House Hunters International - General Discussion

[jcbrown]

17 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

They'll be sleeping downstairs in the full bed. At least they didn't waste money to have an empty room for their once a year guests. 

Ahh, thanks, folks. I was paying even less attention than I thought, evidently. I totally missed that this was the second "bedroom."

3 hours ago, letusprocrastinate said:

Yes.

Also, provided you have the floor space, there are dishwashers on wheels (I know a few people who own them, and I've used them in the past).  The electrical cord goes into a normal outlet, the water hose gets connected to the kitchen faucet, and the top of the dishwasher can be used as extra counter space.

I had one and it was fine--not ideal but fine.

[Grizzly]

Acala de Henares, Spain. Nick! He should always wear that sweater to bring out his eyes. Dietrich has lived in Spain, he should know rooms are small. I think the 3 bedroom was the best choice. It will ease Audrey's anxiety.

[Grrarrggh]

3 hours ago, seacliffsal said:

And, of course, when they looked at the third apartment they noted that it had Spanish architecture...ahem, when in Spain, ALL of the buildings are Spanish architecture as they were built in, you know, Spain... I know that they meant Spanish charm, but again, when in Spain (or any other country...).

It's the near complete lack of precision of language that cripples too many people these days, of every generation. Instead of explaining that they want the older Spanish look of tiles and beams they babble on about "character" or "charm" or a national architecture when they have no clue what they're really saying because their words mean little to nothing. Sigh. Precision of language people! Stop saying literally when you don't mean it!! And btw, historical doesn't mean what they seem to think. They should be saying historic. Ugh. Rant over. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by Grrarrggh

[seacliffsal]

The husband of the young couple looking for an apartment in Spain says he doesn't intend to bring Chicago to Spain, yet almost every statement he makes is comparing what they are seeing to what they had in Chicago.  This was a beautiful city and I was really surprised by how reasonable the rents appeared to me.  Oh, and Nick!  I love how renters start complaining and he is just "and over here we have a bedroom" not even allowing their complaints to ruffle his feathers.

[aghst]

All this demand for character and local style is just another HHI trope.

Old buildings have "character" and it depends on how much you're willing to pay for character but still have space, nice kitchen and bathroom and things which are essential to some like elevators.

The place they eliminated had all the character they wanted and it looked to be nicely renovated.

I suspect the husband really didn't want to live way out in the country and have to take a bus 30 minutes each way to his school but HHI needed to drive the usual narrative, using the usual tension between the house hunters about where they want to live, with them initially being at odds.

I don't know how far they would need to go to get to Madrid but that seemed like a nice little town.

[sempervivum]

Alcala, Spain- It appears that Alcala is only 35 minutes from Madrid, so those are very reasonable rents. That place in the country was gorgeous, but I was baffled why Dietrick would think taking a bus to get groceries made sense.

[proserpina65]

18 hours ago, Grrarrggh said:

Don't they have countertop dishwashers if you don't have the cabinet space? 

Yes, but I've found that kitchens lacking in cabinet space also tend to lack counter space as well.  And as Bastet pointed out, they're so small that they really aren't worth wasting the space on.

[LittleIggy]

On 7/14/2022 at 11:19 PM, Grrarrggh said:

Precision of language people!

Are you a fan of The Giver?

[Grrarrggh]

4 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Are you a fan of The Giver?

Only in that I remember really thinking about the whole "starving" vs "hungry" scene a lot when I read it as a child and then later on. In fact it's something I've taught children, both my own and my pupils. Though I don't hit the ones who get it wrong. 

[TVForever]

20 hours ago, sempervivum said:

Alcala, Spain- It appears that Alcala is only 35 minutes from Madrid, so those are very reasonable rents. That place in the country was gorgeous, but I was baffled why Dietrick would think taking a bus to get groceries made sense.

Yes, that place in the country was lovely, but it was waaaaay too much for 2 people. In fact, it had so much of everything ( dining table for 14, beds seemingly everywhere), it felt like the place was more of a hostel or guesthouse than an actual home. Nothing about the home itself or its location a half-hour bus ride from everything they need seemed to make any real sense for them.

[Jodithgrace]

It was obviously not a real option for them. Sometimes the choices are more fake than others. This was one of the obvious fakes. 

[LittleIggy]

Spain: How does one manage properties in Chicago from Spain? I thought property managers went out to properties, inspected them, etc.

[Grrarrggh]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Spain: How does one manage properties in Chicago from Spain? I thought property managers went out to properties, inspected them, etc.

