House Hunters International - General Discussion

[MarthaEllisanne]

Valencia: What are the odds that the elevator works all the time in an old building? The buyer put so much emphasis on the elevator, but would have been better off buying something on ground level if his father really cannot navigate stairs.  Or perhaps that was part of the script to get to that apartment.  I do hope they show the apartment after it is remodeled.  

[Booklady1017]

2 hours ago, MarthaEllisanne said:

Valencia: What are the odds that the elevator works all the time in an old building? The buyer put so much emphasis on the elevator, but would have been better off buying something on ground level if his father really cannot navigate stairs.  Or perhaps that was part of the script to get to that apartment.  I do hope they show the apartment after it is remodeled.  

Good point about elevators not working always in old buildings. I know they have the House Hunters Renovation show, do they do International renos or just ones in the US?  That one would be great to see. I'm impressed when people take on projects like that because I have a difficult time visualizing the possibilities in properties like that, when they want to take down walls and recreate thins.  

[laredhead]

Booklady1017, HHI has shown episodes of renovations done on houses in other countries, but it has been quite a while since we have seen any. 

[tvrox]

On 3/29/2019 at 10:35 AM, Booklady1017 said:

I'm guessing she has both. I was wondering if they were actually friends or it was just scripted because they never mentioned how they met. Anyhow it was an entertaining episode for sure.

I too was wondering how they knew each other! If they didn't, that opening scene where he lifted her off the ground in a giant hug is kind of crazy. Guy was nice, and I felt bad about his breakup, but I did not think he could sing at all.

[debbie311]

Rhode Island to Tulum.  The buyer looked so familiar.  Wonder if she was on HH when she bought her RH property?

Her friend - wow.  All the sexual inuendo, I was kind of surprised that HGTV would even run the episode.  She came across as desperate.

[Pickles]

Some kind of HH Moving to the Mediterranean show on last night. As usual, nothing is at it seems. Couple was moving to the south of France. Kids were somehow already fluent in French. Hmm. Looked them up. They have lived there for 4 years. 

[Koalagirl]

6 hours ago, Pickles said:

Some kind of HH Moving to the Mediterranean show on last night. As usual, nothing is at it seems. Couple was moving to the south of France. Kids were somehow already fluent in French. Hmm. Looked them up. They have lived there for 4 years. 

It's a new series called Mediterrean Life.   The scenery is gorgeous in these episodes. 

[Booklady1017]

On 3/30/2019 at 8:32 AM, laredhead said:

Booklady1017, HHI has shown episodes of renovations done on houses in other countries, but it has been quite a while since we have seen any. 

Thank you for the answer to my question.

[Booklady1017]

10 hours ago, Pickles said:

Some kind of HH Moving to the Mediterranean show on last night. As usual, nothing is at it seems. Couple was moving to the south of France. Kids were somehow already fluent in French. Hmm. Looked them up. They have lived there for 4 years. 

Glad you mentioned it. I noticed no one seems to comment on the Caribbean Life, Beachfront Bargain Hunters. I was wondering if this was going to be the case too for Mediterranean Life. I saw that episode too. Didn't know they were there for 4 years.

[AlleC17]

11 minutes ago, Booklady1017 said:

Glad you mentioned it. I noticed no one seems to comment on the Caribbean Life, Beachfront Bargain Hunters. I was wondering if this was going to be the case too for Mediterranean Life. I saw that episode too. Didn't know they were there for 4 years.

I love Mediterranean Life because the scenery is just so gorgeous. 

[Booklady1017]

4 minutes ago, AlleC17 said:

I love Mediterranean Life because the scenery is just so gorgeous. 

It really was beautiful. I didn't get to see the other episodes yet, except for the Cote D'Azur/Cannes episode but I recorded the other ones and I can't wait to see them. How about you? Did you see the others?

[AlleC17]

13 minutes ago, Booklady1017 said:

It really was beautiful. I didn't get to see the other episodes yet, except for the Cote D'Azur/Cannes episode but I recorded the other ones and I can't wait to see them. How about you? Did you see the others?

I saw two in Malta, one in Crete and another on the French Riviera...beautiful!

[Booklady1017]

11 minutes ago, AlleC17 said:

I saw two in Malta, one in Crete and another on the French Riviera...beautiful!

I'll probably check out at least one of them tomorrow if not more.  Have you ever been to any of those areas for travel?

[Spunkygal]

1 hour ago, Booklady1017 said:

Glad you mentioned it. I noticed no one seems to comment on the Caribbean Life, Beachfront Bargain Hunters. I was wondering if this was going to be the case too for Mediterranean Life. I saw that episode too. Didn't know they were there for 4 years.

