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House Hunters International - General Discussion


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They did mention that the couple had spent at least the last five years in England, so I wasn't too surprised she had bits of a British accent. On that same note, it made for a bit of "Wha?" to hear her complain about appliances not being sized " to American standards ".

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I just wanted to smack the crap out of the three sisters in the Dublin episode. You're not going to get US sized rooms in Europe, and if I heard them say "It's so small", I was going to throw something at the tv. They obviously know nothing about European apartments because it's not uncommon to have the washer/dryer in the kitchen. And when the agent showed them the one for $350,000, which WAS on budget, they complained. But of course, the did go over budget, and bought the expensive place that overlooked an abandoned train yard. Weird.

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Omg those sisters. The bickering Bickersons. The supposed youngest, Mary, looked like the oldest. They were the most annoying HHs yet. It seemed one of them had to criticize at all times. Such negativity.

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Holy crap, Turin wife. I have so many thoughts on this episode.

 

1. She had a weird accent. Like an American trying to sound foreign or "cultured."

 

2. Her inflections were making me cringe. "A chaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIrrrrrrr!!!" Simmer down.

 

3. I think she looked like she was one second from crying the whole episode.

 

4. They definitely, definitely overpaid. Do you think that on these shows they jack up the prices? I've lived and worked in Italy for years. Turin is surprisingly affordable as far as big cities go, especially if you are on an American salary where one partner can afford to pay $2400 in rent. I was absolutely shocked to see the home prices which were pretty much double what they actually are in real life. Here are some examples:

 

http://www.idealista.it/immobile/8452273/2 bedrooms in the city center for 850 euros

http://www.idealista.it/immobile/8571156/3 bedrooms for 580 euros

http://www.idealista.it/immobile/8567220/2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms for 800 euros

http://www.idealista.it/immobile/7487679/2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and 3 balconies for 650 euros

http://www.idealista.it/immobile/7895028/right in front of the Valentino... 720 euros

 

What gives???

 

As reality TV, the HH shows have been known to take dramatic license and fake many things but not prices.  They probably determined early on that they'd be quickly and easily busted, if they'd attempted it.

 

Given that you pulled prices from a local / resident website, I believe the perceived price differential stems from the fact that the Turin couple didn't house hunt with an Italian buying buddy, weren't Italian, couldn't speak the language and/or all or some of the above.

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Re:  sisters in Dublin     I think it was only the oldest one that was a pill.  The other two seemed to say nice things about each place.  Since we're never given room sizes and can only judge from what we see it looked to me as if those kitchens were all about the same size.  I wanted to slap that oldest sister (and all the other HHs) who said of the one kitchen "I can't cook in here."  It's got a stove/oven, a sink and a refrigerator OF COURSE YOU CAN COOK IN THERE.

She also said another of my pet peeves regarding the master bedroom being too small.  It has a double/queen bed it in what are you doing that requires another 100 sq feet?????

It's a vacation home not a place you are spending 12 months of the year in.

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I also thought the Panama episode was weird.  Why that particular very small town of only 2,000 people?  As usual  the wife wanted to be near shops and restaurants.  I doubt there are very many restaurants in a town of only 2,000, and probably very few shops.  It is evidently a tourist town for surfers.  I wonder if this is really a vacation home for them and they are going to rent out both houses when they aren't there.  It did not look like there was a lot of land for horses, so maybe they bought a horse and pay someone to keep it for them when they are away.  Who knows.  Unless someone is a good researcher and can do some snooping, it will be another HHI unsolved mystery. 

 

You're correct, laredhead.  They're renting out the second house.  (Sorry, I didn't save the listing.)  So, the son being filmed there was most likely, just for show.  They probably had a 3rd bedroom in that house but HHI didn't film it.  In reality-TV, lala land, if the camera doesn't film it and/or they don't air it, it doesn't exist.  It's that simple! 

 

Have to agree with everyone about the safety issue, too.  Given the plethora of barred windows and gated communities, there's no way a child would sleep separately, even next door on your own property.

 

Yeah, that small town.  Didn't see any reason for the horse theme.  It's a very small community so who knows why they moved there.  Shops and restaurants???  Whatever ...

Edited by aguabella
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OMG Pine!! I always use the Schwetty Balls reference!!!  I hate when they use that tone of voice.

 

Dang, you guys.  Fits perfectly for those two Brussels ladies.  Now I have to get that song out of my head - serves me right for reading back in the thread!

