House Hunters International - General Discussion

[ArtFossil]

Germany: Speaking just for myself, in my 70+ years, I really haven't found that I often want to have more than one person in the kitchen.

[aghst]

On 4/1/2021 at 6:31 PM, doodlebug said:

HHI seems to really like the hunters with kooky business ideas.  Based on her interview, it appeared this woman had virtually no savings other than the proceeds from the sale of her home in England which she was using to purchase the French home.  She said she'd spent years fighting over property in her divorce from her husband and ended up losing.  That being the case, who in their right mind would think a holistic wellness retreat featuring Reiki massage and yoga in rural France would be a surefire moneymaker?  Seems like there are a lot of people out there who think that this sort of pseudo legit lifestyle business is going to be profitable when I'd think it's a longshot at best, especially for someone like Coral who sounded like she'd never actually been paid for that work in the past.  Inexperienced with a very niche skill setting up a business in the middle of nowhere sounds like a disaster to me.

Never heard of Reiki massage but aren't yoga retreats kind of popular?

But they're suppose to be in serene settings?

Maybe a farm in rural France would fit but is it a PITA to get to?  They said Lyon was the biggest city, 3 hours away by car.

If the town is near a train station, maybe that would be good enough though Lyon has TGV or else it's a long slog.  And the TGV skips small towns.

If her clientele are in the UK, how are they going to get to her retreat?

Maybe it's a retreat for the show but not a real thing.

 

OTOH, Ubud is suppose be popular for yoga retreats and that place isn't easy to get to.  Not too many direct flights to Bali and then you have to go by car through some of the craziest traffic you've ever seen.

But I guess people aren't going there only for yoga.  Maybe they're staying at one of the big coastal resorts and just going to the yoga retreats a couple fo times.

I don't know how fanatic people are about yoga.

Edited April 3, 2021 by aghst

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, aghst said:

Maybe it's a retreat for the show but not a real thing.

 

I found her online. It's a real business.

[aghst]

On 4/2/2021 at 7:17 AM, TVForever said:

Blue Mountains, Australia:

Well, those two were a SPECIAL kind of special. I'll just leave that there...

This episode introduced me to an area of Australia that I'd never heard of before, and I loved it! The scenery was beyond stunning! I didn't even mind the houses- they each had something I could like (and dislike).

For a roommate setup, the house they chose was best. If they were a couple, I would have loved the first house. It was gorgeous, but too small for sharing.

It's a popular day trip from Sydney.

National park.  There is a cable car that goes over that wide expanse of trees.  The rocky cliffs have a nice reddish hue at sunset.

But you can also do bush walks below those trees, where its in complete shade.

 

 

17 hours ago, ArtFossil said:

I can't decide which career is more impractical: travel blogger or holistic retreat owner?

Travel blogs seemed to have passed.

But on IG and YT, you see a lot of photos and videos taken at scenic locales and it's usually attractive young women who have huge followings.

[TVForever]

23 hours ago, ArtFossil said:

Germany: Speaking just for myself, in my 70+ years, I really haven't found that I often want to have more than one person in the kitchen.

Or in the bathroom. How many HHs do we see complaining that the bathroom can't accommodate them both ("Oh how are we going to get ready together in the morning?). I love my husband with the heat of a thousand suns, but I have NO DESIRE to be in the bathroom at the same time as him! 

[DanaMB]

On 4/1/2021 at 11:02 PM, Grizzly said:

Blue Mountains, Australia. I'm tired of all these spiritual healers. The realtor didn't have much patience with their communing with the tree. 

I turned it off as soon as they were introduced and they showed a brief clip of the tree scene. 

[Grrarrggh]

16 hours ago, DanaMB said:

I turned it off as soon as they were introduced and they showed a brief clip of the tree scene. 

It didn't seem any more odd that any other religion. 

[Quof]

Every religion is inherently illogical.  Except your own. 

[DanaMB]

3 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

It didn't seem any more odd that any other religion. 

I didn’t even know it was a religion. They just annoyed me. 

[amarante]

Literal tree hugging is not a religion nor did HH state as such. She just said some inane stuff about liking trees. I was just wondering how the dynamics of that kind of platonic best friend relationship works - do they allow any room in the relationship for there to be significant others?

And can someone explain what the business plan was for the divorced English woman who was planning a retreat somewhere in the boonies of France. It didn't appear to be a BnB - would there be enough people in the area to support that kind of business. She had mentioned in passing that she did some kind of "holistic" treatments in London.

