House Hunters - General Discussion

[CrazyInAlabama]

Renovation Island is Brian Baumler (hope I spelled that right), and I'm betting it was filmed long enough ago, that they redid the resort, and sold it before hurricane season (or already had a buyer).    I do have to laugh at the wife running, and screaming from the crab.   It's the Caribbean, they have crabs, lizards, etc, so she should get over it.     That's the same thing I love about the Beach Reno, and Beach Hunters, where they see a roach, or a lizard, and want to call in an air strike.     

SInce Hurricane season just started, I'm guessing that the programmers at HGTV will be busy rescheduling around anywhere Jim Cantore (Weather Channel, hurricane guru) shows up.    After Hurricane Michael, they had zero new or reruns from the Gulf Coast, and over to South Carolina.   

I'm betting the network people are looking very closely at every line of the comedian shows commentary.  

Tonight's episode in Missouri looks interesting, follow by (at least on my cable guide) some episode, unnamed location right now. 

Edited June 3, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[Grrarrggh]

4 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

I do wonder if that's being taken into consideration.  There has to be something, because I think this would generally be a good time to present some professional snark for people to enjoy. 

Maybe they thought (hoped?) no one would be home to watch it and they wouldn't have a high enough viewership.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Last night's episode in Lee's Summit MO was interesting.   They were buying their first house to live in, but already owned four rental properties.    The husband kept talking about possible resale, or rental of the house they were buying.   

 I knew they were going to buy the third house.   When they toured it, no one mentioned the huge crack in the basement slab that was repaired by the tour after they bought.     I hated that you had to go into the garage to get to the basement stairs.   I'm hoping the garage was long enough they could put up a wall, and insulate, so going to the basement wasn't running through the garage.   

Also, I loved that the woman house hunter mentioned that the bedroom in the basement wasn't a legal (a.k.a. non-conforming) bedroom in the basement, because the windows were too small.   Putting in a window well, an egress window, and the window itself is not cheap.  

Edited June 5, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[KLovestoShop]

If so many of these shows are scripted, they really need to change the scripts. Here are things I’m so tired of hearing:

1.  “This is near the top of my budget”.  Listen, asshat.  You have a freaking budget, and if a price is near the top of said budget, so what???  If you tell a realtor your budget is $200,000 and the list price is $195,000, and you say you don’t want to buy it because it’s close to the top of your budget, then say your budget is $5,000 lower than your original number.  I swear nearly every HH at some point says that the house is near the top of their budget so they won’t buy it.

2.  The wife wants one kind of house, and the husband wants another.  I hate these false narratives especially when you know that it’s not true.  When you look at the TV listings, nearly every single one says the wife wants this and the husband wants that, and the choices are polar opposites but that’s not really the case.

3.  I hate being invested in watching the show, whether it’s HH, Beach, Hawaii or whatever, and at the end, the buyers don’t buy anything.  I thought the rules were that the show’s applicants must already be under contract before they start filming.
 

4.  “My budget is $199,000 and I want open concept with real hardwood, granite countertops, 3 BR’s and 3 baths, a pool, real fireplace, stainless steel appliances and a big yard”.   Along with this is “These rooms are so small” or “Everything is so cramped” with a budget of $150,000.  They want mansion homes for tiny house money.  
 

5.  “We want privacy, but we want to be near all the action in the big city, and our budget is $200,000”.  Just once I want to hear an agent say “Listen doofuss, you’re living in fantasyland.  What you want doesn’t exist, so get real and pull your head out of your ass”.  What is it with so many HH’s who don’t want neighbors?  Are they nudists or part of a group cooking Meth?  

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

I agree with everything said in the last post.    However, I noticed that the ones where they don't buy are the Hawaii, Beach, or Mexico, and sometimes the HHI episodes.     In fact I noticed the Hawaii episodes have changed companies they work with, because at the final episodes the home buyers were 50/50 on not purchasing, so it was just to show the listings they have off on TV.  

[NYGirl]

I guess because I've been watching a lot of TV during this quarantine I felt I've become irrational towards the people in these shows.  However I will list what is annoying me lately.

