House Hunters International - General Discussion

[amarante]

18 minutes ago, aghst said:

Ah I got about 80 episodes of HH on mine, recorded as new.

Only watching the last segment and I still can't keep up.

Probably will delete them without watching.

I find that recording HH and HHI to be very strange.

I have two DVR cable boxes but the boxes are different. One will record more shows even though I have them both programmed for "new only". 

Some of them are so unmemorable - well most of them are unmemorable - and so I often can't remember viewing them. 🤷🏼‍♀️ but it is extremely odd that the DVR boxes somehow "read" the programming differently.

[Ms Blue Jay]

3 hours ago, aghst said:

Ah I got about 80 episodes of HH on mine, recorded as new.

Only watching the last segment and I still can't keep up.

Probably will delete them without watching.

On St. Patrick's Day, they reran like 10 Ireland episodes!  I recorded them all.

[proserpina65]

On 3/22/2022 at 11:03 PM, Grizzly said:

Glasgow, Scotland. Funny seeing the Aussies all bundled up and the realtor was wearing a blazer. With house #2, it was right on budget but Julian said it was too expensive. Why set that as the budget? And then they pick the 1 bathroom place far away from the train. I'm very confused.

I think the top of the budget is sometimes what they can stretch to afford but not really what they're comfortable with.  (And of course, we know they're already living in the place they "choose" on the show.)

I liked the first place but did question the practicality of the bathroom situation and location for them.  The family itself was okay, although I did find the wife's voice a little annoying.

23 hours ago, mojito said:

Glasgow might be charming, but it wouldn't be my cup of tea.

Scotland is a lovely place.  To visit.  In the summer.  I wouldn't want to live there in the winter.  Although, to be fair, I don't think I'd want to live in Brisbane year round either.  Melbourne or Adelaide, sure.

[Grizzly]

Tamarindo, Costa Rica. Another corporate couple looking to slow down by running a B&B. Sarah, oh I don't get many requests to look for B&Bs. 🙄

Nick has striking eyes. These properties look more like resorts than what I envision B&Bs to be. They all seem ideal. Not sure what they needed to do to the place they bought to get it ready for renters.

[Thumper]

I think B&Bs are so.much.work!!!  I don’t know how much free time they’ll have once they actually start up.  But good luck to them!

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, Thumper said:

I think B&Bs are so.much.work!!!  I don’t know how much free time they’ll have once they actually start up.  But good luck to them!

No kidding. Are they going to do the cooking, property maintenance, and housekeeping themselves (which I assume they are)? If so, they might look back fondly upon their corporate jobs. 😏  

I liked the first place best. The place she didn’t like because of the owners’ living area made me think “Lady, how much leisure space do you think you will need when you will be busy tending to guests?”

Edited March 25, 2022 by LittleIggy

[aghst]

Tamarindo couple are not married, don’t plan to, but pooling their savings to buy a property in CR.

He’s concerned about turning the capital invested into an income stream, wants a good return so wanted at least 3 rental units.

She wants a nice place to live in, like 3 bedroom and 2 baths with ocean views.  She liked the first property but thought the rooms were more hotel like.  Second property, the owners cast wasn’t up to her standards.  So she pushed him into property 3.

Timing is key.  Maybe CR tourism didn’t slow down too much during the pandemic but sharing space with strangers is probably not optimal.

How much do they know the hospitality market in that area?  For instance, do their clients generally rent cars or is there reliable public transportation to homes #1 and #3?
 

How much income can they get in town vs. more outlying areas?  Maybe being close to the beach is what most of their potential clients want, which would work for #3.

But if they wanted to go to dinner in town or maybe some organized tours or activities which start in town, then #1 and #3 may be bad options.