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If anyone cares to get away and take a break in the sleepy village of Pedasi, Panama to fish, surf, whale watch or relax, here's the vacation home listing for the family that built the two adjacent homes:

 

https://www.vacationrentals.com/listing/p677375vb

 

Sounds like a very nice village that's already been discovered by U.S. retirees so it's growing rapidly and more services are locally available.

 

 

 

For another Panama option, you might try this over-the-water home.  I vaguely remember this place from Bocas del Toro:

 

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p352658?uni_id=3143079&CID=a_cj_7652753&utm_source=cj&utm_medium=affiliates&utm_content=7652753&utm_campaign=10781999_

 

Time for vacation, right?

Edited by aguabella
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Can I just say how much I loved Luxemburg mother and daughter? It was fun to watch and loved the interaction between the two.

Really? I thought the mom was all kinds of awful but I guess that is just the way they relate to each other? Or the way the producers told them to relate to each other?

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I liked Jose and Bobby in Guatemala on the lake by the volcanos, maybe because Jose reminded of a cousin of mine. Those were some gorgeous views from the houses shown to them. I hope their house is featured on a "where are they now?" episode someday, just to see how it all turned out. 

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It seems more to prevent crimes of opportunity. But it's a very telling comment about the society and its government.

 

I'm currently living outside the US in a country where tall walls (sometimes topped with decorative wrought iron spikes, sometimes with broken glass embedded on top) and wrought iron gates and window grills are the norm. I just had a relative visit from the States who was appalled by this - maybe even terrified - and was convinced that my area must be a crime-ridden hellhole.

 

I pointed out that he had a fenced-in yard and an electronic home security system back home in Portland Oregon. Does that mean his neighborhood is a crime-ridden hellhole as well? No it does not. These measures are, as you stated, simply to prevent crimes of opportunity.

 

Though not third world, my locale is poorer and less developed than the US. We do not have ready access to home security monitoring companies. Walls and gates and grills are what we have available and what we can afford. Those things are also an architectural style in this culture. We are tropical and our homes are open-air year-round and walls/gates/grills help keep out critters as well as humans. (I smell a faint whiff of skunk outside as I write this!)

 

TBH, I feel much, much safer here than back home in the US.

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I always laugh to myself when the house hunters in tropical places will squee with joy when they see monkeys in the trees, but will draw back in horror when they see the decorative grills on the windows. I'm thinking, "you fools, do you want to wake up to one of those monkeys sitting on your kichen counter?"

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Oh my goodness, Illinois to Turin mom!  Serious case of Resting Stank Face.  She had her face squinched up the entire time, talking to the realtor as if she were simpleminded and really trying to get her English across.  "It's Huuuuuuuuuuuge!  It's beauuuuuuuuuuutiful!  We have TWO GIRLS.  We need a place that is SAFE."  And these families with kids who want the same exact type of house that they had back home, same yard, and big bedrooms so the kids won't be so completely thrown off.  Stop talking about Battavia!!  

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I know the back stories are usually misleading, to say the least!  But it annoyed me that the episode with the American girl moving to Barcelona was made in 2015 (or at least was first aired then anyway) and made it sound like she'd just moved there when 30 seconds on google showed she'd actually moved there in 2011.  I don't know if she was really apartment hunting or not but it certainly wasn't because she'd just moved to Spain!

Edited by Homily
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Saw an eposode with a couple moving to Italt (Tenri? Tenni? something with a "t") . They wanted a 2 bed/2 bath home for $50,000. The realtor came right out and told them it was impossible and that they'd have to up to at least $120,000. I thought the guy was going to have a heart attack. Who plans on moving to a new country with no realistic idea of housing prices?

I think that every other word out of that woman's mouth was "small". She was also appalled that she was going to have to share a bathroom with her husband: "I've ALWAYS had my own bathroom! "

Well, Dorothy, you're no longer in Kansas...

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The episode about the couple moving from TX to Panama and brought the 2 houses was crazy to me because unless it was a really safe area, I don't think I would feel comfortable living in 2 separate homes. If I was going to do it like they did, it makes more sense for the older daughter to be on her own. I thought they said the older daughter didn't want to be away from her younger sister. Wasn't the older daughter a teen? It's totally possible but I didn't buy it. I probably would've put the 2 older kids in the other house if we were going to live in separate homes.