1.  Every single person mentions the words "open concept" at least 5 times during every single HG show.  I saw one recently where the woman was saying she felt claustrophobic because there were walls.  I rolled my eyes.

2.  Privacy - My neighbor can see me over that fence.

3.  I don't like the paint color and/or what is this room for?  Dumbass make it what you want and you can paint the room whatever color you want.

4.  We need a giant island because I like to entertain.  How the hell much do these people entertain?? 

5.  I can picture myself having a cup of coffee/glass of wine out here on the balcony.  (Never gonna happen).  I can also picture the kids doing their homework on this giant entertaining island.

6.  What's with the white kitchens?  Everything is white?  Doesn't it get dirty?

7.  The most important!!  Do all husbands and wives brush their teeth at exactly the same time in the morning?  I was married 46 years before my husband passed away and not once did we fight by the bathroom sink.

BACK!!!!  I also forgot to mention how men want a project to make the house their own.  I roll my eyes in back of my head here because most men are NOT looking for projects.

I just want to say again that this is every single show on HG.  Even HomeTown has some of these.  

I think that's it.  There may be more.  I'll come back and edit.

Edited June 9, 2020 by NYGirl

[Grrarrggh]

What was wrong with that Oregon woman's skin colour? Did she descend from Oompa Loompas? And that's not even getting into her tight, ripped jeans and stilettos. Ick. She looked like she was auditioning for a Real Housewives programme. 

[Ohwell]

15 minutes ago, Grrarrggh said:

Did she descend from Oompa Loompas?

I'm guessing she did. 

[LittleIggy]

The woman who needed a “crafting” room and a room for her energy 💩 was annoying. The view of the lake from the backyard of the house they picked was beautiful.

[buttersister]

Quote

2.  The wife wants one kind of house, and the husband wants another.  I hate these false narratives especially when you know that it’s not true.  When you look at the TV listings, nearly every single one says the wife wants this and the husband wants that, and the choices are polar opposites but that’s not really the case.

Just checked the cable guide for the next 90 minutes--three eps in which the wife wants a move-in ready house and the husband wants a fixer. G'night!

[MooCat Pretzel]

So I just watched “Poker Player Girlfriend in CA”, “Wants to Live in the Burbs/Wilmington, DE”, and “I am Orange and Want to Give my Two Boys EVERYTHING/OR” fairly close to one another.  And I am convinced that these are not real couples, that at least the women are actresses.  They HAVE to be—who in their right mind would go on a television program and be that way in front of millions of people?? Nobody can be that big of a shrew or that delusional...can they???  I just don’t understand why people keep giving the producers so much ammunition to make them look bad. Yeesh.

Edited June 5, 2020 by MooCat Pretzel

[Ohwell]

17 minutes ago, MooCat Pretzel said:

“I am Orange and Want to Give my Two Boys EVERYTHING/OR”

Hah, this had me cracking up!  I also thought at first that the husband had leg tattoos, but then realized that his legs were that hairy!

[Grizzly]

21 hours ago, KLovestoShop said:

1.  “This is near the top of my budget”.  Listen, asshat.  You have a freaking budget, and if a price is near the top of said budget, so what???  If you tell a realtor your budget is $200,000 and the list price is $195,000, and you say you don’t want to buy it because it’s close to the top of your budget, then say your budget is $5,000 lower than your original number.  I swear nearly every HH at some point says that the house is near the top of their budget so they won’t buy it.

No, they'll buy the house that's over their budget. Lol.

[doodlebug]

25 minutes ago, Grizzly said:

No, they'll buy the house that's over their budget. Lol.

After repeatedly complaining to the realtor that they shouldn't even bother looking at the over budget home and asking why he/she had the audacity to bring them to see it.

[KLovestoShop]

I hear you, NYGirl.  Every one of your points resonates with me.  And I thought about another one.  It drives me nuts when a HH moves to a certain part of the country and demands a house that just isn’t available in that area.  I lived in Arizona for 10 years and it drives me up a wall when they say they want a Cape Cod or farmhouse type of construction.  Sorry numbnuts, that won’t be happening. 

