House Hunters International - General Discussion

[LennieBriscoe]

Orlando to Chiang Mai, Thailand: City looks like a....city. Totally meh. (Full disclosure: I'm all about Western Europe, solely.)

Nancy: Another "creative" woman. Sewing this time. "Ooh, look at the fabrics!" Engineer husband Keith doesn't give the impression that he has the wherewithal to understand anything he sets eyes on as they "see the world." 

So they go all the way to SE Asia and he needs to make sure "everything's up to Western standards." "It's just not what we're used to back in the States." 

Why didn't they just stay in Orlando and visit Epcot Center?!  

Re-reading these last two posts,  I think this show makes me dyspeptic! :-P

Edited February 2, 2019 by LennieBriscoe

[LittleIggy]

Chiangmai: The real estate agent was cute!

Yeah, why move to somewhere like Thailand if you want to live in the western style you are accustomed to? 🙄

On 2/1/2019 at 10:52 AM, sempervivum said:

Merida -They were desperate to have their kids 'learn about how other people live'. So instead of the first place, which looked to be in an actual lower middle class neighborhood, or the last place, which was on a public beach (there were lots of what looked like Mexicans there), they picked the giant American style place in what looked liked an isolated upper class neighborhood. And I assume the school the dad picked out previously was an international one, meaning not P.S. 100.

I admit I fell asleep before they made their choice, so maybe they ended up with some indication that they were actually mixing and mingling with the natives?

No.

Edited February 3, 2019 by LittleIggy

[awaken]

On 1/30/2019 at 11:14 PM, Kohola3 said:

Sounded like full time to me. 

Blond surprised guy was beyond tiresome.  How he doesn't end up being pitched off a balcony is a mystery to me.

Lol, even my child thought he was over the top annoying and wondered how the other guy could stand him!

[magemaud]

I must admit Surprised Guy's braces also distracted me

[Pickles]

I liked the young woman moving from Switzerland to Finland. She chose the right apartment. Ten minute walk to most everything. Washer and dryer in her apartment was a big plus. She was worried about the intense winters, but you might be until you experienced the first one. Nice that she had a family friend living there. 

[LittleIggy]

Finland: They showed busses, so there must be public transit in that city. I had no idea that apartments would have saunas in them.

[Kohola3]

7 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

I had no idea that apartments would have saunas in them.

Or that the streets were heated.  Looks like a place I'd like to visit since I love winter.

[debbie311]

Merida - I just got the feeling there is a back story here we don't know.  So they want to expose their children to different cultures.  Why not just travel?  You know, every year visit someplace new so the kids can learn about a lot of different places. Why move the family permanently to Mexico?  Was it a money thing, the reason for the move to Mexico?

The wife was so high strung she made me nervous.  The place they chose was really the only logical choice with children.

[LittleIggy]

3 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

Or that the streets were heated.  Looks like a place I'd like to visit since I love winter.

Me, too!

[mojito]

Switzerland to Finland

Geez, 20 minutes is too long to walk? Someone smack that girl for me. She acted as though she'd be wearing snowshoes and slogging through a couple feet of snow each day. And it's not like she's coming from a balmy climate. And what's with everything that's been around for more than a few minutes being "old"? Kids today. They're so annoying and spoiled and they won't stay off my lawn. 

But at least she didn't pick the place that was $200 over her budget.

[StatisticalOutlier]

On 2/1/2019 at 8:52 AM, sempervivum said:

Merida -They were desperate to have their kids 'learn about how other people live'. So instead of the first place, which looked to be in an actual lower middle class neighborhood,

I didn't see the episode, but have a friend who's looking into moving to Merida who did see it, and she said they showed one place in Progreso, but didn't show or mention the bad stuff there, like street dogs, trash, and abandoned houses.  That would be a little too much local color for me.

She also said the rents mentioned on the show seemed kind of high compared to what she's been seeing--that you can get nice houses all over Merida for $1,000/month, and on-the-beach houses with pools for as little as $1,000/month.

For what that's worth.

 

7 hours ago, mojito said:

Switzerland to Finland

Geez, 20 minutes is too long to walk? Someone smack that girl for me. She acted as though she'd be wearing snowshoes and slogging through a couple feet of snow each day.