[chessiegal]

51 minutes ago, amarante said:

And can someone explain what the business plan was for the divorced English woman who was planning a retreat somewhere in the boonies of France. It didn't appear to be a BnB - would there be enough people in the area to support that kind of business. She had mentioned in passing that she did some kind of "holistic" treatments in London.

I've posted this before. I found her online, and she is indeed running some kind of hypnotherapy/massage retreat at the property she bought. It also appears she was an event planner in England before she left for France.

[CrazyInAlabama]

HHI rerun, of a couple moving from South Africa to London, and mostly are worried about her cats.      I love that Richard is the agent.   I have to laugh when the wife says the second place looks old, and the man is looking for traditional, and character.    I guess Richard should explain that traditional and character means old.  The look on Richard's face when the woman says that she puts at least one of the cats on a leash, and takes it for a walk is hysterical.  At the beginning Richard tells the house hunters that his first job was as a dancer near where the first apartment is.  

I don't like that only the husband has a job, and the wife claims her choices should determine what they rent, when she doesn't have a job.   Of course, that might just be for the storyline. 

[Grizzly]

London. Richard, his voice is so comforting. He is dying to see those cats being walked. I'm team Luca, I would want more traditional if I were living in London. Of course he's giving in. The modern place does have an awesome view.

[deirdra]

39 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I don't like that only the husband has a job, and the wife claims her choices should determine what they rent, when she doesn't have a job.   Of course, that might just be for the storyline. 

This is common with most moves to foreign countries.  The only ways in which a South African passport holder can live and work freely and legally in the UK is if they qualify under the Tier 2 work permit category, have rights to apply for a UK ancestral visa through a British born grandparent, have rights to apply for settlement through a British spouse, fiancé or partner.  Hubby must have skills that qualified to get a job offer that would do all the paperwork needed for him to get a Tier 2 work permit.  Wifey may be able to get a job offer once she sees the lay of the land or she may have to wait until she meets the time requirement to apply for settlement to get a work permit.  I qualify via the UK ancestral visa program through two British born grandparents, but live & work in Canada instead. HHI should discuss this more so people know how hard it can be financially to move to a foreign country. Getting a mortgage is also much harder to qualify for in countries outside of US/Canada.

Richard Blanco is the best part of HHI in London!

Edited April 7, 2021 by deirdra

[laredhead]

Was the London couple married?  The man said he was happy with the relationship status (or words to that effect) and didn't want to rock the boat by insisting on his way with the style of their abode.  I got the impression they weren't married.

[StatisticalOutlier]

14 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

I don't like that only the husband has a job, and the wife claims her choices should determine what they rent, when she doesn't have a job.   Of course, that might just be for the storyline. 

I think the point is that she's going to be the one who spends most of the time at home, because she was studying whatever she has to study to get licensed to practice law in England. 

I loved the traditional street where the second house was.  I would be super happy walking down that sidewalk to get home.

[aghst]

5 hours ago, laredhead said:

Was the London couple married?  The man said he was happy with the relationship status (or words to that effect) and didn't want to rock the boat by insisting on his way with the style of their abode.  I got the impression they weren't married.

I thought there were a couple of wedding pictures early on when they were telling their backstory.

 

I don't remember this episode if it was a repeat.

I thought it odd that Richard would walk them into the homes but then left them to go look in the bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms on their own, meeting them later outside.

That sounds like conscious distancing.

The place they chose seem to be the best location, at least in terms of being near all the amenities people would want in a big city.  They didn't express a preference for being near shop and restaurants.  They were from Johannesburg so they may have lived in a similar city center.

Since she was going to be spending a lot of time at home, that should have the most appeal to her, not to mention it was a good commute for him, with the Tube station near that building.

Old home was in a residential area but apparently a much longer commute for him.  The fireplaces in UK homes have these busy decorative details rather than simple basic colors.  Or what's popular in the US when people renovate is to cover the facade with a nice stone surface like marble.  I think I prefer the latter.

 

BTW, what is the most common language in South Africa?  OK looked it up:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_South_Africa

Quote

The most common language spoken as a first language by South Africans is Zulu (23 percent), followed by Xhosa (16 percent), and Afrikaans (14 percent). English is the fourth most common first language in the country (9.6%), but is understood in most urban areas and is the dominant language in government and the media.[4]

Obviously shows for American TV are going to feature people speaking English.  I thought maybe most white South Africans spoke Afrikaans and English bilingually.

 

Edited April 7, 2021 by aghst

[chessiegal]

I just watched the beginning of the London episode. They are married. They showed a wedding photo.

[Grizzly]

Whangarel, New Zealand. The beach- side house isn't totally isolated. And I thought the kitchen was big enough. He seems like a real good dad.