[chocolatine]

On 6/4/2020 at 3:49 PM, KLovestoShop said:

1.  “This is near the top of my budget”.  Listen, asshat.  You have a freaking budget, and if a price is near the top of said budget, so what???  If you tell a realtor your budget is $200,000 and the list price is $195,000, and you say you don’t want to buy it because it’s close to the top of your budget, then say your budget is $5,000 lower than your original number.  I swear nearly every HH at some point says that the house is near the top of their budget so they won’t buy it.

This isn't completely ridiculous in hot markets where houses routinely sell above asking price. So if I had no more than $200k to spend, and I knew that houses in my area were going at least $10k over asking, I would only want to consider houses whose asking price is $190k or lower. (Of course IRL I would consider other factors, like how long the house has been on the market, but this show rarely bothers explaining those things.)

Oregon wife - I normally don't like to comment on the HHs' looks, but it makes me sad that nobody in her life loves her enough to be honest and tell her how unflattering the orange makeup is. If she was one of my friends, I'd have taken her to Sephora years ago.

Edited June 5, 2020 by chocolatine

[ECM1231]

On 6/4/2020 at 12:14 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

 

Also, I loved that the woman house hunter mentioned that the bedroom in the basement wasn't a legal (a.k.a. non-conforming) bedroom in the basement, because the windows were too small.   Putting in a window well, an egress window, and the window itself is not cheap.  

I'm always surprised that basement bedrooms are legal in other parts of the states. Where I live, even if the basement had egress windows, a person would  not be allowed to sleep down there, never mind rent the basement out. You aren't allowed to even have a secondary stove for cooking.  When we moved to our current house, the previous owners had a makeshift extra kitchen, with gas stove/oven, a row of cabinetry and an extra refrigerator. They didn't have a dining room so they used the large table down there for parties. Oh, and also a wet bar. We got rid of the table and wet bar but used that refrigerator often for extra frozen/refrigerated foods.  During a large home renovation our sons were sleeping down there temporarily b/c the entire side of the house where their bedrooms were, was torn apart. The building inspector gave me a hard time about it, insisting folks were living down there as I had the refrigerator and stove and wanted us to remove everything. I stood my ground and said the kids had nowhere else to sleep but on the sleeper sofa and I'd get rid of the oven but no way was I ripping out extra storage cabinets that held my extra dishes/cups and the extra fridge that came in handy. We never bothered to finish it nicely and put in a bathroom, because again, it's illegal around here.

[DonnaMae]

18 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

Oregon wife - I normally don't like to comment on the HHs' looks, but it makes me sad that nobody in her life loves her enough to be honest and tell her how unflattering the orange makeup is. If she was one of my friends, I'd have taken her to Sephora years ago.

I thought it was a sprayed on tan.  I agree that it looked awful.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Yes, the extra kitchen means in many places that you will rent the basement out, so I think prohibiting them is to prevent that.     I've seen a lot of places where the in-law suite downstairs can't have a full kitchen, even when it's a full walk out basement.    Many places want only single family homes, and don't want the house to turn into a boarding house, or have multiple families living there.   Now a lot of jurisdictions limit the short-term and vacation rentals, so they're very picky about mother-in-law suites, and rentals that are less than a certain amount of time.   

When I lived in Colorado, you had to put in a full egress window, with a window well if the window was below ground level ,with a window well with an attached ladder to have living quarters downstairs.    However, there were plenty of non-conforming basements, and realtors were very happy to sell to you even when they knew you were going to rent the basement out.  

I can't stand the house hunters that move to Phoenix, or Vegas, don't want Spanish Style or Mid-century, and want a lot of trees and grass.     Or want a style that isn't available.    Or they move to the deep South (where I live), and want a Cape Cod, or something similar, and then are surprised that you really need two air conditioning units to heat and cool the separate floors.  

The only people I saw that had a legitimate worry about cat walks, or stair railings were a couple moving to Tucson, and they had two sons with special needs, and one liked to stick his head between railings, and would climb over.     The people on HH that keep talking about that are just for the drama.   I do laugh at the HH who keep talking about houses with stairs as death traps for kids.   

The super picky aren't just on this show.   My realtor showed a friend's sister about 200 houses (I'm hoping some were the Spring Parade of Homes, where you can see 40 or 50 in one weekend).   I know that sounds excessive, but the woman was renting, and looked for a couple of years, and wanted a forever home.   