I got curious and looked at the weather there.  The winter temperatures aren't particularly extreme.  The average high drops to below 40 degrees in mid-October, and doesn't go back above 40 until mid-April.  And the difference between the average high and average low in the winter is right around 10 degrees, which tells me the days are not only short but overcast, which always makes it seem colder.  Hence the millions of saunas, I assume. 

So it's not extreme, but it sounds relentless and dreary, and I think walking in it 40 minutes every day would get old to me, despite the fact that I'm a big fan of transportation walking.  And just looking at a completely frozen-over lake from my balcony would have me scurrying to the sauna on the regular. 

[pep4]

AZ to Paris:  This will come as a shock, but our FACT CHECK shows some of the State of the Episode claims were BS.  Versailles is only 45 minutes from Paris by train, and any place close to where they showed the nearby 3rd house on the map was less than an hour from Paris via transit, not 1.5 hours. 

FACT CHECK #2:  Adrian's glasses were indeed awesome.

Edited February 6, 2019 by pep4

[LittleIggy]

Prague: That tv was not from the seventies. 🙄 She must have got a TESOL certificate from a place that would get her a job at a private language mill.

[buttersister]

Finland. Good choice of places, aka, she didn’t see anything better than the place she chose. Worked hard to sell her winter anxiety in the face of daddy’s friend’s daughter and realtor’s assurances. Cause it might look like she was calling them liars!

[Kohola3]

7 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Prague: That tv was not from the seventies.

I had to chuckle when the young "realtor" said it was from a museum.

[StatisticalOutlier]

Something odd I noticed on the Finland episode:  At the end when they were playing cards, we could see the guy's hand, and he had the cards splayed backwards, with the upper right corner of each card showing.  But the upper right corner of playing cards is blank; that's why you splay them so you can see the upper left corner.  Is there a card game where you don't even know what cards are in your own hand?

[Kohola3]

2 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Is there a card game where you don't even know what cards are in your own hand?

Yes, it's called House Hunters International Fake Friends.  You grab nameless strangers off the street and pay them $50 to come in, smile, and look like you are having fun.  No skills required, obviously.

[ECM1231]

19 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Prague: That tv was not from the seventies. 🙄 She must have got a TESOL certificate from a place that would get her a job at a private language mill.

I was kind of surprised she was a dance instructor who had owned her own school as she did not have a dancer's body.  The apartment she chose had no oven and was very small.  Even though the loft had no privacy, it was only her living there. A portable a/c unit would have solved the heat issue. Likewise, a countertop convection microwave/oven could have been purchased for the place she chose. 

[chessiegal]

2 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

I was kind of surprised she was a dance instructor who had owned her own school as she did not have a dancer's body. 

They showed a picture of her when she had the dance school - she was much thinner.

[biakbiak]

Was the real estate agent in Prague using mistress and concierges  as euphemisms because what he was describing sounded much more like a brothel with pimps!

Edited February 7, 2019 by biakbiak

[LittleIggy]

2 hours ago, biakbiak said:

Was the real estate agent in Prague using mistress and concierges  as euphemisms because what he was describing sounded much more like a brothel with pimps!

It was a place where a guy could rent a mistress for the evening! 😆

[Kohola3]

I quite liked the Utrecht family, they seemed to enjoy each other.  Nice to see smiling rather than sniping.  The whole pool table thing was a bit odd but after the "reveal" it made sense that they wouldn't have moved it out and back in for the show.

[blueray]

I just recently saw an episode with a couple moving from Canada to Australia. Anyhow, the guy was moving for school. He just seemed like a jerk, even the realtor didn't like him. He didn't seem to understand that his girl-friend was moving for him and was going to be the bread-winner for a time. He kept wanting stuff outside their budget.

[NJMom]

The Utrecht wife was full of it with just moving there. In order for Holland to allow duel citizenship, you must have had a home in the Netherlands for at least 3 years that you lived in. I know because my husband is Dutch and can't get duel citizenship. The US will allow it, Holland will not.

[Kohola3]

1 minute ago, NJMom said:

The Utrecht wife was full of it with just moving there. 

I thought her mother was Dutch.  Perhaps she was born there.

[NJMom]

1 minute ago, Kohola3 said:

I thought her mother was Dutch.  Perhaps she was born there.

Doesn't matter. My husband was born and raised there. 100% Dutch.

