House Hunters International - General Discussion

[deirdra]

I was on sabbatical in France and many grad students wanted to practice their English with me.  I noticed one sounded like he was from Syracuse NY so I asked where he learned English, thinking he may have been an exchange student at one point. Nope, he had learned English in Toulouse France, but his teacher was from Utica NY.  Most of his francophone classmates spoke English with various British accents. A Chinese grad student here practiced English with his office mate from Newfoundland all the time and ended up sounding like a born and bred "bayman".

Edited August 29, 2021 by deirdra

[Grizzly]

Bury St. Edmunds, England. With the name, how much more charm do you need? If her boutique is that important to her, why doesn't she stay in the US like his other deployments? I could live in any of these, because I know true English properties don't have large rooms. So she brought all her clothes to England in order to ship them back to her customers in the states? I shouldn't criticize a woman entrepreneur, but did she once think of if a space would work for her kids?

[LittleIggy]

Moving from Nebraska to England? How awful! 🙄 She annoyed me. I don’t understand about her boutique. Did people go into her home in Nebraska to shop? Where did she get her merch? Those headbands were awful.

[GrannySmith]

5 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Moving from Nebraska to England? How awful! 🙄 She annoyed me. I don’t understand about her boutique. Did people go into her home in Nebraska to shop? Where did she get her merch? Those headbands were awful.

I was wondering if it was Lularoe. 

[jacksgirl]

7 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Moving from Nebraska to England? How awful! 🙄 She annoyed me. I don’t understand about her boutique. Did people go into her home in Nebraska to shop? Where did she get her merch? Those headbands were awful.

And the earrings.....

[cinsays]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Moving from Nebraska to England? How awful! 🙄 She annoyed me. I don’t understand about her boutique. Did people go into her home in Nebraska to shop? Where did she get her merch? Those headbands were awful.

I'm guessing her loyal customers are just friends buying the stuff to help her feel like she's doing something.  And now they have to pay more in shipping. 

And was it just that forlorn looking rack of clothes? and she needs a whole room dedicated to this? 

[abbyzenn]

Derbyshire - the area was quite pretty.  Surprisingly they didn't complain about the very small rooms.  

Bury St. Edmonds - agree it was weird about the "boutique."  She obviously didn't make $300 a month from it since they couldn't get the modern place.  I think she said one of the stupidest comments ever on this show "I didn't think they'd have modern in England." - seriously does she think nothing has been built in England in the last 100 or so years????  Or that no one today or in the last 50 or so years has updated the inside of their house????

The first two houses were odd -lots of steps - and surprisingly she didn't say anything about the master bedroom on a different floor.  Why would you want a house where you walk into the kitchen dining room and then have to go downstairs for the living room?  It did seem her overriding concern was her boutique.

[buttersister]

2 hours ago, abbyzenn said:

Or that no one today or in the last 50 or so years has updated the inside of their house????

Maybe that's based on her fashion sense? I didn't catch if she'd ever been out of Nebraska? 

When I first saw it was England, I started looking for Richard. Then, I wondered how he'd cope with the headband, and the matching sweater color and lipstick. 

[Grrarrggh]

2 hours ago, buttersister said:

Maybe that's based on her fashion sense? I didn't catch if she'd ever been out of Nebraska? 

Grew up and married in NH she said. 

[seacliffsal]

I think her "boutique" has to be in conjunction with a U.S. based e-commerce business.  She probably represents (or "curates") the clothes but her customers are actually ordering directly from the company and hence the shipping is within the U.S.  She continually mentioned how important the business was to her.  I was surprised that she hadn't relocated before so I think there's more to their story.

[DanaMB]

13 hours ago, GrannySmith said:

I was wondering if it was Lularoe. 

Same. Don’t they often do those live promotions showing off the clothes?

[aghst]

Did she even mention the boutique in the follow up?

Sounds like she was told to make that one of her top criteria and to repeat it over and over again.

The realtor wasn't bad but it appeared in the map that this place was in SE England so it would be close to London.

