House Hunters International - General Discussion

[LittleIggy]

On 11/2/2019 at 12:34 AM, Irlandesa said:

Maybe the famous red light district? Which is a weird thing to point out since I don't think it's ever mentioned in other Amsterdam episodes. It just felt like another retro opinion.

Amsterdam episodes: I’ve seen “Red Light District” on those not to scale maps they use.

Edited November 3, 2019 by LittleIggy

[QQQQ]

On 11/1/2019 at 11:40 PM, biakbiak said:

Controlling tourists has been a hot topic in Amsterdam and the Netherlands as a whole including coming up in elections in the last two or three years so mentioning partying tourists, which is what the GF referenced, is very topical. 

My mom and I could have used a bit of controlling during our day trip to Amsterdam. We bought way too much stroopwafel.

Edited November 3, 2019 by QQQQ

[biakbiak]

The realtor in Spain looked and sounded so much like my brother-in-law’s dad, I texted him to tell him his father might be living a double life. Weirdly his parents just sold their vacation condo near Valencia a few months ago. 
The 14 year old had a deeper voice than many adult men that I know. 
I didn’t like any of the options. 

[TVForever]

5 hours ago, biakbiak said:

I didn’t like any of the options. 

I'm with you there. This episode gave me just enough curiosity about Gandia, Spain to want to look further at the area. But the housing choices we saw were just meh.

[LittleIggy]

Gandia, Spain: Nice to see Nick the Silver Fox again! Yeah, the choices weren’t all that. The Brit wife was thoroughly Americanized with her comments about how small the bedrooms were. What did she say her business was? Poor dad hadn’t found a job after three months.

[javajeanelaine]

Amsterdam: I don’t know who I just liked more the female house hunter or the real estate “agent“. 

[javajeanelaine]

I mean disliked.

[LittleIggy]

Italy: That third place (the one the husband wanted) must have been a decoy because who would pass that up otherwise? It was fabulous.

[Grrarrggh]

42 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

Italy: That third place (the one the husband wanted) must have been a decoy because who would pass that up otherwise? It was fabulous.

Someone who wanted to live in town?

[MartyQui]

I have a friend (an avid skier) who used to live/work in Trento...they'd go skiing at lunchtime.  Granted, it's Italy so lunch is 2 hours! But still, no matter that the house was in the city center, the mountains are minutes away.

[QQQQ]

I actually liked the Trento couple. A little quirky but not obnoxiously so. Maybe I'm coming down with something...

[javajeanelaine]

Well they did seem to really like each other. That was a nice change.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Today's rerun of the woman, and her boyfriend moving to Perth was bizarre.   I really think the boyfriend thinks if they get a two bedroom, that the girl's parents will be moving in forever.    Him saying that a one bedroom would be fine with him, told me that he didn't want her parents dropping in for months at a time, or forever.     

[LittleIggy]

Vietnam: If you can’t get a guy to go out and do things, why marry him? That was basically the female HH’s excuse for not wanting the fantastic apartment where they could work at home— that her fiancé wouldn’t go out if they did work at home. BTW, what was the deal with the display case bathrooms? 😬

[Zanne]

Stop trying to make “digital nomad” happen. It’s not going to happen.

[sempervivum]

Sydney to Singapore- What a peculiar couple. She kind of looked like she could be his grandma, and he acted like a resentful teen. It seemed like she initiated the move-some objection to the supposedly stressful Oz lifestyle, yet she was sneering at his desire for relaxed, more resort-type surroundings. She also implied that he made more money, and that he used his income as a weapon to get his way.

She said they had NEVER compromised on anything, yet they did choose the most sensible place and seemed happy at the end. 

[Koalagirl]

I was very uncomfortable watching the dynamics between the Sydney to Singapore couple.  The way she kept knocking him down made me wonder why they’re even together.  
 

[biakbiak]

Singapore the first apartment was so oddly designed the staircase to the roof deck took up so much space.

[LittleIggy]

6 hours ago, Koalagirl said:

I was very uncomfortable watching the dynamics between the Sydney to Singapore couple.  The way she kept knocking him down made me wonder why they’re even together.  
 

And they apparently weren’t legally married (or had no legal proof of marriage?). I wondered why they didn’t get married in OZ (like a Justice of the Peace marriage in the US) so she could get a work visa. But then maybe he wanted a means of escape...😏

[javajeanelaine]

They were definitely an odd couple.  I didn't see any friendship let alone love!