I think Caribbean Life and Beachfront Bargain Hunt have their own separate topics but I could be wrong. I know they used to but haven’t looked since the site renovation.

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, Spunkygal said:

I think Caribbean Life and Beachfront Bargain Hunt have their own separate topics but I could be wrong. I know they used to but haven’t looked since the site renovation.

Just checked and they do. Thanks for the heads up - I'm now set to follow them.

[Grrarrggh]

On 2/27/2019 at 8:59 PM, Kemper said:

I must be in the minority about the vet/Germany/pregnant wife couple. 

I cannot explain my reaction to the husband because on the surface he seemed a nice guy.
 

How many horrible people "seem" so nice... 😉

[pep4]

San Clemente, Ecuador:  When trying to pick they kept saying how condo #3 was better because it was on the beach, but you could see that the other condo was also on the beach.  Exact same distance, both atop the same kind of rock sea wall. 

Stupid producers probably made them say it.

[LittleIggy]

Ecuador: I liked the first condo because it was high enough up that you could do whale watching from the balcony.

Hubby needs to lose weight then maybe stairs wouldn’t be such an issue. 🙄

[biakbiak]

6 hours ago, Booklady1017 said:

It really was beautiful. I didn't get to see the other episodes yet, except for the Cote D'Azur/Cannes episode but I recorded the other ones and I can't wait to see them. How about you? Did you see the others?

If you have Netflix there is a show called Charlie Luxton’s Homes on the Med which tours beautiful homes on the Mediterranean each episode is a different area with several homes shown.

The condos were all boring. I didn’t like the huge bedroom and the tiny guest room in the first. I don’t get that decision but in a new build obviously catering to vaction rentals. 

1 hour ago, pep4 said:

was better because it was on the beach, but you could see that the other condo was also on the beach.  Exact same distance, both atop the same kind of rock sea wall. 

I didn’t here it that way I think they were just referencing that it was on that particular beach in San Clemente and not out of town because they mentioned the San Clemente last both times and they mostly mentioned the size. 

Edited April 2, 2019 by biakbiak

[mojito]

Quote

Hubby needs to lose weight then maybe stairs wouldn’t be such an issue. 🙄

Or he's gained weight because his knees went bad and he had to stop jogging...

Nice couple. I hope things go well for them.

[Homily]

10 hours ago, pep4 said:

San Clemente, Ecuador:  When trying to pick they kept saying how condo #3 was better because it was on the beach, but you could see that the other condo was also on the beach.  Exact same distance, both atop the same kind of rock sea wall. 

Stupid producers probably made them say it.

I saw one the other day where they complained about the small kitchen and "outdated" appliances (translation - white) and then turned around and chose a place with a smaller kitchen and white appliances.  Sometimes they don't even try to make sense.

[LittleIggy]

Germany: I’m going to start calling Kevin “Baby Elvis.” He has a very young Elvis look! 

I liked the two places the HH didn’t pick better. The water bed would need to go in the first place, but otherwise it was cool. If you live alone, why would you be so concerned about privacy? Just don’t have any booty calls when you have guests! 😏

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

Germany: I’m going to start calling Kevin “Baby Elvis.” He has a very young Elvis look! 

I liked the two places the HH didn’t pick better. The water bed would need to go in the first place, but otherwise it was cool. If you live alone, why would you be so concerned about privacy? Just don’t have any booty calls when you have guests! 😏

I wouldn’t have liked that space, it’s totally in my mind but I can’t get a good night sleep in open places like that. I like a cosy bedroom with walls and a door even if I don’t have a lot of guests. My ideal bedroom would be a windowless room with only room for a bed and beside tables but building code won’t allow it!

I didn’t like any of the places.

[mojito]

Virginia to Germany

The agent seemed pretty startled that the HH shipped his car in from the US. You can't blame him, though. Benzes are nearly impossible to find in Germany. (A Ford F-150 or a Chevy Cruze would've been comical.)

No second-guessing that he and his BFF were anything more than friends. I'd like to see what kind of place she has in Italy (she did say Italy, didn't she?) because she seemed so low-maintenance compared to him. 

I wonder how ridiculous HHI would try to make me look when picking a place to live? Compared to the HHs we see, my needs beyond very clean (including very clean furniture) and a washer/dryer nearby would be minimal. Would they make my husband or friend the ridiculous one?

[Kohola3]

But the woooood, the wooood!  The slanted ceilllllings!  