Once again, this whole 4 bedroom thing being a necessity could've been avoided if, you know, kids of the same sex actually shared a room. I know, heaven forbid such a thing should ever occur. I mean living in 2 separate homes, no matter how close they are, makes more sense than having 2 kids share a room! Which is what happened anyway! Finding out they rented out one home now makes more sense for why they chose the 2 homes. So did they always really intend to buy a home where they could rent out some space or did they only intend for this home to be a vacation home? I really thought they were moving to Panama to live year round.

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The husband in Italy was a pain in the ass. If you only want to spend $50K for a two bedroom place in Italy, stay the hell home. You're not going to get anything decent, in a safe location, for $50K. I wanted the wife to take a 2X4 to his backside.

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"Born and raised in Chicago" (but no discernable Midwestern accent) to Playa del Carmen -- woman "attending physician" with a most unfortunate nose wants to start a clinic in Mexico, takes her gay male best friend along to look for an apartment.  He also introduces her to worm larvae tacos.  I was just baffled throughout.

Edited by Bronx Babe
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"Born and raised in Chicago" (but with no discernable Midwestern accent) to Playa del Carmen -- woman "attending physician" with a most unfortunate nose wants to start a clinic in Mexico, takes her gay male best friend along to look for an apartment.  He also introduces her to worm larvae tacos...

That should be the episode description on HGTV's website - lol!

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ugh, couldn't stand Kentucky to Ecuador couple.  Everything about it rubbed me the wrong way.  He wants no neighbors, but the elephant in the room was that the house they chose seemed to be all alone, except for another house right smack dab up next to it!  And she wants NO stairs, and he agrees to get anything she wants from another floor ?!  So bizarre.  And how he talked about "loving boobies" (ie, blue footed boobies)  how mature.  

 

Maybe I'm weird, but that sounds super boring to me, to be in my 50's or 60's and live in an unfamiliar country, not knowing the language, with only my spouse, not near any neighbors or a town, with nothing to do but relax.  I think I'd be bored and regretting it about 3 days in.  

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Man do I enjoy this London realtor! I thought I liked the old one a ton and still do, but this guy is now my favorite London realtor. He has entertained me several times now much more than he is required to.

 

For once, one of these London house hunters who thinks she's living in a novel didn't bug me too much for that particular reason. Since it appears she's actually dedicating her life to literature, it makes sense that she has a romanticism about it and living in a house like Virginia Woolf. Also, though ole Ginny is the opposite of a favorite, I sure as heck appreciated that this chick wasn't talking up Jane Austen the way so many of them do when you know good and well all they've done is read Pride & Prejudice and seen the movie and miniseries and have no idea that Persuasion is more than just convincing someone of your argument and Northanger Abbey isn't the manor for the local nuns. So, on that end it was refreshing.

 

But you know that's where it stopped. She was fairly terrible on a lot of levels. Chick isn't paying for a single thing it seems, certainly not much, and she's demanding they choose everything to make her fairytale come true. Cannot stand that, not like they are even married where I might feel better about it as long as it wasn't doing something like screwing him on the commute. Felt like she was talking down to her boyfriend with the "this is very you" when she meant it as anything but positive and "I enjoy pulling him outside of his comfort zone" and all that. Wasn't a big fan. He seemed mostly tolerant and doting, so hopefully it just came off wrong to me.

 

Seriously enjoy this realtor. The comments about Kansas and the "Virginia Woolf-ometer" and his wording of the shortcomings of a property are classic. When they looked at the contemporary flat with the open kitchen and he said something like "she did look a bit uncomfortable in the kitchen when she saw it was an open plan," I was just dying because she really, really did. I highly doubt this chick is that good of an actress, totally had me wondering if she has been passing off takeout as her own cooking and needs it to be closed off space to pull it off. And of course, the realtor did one of my favorite things when she mentioned wanting her Virginia Woolf charm once again, he cut her down with a quick but charmingly British, "Virginia lived in X and her house goes for several million today so it's not realistic." Thank you for the clear reality check, wish so many more did that when unrealistic expectations rear their heads on here.

 

I came away from this episode absolutely wondering if she's taking this poor sucker for a ride. Not living together in Kansas when it was clearly possible for them to do so while they were dating after a long time, to moving together to London mostly by her request after she realized it was a possibility for him to transfer offices, and she's looking for her Victorian dream. Complete with a fake British accent. Hope I'm wrong. The guy seemed nice, he doesn't need to be desperate to get a woman. Hopefully, they are more in love than they seem, that they are a good match and everything works out and she doesn't ditch him the minute they get back or the minute she finds someone with a real British accent.