You pay people to do that for you? Manage the Chicago based managers who manage the people who go to the sites or live there etc etc I guess. Sounds like the beginning of an Abbott and Costello skit.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Grrarrggh

[Dehumidifier]

She said she worked for a property management company, not that she personally managed properties. She is probably doing financial work and/or leases.

[ArtFossil]

On 7/13/2022 at 4:30 PM, MartyQui said:

Austin to Spain

When the husband listed his rules for housekeeping (an efficient way to load the dishwasher?!) I thought better her than me!

I'm sorry that they married as it will make separating harder.

Personally speaking, if one is engaged to someone who talks about how to load the dishwasher, that's the signal to run far, far away.

[QQQQ]

On 7/14/2022 at 10:19 PM, Grrarrggh said:

And btw, historical doesn't mean what they seem to think. They should be saying historic.

Historic vs. Historical

[QQQQ]

On 7/17/2022 at 8:28 PM, ArtFossil said:

I'm sorry that they married as it will make separating harder.

Personally speaking, if one is engaged to someone who talks about how to load the dishwasher, that's the signal to run far, far away.

It did have a certain Sleeping with the Enemy charm... 

[Grizzly]

Toulouse, France. Moving abroad by herself at 23. I'm kind of jealous and wish I had done that. Did she say she had "Greece" citizenship? Apparently all the other young people have a bigger budget.

[Pi237]

She seemed sweet, but her way of speeding through the middle of her sentences and ending with up-speaking got on my nerves. “I feelsoliterally like Strange? Living herewithfamilieslikerightnext DOOR?” 
 

[LittleIggy]

Toulouse: I wonder if the families in the “family neighborhood” crossed the street when they saw her walking towards them. The parents probably covered their kids’ eyes, too! 🤦‍♀️

[Irlandesa]

I missed the end--which apartment did she choose? 

I lived in France for a year teaching English.  I do miss it and wish I had stayed longer.  But alas, no one was going to pay me enough to rent a 1000 dollar apartment.

That said.  Appreciate not being there during this heat wave.

Edited July 20, 2022 by Irlandesa

[mojito]

I Forgot From Where to Toulouse

She sure has a distorted view of what it's like to live in a demographically mixed neighborhood. She fretted over what others would think of her living in the neighborhood?

So you're a mother with a couple of kids, one screaming bloody murder for who-knows-what-reason, the other wanting to bolt at the first opportunity and you're distracted by a single woman walking out one of the buildings because everyone walks out of a building in pairs? Also, she rented a one bedroom, did she think only couples and families rented other places with one bedroom? 

Like, I'm surprised to hear someone, like, an English major, like, have such an affinity for, like, the word "like".  She could barely utter a sentence without using the word two to three times. 

But, like, I applaud her, like, venturing out, like,  on her own.

[ECM1231]

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I missed the end--which apartment did she choose? 

She chose the apartment in the family neighborhood, for $200 under her $1,000 budget.

One nit pick: her budget isn't really $1,000 if she fails to include utilities. The last flat was dead on budget at 1K, but she asked if utilities were included and the answer was no. Obviously, then, her true budget isn't $1,000/month.

10 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Did she say she had "Greece" citizenship?

Yes, as her dad was from Greece. Apparently, since Greece is a member of the EU, her Greek citizenship was an asset for being able to live and work in France.

[MartyQui]

I was happy for someone to finally say how they manage to deal with visa, citizenship, etc.  Most European countries have rules for how long you can stay on a tourist visa, and it's never mentioned!

[aghst]

From San Jose to Toulon.

There are expats all over France so I guess maybe budget drove her choice to go to Toulon?  As opposed to Paris or Nice which would be more expensive?

She said she got a "fair" wage or a "living" wage teaching English online.  They showed her in front of her laptop with bunny ears and flags doing a class.

I guess online teaching pays better than in-person classes that some young Americans teach in Asia and other places.  

She had a thing about old and dirty or like chipped areas of the shower and sinks.

[Crashcourse]

Toulouse:  She seemed nice enough, but I thought she was an annoying sounding 23-year-old twit.  The cheapest apartment was probably the best choice though. 

Also, she made it seem like living near families was a BAD THING. 🙄

[buttersister]

Quote

Also, she made it seem like living near families was a BAD THING. 🙄

I thought she was already feeling like a fish out of water in a new country. Living among what she thought would be a large community of families could exacerbate that, so, voila, drama! Otoh, the minute I saw that table by the wall and window, I thought it was already her work area. LOL

[aghst]

She'd probably be most comfortable among expats.

No indication that she was fluent in French.

[aghst]

Greater number of Americans are buying homes in Europe because they're more affordable.

People at different stages of life, including those near retirement.

However one class of people going over are those able to work remotely, via the Internet.