[sempervivum]

Utrecht- With the way this show cheats, the couple may have already bought the house 3 years ago. What I didn't understand was why the wife didn't get citizenship, although of course it's the Dutchies' country and they make the rules!

I was once again annoyed by a switcheroo in the 'must haves'. They absolutely HAD to have 4 bedrooms and a guest room/office. They ended up paying $50K over budget for 2 bedrooms, making their teens sleep in bunk beds in a room also occupied by a pool table.

[javajeanelaine]

I didn't see the Canada to Australia guy as a jerk.  Pretty mild mannered and he gave in to her request for a one bedroom.  I did see her as obsessive about getting a dog though.

[Kohola3]

44 minutes ago, sempervivum said:

They ended up paying $50K over budget for 2 bedrooms, making their teens sleep in bunk beds in a room also occupied by a pool table.

I think you hit the nail on the head when you said they bought the place long ago.  They probably decided not to bother to move the pool table out for the filming because of the expense - the cheap, rickety looking bunk beds wouldn't be hard to store.  So the "must have" story was just to throw us off.

[LittleIggy]

13 hours ago, blueray said:

I just recently saw an episode with a couple moving from Canada to Australia. Anyhow, the guy was moving for school. He just seemed like a jerk, even the realtor didn't like him. He didn't seem to understand that his girl-friend was moving for him and was going to be the bread-winner for a time. He kept wanting stuff outside their budget.

I found him annoying, too. If I was going to move around the world to support someone through medical school, I would get a ring on it first. Glad she got her dog.

Utrecht: Wonder if the canals get smelly in the summer.

[mojito]

Quote

 If I was going to move around the world to support someone through medical school, I would get a ring on it first. 

I don't even know about moving across the street to support someone through medical school, even with a wedding band!

Edited February 10, 2019 by mojito

[Mittengirl]

Australian med student must have had parental/trust fund financial support in addition to girlfriend’s job.

 That whole story made no sense to me.  Is it easier to get in to med school in Australia?  Or maybe cheaper?  Which seems unlikely since most schools charge non-residents more in tuition.  Maybe he had an in on the admissions committee or faculty. 

[LittleIggy]

8 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

Australian med student must have had parental/trust fund financial support in addition to girlfriend’s job.

 That whole story made no sense to me.  Is it easier to get in to med school in Australia?  Or maybe cheaper?  Which seems unlikely since most schools charge non-residents more in tuition.  Maybe he had an in on the admissions committee or faculty. 

Is it because Canada and Australia are both in the British Commonwealth?

[HappyHanna]

Tblisi to Zanzibar

I joined the boards (finally, after a long time lurking) just so I could comment on this episode! A family whose modus operandi is traveling the world and experiencing different cultures, and the wife is that stressed at anything that isn't a totally modern, western home (and what exactly was wrong with the kitchens in the other places, multiple ovens was too stressing?)? She doesn't know what the spray hose next to a toilet is for? She only wears short dresses in a place that is almost entirely Muslim? I am going to guess that their international school actually was putting them up in the apartment they picked, but come on!

[proserpina65]

On ‎02‎/‎04‎/‎2019 at 11:43 PM, Pickles said:

I liked the young woman moving from Switzerland to Finland. She chose the right apartment. Ten minute walk to most everything. Washer and dryer in her apartment was a big plus. She was worried about the intense winters, but you might be until you experienced the first one. Nice that she had a family friend living there. 

There is no job perfect enough for me to move somewhere with that much winter.  But I did like the apartment she chose.

[proserpina65]

On ‎02‎/‎06‎/‎2019 at 8:36 PM, ECM1231 said:

I was kind of surprised she was a dance instructor who had owned her own school as she did not have a dancer's body.  The apartment she chose had no oven and was very small.  Even though the loft had no privacy, it was only her living there. A portable a/c unit would have solved the heat issue. Likewise, a countertop convection microwave/oven could have been purchased for the place she chose. 

The having to go up and down stairs to use the bathroom at night would've made that one a no-go for me.

[LittleIggy]

Merida: Wonder How much that reno is going to cost. I would like to see how it turns out. The doggie was adorbs.

[pep4]

Denver, Minneapolis, Vienna to Sweden:  I knew they'd choose Mr. Roper's building.