[mojito]

CO (I think) to Costa Rica

House 3 looked like a mistake to me. Of course, I think getting away from hectic lives to open a B&B is a mistake, too, because they know nothing about the business. In the end, she decided that having just the two rental units would be a good start for them. I imagine that running a B&B is just as much work as staying home all day with small children. Your work is never done. At least kids won't care if their beds aren't made or their bathrooms aren't cleaned each day, and they can often be fed cereal for breakfast (don't know how that stuff ever fueled my mornings as a child). You have two kitchenette areas, too, so additional cleaning related to people eating in the room. Pool maintenance. (shudder)

Horeseback riding in shorts and sandals? Amateurs...

[Grizzly]

Brisbane, Australia. Jesse is so deadpan, he's great. I know newlyweds can't get enough of each other but that 1 bed guesthouse seemed pretty small. Didn't think #2 would be it since no furniture and way over budget. If they're happy, I'm happy.

[LittleIggy]

Oz: Nice to see Jesse James again! Wonder if the wife started a wedding photography biz. She didn’t say in the follow-up.

[aghst]

Brisbane wife said more than once that she followed her husband to Australia for love, not that she was especially interested in living there.

I must have missed their main source of income?  It can't be working part time in a bike shop?

If their income doesn't improve much in a few years, she may not tolerate him only working part time.

But she's willing to put up with compromises in the place where they live for now.

[LittleIggy]

Brisbane: Maybe the husband has a military pension?

[aghst]

Can they get a pension that young?

They seem at most early 30s?

[mojito]

Brisbane

I didn't expect the couple to select the place they did. Kinda awkward layout, but why not? It's just them, they don't have a lot of stuff, they can always move after they're better established. 

I thought Australia had more stringent rules about the skills of non-Commonwealth people moving into the country. There's probably a lot more to this couple's story.

[LittleIggy]

5 hours ago, aghst said:

Can they get a pension that young?

They seem at most early 30s?

I don’t know. I was just spitballing there. Maybe he enlisted at 18, spent 20 years there, and has a young face.🤷🏼‍♀️

[kirklandia]

Brisbane. I'm fine with living small, but a couple of dealbreakers for me.
They really can't open the sliding glass door in their bedroom? No fresh air, only a ceiling fan? The owner has lost the key? Come on, that's an easy fix.
Dining table set up in the garage - hard no.

[LittleIggy]

23 minutes ago, kirklandia said:

Brisbane. I'm fine with living small, but a couple of dealbreakers for me.
They really can't open the sliding glass door in their bedroom? No fresh air, only a ceiling fan? The owner has lost the key? Come on, that's an easy fix.
Dining table set up in the garage - hard no.

No AC is a hard no for me.

[mojito]

I liked the agent. Another straight-shooting Aussie. I liked when they balked at a price tag and he threw back a paraphrasing of their earlier statement, "You want what you want". 

Edited March 31, 2022 by mojito

[StatisticalOutlier]

21 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I don’t know. I was just spitballing there. Maybe he enlisted at 18, spent 20 years there, and has a young face.🤷🏼‍♀️

I'd easily put him at 40, and assumed he did his 20 years in the military and retired.

In the opening, they showed the woman and the microwave in the pantry, and Jesse closing the door on her.  But I swear that wasn't in the actual episode.  Do they do that routinely?  I often skip the opening because I assume it's all in the episode. 

Also, I never saw a refrigerator in the kitchen.  Did anybody notice where it was?

15 hours ago, kirklandia said:

The owner has lost the key?

That was so weird.  Losing the key is one thing (and as you said, easily remedied), but the way Jesse lunged when she went to open the door.  If it's locked, it just won't open, right?  Why the alarm?

[Grizzly]

Mexico City. I'm sure it's just a story but you're going to uproot your 4 kids and move to Mexico without any plan of how you're earning money? It's possible they've done this before from what they said, but I couldn't live like that. That penthouse was really nice, I'm surprised Ashley caved so quickly. They must quite a savings if they can fork over 3k a month on rent are going to start a business from scratch.

[LittleIggy]

Mexico City: The husband objecting to the white stove not matching the stainless steel fridge really made me 🙄.