They should have had Richard on there rolling his eyes every time she went on about the boutique, since it's ridiculous that she needs room in the home for that.  What must Nebraska be like if they don't have proper boutiques.

 

 

[Grrarrggh]

6 minutes ago, aghst said:

The realtor wasn't bad but it appeared in the map that this place was in SE England so it would be close to London.

Bury St Edmund's is definitely not in SE England. It's in East Anglia. 

[LittleIggy]

Spain: Nice to see Nick the Silver Fox again. The wife must be awfully persuasive to get her hubby to leave his career to go teach English in Spain. Or maybe he hated his career. I don’t know. Just seems weird.

[Cetacean]

8 hours ago, aghst said:

Did she even mention the boutique in the follow up?

Sounds like she was told to make that one of her top criteria and to repeat it over and over again.

Yes, the follow up showed her modeling an ugly sweater in front of her laptop doing an online fashion show. 

And I agree, the producers probably thought "oh, something different, a new plot point that we can beat to death".  Man, that was painful to watch. If she had said "boutique" one more time I was going to throw the remote at the TV.  Enough already.  Sad that her entire existence apparently revolves around some ugly LuLaRags and not her husband or kids.

[Rootbeer]

1 hour ago, Cetacean said:

Yes, the follow up showed her modeling an ugly sweater in front of her laptop doing an online fashion show. 

And I agree, the producers probably thought "oh, something different, a new plot point that we can beat to death".  Man, that was painful to watch. If she had said "boutique" one more time I was going to throw the remote at the TV.  Enough already.  Sad that her entire existence apparently revolves around some ugly LuLaRags and not her husband or kids.

I agree, she wasn't talking about an actual boutique in the home where people came to shop.  She probably is hooked up with one of a zillion MLM's like Lularoe or Cabi; that encourage their reps to cultivate an online presence and do online fashion shows, etc to get people to buy.  Even though those companies started out with in-person 'parties' held in a willing customer's home, they've evolved into doing the 'parties' online in many cases. Her husband is in the military, she probably had plenty of opportunity to approach other military wives to purchase her wares and the online angle meant they could continue to shop with her as the conduit even if she wasn't living stateside.  

Madrid:  I get wanting to return to her birthplace where she apparently still had family, but, if all they could afford was $750 a month for a 3 bedroom, two bath air conditioned place in Madrid, no less; then perhaps their plan wasn't workable.

I know they ended up paying more than $750 and only got 2 bedrooms; but, if it was such a drastic paycut for her husband to relocate, why not put it off for a bit or save some money first to compensate for the income drop, especially with small kids? That being said, the husband seemed quite an odd duck.

Edited September 2, 2021 by Rootbeer

[Grizzly]

Madrid, Spain. Nick, the original Silver Fox! Are they crazy with that budget? They're in a capital city and want 3 bed/2 bath for $750! I think 900 is a good deal.

Sydney, Australia. House #2, I don't think adding a kitchen island is a renovation. And I thought the bathrooms were fine. But then again, I don't have the means to blow1.4 mil on a house. They seem like a good couple. And they want to get a dog, hope it all goes well for them.

 

[aghst]

15 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Spain: Nice to see Nick the Silver Fox again. The wife must be awfully persuasive to get her hubby to leave his career to go teach English in Spain. Or maybe he hated his career. I don’t know. Just seems weird.

Yeah there must be some other reason for moving, other than just her wanting to return to her roots.

Maybe there's family that she wanted her children to know.

And a lot of people may feel nostalgia for the decor and furnishings of the homes they grew up in but most wouldn't want to live in such places again.  At least not on HH shows, everyone wants renovated, modern, etc.

There might have also been public transport options from that modern apt. but it could eat into their budget.  However, if the kids have to go to school in the city center, then it probably makes commuting impossible.

[Grizzly]

Noosa Head, Australia. I'm starting to like/feel sorry for realtor Ian. He seems to get all the problem people. I'm not sure who bugged me more, Teena or Ruby. The faces those two made. Teena might be a teensy bit resentful about giving up the job she loved. Not quite sure how she was going to turn that quirky, architectural home into her own, take down the catwalk? Agreed that the paint color could be more like the blue house.