Article mentions Italy will e offering a remote worker visa.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-20/americans-moving-to-europe-housing-prices-and-strong-dollar-fuel-relocations

Will HHI ever admit that Americans are going to Europe because it's more affordable, particularly in smaller towns?

Not the usual hokum about always dreaming of working abroad or wanting to give their children an international experience?

I think some HHI episodes based in Central America and Mexico do admit that a main reason is affordability, like being able to rent or own an oceanfront property that they wouldn't be able to afford in CA.

But in most cases, it's people liking the lifestyle or transitioning towards retirement so they're getting a second home.

[ArtFossil]

The only thing I hate more than "granite countertops" and "open floor plan" is "ticks all the boxes."

[BAForever]

12 hours ago, ArtFossil said:

The only thing I hate more than "granite countertops" and "open floor plan" is "ticks all the boxes."

You forgot "natural light" and "flow".

[mojito]

16 hours ago, aghst said:

No indication that she was fluent in French.

I believe the agent, while expressing her admiration for the young lady, stated that she did not speak the language.

[Dehumidifier]

On 7/19/2022 at 11:55 PM, LittleIggy said:

Toulouse: I wonder if the families in the “family neighborhood” crossed the street when they saw her walking towards them. The parents probably covered their kids’ eyes, too! 🤦‍♀️

Well, married folks do act as though single people are defective and have cooties too, and aren't usually shy about telling you so either...

[proserpina65]

17 hours ago, aghst said:

Will HHI ever admit that Americans are going to Europe because it's more affordable, particularly in smaller towns?

That was mentioned in the Toulouse episode.  It wasn't presented on the main motivation, but it did come up.

1 hour ago, mojito said:

I believe the agent, while expressing her admiration for the young lady, stated that she did not speak the language.

She did say something about rudimentary French, which to me means she speaks enough to get by at shops and cafes but not enough to be able to get a job where she'd need to be anything approaching fluent.

I had expected not to like this HH but I actually found her relatively non-annoying.  She was fairly realistic about what she could get for her money and didn't have any crazy requirements on the list.  She also seemed to appreciate that this was a particularly great opportunity that most people don't get.

[deirdra]

I lived in Toulouse in 1987 as a single woman and one thing I noticed is that most neighbourhoods had a mix of families, singles, young & old.  In fact much of Europe is like that.  I recall one pub in Scotland where babies through 90 year olds would be enjoying a cailey and you'd see punk teenagers talking to their friend's grandma, both with straight faces. You don't see that often in the US or Canada, except perhaps in small towns.

Edited July 21, 2022 by deirdra

[LittleIggy]

6 hours ago, Dehumidifier said:

Well, married folks do act as though single people are defective and have cooties too, and aren't usually shy about telling you so either...

I’ve never encountered that.

[Grizzly]

Merida, Mexico. Coy does understand that a place in the city won't have the acreage they had in NC? Or the space, not for 800, not even in Mexico. I love Dobermans, not sure that yard was big enough for them.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 7/20/2022 at 10:11 AM, aghst said:

She had a thing about old and dirty or like chipped areas of the shower and sinks.

What got me was her objection to the toilet room that had no sink because she'd have to walk a few feet into the kitchen before washing her hands.  Does she drag her hands along every surface on her way, like people do along the clothes on racks in department stores?

[aghst]

13 hours ago, Grizzly said:

Merida, Mexico. Coy does understand that a place in the city won't have the acreage they had in NC? Or the space, not for 800, not even in Mexico. I love Dobermans, not sure that yard was big enough for them.

They're keeping their big property in NC and renting a place in Merida?

You don't rent a place unless you plan to occupy.  Maybe their move was only for a year or so.  Maybe not even that long, because they might prefer to have their kids finish high school at least in the US where they've been going to school.

They claim they're going to step back from running their businesses on a daily basis.

Maybe they're not convinced of the move so they don't want to spend too much on rent.

Strange they end up with a place which is neither in the city nor close to the beach, which they both supposedly wanted.  So much for criteria.  They'd already selected that place, probably living there before they filmed HHI, so they came up with false demands.

[QQQQ]

4 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

What got me was her objection to the toilet room that had no sink because she'd have to walk a few feet into the kitchen before washing her hands.  Does she drag her hands along every surface on her way, like people do along the clothes on racks in department stores?

Was there just one sink (i.e. the kitchen sink was where people washed hands after using the bathroom)? I, too, thought the kitchen and bathroom were too close for comfort. Long ago I was traumatized by a study which revealed poo particles spread from flushing (don't leave your toothbrushes on counters, people, cuz you can't trust people to close the lid...). I also hate separate toilet areas that don't have a sink in the room. No poo knobs for me, thank you!