[Grrarrggh]

I laughed my ass off when he said they can start a private school that's cheaper and better than the ones that already exist. Moron. The trips they did to pyramids etc were completely lost on the younger girls. And btw, do they plan on teaching their children only about the well off and touristy parts of the world? Seems like. 

[LittleIggy]

5 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

I laughed my ass off when he said they can start a private school that's cheaper and better than the ones that already exist. Moron. The trips they did to pyramids etc were completely lost on the younger girls. And btw, do they plan on teaching their children only about the well off and touristy parts of the world? Seems like. 

Seriously! Why do people with no jobs need to live in one of the most expensive parts of Mexico City? An expat neighborhood no less. I guess I should be glad they weren’t interested in Mexican charm!

[aghst]

Mexico City - We know in many cases, they're already living in the home that they end up choosing.

They probably already had a business or at least a specific business plan when they moved but they portray it on the show as if they just picked up and moved because they fell in love with the city on one visit and some friends gave them ideas about what kind of business they could do.

Or they have a pretty fat bank account that they're able to rent a $3200 apartment, which is $500 more than what they were prepared to spend, without any prospects for income.

They probably knew Polanco was the most expensive district but scoped out the market and figured they could afford it.

So it's doubtful the couple decided to just move their family of 6 on a whim, with no plans for income.

They talk up how their kids have lived in all these different countries, like that is the only factor that drives their decisions, like they're some dreamers who don't care about finances -- money will always sort itself out.

 

[Grizzly]

Samara, Costa Rica. Don't remember it being mentioned before that this part of CR is a blue zone. That's pretty cool. And explains why Sarah is so busy. Apparently Charlotte doesn't want to talk to Lawrence. The remote house was nice and spacious. Yellow seems to be the predominant color tonight. The introvert won!

[LittleIggy]

Costa Rica: Hope they thoroughly vet those two “young entrepreneurs” before they hand large sums of money over to them.

[aghst]

2 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Costa Rica: Hope they thoroughly vet those two “young entrepreneurs” before they hand large sums of money over to them.

So they’re building a home after talking about a long term rental?

30 minute drive to the beach.  Pleasant when it’s sunny, though they have to run the AC.

But what happens when it rains?  They have a 4x4 but is it enough?

Beach walks, trips to stores and restaurants, yoga classes all require 30 minute drives each way.

 

 

[mojito]

Samara, Costa Rica

8 hours ago, aghst said:

So they’re building a home after talking about a long term rental?

Maybe I misinterpreted. I thought the original plan was to get a rental until they got a house built, in which case, they needed a rental long term, meaning several months.

[aghst]

1 hour ago, mojito said:

Samara, Costa Rica

Maybe I misinterpreted. I thought the original plan was to get a rental until they got a house built, in which case, they needed a rental long term, meaning several months.

I thought she said more than once as she looked at the properties that we might be in here for a long time.

Maybe long time in her mind meant the time it took to design and build a custom home.  I may have missed it but I didn't hear them talk about the custom home until the aftermath segment.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Something I noticed in I think two of the Costa Rica houses was a small trash can noticeably right next to the toilet instead of near the sink/counter.  It made me wonder if they have plumbing like in parts of Mexico, where you don't flush toilet paper but instead throw it away. 

 

[amarante]

7 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Something I noticed in I think two of the Costa Rica houses was a small trash can noticeably right next to the toilet instead of near the sink/counter.  It made me wonder if they have plumbing like in parts of Mexico, where you don't flush toilet paper but instead throw it away. 

 

🤣 I have modern plumbing with flushing toilets and the trash baskets in both of my bathrooms are by the toilets. That is solely because that is where they are out of the way because placing them any place other than there would mean they would be obstructing the relatively narrow aisle. If someone needed to move them temporarily closer they certainly could.   However my bathroom isn't so large that disposing of items in the trash presents logistical difficulties. 🤣 

 

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by amarante

[LittleIggy]

Costa Rica: Does she make money teaching those yoga classes? There must be eleventy billion of those classes online. 
I’m not an extrovert, but I would rather be in town where there are shops and places to go to than a half hour away in the jungle. 