I have to laugh at the house hunters that have that bathroom fetish about not having a used toilet, or bathtub.     I hope they realize that a lot of people have used the facilities even in a new build.  

Edited June 9, 2020 by CrazyInAlabama

[chocolatine]

18 minutes ago, DonnaMae said:

I thought it was a sprayed on tan.  I agree that it looked awful.

But her face looked much more orange than the rest of her, which is what made it so bizarre. It looked like she gets spray tans and then piles on the wrong shade of foundation on top of it.

Edited June 6, 2020 by chocolatine

[LittleIggy]

Greensboro: The wife who didn’t want a “used house” had the most annoying voice. I can’t believe someone actually likes to mow the lawn. Maybe he does because it drowns out her voice! 😆

Edited June 6, 2020 by LittleIggy

[chessiegal]

Yeah, that Greenville SC wife needed more than a new house - she needed some serious therapy about her dirt phobia. What do people like her do when they travel and stay in hotels?

We had a neighbor once who had an adult son living with them who was intellectually disabled. Their lot was about 9,000 sq. ft. and partially bordered our back yard. He would mow their lawn over and over for at least 3 hours on the days I'm guessing they let him do it. Any time I hear of someone who loves to mow lawns, it brings back noisy memories.

[blueray]

On 6/5/2020 at 12:29 AM, LittleIggy said:

The woman who needed a “crafting” room and a room for her energy 💩 was annoying. The view of the lake from the backyard of the house they picked was beautiful.

I love that even the realtor (and her sister) were getting annoyed that she wanted every room of the house. I wonder if the guy got anything?

Yesterday's episode she was annoying too. She kept insisting that she wanted a brand new house but it had to be under 300. When the realtor showed a house that was around that but three years old, she had a fit.  Seriously needed to get over herself. My husband who was half watching compared her to Gretchan in Means Girls. Thought it was a good way of putting it.

Edited June 6, 2020 by blueray

[CruiseDiva]

On 6/5/2020 at 12:29 AM, LittleIggy said:

The woman who needed a “crafting” room and a room for her energy 💩 was annoying. The view of the lake from the backyard of the house they picked was beautiful.

I wanted to slap her when she claimed every room for her needs. Poor guy was looking extremely frustrated. 

However, I laughed like mad when it was pointed out that the yard was "fenced" and would be good for their dog. That split rail fence wasn't going to keep even the largest dog in the yard! 🤣 

[KLovestoShop]

Here’s another pet peeve that I just heard on an old HH.  The couple looked at a house with stairs and what I call a bridge balcony that connects one side of the upper lever to the other.  These parents said they just didn’t  think the house would be safe for their kids because they would climb up and jump to the first floor, and not only that, what if one of them fell down the stairs.  They didn’t buy that house but they did buy one that was on a small lake.  The parents sure didn’t worry about the kids sneaking out to jump into the lake without supervision.  I just can’t stand these silly helicopter parents. 

Edited June 6, 2020 by KLovestoShop

[chessiegal]

7 minutes ago, KLovestoShop said:

what I call a bridge balcony that connects one side of the upper lever to the other.

It's called a cat walk. We have one, and even our cat is smart enough not to jump off of it. And yes, everyone who declares their children will apparently die of stupidity are ridiculous.

[Grrarrggh]

20 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

I'm always surprised that basement bedrooms are legal in other parts of the states. Where I live, even if the basement had egress windows, a person would  not be allowed to sleep down there, never mind rent the basement out. You aren't allowed to even have a secondary stove for cooking.  When we moved to our current house, the previous owners had a makeshift extra kitchen, with gas stove/oven, a row of cabinetry and an extra refrigerator. They didn't have a dining room so they used the large table down there for parties. that came in handy. We never bothered to finish it nicely and put in a bathroom, because again, it's illegal around here.

I don't think it's illegal period, just what YOU have is illegal. Other things are considered beside egress windows (2 egress are usually required, door and window). There's minimal square footage and horizontal size, ceiling height, heating and cooling etc. Though some places sadly still have no requirements. I guess the answer (?) is to move there and hope nothing happens. 