I didn't get any romantic vibe between them, myself.

[Ohwell]

I thought Germany guy was gay and the woman really was a friend. 

[Kohola3]

39 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

I thought Germany guy was gay and the woman really was a friend. 

That was my take on it as well.

[eel2178]

On ‎4‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 12:19 AM, biakbiak said:

The condos were all boring. I didn’t like the huge bedroom and the tiny guest room in the first. I don’t get that decision but in a new build obviously catering to vaction rentals. 

I wanted to know what the HOA fees were for each of them. That would have been the deciding fact for me.

[Booklady1017]

On 4/1/2019 at 9:34 PM, Spunkygal said:

I think Caribbean Life and Beachfront Bargain Hunt have their own separate topics but I could be wrong. I know they used to but haven’t looked since the site renovation.

Yeah, I noticed they have their own topics but as I had stated, no one seems to comment on them for some reason.

On 4/1/2019 at 10:55 PM, chessiegal said:

Just checked and they do. Thanks for the heads up - I'm now set to follow them.

That's great. Maybe there are not as many posts on them, because maybe people don't know about them, so thank you to @Spunkygal then.

Edited April 3, 2019 by Booklady1017

[Booklady1017]

On 4/2/2019 at 1:01 AM, LittleIggy said:

Ecuador: I liked the first condo because it was high enough up that you could do whale watching from the balcony.

Hubby needs to lose weight then maybe stairs wouldn’t be such an issue. 🙄

I hate to say it but you are right about the stairs and all. I thought both beach condos were nice but it seemed like #3 had the better location in San Clemente? That's the impression I got. 

On 4/2/2019 at 2:19 AM, biakbiak said:

If you have Netflix there is a show called Charlie Luxton’s Homes on the Med which tours beautiful homes on the Mediterranean each episode is a different area with several homes shown.

The condos were all boring. I didn’t like the huge bedroom and the tiny guest room in the first. I don’t get that decision but in a new build obviously catering to vaction rentals. 

I didn’t here it that way I think they were just referencing that it was on that particular beach in San Clemente and not out of town because they mentioned the San Clemente last both times and they mostly mentioned the size. 

Yes, I think they were leaning more towards #3 because of its location in San Clemente, versus the other location of property #1. Thank you. I haven't heard of that show, but now I will check it out, @biakbiak.

On 4/2/2019 at 10:50 AM, mojito said:

Or he's gained weight because his knees went bad and he had to stop jogging...

Nice couple. I hope things go well for them.

I did like the couple.

[Booklady1017]

17 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Germany: I’m going to start calling Kevin “Baby Elvis.” He has a very young Elvis look! 

I liked the two places the HH didn’t pick better. The water bed would need to go in the first place, but otherwise it was cool. If you live alone, why would you be so concerned about privacy? Just don’t have any booty calls when you have guests! 😏

I get his complaint about the ceilings. It wasn't as much an issue in the third home because the way the room was laid out but in the first one, there was literally no head room. 

15 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I wouldn’t have liked that space, it’s totally in my mind but I can’t get a good night sleep in open places like that. I like a cosy bedroom with walls and a door even if I don’t have a lot of guests. My ideal bedroom would be a windowless room with only room for a bed and beside tables but building code won’t allow it!

I didn’t like any of the places.

If he's just by himself it might not be an issue but if that changes and he meets someone, that could be an issue the open bedroom. I have to agree with HH though about the ceilings. It wouldn't effect me as much because of my height but I think in the first apartment, it was low enough that probably I would hit my head too. He would have more of an issue with that. 

[Booklady1017]

7 hours ago, mojito said:

Virginia to Germany

The agent seemed pretty startled that the HH shipped his car in from the US. You can't blame him, though. Benzes are nearly impossible to find in Germany. (A Ford F-150 or a Chevy Cruze would've been comical.)

No second-guessing that he and his BFF were anything more than friends. I'd like to see what kind of place she has in Italy (she did say Italy, didn't she?) because she seemed so low-maintenance compared to him. 

I wonder how ridiculous HHI would try to make me look when picking a place to live? Compared to the HHs we see, my needs beyond very clean (including very clean furniture) and a washer/dryer nearby would be minimal. Would they make my husband or friend the ridiculous one?

I'm curious too what kind of place she picked because i agree with you that she was low maintenance.

[Booklady1017]

4 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

But the woooood, the wooood!  The slanted ceilllllings!  

I didn't get any romantic vibe between them, myself.