 

So yeah. I had fun imagining how terrible this woman really was, but liked the guy and loved the realtor. Hope she's not taking him for a ride and he's not left brokenhearted in a few years. The real estate wasn't too exciting in this episode, but it was pleasant enough to see and it was nice to see a more affordable option close to London, it's been a while since I remember anyone with that budget in London getting a flat that was somewhat decent looking.

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I watched the re-run last night of the couple moving from Dubai to Sri Lanka.  The guy was so absolutely dismissive and inconsiderate of his fiancee's wants and only completely focused on his surfing and need to be by the beach.  What a jerk.  I know much of that can be scripted but this was over the top. It made me wonder why he was even bringing her along for the ride.  She, meanwhile, appeared to grow sweatier, more disheveled and down-trodden as the episode progressed!  I hope she's happy because she seemed like a sweet girl.  

 

I will say, the home they chose looked way better than I imagined it could once they got in there and did some decorating.   

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Jasmine, the adorable London realtor is Richard Blanco and I have first dibs! He is darling and has the most infectious laugh. I have posted about him before and should probably stop because I don't want to be construed as a stalker! I have seen this episode before but watched again because he's so charming. The couple on the other hand was boring as hell for me. I don't know if I believe that the couple had never lived together before and not only does the guy follow her to London but proposes. I guess it could happen but that is unusual in this day and age. That does sound like something out of a Jane Austen novel!!

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Richard is my favorite realtor!  I'd love to move to London just to have him show me houses.  I'd make sure it takes months to find one!

 

Adrian Leeds is my other favorite.  She's in Paris.

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BVI episode:  How can a retired cop afford an $800K house?

 

How do 20-something couples just starting out afford $500K homes?

 

For most people, there's really no way to determine their financial situation simply by either looking at them and/or hearing their age, occupation or city of residence, etc.  Unless you review their personal financial documents, 100% of them and do their balance sheet, it's impossible.  They could have received an inheritance or trust fund, a real estate windfall, legal settlement or workers' compensation settlement, as previously mentioned.

 

And, most importantly, for the majority of people, it's not what you make - it's what you spend.  Outwardly, some couples go out of their way to give an appearance of success.  Then you review their financials and oops, they used credit cards to keep up that appearance.

 

If couples work hard and live below their means, working towards that goal, it's conceivable they can afford a decent retirement home, if that's their priority.

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Saw an eposode with a couple moving to Italt (Tenri? Tenni? something with a "t") . They wanted a 2 bed/2 bath home for $50,000. The realtor came right out and told them it was impossible and that they'd have to up to at least $120,000. I thought the guy was going to have a heart attack. Who plans on moving to a new country with no realistic idea of housing prices?

I think that every other word out of that woman's mouth was "small". She was also appalled that she was going to have to share a bathroom with her husband: "I've ALWAYS had my own bathroom! "

Well, Dorothy, you're no longer in Kansas...

 

It was Terni - Umbria region.

 

I agree that they wouldn't have looked for a vacation home w/o some understanding of  the price ranges.  I doubt they did.  Ever hear of a RE buyer who immediately increases his/her budget by 240% upon direction by the realtor?  No?  Me, neither.  Again, I doubt they did.  Sorry but you guessed it, I believe that was producer-driven.

 

IIRC, the guy continued mentioning budget throughout the episode, even though the three places were all around $120K.  Have noticed over the years that the main plot is typically disclosed in the episode's title.  Yes, their episode title included "budget".

 

And another take on the woman's bathroom complaint.  Yes, agree, she sounded a little whiny.  That said, it told me that her husband had always given her the good bathroom / en suite while he went down the hall.  Nice guy, right?

 

(From the shallow end of the pool)  They were both fairly normal but she probably was a little better-looking, lol.

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The couple in Brazil last night.  I could not stand the wife.  She was so perky and laughing all the time.  And then...her voice... yeesh! 

 

I had trouble falling asleep after that one.

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Adrian Leeds is my other favorite.  She's in Paris

 

Saw Adrian tonight on Tiny House World (FYI channel?). She was taking her cousin & daughter around where she lives. The smallest "house" was 95 sq.ft.!

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Note to Conor in Valencia: stop saying "family orientated"!

Why? Are you referring to saying orientated instead of  oriented? Because I have many British friends and they all say orientated where we say oriented.  A

 

ETA, or did he just say it a lot? I haven't seen the episode yet.

Edited by JennyMominFL
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