[blueray]

I know personally they do sometimes check up on those things. My parents bought their house a few years ago and the owners before them were using the basement (which is finished) as a guest room. The picture on listing had a bed in it.  My parents had to prove to some government official that they are not using it for a bedroom now. Which they aren't, my dad uses the space as a workout room which is acceptable.

Edited June 6, 2020 by blueray

[chessiegal]

And once you've proved it, you can put a bed back in, or do the bedroom police come and do weekly checks?

[Grrarrggh]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

And once you've proved it, you can put a bed back in, or do the bedroom police come and do weekly checks?

I guess if something bad happens you just can't get as much insurance money? Its too bad sometimes that DAs don't use all of the laws available to them. 

[DonnaMae]

20 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Greensboro: The wife who didn’t want a “used house” had the most annoying voice. I can’t believe someone actually likes to mow the lawn. Maybe he does because it drowns out her voice! 😆

I just watched that episode.  Not only was her voice annoying, but she looked like she was no more than fourteen.  I liked her husband and wondered how he could tolerate that voice.

[ByaNose]

20 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Greensboro: The wife who didn’t want a “used house” had the most annoying voice. I can’t believe someone actually likes to mow the lawn. Maybe he does because it drowns out her voice! 😆

I think I could seriously do harm to myself if I had to live with that voice. It’s not only the voice but that she sounds and acts like a 10 year old. No way! No how! Did she put a gun to his head when he was proposing? My god what was he thinking?!?!  Run!!!! No wonder he wants to watch tv. He’s trying to get the hell away from her. Yikes!!! The house was nice but the front door was an inch from the staircase. There was no space. I think I would have vetoed that house for that reason. OMG! Could someone please check on his well being. I’m worried for him. LOL!!!!!!!

[KLovestoShop]

I think the realtor from the Greensboro house had a worse obnoxious voice than the wife.  I had to FF through the episode because I couldn't handle her voice. 

[doodlebug]

2 hours ago, ByaNose said:

I think I could seriously do harm to myself if I had to live with that voice. It’s not only the voice but that she sounds and acts like a 10 year old. No way! No how! Did she put a gun to his head when he was proposing? My god what was he thinking?!?!  Run!!!! No wonder he wants to watch tv. He’s trying to get the hell away from her. Yikes!!! The house was nice but the front door was an inch from the staircase. There was no space. I think I would have vetoed that house for that reason. OMG! Could someone please check on his well being. I’m worried for him. LOL!!!!!!!

He said he couldn't take living in a hotel room with her for another 6 months if they decided to build a new home, he made a couple other comments that made it seem like he was just about done,  It seemed like, in addition to the obsessive cleaning, she insisted on complete and total silence when their daughter was napping and at night.  He said she monitored the volume on the TV closely when he was watching.  

Aside from the weird voice, who in their right mind thinks that a house built 3 years ago is too old because she doesn't know the 'level of cleanliness' of the previous owners?  I expect that the main reason for the husband's obsession with a large yard so he can spend hours on the weekend mowing is to give him a break from her and her obsessions.

[ByaNose]

1 hour ago, doodlebug said:

He said he couldn't take living in a hotel room with her for another 6 months if they decided to build a new home, he made a couple other comments that made it seem like he was just about done,  It seemed like, in addition to the obsessive cleaning, she insisted on complete and total silence when their daughter was napping and at night.  He said she monitored the volume on the TV closely when he was watching.  

Aside from the weird voice, who in their right mind thinks that a house built 3 years ago is too old because she doesn't know the 'level of cleanliness' of the previous owners?  I expect that the main reason for the husband's obsession with a large yard so he can spend hours on the weekend mowing is to give him a break from her and her obsessions.

I thought it was odd about the previous owners cleaning habits. If she cleans it once wouldn’t it be fine afterwards? I could understand if the house was a money or a dive and she couldn’t handle the cleaning habits of a previous owner if it was just two years old. Yup! I’m not living with her. The husband seemed nice but already he’s looking for a room to get away from her. That’s not a good sign.