[aghst]

Sydney, Australia.

Couple wanted a 4-bedroom home.  He mentioned starting a family but for now they get a puppy and she wants to find a job.

They don't mention when it was filmed but they take two cars to view the homes and at the end, the husband is talking to parents over video chat.  He says he's originally from Queensland.

In Australia, even  travel between the different states is locked down, very controlled.  New South Wales is seeing a lot of covid cases right now so they wouldn't be allowed to visit other states or vice versa for people in other states trying to visit NSW.

Yet they want big home with lots of bedrooms and big open entertaining spaces inside and outside.

Manly is lovely from what I've seen but if you need to work and commute to the CBD, you have to take a ferry ride.  So the idea of being too far north of Manly, so that you have to probably bus down to the ferry port, then take the ferry, maybe take another bus to reach the office, isn't covered on the show.

Maybe his job was in Manly so he wouldn't have to take the ferry at all.  At the end they show her walking by one of the green and yellow ferries.

$1.4 million isn't bad for a roomy 4-bedroom townhouse with backyard, even if the neighbors are close.  I remember my first visit to Sydney, I was walking around not too far from Bondi beach and there were for sale signs on the homes.  They didn't look special from the outside.  In fact they were wedged together and it wasn't too much distance from the street and sidewalk to the front doors.  But these homes were $2.5-3.5 million so unless they had huge backyards, they didn't even look that spacious.  They were some distance away from the CBD too so you could take a bus but it would be a long commute.  However, if you walked a block or two, you'd be right on the east coast of Australia, looking out over the Tasman sea.  No beaches there, you'd have to drive or take a bus to the south.  I think in the last 20 years, they've had a lot of immigration from Asia so property prices were bid up.

But it's a great lifestyle, you could take long hikes along stunning coastline, where they have very clean and solid boardwalks and pathways winding up and down the coast.

[Koalagirl]

11 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Noosa Head, Australia. I'm starting to like/feel sorry for realtor Ian. He seems to get all the problem people. I'm not sure who bugged me more, Teena or Ruby. The faces those two made. Teena might be a teensy bit resentful about giving up the job she loved. Not quite sure how she was going to turn that quirky, architectural home into her own, take down the catwalk? Agreed that the paint color could be more like the blue house.

I’ve seen a lot of obnoxious kids on HHI, but Ruby takes one of the top spots.  Unless she’s willing to break open her piggy bank and donate it to the cause she shouldn’t have been given so much authority in the decision-making process.  

[cinsays]

11 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Noosa Head, Australia. I'm starting to like/feel sorry for realtor Ian. He seems to get all the problem people. I'm not sure who bugged me more, Teena or Ruby. The faces those two made. Teena might be a teensy bit resentful about giving up the job she loved. Not quite sure how she was going to turn that quirky, architectural home into her own, take down the catwalk? Agreed that the paint color could be more like the blue house.

yikes, I vote for Ruby

maybe I just don't like kids that have a strong opinion, but she really annoyed me and seemed to have an entitled attitude.  and how old was she? sometimes acted like an early teen and others like a 5 year old.

and Teena is just so wonderful that she can spend all that money without a secured job? I think it said that the poor husband did not work, or did I miss something?

 

[Texasmom1970]

Noosa, man that poor husband was steam rolled by his wife and daughter. 

He must be a saint to stay married to her that long. Her eclectic home to me was just fugly. Big blue was much better.

[Pine]

Could barely stand watching Noosa Head......but, I do want to know where Teena gets her lovely sun dresses!   

 

On a HHI note, those prices are like around Microsoft in Washington State.  

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by Pine

[aghst]

6 hours ago, Texasmom1970 said:

Noosa, man that poor husband was steam rolled by his wife and daughter. 

He must be a saint to stay married to her that long. Her eclectic home to me was just fugly. Big blue was much better.

That pipsqueak voice, made even more high-pitched by FaceTime.

I mean if her input was so expensive, why didn't they drag her to the homes?