[Grrarrggh]

On 11/9/2019 at 4:43 PM, Koalagirl said:

I was very uncomfortable watching the dynamics between the Sydney to Singapore couple.  The way she kept knocking him down made me wonder why they’re even together.  
 

It seemed like he was the one who was knocking her down. His money, saying that he wasn't listening to her etc. 

[awaken]

Singapore woman really seemed miserable. I hope the move helps them find the happiness they’re looking for, but I doubt it. 

[ML89]

That Ecuador story was all kinds of weird. Okay, so, you have a two hour commute so you'll move to Quito....because your boss is okay with working remote. So...you wouldn't stay in LA and work remote?

[Ohwell]

36 minutes ago, ML89 said:

That Ecuador story was all kinds of weird. Okay, so, you have a two hour commute so you'll move to Quito....because your boss is okay with working remote. So...you wouldn't stay in LA and work remote?

He did mention that it would be cheaper living in Quito, but still, this is just another instance of "Who knows why they really moved there?"  Happens all the time on HHI and I'm sick of it.

[chessiegal]

The guy in Quito was a little wacky. I was wondering if he was high. 

[rhofmovalley]

He said he wears sweat pants all the time.  Gross.  There's comfortable clothing that doesn't show everyone when you're popping a boner or a semi, or that doesn't look stretched out.  His sweat pants didn't even fit properly.

[StatisticalOutlier]

8 minutes ago, Ohwell said:

He did mention that it would be cheaper living in Quito, but still, this is just another instance of "Who knows why they really moved there?"  Happens all the time on HHI and I'm sick of it.

I talked to someone who was on an episode of HHI that aired a week or so ago. 

The show said they were renting a house and had made a lot of improvements to the rental (husband is a contractor or something similar).  They wanted to buy a house instead of continuing to rent, but were priced out of the market.  So they decided to move to Mexico because their kids were grown and they could do this just for themselves.

The true story is they bought the house in Mexico four years ago, and they are still renting the house in the U.S., and they split their time between them.  The episode was filmed in April, I believe.

I asked why in the world she would go on the show, knowing how they edit them, and she just shrugged.

.

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

The guy in Quito was a little wacky. I was wondering if he was high. 

When I saw "high," I thought, "Well, Quito is waaaay up there," so maybe we're talking literally high, especially if coming from sea level.  But with the way this show is, he's had more than enough time to get acclimated. 

[Andyourlittledog2]

He didn't say 'sweat pants' he said 'knit sweat pants'. That's a different level of ugh. And probably why they fit so weirdly.

That guy bugged the shit outta me and I kept thinking that this couple is so not staying together. He was all kinds of not ever going to grow up and she looked like she had buyer's remorse about almost everything. And all I could think about the house they chose was that you are going to be chasing toddlers around a house that is open to the outside until you are completely frazzled or you are going to have to close those huge doors that make the house so livable. Almost everything in that house was a nightmare when caring for toddlers. You'd never be able to take your eye off them for a minute.

I realize HH is not 'real' but I enjoy it by suspending disbelief and following them for what they present and seeing the different houses in the world and snarking on their odd stories and relationships. Just saying, 'eh, they're just fake' takes the fun out of the thing for me. It's much more fun to watch these weird men drag their reluctant families around the world and hear their bizarre rationalizations and story lines. Who could forget the man who went to Spain(?) and listed the dozen or so jobs he failed at before he proudly decided to flee America and start a scuba diving school in his rented home pool? That's what I watch for. .

I will say this though: If one more HH on either show complains that five minutes walk to the sandy shore is not really 'the beach' they came to live by I may scream. Just because you can't walk from your patio into the water does not mean you aren't at 'the beach'. Having lived at the beach for the vast majority of my life that complaint makes me crazy. You're at the fucking beach. Get over yourselves.

[chessiegal]

1 hour ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

When I saw "high," I thought, "Well, Quito is waaaay up there," so maybe we're talking literally high, especially if coming from sea level.  But with the way this show is, he's had more than enough time to get acclimated. 

No, I meant smoking weed high. And I'm changing my opinion from a little wacky to wacky plus.

