard. 

[Dehumidifier]

Missed the beginning. Was Sam planning on getting a roommate? Why did he want two beds and two baths? He talked like going to the other bedroom to use the dry bath would be a problem.

[chessiegal]

I didn't hear Sam the man baby talk about roommates. A cursory look with Goggle didn't turn up anything. 

[aghst]

Sam in Nha Trang Vietnam was like that lounge singer in Thailand who wanted to get a lot more for his money than it would get in LA.

My guess is $750 is at least double the average rent there so he figured he could get a baller place.  So ocean view, space, amenities, etc.

 

Who knows how long he ran his business.  Nha Trang seems off the beaten-track.  For instance, what would it offer that Da Nang doesn't already offer, though that cable car over the water looked cool.

But they did say it was fast-becoming a tourist destination.

So credit for being entrepreneurial in an up and coming place but mainly he seemed to be all about living in a nice but affordable place.

 

[StatisticalOutlier]

37 minutes ago, Dehumidifier said:

Missed the beginning. Was Sam planning on getting a roommate? Why did he want two beds and two baths?

He didn't mention anything, but I assume it was for the endless stream of visitors he wanted to be amazed at his apartment and its grand entrance.  (I loved the repeated shot of them loading laundry or trash or whatever onto the truck in the dark entryway.)

 

37 minutes ago, Dehumidifier said:

He talked like going to the other bedroom to use the dry bath would be a problem.

In fairness, he said a lot of stupid shit.  😀

I had a wet bathroom in a hotel room once, and it was weird.  It's not what I'd prefer, but I'm sure I could get used to it (especially because the ones he saw were nice wet baths--the one in my hotel room appeared to be relatively clean, and that's about the only good thing I can say about it). 

I really want a followup on him, given how the realtor was saying that running a business there was very problematic and he was so confident it was going to work out, and she seemed to be the brighter of the two.

[buttersister]

4 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I had a wet bathroom in a hotel room once, and it was weird.

I ran into them in Denmark on vacation. They were okay for a week (very clean, I kept all my stuff out of there when the shower was on), but wouldn't want to live with it.

I caught the end of this (will watch recording later). Single male HH in Asia--Not great, more often than not.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I absolutely disliked Sam, moving to Vietnam.   He only wanted a big fancy apartment with a great view, and spectacular lobby and amenities, because he wanted to impress his visiting friends.   I loved his realtor, and her remarks about business there, and the hunter's ridiculous demands reminded me of Richard, the London agent.         I suspect that Sam isn't very happy with the outcome of his investment, and the realtor's comment about how difficult business is in Vietnam was a big hint Sam should have listened to.      

[Grizzly]

Berlin. Oh the horror, Adam is always positive! She doesn't understand how refreshing that is on HHI.

Kevin is adorable.

Edited December 3, 2020 by Grizzly

[readheaded]

7 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

Berlin. Oh the horror, Adam is always positive! She doesn't understand how refreshing that is on HHI.

She's obnoxious and I wish he'd run far, far away.  

For someone who's supposed to be a dual-citizen, she sure doesn't have much understanding of housing standards in Berlin.  It's pretty common not to have closets.

Edited December 3, 2020 by readheaded

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, readheaded said:

She's obnoxious and I wish he'd run far, far away.  

For someone who's supposed to be a dual-citizen, she sure doesn't have much understanding of housing standards in Berlin.  It's pretty common not to have closets.

Yeah, I was like, you aren’t in the US, heifer. Taking German in high school must have been an easy A for her since one parent was German. The saving grace of the episode was my sweetie Kevin! He’s a doll! 😍

[buttersister]

Stay awhile, Kevin.

As to the couple, I thought for a hot second she was so negative because Adam is a half-full guy. But nein, she’s just awful. It’s not even her stupid complaining, the disrespectful looks she shoots him are going to get might old. Long before they do.

[aghst]

Yeah the Berlin wife was either selling the negative Nancy role or she really is looking for reasons to hate.

The husband seemed to have gotten a relatively modest job or maybe he didn’t go to some big time culinary school.

She may get annoyed with him for not being ambitious enough.

[blueray]

In the German episode, wow she was annoying. Most of her complaints were so easily fixed too. Put a stand up closed or use the one in the hallway (that's how my apartment is) so I know this isn't a big deal. And her complaint about the kitchen at the one house, I feel like you could buy a small table for prep (and it sounded like he was doing the cooking anyway) and get a new couch lol. I missed the end of the episode (was doing laundry). What house did they pick?

[hurrrz]

Always good to see Berlin. Her complaints about getting to work were so dumb. Potsdamer Platz is incredibly well connected by public transport. As long as you're near the U2, or a train station, you're golden. I was surprised that they showed different areas of Berlin, usually people gravitate towards a particular Kiez. 

 

Vietnam. Jeez. that guy was a trying for the Vietnamese version of Jersey Shore. What a pompous all-about-image douche. 

[Grizzly]

5 hours ago, blueray said:

 I missed the end of the episode (was doing laundry). What house did they pick?

The third one.

[LittleIggy]

22 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

The third one.

Was that the one near the field of weeds next to a canal? Were they in the former East Berlin because that area was pretty ugly. The exhibitionist shower cracked me up! 😳 Who would want something like that? Not surprised it was the no go flat.

[Crashcourse]

Berlin heifer in the mom jeans:  She was a pill.  Hubby needs to run away back to the States ASAP before they have kids.

The best thing about this episode was seeing Kevin again! 

[aghst]

31 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Was that the one near the field of weeds next to a canal? Were they in the former East Berlin because that area was pretty ugly. The exhibitionist shower cracked me up! 😳 Who would want something like that? Not surprised it was the no go flat.

That was in Mitte which is very central.

I believe parts of Mitte were former East Berlin.

However, looked like a lot of the apartment buildings along the river, on the other side, looked like fairly new construction.

Yeah that looked like an area which had been underdeveloped.

Edited December 3, 2020 by aghst

[Dehumidifier]

14 hours ago, aghst said:

Yeah the Berlin wife was either selling the negative Nancy role or she really is looking for reasons to hate.

The husband seemed to have gotten a relatively modest job or maybe he didn’t go to some big time culinary school.

She may get annoyed with him for not being ambitious enough.

His German probably wasn't good enough yet for him to get a professional type position. Apparently, from the comments he made, he hadn't done that well in their high school German classes. But her dream was more important than him being able to communicate.

They had been together since high school. He may have been a shy guy who only dated her and that's how they ended up wed. Poor schmuck.