[StatisticalOutlier]

1 minute ago, amarante said:

That is solely because that is where they are out of the way because placing them any place other than there would mean they would be obstructing the relatively narrow aisle.

Sure, if that's the only place it'll fit.  But it looked like the trash cans in the episode could have been elsewhere in these bathrooms, and closer to where someone would be who's throwing away cotton balls and kleenexes and whatnot.

[Koalagirl]

6 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Something I noticed in I think two of the Costa Rica houses was a small trash can noticeably right next to the toilet instead of near the sink/counter.  It made me wonder if they have plumbing like in parts of Mexico, where you don't flush toilet paper but instead throw it away. 

 

I have heard that about Costa Rica. Unless you’re in a modern hotel you don’t flush the toilet paper.  

[aghst]

That's the case in at least the Greek islands.

They put in narrow pipes, actually the British did after WWII.

So they put in a covered bin which is lined with plastic and ask you not to flush any paper or wipes down the toilet.

Not sure about mainland Greece.

 

[Grizzly]

Dublin, Ireland. People want to be in the city center but not on a busy street. They want to walk to restaurants but not be across the street from a pub. The stove seemed small but she's just one person. If only there was something to keep people from looking in my windows. Maybe St Louis doesn't have curtains?

[Thumper]

Repeat show from October 2021.  Chicago to Margate, Australia.  Why are HH’ers sitting in strangers’ bathtubs????!!!!   Wife’s voice and “quirkiness” annoyed me, but they were a cute couple.

[LittleIggy]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

Dublin, Ireland. People want to be in the city center but not on a busy street. They want to walk to restaurants but not be across the street from a pub. The stove seemed small but she's just one person. If only there was something to keep people from looking in my windows. Maybe St Louis doesn't have curtains?

Yeah, I was thinking the same things. When she mentioned the pub, I thought she was going to be happy not complain. 
The HH really phrased her desire for two bathrooms badly at one point. She made it sound as if she would be bringing men home and didn’t want the lads to mess up her bathroom. 🤣

[Kiddvideo]

Australia: I came in a little late. Please tell me they didn’t really ship a fake Christmas Tree to Australia and make 10’ ceilings one of their “must have” items to accommodate its height? At least make a show of bringing a tape measure rather than stretching your arms above your head to get approximate height.

Sorry, Cowboy Aussie.

[aghst]

12 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Dublin, Ireland. People want to be in the city center but not on a busy street. They want to walk to restaurants but not be across the street from a pub. The stove seemed small but she's just one person. If only there was something to keep people from looking in my windows. Maybe St Louis doesn't have curtains?

 

10 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Yeah, I was thinking the same things. When she mentioned the pub, I thought she was going to be happy not complain. 
The HH really phrased her desire for two bathrooms badly at one point. She made it sound as if she would be bringing men home and didn’t want the lads to mess up her bathroom. 🤣

She's used to a certain standard of living.

She had a complaint about every place they saw and the agent had to suppress a desire to roll her eyes and keep repeatedly telling her that's city living or you have to have tradeoffs.

I forgot how far she said her work was, sounded like a long commute, because she wanted to have amenities around her place.  But the reserved parking is no doubt a must in the center of any European capital.

[proserpina65]

On 4/6/2022 at 7:24 PM, aghst said:

That's the case in at least the Greek islands.

They put in narrow pipes, actually the British did after WWII.

So they put in a covered bin which is lined with plastic and ask you not to flush any paper or wipes down the toilet.

Not sure about mainland Greece.

 

It varies.  The first hotel I stayed at in Athens was like this, as was the McDonald's I visited.  The second hotel in Athens was a bit of a luxury hotel and I could flush the paper there.

 

[ML89]

On 4/6/2022 at 7:24 PM, aghst said:

That's the case in at least the Greek islands.