The fact he made a big deal about the wood was silly. I get the slanted ceilings thing though. I thought he was gay so she was just friends with him. I may be wrong?

[biakbiak]

nevermind

Edited April 3, 2019 by biakbiak

[Chippings]

Texas to Fareham, England --        We know the producers have a lot of input to what goes on, so could they kindly ask the women not to say "xxx-ish Charm" any more?  I actually let out a yelp tonight when she first said it, and she kept it up throughout.    She was a real whiner, generally.  It was quite a turn-around in the end when she expressed great satisfaction about everything.  

On another subject, I'm a pretty good looker-upper, but wouldn't have any idea how to go about looking up these people to see how long they have actually lived in these overseas places.  Are they giving last names and I'm just missing it, or is there another avenue ?  Would love to try it myself.  Thank you!

[7isBlue]

37 minutes ago, Chippings said:

Texas to Fareham, England --        We know the producers have a lot of input to what goes on, so could they kindly ask the women not to say "xxx-ish Charm" any more?  I actually let out a yelp tonight when she first said it, and she kept it up throughout.    She was a real whiner, generally.  It was quite a turn-around in the end when she expressed great satisfaction about everything.  

On another subject, I'm a pretty good looker-upper, but wouldn't have any idea how to go about looking up these people to see how long they have actually lived in these overseas places.  Are they giving last names and I'm just missing it, or is there another avenue ?  Would love to try it myself.  Thank you!

She was annoying. We get it: you’re coming from big, wide-open state ofTexas, but to complain about being close to your neighbors is ridiculous. Also, I’m not sure if it was just shot at weird angles, but the adults looked like giants, and the interiors looked tiny. It was so strange! 

[Kohola3]

5 hours ago, 7isBlue said:

 Also, I’m not sure if it was just shot at weird angles, but the adults looked like giants, and the interiors looked tiny.

Not an optical illusion.  Those old homes (and even the new ones) in those old towns in England are quite small inside.  I bet that first one wasn't even 1000 square feet.  I can't imagine anyone coming from a McMansion in Texas would not have an issue squeezing in initially.

And, yes, that XXX charm thing is wearing SO thin.  What do you know about what constitutes XXX charm from visiting once?  It's what you perceive as charm.  The residents might think you're nuts.

[Pickles]

6 hours ago, Chippings said:

Texas to Fareham, England --        We know the producers have a lot of input to what goes on, so could they kindly ask the women not to say "xxx-ish Charm" any more?  I actually let out a yelp tonight when she first said it, and she kept it up throughout.    She was a real whiner, generally.  It was quite a turn-around in the end when she expressed great satisfaction about everything.  

On another subject, I'm a pretty good looker-upper, but wouldn't have any idea how to go about looking up these people to see how long they have actually lived in these overseas places.  Are they giving last names and I'm just missing it, or is there another avenue ?  Would love to try it myself.  Thank you!

As far as looking people up, I have only found them when they give last names (usually shown right at the beginning of the episode). Or, if they would be in some unique circumstance and you could google around with their first name, location and whatever unusual tidbit they have revealed. Good luck sleuthing!

[ML89]

I would be terrible on HHI - I don't want "XXX charm," I want modern conveniences and my requests would be "washer/dryer or access to one in the building, an American style bathroom, and good Internet/cable/cable like for TV." Don't care about outdoor space or room for guests or whatever. 

[pep4]

22 hours ago, Ohwell said:

I thought Germany guy was gay and the woman really was a friend. 

Well in one clip he was walking around in purple pants, so...

And it probably was just the editing, but he came across as not understanding why Germany would require slanted roofs in a place that gets a lot of snow.

[scrb]

What I got was that the military must be pretty lucrative career for some.  He was going to spend $2500 a month, which is $30k a year for rent.

He also owns a Benz.

But he's not an officer or anything.  Maybe it's a civilian job in the military, "digital specialist?"

[chessiegal]

2 minutes ago, scrb said:

What I got was that the military must be pretty lucrative career for some.  He was going to spend $2500 a month, which is $30k a year for rent.

He also owns a Benz.

But he's not an officer or anything.  Maybe it's a civilian job in the military, "digital specialist?"

Could be a contractor in a highly needed specialty.

[buttersister]

Singapore “hustler” was ridiculous. Unless, of course, Show was lying through its chicklets teeth about this story. Leave a D.C. law firm partnership to move to Singapore to work at a startup founded by a guy he met months ago who’d be his “boss.” A startup that could fail at any time? A good time to spend $200+K on a boat! Didn’t know crap about boats but took a crash course in Thailand? Ack! 