Where was she while she was FaceTiming them?  Probably with some HHI producers so it was a TV stunt.

Still wonder what kind of jobs you can have in what appears to be mostly a vacation resort.  The other recent Noosa episode with the nurse, she got a job at a hospital there but are there big accounting firms there as well?

[LittleIggy]

6 hours ago, aghst said:

That pipsqueak voice, made even more high-pitched by FaceTime.

I mean if her input was so expensive, why didn't they drag her to the homes?

Where was she while she was FaceTiming them?  Probably with some HHI producers so it was a TV stunt.

Still wonder what kind of jobs you can have in what appears to be mostly a vacation resort.  The other recent Noosa episode with the nurse, she got a job at a hospital there but are there big accounting firms there as well?

Ugh, that kid was super-annoying! I just don’t get people moving like that without securing a job beforehand. 

 

13 hours ago, cinsays said:

yikes, I vote for Ruby

maybe I just don't like kids that have a strong opinion, but she really annoyed me and seemed to have an entitled attitude.  and how old was she? sometimes acted like an early teen and others like a 5 year old.

and Teena is just so wonderful that she can spend all that money without a secured job? I think it said that the poor husband did not work, or did I miss something?

 

Ruby was 10. Only child of well-off older parents. Guaranteed spoilage!
Re the husband’s employment status: That’s what I got from it. He was a SAHD.

[laredhead]

Noosa, last night my son and DIL and I were watching this episode.  Son and family are at my house this week because Hurricane Ida has left them w/o power since Sunday night.  Halfway through the episode, my son says "What is wrong with that woman.  Those houses are beautiful."  By the end of the episode he was thoroughly disgusted with her expectations, and the husband's seemingly total acquiescence to the daughter who is the same age as my grandson.  He wanted her to have to go live in his house for a week w/o electricity to change her idea of what was acceptable - lol.  I didn't like the house with the metal stairs and catwalk that you could see through.  Those make me uneasy.  All were very nice places, and I always like to see the landscaping in the Australian episodes.

[Grrarrggh]

Blimey you guys are hard on children. Ruby seemed like a very normal ten year old, not super braty or anything. Are posters here time-traveling from Victorian England where children should be seen and not heard? 

I didn't mind her Mum at all either. I'd be bored to death in a week after leaving a job like she had and would want a project too if I had the money. If Hubby didn't like it he has vocal chords, feet and an adult brain. 

[Rootbeer]

1 hour ago, Grrarrggh said:

Blimey you guys are hard on children. Ruby seemed like a very normal ten year old, not super braty or anything. Are posters here time-traveling from Victorian England where children should be seen and not heard? 

I didn't mind her Mum at all either. I'd be bored to death in a week after leaving a job like she had and would want a project too if I had the money. If Hubby didn't like it he has vocal chords, feet and an adult brain. 

I thought Ruby was trying to be 'TV kid cute' for the cameras which is never cute.  Considering she was providing none of the funds to purchase the new home, the way the parents gave her so much control over which house they chose was off-putting.

The reason a 10 year old shouldn't have final say as to what home the parents will buy was summed up in the fact that Ruby's #1 requirement for any home they chose was that it have a pink bedroom for her and, even at the end of the show, was still complaining that her room wasn't pink yet.  

I think that family had a dynamic that worked for them which depended on Ruby and her mother constantly criticizing her husband's opinions and putting him down.  When Ruby gloated that it was '2 against 1' and that she and her mother should get the house they wanted; I found it telling.  The kid needs to learn that the world is not all about her and that, at age 10, her opinion is welcome, but not the deciding one.  I have a feeling daddy gets outvoted all the time by Ruby and mommy whether on what house they'll buy, where they'll live or Ruby's bedtime, activities or wardrobe.

If the wife was concerned about how to fill her time since she wasn't working, there are plenty of other things she could do besides remodel the house.  Aside from the cost, her husband will be living in the midst of the commotion and mess of construction and he was entitled to not want to deal with it.  Surely Teena had other hobbies she could pursue to fill her time.