[Olliesmom]

On 11/9/2019 at 11:53 AM, sempervivum said:

Sydney to Singapore- What a peculiar couple. She kind of looked like she could be his grandma, and he acted like a resentful teen. It seemed like she initiated the move-some objection to the supposedly stressful Oz lifestyle, yet she was sneering at his desire for relaxed, more resort-type surroundings. She also implied that he made more money, and that he used his income as a weapon to get his way.

She said they had NEVER compromised on anything, yet they did choose the most sensible place and seemed happy at the end. 

Honestly, I thought she looked and acted like his mother. A very strange couple.

[QQQQ]

Wellington: I can't believe they chose the apartment over the house. A 15-minute commute is nothing, and considering she wasn't thrilled about climbing stairs, being able to walk to work seemed like a weird deal-breaker. I thought the realtor was very diplomatic in listening to their criticisms ("Too blue!"). 

[Koalagirl]

Wellington guy annoyed the crap out of me when he kept referring to his daughter as adopted.    Why keep making this distinction - did he want a medal?  

[biakbiak]

1 hour ago, QQQQ said:

Wellington: I can't believe they chose the apartment over the house. A 15-minute commute is nothing, and considering she wasn't thrilled about climbing stairs, being able to walk to work seemed like a weird deal-breaker. I thought the realtor was very diplomatic in listening to their criticisms ("Too blue!"). 

Her main requirement was that it needed to be in walking distance to her job so they probably weren’t planning on getting a car so the house would have probably been over budget when you factor that jn.

30 minutes ago, Koalagirl said:

Wellington guy annoyed the crap out of me when he kept referring to his daughter as adopted.    Why keep making this distinction - did he want a medal?  

that was so bizarre! Not that excuses it but they both looked on the younger side so I wondered if they adopted her as an older child. Again, doesn’t excuse it but it made me wonder.

[laredhead]

I thought the references by the Wellington couple to the daughter being adopted were odd too.  The husband said his profession was "procurement".  What is that?  I wonder what company the woman works for that would allow her to go to New Zealand to work for the same company.  Bet they are back in the U.S. already since it didn't seem like a permanent move.  Will they bring the cat back to the U.S.?  So many "important" questions - lol.

[Pickles]

The New Zealand episode. I googled the woman and she is a technical writer. She is also 37 years old.

It looks like they are still in New Zealand.

[biakbiak]

41 minutes ago, Pickles said:

She is also 37 years old.

Assuming that he is similar in age would indicate that they probably did adopt their daughter when she was older so maybe he is used to saying that so people aren’t trying to figure out the math.

[buttersister]

LA to France. Both lost their dads and wanted to live more than work. Beautiful town. Smart realtor. B and S, and she was annoying af. He wants a balcony and she has a fear of heights? Wtf? That’s not a style “disagreement” that’s mean. Or, you know, BS.

No way they were going out into the countryside, but, MILK! Where was Ex-security guy going to get his milk in the middle of the night?  Shut it, dude, whining about a lawn was bad enough. Realtor throwing shade on his milk jones  was funny, though.

Romance novel writer wife’s reaction to the other two kitchens was stupid, neither had upper cabinets but only the one they bought would need them? Too much work!!!  So they buy a three-centuries-old house cause that won’t need any work. 

Shocking twist at the end—she starts a new book in their new town. Maybe she could have given the producers red herring suggestions so they didn’t come off so badly. Oy, maybe she did!

[ArtFossil]

On 11/15/2019 at 1:49 AM, buttersister said:

LA to France. Both lost their dads and wanted to live more than work. Beautiful town. Smart realtor. B and S, and she was annoying af. He wants a balcony and she has a fear of heights? Wtf? That’s not a style “disagreement” that’s mean. Or, you know, BS.

No way they were going out into the countryside, but, MILK! Where was Ex-security guy going to get his milk in the middle of the night?  Shut it, dude, whining about a lawn was bad enough. Realtor throwing shade on his milk jones  was funny, though.

Romance novel writer wife’s reaction to the other two kitchens was stupid, neither had upper cabinets but only the one they bought would need them? Too much work!!!  So they buy a three-centuries-old house cause that won’t need any work. 

Shocking twist at the end—she starts a new book in their new town. Maybe she could have given the producers red herring suggestions so they didn’t come off so badly. Oy, maybe she did!

As soon as the wife said she couldn't write because there was wallpaper on the ceiling, I rolled my eyes and they never unrolled. If one can't write because of wallpaper on the ceiling one is, quite simply, a crap writer. 