[DonnaMae]

8 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I just watched the beginning of the London episode. They are married. They showed a wedding photo.

And they had the same last name.

[laredhead]

Thank you Chessiegal and DonnaMae for the info on the South African couple.  My attention must have been drifting at the beginning of the episode, and I didn't realize they were married. 

[Crashcourse]

New Zealand:  I really liked the dad, and his older son who accompanied him was a nice kid and not annoying at all.   The younger kid was adorable.  

[ArtFossil]

South Africa to London: I really don’t think she is going to pass her “conversion exam” to be able to practice law in London. And this is probably a good thing  for any potential clients as she just comes across as double-dumb. 

[Grizzly]

Maynooth, Ireland. What kid needs a queen size bed? I slept in a twin till my late 20s. TMI?

You knew the wife was getting what she wanted. Since they all sacrificed for his job. You made the decision together, don't use it as a weapon. It did have the most space. Kind of funny they have 3 kids and wanted 3 bedrooms while over on HH, single mom of 1 kid insisted on 4 bedrooms.

[aghst]

8 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

New Zealand:  I really liked the dad, and his older son who accompanied him was a nice kid and not annoying at all.   The younger kid was adorable.  

Beautiful locale.  Waterfront for $1400.  The other choice was a nicer appointed home but he was set on the water or maybe the price difference mattered.

[aghst]

Siem Reap.  Her choice for the non-modern home with the wet bathroom was surprising but it's definitely diving into the culture.

She really didn't want to share the kitchen.  But it was also cheaper, resulting in rent which was less than half the original price.

Maybe the realtor guy couldn't find a place closer to $500 which had room to park the bar cycle thing?

Even the more expensive place was well under her budget so he's right, she could have gone out to eat a lot.

Is Ankor Watt the main and only attraction of that city?  Seemed pretty far inland so maybe not too many other attractions.  Nicely terraced rice paddies are scenic to look at or ride bicycles through.  They have such tours in Vietnam so maybe they have something similar there too.

Interesting that her desire for travel was ignited by seeing travel pictures from her stepmother when her parents divorced and her mother re-married.

[proserpina65]

On ‎04‎/‎06‎/‎2021 at 10:45 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

HHI rerun, of a couple moving from South Africa to London, and mostly are worried about her cats.      I love that Richard is the agent.   I have to laugh when the wife says the second place looks old, and the man is looking for traditional, and character.    I guess Richard should explain that traditional and character means old.  The look on Richard's face when the woman says that she puts at least one of the cats on a leash, and takes it for a walk is hysterical.  At the beginning Richard tells the house hunters that his first job was as a dancer near where the first apartment is.  

I don't like that only the husband has a job, and the wife claims her choices should determine what they rent, when she doesn't have a job.   Of course, that might just be for the storyline. 

I really hated her.  It's fine to not like older places or to want modern looking furniture, but the way she said it ("This looks like it came from a thrift shop" or something to that effect) was downright nasty.

My brother and his now ex-wife used to walk their cats on leashes, and he did that with last cat he had as well.  The current one hates the harness, so it doesn't really go for walks.

 

On ‎04‎/‎06‎/‎2021 at 11:01 PM, Grizzly said:

London. Richard, his voice is so comforting. He is dying to see those cats being walked. I'm team Luca, I would want more traditional if I were living in London. Of course he's giving in. The modern place does have an awesome view.

Until they build that building which is clearly going up in the empty lot.

On ‎04‎/‎07‎/‎2021 at 2:03 PM, aghst said:

Since she was going to be spending a lot of time at home, that should have the most appeal to her, not to mention it was a good commute for him, with the Tube station near that building.

The commute would be the only deciding factor for me.

On ‎04‎/‎07‎/‎2021 at 2:03 PM, aghst said:

Old home was in a residential area but apparently a much longer commute for him.  The fireplaces in UK homes have these busy decorative details rather than simple basic colors.  Or what's popular in the US when people renovate is to cover the facade with a nice stone surface like marble.  I think I prefer the latter.

I like the details, depending on what they are.  I don't like basic color fireplaces or plain stone surfaces.  But it really depends on the color of the tiling for me.

On ‎04‎/‎07‎/‎2021 at 11:10 PM, Grizzly said:

Whangarel, New Zealand. The beach- side house isn't totally isolated. And I thought the kitchen was big enough. He seems like a real good dad.

I mostly agree, but I hated that he was walking around other people's houses in his bare feet.  At least he could've put on some flip flops (or thongs, as they say in NZ).