[aghst]

They usually don't have kids going with the parents.  They might have them look at pictures afterwards or they ask for a pool or something.

I don't know why they chose to have this kid participate.

Again, the producers may have been babysitting her while the father FaceTimed with her.

For whatever reason they thought it was a good idea to get her comments and put them on the air?  They could have edited them out.

Maybe she's good at repeating the scripted talking points that producers want the hunters to emphasize.

 

[cinsays]

1 hour ago, aghst said:

They usually don't have kids going with the parents.  They might have them look at pictures afterwards or they ask for a pool or something.

I don't know why they chose to have this kid participate.

Again, the producers may have been babysitting her while the father FaceTimed with her.

For whatever reason they thought it was a good idea to get her comments and put them on the air?  They could have edited them out.

Maybe she's good at repeating the scripted talking points that producers want the hunters to emphasize.

 

or maybe the producers just found her as annoying as I did and decided to share that with the world

[buttersister]

It’s bad enough when hunters make themselves annoying, but exposing your children to that “opportunity “ seems like bad judgement. Apparently, a lot of people bought into Andy Warhol.

(He predicted that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes;-)

[slasherboy]

The place with the metal stairs and catwalk ... absolutely not! It was directly over their kitchen; how could they possibly clean it without all the dirt and debris falling through onto their counters, stove, refrigerator, island and whatever was sitting them them and exposed to the ick. Not in my house!

Didn't need or want Ruby on my screen. The voice.

And yes, I very much appreciate the Victorian policy of children being seen but not heard.

[LittleIggy]

12 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

Blimey you guys are hard on children. Ruby seemed like a very normal ten year old, not super braty or anything. Are posters here time-traveling from Victorian England where children should be seen and not heard? 

I didn't mind her Mum at all either. I'd be bored to death in a week after leaving a job like she had and would want a project too if I had the money. If Hubby didn't like it he has vocal chords, feet and an adult brain. 

No, we’re  just people with our own opinions. You don’t have to agree with them but there is no need to insult us. I don’t care to listen to kids spouting off about what they have to have in a house. That’s not why I watch HHI.

As for the mother, we don’t really know why she quit her great job. If she was pressured into it, that’s her problem.

[tessaray]

It's fine to have your own opinion on the HHI participants but it's not okay to criticize your fellow posters on their opinions. 

I'm going to leave the existing posts for the time being since removing them pretty much affects the whole episode commentary.  But no more discussion of other poster's opinions on kids, please.

[chocolatine]

Just watched the Bury St. Edmunds episode, and wow, the wife's styling was really hard on the eyes! Based on them talking about getting married at 19 and the husband having been in the military for 15 years, they should both be in their mid-30s, but she looks middle-aged. She would look so much better with a less severe dye job, a much softer makeup color palette, fewer accessories, and less garish, more tailored clothes. I can't believe she finds customers for her "boutique."

The husband seems lovely and the kids are adorable, but she looked upset the entire time. I get that it's hard to move to another country (I've done it multiple times myself), but why not be thankful for the opportunity and embrace the adventure? She says she likes English charm and from what I could see, the town has it in spades.

Edited September 7, 2021 by chocolatine

[LittleIggy]

Bury St. Edmunds: Yeah, I noticed she looked upset all the time too. It’s not as if she was having to deal with a place where they didn’t speak the language! 🤦‍♀️

Edited September 8, 2021 by LittleIggy

[Grizzly]

North Holland. I would watch the James, Sarah, and Tom show. The zany antics such as the catwalk closet had me laughing. If some found them annoying and too extra, I can see that. If I were in a different mood, I'd agree. I loved house #1 but after seeing how much the dogs enjoyed #2, fine. Guess an extra 600k was no big deal.

Berlin, wft no Kevin?! We need to write letters. Didn't pay much attention to the episode. Just concentrated on Clifford.

[LittleIggy]

Germany: Where is Kevin! We want Kevin! We want Kevin! 😭

The dog was totes adorbs. I hate the guy (who probably had the better paying job) had to have such a long commute.