[chessiegal]

As far as I know, in my 71 years, I have never contracted any disease from poo particles. 😉

[QQQQ]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

As far as I know, in my 71 years, I have never contracted any disease from poo particles. 😉

Poo Particles

‘Keep your toothbrush away from toilet due to aerosol effect when flushing and also away from sinks where people can wash dirty hands and splash and introduce bacteria onto the toothbrush.’

This might be a YMMV situation. I'm going to set the bar higher than anything short of disease is acceptable in terms of housing conditions (unless the federal government is paying my costs - then all bets are off!). 😅

Edited July 23, 2022 by QQQQ

[Grrarrggh]

2 hours ago, chessiegal said:

As far as I know, in my 71 years, I have never contracted any disease from poo particles. 😉

Never had a tummy upset? (I am so tempted to use a few disturbing emojis lol)

[Dehumidifier]

3 hours ago, QQQQ said:

Was there just one sink (i.e. the kitchen sink was where people washed hands after using the bathroom)? I, too, thought the kitchen and bathroom were too close for comfort. Long ago I was traumatized by a study which revealed poo particles spread from flushing (don't leave your toothbrushes on counters, people, cuz you can't trust people to close the lid...). I also hate separate toilet areas that don't have a sink in the room. No poo knobs for me, thank you!

Rinse the toothbrush before applying toothpaste. I've always done that. Grew up in a NYC tenement apartment . Toilet splashes weren't the issue.

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Grrarrggh said:

Never had a tummy upset? (I am so tempted to use a few disturbing emojis lol)

Well of course I have. But not for many years, and the toilet cover is always up in the bathroom where my toothbrush is. If that was the case, I'd be having stomach aches on a regular basis, and I'm not. I'm sorry, I call hooey on the poo particles. And with that, I'm done with the poo particles discussion.

[StatisticalOutlier]

I wonder what kind of toilets led to the theories about poo particles flying around.  Residential toilets seem pretty gentle to me when they flush, but some of the ones in office buildings flush with real gusto, especially the tankless kinds.

Besides, doesn't everyone know that all stomach upset definitively comes from whatever restaurant someone's reviewing on Yelp, within mere minutes of being there?

[tessaray]

Let's move on from the poo discussion.  (A sentence I never imagined having to type.)

[CrazyInAlabama]

Sonny & Julia Hughey.  He's American, she's French and they're moving to France.   As Adrienne says, Sonny has a dream of what France should be, transition will be easy for Julia.  His job from France is remote, she has a job in Montpellier, France with medical devices.  He certainly enjoys the Boulangerie (they bought two bags full).   Wish list, 2 bed 2 bath, decent kitchen, they want near the city center, but not right downtown, parking is a must, he want to be close to a bakery, and historic or vintage.   $1.070 is the budget.   For parking Adriane says downtown won't work.  

Apartment 1-2 bed 2 bath, contemporary, fantastic, award winning building "The Tree", $1700 a month, no bakery. 2nd floor with elevator.  the kitchen is huge, fantastic architecture for the building, with a terrace.  Main bedroom has another terrace.   

Apartment 2-with a Boulangerie close by.   Parking in building, not historic, bakeries close by, 2 bed 2 bath, and parking, $1300 a month, 4th floor, kitchen is good size, applians included, breakfast bar, terrace, I guess he doesn't realize with the time difference that he won't be working from home during rush house.   Nice bathrooms, nice closets, nice bedrooms. 

Apartment 3- A beach townhouse, close to a bakery, closer to the beach. A bakery on the corner, street parking only, 1 bed 1 bath, $1200 a month, kitchen is decent, with a stand alone breakfast bar, the living room is upstairs, with a dining area, another tiny kitchen with a bigger fridge, Adrian says use the upstairs kitchen, and turn the down stairs kitchen into a guest room.   

I don't like #3.    I would pick 2.   They pick #2

I'm hoping he likes being next to the bakeries, and I never hear about them from him again.  

Edited July 29, 2022 by CrazyInAlabama

[deirdra]

His French wife should tell him that they don't use preservatives in baked goods so you don't buy two bags full at a time. Everything will turn rock hard in 12-48 hrs.  You walk to the boulangerie every day or at worst every other day to get fresh bread. 

[aghst]

Montpelier couple probably chose the best place given her parking needs, proximity to center, the price.

If you do a Google image search, they have a lot of ornate buildings, big squares, etc.  Maybe they couldn’t get a permit to film in those areas?

Because they mostly showed modern buildings, didn’t see any of the historic center.