(And WTF was with the “” around the word boss, every time they captioned him?)

[LittleIggy]

Singapore: I was, like, 😱😱😱 when the dude said he bought the boat. I thought the penthouse was a no brainer. BTW, that bright blue suit he wore in DC made him look like a pimp/lawyer.

[Tosia]

The Texas family moving to Fareham, England,  was a perfrct example of ugly Americans, wait no, not ugly, but vapid and clueless to the max.

The Realtor had to explain that England is an island without an unlimited amount of space, hence the close quarters of the older homes that they looked at there.  

So these idiots want " English charm",  but with Texas size yards, privacy, bedrooms, appliances, and access to shops/ restaurants. 

Idiots. 

They said they traveled alot, probably meaning they stayed at resorts or lux hotels,  not real in-country places.  And didn't do any research on homes ahead of time?  

Idiots. 

[mojito]

Singapore

This guy struck me as someone who was trying to construct an image for himself. Something about his statements about who he is (I don't trust people who are always defining themselves to others) rang untrue. And the frequent comments about meeting women... As I watched the show, I found myself concluding that, on paper, he was impressive, but he basically wasn't much of a catch. Probably has a string of exes who would confirm that.

The boat...overcompensating. He's probably already gone the expensive sports car route.

[TVForever]

On April 4, 2019 at 2:09 AM, Chippings said:

Texas to Fareham, England --        We know the producers have a lot of input to what goes on, so could they kindly ask the women not to say "xxx-ish Charm" any more?  I actually let out a yelp tonight when she first said it, and she kept it up throughout.    She was a real whiner, generally.  It was quite a turn-around in the end when she expressed great satisfaction about everything.  

Yeah, the " ____ish charm" phrase used to drive me insane. The show hasn't used it in the past several months, so I was glad to think it had finally been retired. Looks like it's back in the script. It's started to sneak back in through some of the more recent episodes.

5 hours ago, Tosia said:

The Texas family moving to Fareham, England,  was a perfrct example of ugly Americans, wait no, not ugly, but vapid and clueless to the max.

The Realtor had to explain that England is an island without an unlimited amount of space, hence the close quarters of the older homes that they looked at there.  

So these idiots want " English charm",  but with Texas size yards, privacy, bedrooms, appliances, and access to shops/ restaurants. 

Idiots. 

They said they traveled alot, probably meaning they stayed at resorts or lux hotels,  not real in-country places.  And didn't do any research on homes ahead of time?  

Idiots. 

Actually, it was nice to hear the husband acknowledge at the start that what you're looking for in moving to a place is different from what you may enjoy on a one or two week vacation. 

[proserpina65]

On ‎04‎/‎04‎/‎2019 at 10:28 AM, ML89 said:

I would be terrible on HHI - I don't want "XXX charm," I want modern conveniences and my requests would be "washer/dryer or access to one in the building, an American style bathroom, and good Internet/cable/cable like for TV." Don't care about outdoor space or room for guests or whatever. 

I do want the historic charm, but I wouldn't harp on it the way hhers tend to do on this show.

I thought I saw a glimpse of HMS Victory in one of the locale shots so I looked up Fareham.  Turns out it's a suburb of sorts of Portsmouth, so that was indeed Victory.

[ML89]

17 hours ago, buttersister said:

Singapore “hustler” was ridiculous. Unless, of course, Show was lying through its chicklets teeth about this story. Leave a D.C. law firm partnership to move to Singapore to work at a startup founded by a guy he met months ago who’d be his “boss.” A startup that could fail at any time? A good time to spend $200+K on a boat! Didn’t know crap about boats but took a crash course in Thailand? Ack! 

He said something about being a partner or giving it up and I thought immediately that he didn't make partner at the firm, so he decided to take a new direction. The sabbatical line also led me that way. He seemed pretty friendly with his "boss." But why he bought the Riptide (any old fans besides me?) with sails and no space is absolutely beyond me.

[tvrox]

I probably shouldn't diagnose over the TV (which is highly edited anyway) but I semi-wondered if the Singapore guy had some kind of bipolar disorder and had had a mental break leading to his move? Abruptly quitting a good, very well-paying job, moving halfway around the world, buying a boat when he didn't even know how to drive a boat? Also that penthouse was more than he wanted (more bedrooms, outdoor space, etc.) for cheaper than he wanted to spend, and he still turned it down.

The blue suit was ugly, but I live in DC and some guys here do dress like that. As a "single lady," though I wouldn't date him. Ha.