The Netherlands: Another couple who look like dad and son. Tom has the bucks! That was the smallest Big Green Egg grill I have ever seen.  I used to like Sarah, but she is getting on my last nerve with her mugging and antics. I prefer Floor for the Netherlands.

 

 

Edited September 8, 2021 by LittleIggy

[cberg]

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Germany: Where is Kevin! We want Kevin! We want Kevin! 😭

The dog was totes adorbs. I hate the guy (who probably had the better paying job) had to have such a long commute.

The Netherlands: Another couple who look like dad and son. Tom has the bucks! That was the smallest Big Green Egg grill I have ever seen.  I used to like Sarah, but she is getting on my last nerve with her mugging and antics. I prefer Floor for the Netherlands.

 

 

Sarah is the best though...maybe after Adrian in France. So many of the other agents end up making the show so boring...at least Adrian and Sarah get their customers to open up and express themselves...Otherwise it would be such a boring show! I agree with you on Kevin! He is an up and comer and would have made the Germany show tolerable. Those people were just so blah blah boring. I kind of liked the positive vibes from the Netherlands couple. They seemed to genuineliy like each other and the whole process of looking at nice options. I think they picked the right house, I just hope that they plan to paint it all the same color...the red brick, white brick, brown brick thing didn't work for me.

[aghst]

That couple in the Netherlands, seems like the older guy totally caved to the other one putting up with a long commute.

They needed a big yard so they wouldn’t have to walk them in a public park?  I thought dog owners took their dogs out for walks so they wouldn’t shit all over their own properties.

Aren’t dogs sometimes substitutes or preparation for children?  Well they have the room for them.

[LittleIggy]

Fine if you like Sarah, but I find her annoying. She isn’t in the same league with Adrian.

Edited September 8, 2021 by LittleIggy

[chessiegal]

Adrian really has a business finding properties for clients. Sarah is an actress. So yes - not the same league.

Adrian Leeds Group

Edited September 8, 2021 by chessiegal

[Crashcourse]

Sarah and her antics have spoiled the Netherlands episodes for me.  She is not cute.  I want to see Floor.

[buttersister]

I prefer Flor, but will watch Sarah—especially with that couple. Well balanced and respectful, and the house is great. And somehow Tom’s commute fell to 25 minutes, which he was originally not too opposed to.

Berlin without Kevin: I passed.

[LittleIggy]

Mexico City: Jones the dog was so cute. I’m glad he got such a nice outdoor area. I really loved that garden space.

[aghst]

The Berlin couple seemed like they were genuinely interested in travel.

He'd traveled a lot during college, she never had.  She was willing to give up her job in Chicago now that the opportunity presented itself for them to live in Berlin, with opportunities to travel from there.

More convincing than most other house hunters talking about how they wanted to give their children exposure to the world or whatever.

They seem to specifically reject the one with the most space and highest rent because it wasn't near restaurants and bars.

She said they'd never do the large kitchen justice anyways since they just like to go eat out.

[jacksgirl]

19 hours ago, Crashcourse said:

Sarah and her antics have spoiled the Netherlands episodes for me.  She is not cute.  I want to see Floor.

Yep. Sarah tries too hard for my liking. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by jacksgirl

[abbyzenn]

Amsterdam:  Just about fell out of my chair when the guy said their budget was 3 million!  Then they went $600,000 over.  

I agree the antics of Sarah are annoying and in this episode she was joined by the one home buyer.  Who goes into a kitchen and puts their face down on the kitchen island?  It seemed there was more antics than showing the houses.  I just got a sugar daddy vibe from the older guy who I thought seemed very nice.

Berlin:  That first place was so deceptive looking from the outside  - that living room wasn't more than a hallway with stairs( which took up half the floor space).  At least they were young so maybe walking up 6 flights of stairs multiple times a day isn't so bad.

[Cetacean]

I must be in the minority but I don't pay a whit of attention to the Realtors at all.  They are just background noise to me.

I thought the "do it yourself" pair in Mexico City were an interesting twist.  I wonder if they are still there and how they made out in the recent earthquake.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Cetacean