They put in narrow pipes, actually the British did after WWII.

So they put in a covered bin which is lined with plastic and ask you not to flush any paper or wipes down the toilet.

Not sure about mainland Greece.

 

I was told that on tour in mainland Greece, but that was 1999. Not sure if that's changed.

[aghst]

10 minutes ago, ML89 said:

I was told that on tour in mainland Greece, but that was 1999. Not sure if that's changed.

I was in Greece in summer 2016.

Even if they were inclined to rebuild the sewer pipes, maybe the islands aren't easy to update fully that way.

[deirdra]

The "sewer pipes" may just empty into the nearest body of water or a big crack in the rocks.

Edited April 8, 2022 by deirdra

[aghst]

Maybe but those waters sure look pretty.

[ECM1231]

On 4/7/2022 at 11:02 PM, Grizzly said:

Dublin, Ireland. People want to be in the city center but not on a busy street. They want to walk to restaurants but not be across the street from a pub. The stove seemed small but she's just one person. If only there was something to keep people from looking in my windows. Maybe St Louis doesn't have curtains?

I Googled driving time from her job in Kildare, to Dublin, and it was an hour away. I'm wondering if Kildare is that much sleepier b/c I'd rather not be driving an hour each way to work. I was confused by both the renter and realtor using the term 'overlooked.' It seemed an odd way to express that one could look right into one's neighbor's windows. I agree that choice #2 was probably the best for her. While it's always nice to have a second bath, or even a half bath for guests, how often will she be having visitors from overseas?

Edited April 9, 2022 by ECM1231

[Chippings]

On 4/7/2022 at 9:56 PM, Kiddvideo said:

Australia: I came in a little late. Please tell me they didn’t really ship a fake Christmas Tree to Australia and make 10’ ceilings one of their “must have” items to accommodate its height? At least make a show of bringing a tape measure rather than stretching your arms above your head to get approximate height.

Sorry, Cowboy Aussie.

I didn't even last the entire show with  this one.  Besides the lady's absurd demands, her squeaky voice was so annoying.  I kept looking forward to the show being over because of the voice, sympathized with Cowboy Aussie for the time he had to spend with her, and really didn't understand her companion (husband?) being with her over the long haul.  

Usually I can hang in til the resolution of the question (#1, #2, or #3 ?) but this time I just could not.

[Dehumidifier]

On 4/8/2022 at 12:56 AM, Kiddvideo said:

Australia: I came in a little late. Please tell me they didn’t really ship a fake Christmas Tree to Australia and make 10’ ceilings one of their “must have” items to accommodate its height? At least make a show of bringing a tape measure rather than stretching your arms above your head to get approximate height.

Sorry, Cowboy Aussie.

There was much comment about the tree when the episode first aired and I don't get it. I just googled 9-11 foot trees in Home Depot and they range in price from $122.16 to $2,571.46. They go back into the box after use (don't ask me how.) What is the big deal about shipping one if it cost a lot and/or is well loved?

Edited April 10, 2022 by Dehumidifier
*first, not just

[amarante]

Is there really enough business to justify all of these *sad* BnB and yoga teachers?

Of course we may be viewing a skewed number since these people are theoretically using the show to promote their business.

I don't know who the market would be for some of the BnB places that have been on the show. If I were going to one of these places I would want to be very close to the beach as well as what passes for civilization as I wouldn't want to deal with renting a car and less bad road conditions. 

Of course it could be me as my idea of a hellish vacation would be someplace in the jungle with questionable air conditioning AND poor screens so that I would be plagued by insects.

[laredhead]

20 hours ago, amarante said:

 

 

Of course it could be me as my idea of a hellish vacation would be someplace in the jungle with questionable air conditioning AND poor screens so that I would be plagued by insects.

You don't have to travel to central America for part of that.  Come to south Louisiana where I live.  We have good A/C, screens, but we do have lots, and lots of insects.  I agree, and do wonder about the demand for yoga spas in places like that.