[LittleIggy]

No, “comics on the couch” snarking episodes scheduled for this week. What’s going on? 🧐

[kirklandia]

32 minutes ago, LittleIggy said:

No, “comics on the couch” snarking episodes scheduled for this week. What’s going on? 🧐

Looks like it starts Thursday.

[chessiegal]

The germaphobe wife episode was in Greenville, not Greensboro.

[chessiegal]

From the HH website:

Quote

House Hunters: Comedians on Couches premieres Thursday, June 11 with back-to-back episodes airing at 10 & 10:30p ET. More new episodes premiering Tues. - Thurs., June 16, 17 & 18.

 

[Tess23]

On 6/6/2020 at 12:38 PM, KLovestoShop said:

Here’s another pet peeve that I just heard on an old HH.  The couple looked at a house with stairs and what I call a bridge balcony that connects one side of the upper lever to the other.  These parents said they just didn’t  think the house would be safe for their kids because they would climb up and jump to the first floor, and not only that, what if one of them fell down the stairs.  They didn’t buy that house but they did buy one that was on a small lake.  The parents sure didn’t worry about the kids sneaking out to jump into the lake without supervision.  I just can’t stand these silly helicopter parents. 

I raised my kids before helicopter parenting was a thing. Maybe I was TOO laid back - they're 31 and 28 now and think it's hilarious to finally share that they used to jump off our catwalk onto the sofa below with their friends. One's now an attorney and the other one has a great job in NYC so it appears they turned okay in spite of my clearly lackluster parenting - can't wait to hear what other shenanigans they were up to back in the day. That said, the orange lady (I'm sorry ma'am but it's true) got on my last nerve. Take it down a notch with the helicoptering and spoiling, please, or those boys are going to rebel like you never imagined. 

[LittleIggy]

11 hours ago, chessiegal said:

The germaphobe wife episode was in Greenville, not Greensboro.

Whatever.

11 hours ago, kirklandia said:

Looks like it starts Thursday.

They must have decided this since I looked at the tv schedule Sunday morning.

[buttersister]

So orange lady's husband was a firefighter, iirc. He seemed normal. If long-suffering. Trying to recall if he was trying to downplay the need to keep eyes on those boys/spoil the crap out of them 24/7. She's overcompensating for something. Sadly felt the need to display it on TV.

[edie3]

On 6/6/2020 at 1:50 PM, blueray said:

I love that even the realtor (and her sister) were getting annoyed that she wanted every room of the house. I wonder if the guy got anything?

she needed her own house!

[cameron]

The husband in Flint Michigan would have driven me up the wall.  And how old was the daughter with the child that was living with them?   Looked really young.

[buttersister]

Guess the water pipes in those Flint neighborhoods aren’t made of lead. 

[chessiegal]

I stopped counting the number of times Flint mom said their daughter and grandson wouldn't be living with them forever. 😄

[Grrarrggh]

Where was the father of the Flint's daughter's son?

[Babalooie]

On 6/5/2020 at 7:32 PM, chocolatine said:

Oregon wife - I normally don't like to comment on the HHs' looks, but it makes me sad that nobody in her life loves her enough to be honest and tell her how unflattering the orange makeup is. If she was one of my friends, I'd have taken her to Sephora years ago.

It's okay, I think.  The name of this site used to be "Television Without Pity", lol.

[nokat]

On Saturday, June 06, 2020 at 4:38 PM, Grrarrggh said:

I guess if something bad happens you just can't get as much insurance money? Its too bad sometimes that DAs don't use all of the laws available to them.

Are the police hot and can prove the bed is being used for nefarious reasons?

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by nokat
a bad joke, I should go back to not be a jackhole training.

[Bastet]

6 hours ago, Babalooie said:

The name of this site used to be "Television Without Pity", lol.

Two different sites.  Same founders, but different sites.  TWoP started as Mighty Big TV (after it expanded from whatever it was called when it just skewered Dawson's Creek), and still existed when Tara, Sarah, and Dave created this site - previously.TV, now Primetimer - several years after they'd left TWoP (following the Bravo acquisition).  When TWoP was shuttered a couple of years after that, a lot of its posters found their way here, and the site grew exponentially.  So, lots of overlap, but two different sites.

This concludes today's installment of useless trivia.

Edited June 10, 2020 by Bastet