[amarante]

On 11/14/2019 at 8:52 AM, laredhead said:

I thought the references by the Wellington couple to the daughter being adopted were odd too.  The husband said his profession was "procurement".  What is that?  I wonder what company the woman works for that would allow her to go to New Zealand to work for the same company.  Bet they are back in the U.S. already since it didn't seem like a permanent move.  Will they bring the cat back to the U.S.?  So many "important" questions - lol.

My understanding is that procurement is generally a position for industries which have very stringent needs for items they purchase. I have come across those kinds of positions in the aerospace industry for example. The person in procurement needs to understand the technical specifications of what is being ordered so it's more skilled than just someone buying office supplies :-).

Edited November 17, 2019 by amarante

[LittleIggy]

4 hours ago, ArtFossil said:

As soon as the wife said she couldn't write because there was wallpaper on the ceiling, I rolled my eyes and they never unrolled. If one can't write because of wallpaper on the ceiling one is, quite simply, a crap writer. 

If you look on Amazon, all of the cover art on her novels include a slice of shirtless beefcake. 😏

[amarante]

14 hours ago, ArtFossil said:

As soon as the wife said she couldn't write because there was wallpaper on the ceiling, I rolled my eyes and they never unrolled. If one can't write because of wallpaper on the ceiling one is, quite simply, a crap writer. 

I assumed she was a crap writer when she said she had published ten novels in a fairly short period of time. I knew she was one of those crap formula romance writers with some clone of Fabio on the cover dressed in some generic historical "costume" - e.g. the classic bodice ripper.

[chessiegal]

I belong to a social club that occasionally has authors come and speak, none, however of her genre. I was surprised they don't have much say in the covers - the publishers decide on cover designs.

[Pine]

Started to watch Vancouver to Valencia, the woman was annoying with that nose ring.  I don't normally notice or care about nose rings, but, this one annoyed me.  Her attitude annoyed me even more, and I deleted the episode before finishing it.   

Edited November 17, 2019 by Pine

[biakbiak]

Wellington: I hope they knew each other better than what was shown.

I would be a skinny recluse if I lived in the second house because every time I thought about leaving, I would imagine having to walk up those stairs to get home and decide to stay in. When forced to go out to shop for food I would imagine having to lug the groceries up the stairs so would most likely just survive on mixed greens and other light foods!

[LittleIggy]

Dominican Republic: Why do parents hand little children smartphones to play with? They just end up with a tantrum thrower like the little girl on this episode. You started it, parents. Anyway, I liked the place they picked. After hearing about the American teacher who was killed in a home invasion in the DR, I would rather be in a condo complex than a single family dwelling.

[Pickles]

8 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Dominican Republic: Why do parents hand little children smartphones to play with? They just end up with a tantrum thrower like the little girl on this episode. You started it, parents. Anyway, I liked the place they picked. After hearing about the American teacher who was killed in a home invasion in the DR, I would rather be in a condo complex than a single family dwelling.

That child was 4 years old and seemed totally addicted to the phone. What in the world?? Lots of tantrums when the parents tried to take it away.

Moving to theDR has zero appeal for me. I am not a beach person and I would not feel safe there.

[ML89]

7 hours ago, Pickles said:

Moving to theDR has zero appeal for me. I am not a beach person and I would not feel safe there.

As a Floridian, I was just looking at that place and saying "enjoy the hurricanes." The expensive place in the middle of nowhere was probably even worse from that standpoint.

Agree with everyone about the kids with smartphones or I would hope iPod Touches. Also, who sells everything and escapes to another country with zero plans on how to make money, then get an expensive place and put their kids in private school?

[Ohwell]

7 minutes ago, ML89 said:

Also, who sells everything and escapes to another country with zero plans on how to make money, then get an expensive place and put their kids in private school?

Yet another HHI "mystery."  He said he sold their house and his restaurant, but even if they paid cash for the new house, I wondered how much money is left for them to live the rest of their lives on.  My guess is he probably got a job somewhere.

[LittleIggy]

Wellington: Did they meet online? They never said. New Zealand seems so awesome. I saw the PM on Colbert’s show Monday night and she is fantastic. 

[LittleIggy]

Germany: Kevin (Baby Elvis to me) is adorable. Loved the pugs. Didn’t like the couple.