[Crashcourse]

4 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

I mostly agree, but I hated that he was walking around other people's houses in his bare feet.  At least he could've put on some flip flops (or thongs, as they say in NZ).

I've seen episodes in some Asian countries where the clients are told to take their shoes off.  Maybe it's not a big deal in NZ and it's ok to be barefoot?  

[proserpina65]

1 hour ago, Crashcourse said:

I've seen episodes in some Asian countries where the clients are told to take their shoes off.  Maybe it's not a big deal in NZ and it's ok to be barefoot?  

Maybe.  I think in Asian countries, though, the people are wearing socks at least.  I know NZ is pretty laidback but I just looked at his feet and thought "what have you been stepping in?".  Which could apply to shoes as well but at least that's not on my feet.  Not a big deal, really, 'cause he seemed pretty cool otherwise, and he was great with his kids.  He seems pretty committed to his love of pizza, though.

I liked the second place the best as far as style, but I totally would've taken the place by the beach.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

I mostly agree, but I hated that he was walking around other people's houses in his bare feet. 

That wouldn't bother me at all; in fact, I prefer it.  I don't mind if people leave their shoes on when they come into my house, but I'm happy if they take them off (which most of my friends do, since they don't wear shoes at home, either, so they have the same habit I do) - because no shoes in the house means not having to vacuum quite as often.

[chessiegal]

People in Hawaii usually take off their shoes when going into a house. I don't remember - was he barefoot the whole time, inside and out?

[Grizzly]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

People in Hawaii usually take off their shoes when going into a house. I don't remember - was he barefoot the whole time, inside and out?

Yes. So whatever he walked through outside came inside.

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

Yes. So whatever he walked through outside came inside.

And the same thing happens when you keep your shoes on outside and inside.

[LittleIggy]

Friday morning on Morning Edition, there was a mention of a bunch of monkeys escaping from a zoo SW of Stuttgart. My first thought upon hearing that was of Kevin showing the monkeys a nice flat in the center city  part of Stuttgart. 😆 PS, the monkeys were recaptured after enjoying some fun in the sun.

Edited April 10, 2021 by LittleIggy

[Kiddvideo]

I wonder if we’re going to get more episodes from NZ or Australia since they’ve been more successful opening up after COVID. We might have to watch locals moving to other local places since their borders were closed, but I could live with that.

[aghst]

12 hours ago, Kiddvideo said:

I wonder if we’re going to get more episodes from NZ or Australia since they’ve been more successful opening up after COVID. We might have to watch locals moving to other local places since their borders were closed, but I could live with that.

That would be nice but then they'd need crew on the ground there.  They can hire free lance camera and sound people but can they get free lance producers who'd put things together, coordinate the shoots and the logistics of the House Hunters?

Also they usually show the House Mounters at home in the US at a going-away party with family and friends before they fly to their new supposed homes.

I guess they could have people in the US put that footage together and have people overseas do their part.

You wonder how big the permanent production staff is, over the years.  Someone has been coordinating with freelancers probably in other countries.

Then on top of that, HGTV is trying to churn out exclusive content for Discovery + so where do they get the staff for all these shows?  They must have more shows in production than CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox.  And while reality shows in general are easier and cheaper to produce, HHI has to deal with logistics in other countries.

About a couple of years ago, they had a ton of episodes in the Caribbean or maybe Central America and Mexico, than Europe, Asia or Oceania.  Some of us speculated they're going cheap because and focusing on destinations closer to home, so that it's easier to produce than having to send personnel to other continents.

Seems most of that is gone now or was until the pandemic hit.  Actually many of the islands in the Carribean had to be more strict on lockdowns because of limited medical resources.  But now, they may be opening up to tourism and other non-essential travel before Europe, certainly before Asia and Oceania.

So maybe we will see a ton of episodes mostly from those small islands, where people are buying expensive vacation homes essentially.

Edited April 10, 2021 by aghst

[awaken]

8 hours ago, aghst said:

That would be nice but then they'd need crew on the ground there.  They can hire free lance camera and sound people but can they get free lance producers who'd put things together, coordinate the shoots and the logistics of the House Hunters?

Also they usually show the House Mounters at home in the US at a going-away party with family and friends before they fly to their new supposed homes.

I guess they could have people in the US put that footage together and have people overseas do their part.

You wonder how big the permanent production staff is, over the years.  Someone has been coordinating with freelancers probably in other countries.

Then on top of that, HGTV is trying to churn out exclusive content for Discovery + so where do they get the staff for all these shows?  They must have more shows in production than CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox.  And while reality shows in general are easier and cheaper to produce, HHI has to deal with logistics in other countries.