[LennieBriscoe]

Gothenburg, Sweden---Three's a Crowd!  "Ricardo, Ricardo, Ricardo!" Man, if I were the other girl, I'd be TICKED. ROYALLY. The apartments were all lousy for her.

[ML89]

9 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Merida: Wonder How much that reno is going to cost. I would like to see how it turns out. The doggie was adorbs.

That ending was sad. She really looked like she was psyching herself up to keep going - she should have gone for the first place that was finished but over budget. Put some down and then rent out the other room. The other two places were money pits. I'm betting she won't be there in another year.

[Kohola3]

17 minutes ago, ML89 said:

The other two places were money pits. I'm betting she won't be there in another year.

I'm thinking the same thing.  Those three filthy toilets made me recoil in horror.  I can't imagine even starting to work on that place.  And with no furnishings or appliances in addition to a total rebuild, I can't see how that choice was less expensive than the finished one.  And I seriously doubt she's ever had boarders - you'd have to be pretty desperate to stay there for more than $1 a night.

I guess everybody's dream is different. I hope she's happy but somehow I doubt it.

[mojito]

Long Beach to Merida

Geez, $50K doesn't even buy a decent tiny house...

Her hopes for her new place were too risky for me. Rent out a room to a string of strangers with no separation between you and them. In the "boonies" of a foreign country. Sounds like a Dateline intro. 

BUT, I give her a lot of credit for living among the people that she claims to like (how many people do that on this show?) as the only foreigner, and speaking some Spanish. I'm sure she'll be fluent in no time.

I may have to track down that $80K place that she couldn't afford....

[javajeanelaine]

I know it's all fake but doesn't anyone research the real estate before pulling up stakes and moving??

[LittleIggy]

Merida: I wish the real estate agent (I like her) had told the HH that the potty chair she almost got stuck in was the second bathroom. 😆

I wonder if the place with three toilet stalls (was that the one she bought?) used to be a restaurant. I wonder how she will get the money for the reno.

Edited February 13, 2019 by LittleIggy

[biakbiak]

I hoped they laughed and laughed at the coworker he just met pretending to be so over involved in his financial decisions because that was one of the  most ridiculous things I have ever seen on this show.

Edited February 13, 2019 by biakbiak

[mojito]

CT to Melbourne

The guy had a pretty high jerk quotient, I thought. Wanted it all, even if he went over budget. He complained that the outside of one apartment building looked old/dated. Had to have new, new, new. Washing machine/dryer in its own room. Apparently was a clothes horse. 

The over-budget place he picked was nice enough, though. 

[CherryAmes]

American woman relocating to Broome, Australia last night.  Back story was non-existent and unless she has a generous savings account it seemed odd to me that she could afford $2,000 a month without a job but even so I liked it.  She seemed like a nice person and, for a House Hunter, wasn't over the top demanding.  I also liked that at the end she had a job she liked (which of course she already had when the show was being filmed but this is HH so whatever).  Anyway I suspect she moved to Australia to get away from a bad relationship and I don't blame her for not wanting to talk about it.  It was refreshing to see a show where I liked the person - usually I want to yell at them to grow up!

Edited February 13, 2019 by CherryAmes

[deirdra]

7 hours ago, CherryAmes said:

American woman relocating to Broome, Australia last night.  She seemed like a nice person and, for a House Hunter, wasn't over the top demanding.  

I'm not a fan of people who dump their dog on their parents and then get a replacement that they will dump on someone else when they leave. 

[CherryAmes]

12 minutes ago, deirdra said:

I'm not a fan of people who dump their dog on their parents and then get a replacement that they will dump on someone else when they leave. 

See for me I have a problem with the people who go on HH and make decisions based on their pets.  To me that's just nuts.  I've lost count of the number of episodes that have them claim (whether they mean it or not is open for debate of course) that they can't buy or rent this or that place, that is otherwise perfect, because Rover wouldn't like it.  I roll my eyes so hard at these people I end up with a headache,

[Homily]

34 minutes ago, deirdra said:

I'm not a fan of people who dump their dog on their parents and then get a replacement that they will dump on someone else when they leave. 

When we got relocated to the UK for my husband's job my parents offered to take our cat.  I didn't hesitate to take them up on that!  I think re-homing her was a better choice than having her go into quarantine for IIRC 6 months.  Choosing not to take a promotion and have the chance to live in England wasn't really on the table!