About a couple of years ago, they had a ton of episodes in the Caribbean or maybe Central America and Mexico, than Europe, Asia or Oceania.  Some of us speculated they're going cheap because and focusing on destinations closer to home, so that it's easier to produce than having to send personnel to other continents.

Seems most of that is gone now or was until the pandemic hit.  Actually many of the islands in the Carribean had to be more strict on lockdowns because of limited medical resources.  But now, they may be opening up to tourism and other non-essential travel before Europe, certainly before Asia and Oceania.

So maybe we will see a ton of episodes mostly from those small islands, where people are buying expensive vacation homes essentially.

House Mounters!  Love it. 

[chessiegal]

Lately I've noticed they're not showing the people on the show in the before locale.

[Cetacean]

2 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Lately I've noticed they're not showing the people on the show in the before locale.

Since we know these folks have been living in their "new" homes for quite some time, it's probably a Covid thing.  No flying back to film fade "before" scenes.

[LittleIggy]

On 4/8/2021 at 4:55 PM, Crashcourse said:

New Zealand:  I really liked the dad, and his older son who accompanied him was a nice kid and not annoying at all.   The younger kid was adorable.  

The older son did annoy me. I kept saying “the one who pays the rent wins, kid.” The dad was a nice looking dude. Too bad he ruined his ears like that. I hate earlobe plugs. Bovine nose pierces, too.

[Crashcourse]

11 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

The older son did annoy me. I kept saying “the one who pays the rent wins, kid.” The dad was a nice looking dude. Too bad he ruined his ears like that. I hate earlobe plugs. Bovine nose pierces, too.

Well, the dad could have gone by himself but he brought the older son along for his input.  He wasn't annoying to me, and he even cracked a few jokes. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

From what I've read, a lot of the episodes are shot as the person is leaving to move back home, or to where ever they're moving next.    Then the family goodbye party is actually shot when they're back home.     The HHI is really scripted, and I just watch it to see the different places, and to see Richard, and some other fun agents.  

[proserpina65]

On ‎04‎/‎09‎/‎2021 at 9:09 PM, Grizzly said:

Yes. So whatever he walked through outside came inside.

Yeah, that's what bothered me.  I'd have been fine if he was wearing shoes and taking them off when he went in the houses because that is what I do at home.  But going from bare feet outdoors to bare feet indoors bugged me.  Then again, I'm not a "run around barefoot outside" person anyway.

The son didn't bother me, which is a surprise because usually kids bug me.  I could relate to his wanting to be in town where there'd be more kids around to make friends with.  But it worked out for the family at the beach place.

[Grizzly]

Edinburgh, Scotland. I'd pick #1 or 2.  He was quite persuasive, "your time with the family is worth more than money." Good line.

[aghst]

Looks like last year in Edinburgh.  Spotted some masked people on the shots of them walking in the streets.

Guy was worried about finding comedy gigs, coming from that comedy club hotbed of Merdian, Idaho to Edinburgh.

Definitely chose the right house.  Wanting to save money for travel or "fun stuff" is a good goal.  Or it's another HHI trope.

But vacations and other entertainment expenses comprise maybe a few weeks out of the year?  So are they going to be miserable with cramped rooms, tiny refrigerators, one small bathrooms the rest of the year?

 

 

[buttersister]

9 hours ago, aghst said:

Wanting to save money for travel or "fun stuff" is a good goal.  Or it's another HHI trope.

If a young couple plans to go off on regular weekend adventures, they might compromise this way. Otherwise, trope city.

[Grrarrggh]

6 hours ago, buttersister said:

If a young couple plans to go off on regular weekend adventures, they might compromise this way. Otherwise, trope city.

More than just "young couple" like to travel. 

[seacliffsal]

Again, we have a house hunter who insists that "old architecture" equals "authentic."  Well, the fact that the apartment/house is in Scotland means that it is an "authentic" Scottish residence no matter what it looks like or what the architectural style.  She insisted on that term many times.  Maybe she meant "historic building/residence" but because she kept saying "authentic" I had to keep saying out loud "it IS authentic."  I agree with their decision to rent the city center apartment.  Plenty to explore in Scotland-don't always need to get a way to other countries every opportunity.

[buttersister]

Quote

More than just "young couple" like to travel. 

Indeed. But very frequent trips when you have school-age kids aren't as likely to happen. So sacrificing space and location for the travel fund makes more sense. Same for empty nesters, to your point.

[Grizzly]

Warsaw, Poland. That couple had an interesting dynamic. Not what I would want in a relationship but it seemed to work for them. Even if the realtor didn't always look comfortable.