# House Hunters and House Hunters International



## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

I didn't find an actual House Hunters / House Hunters International discussion thread here, so I figured it was time to start one.

Post here to discuss any episode of these two programs.

Related links:

http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters/show/index.html
http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-international/show/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Hunters

PS: HGTV is running a House Hunters and House Hunters International marathon this New Year's weekend.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

Wife and I watch pretty much every new episode that comes on, sometimes intrigued, sometimes disgusted. People can be pretty weird with their desires on that show. House. Must. Have. Granite!


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## sushikitten (Jan 28, 2005)

I used to watch these religiously until Owen arrived. Now I have a backlog of about 75 shows. 

I like the International ones because I get to see how much things costs in other countries...but then I also get irritated with the couples that NEED 6000sf for their second home they only plan to use a week/end here or there.


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## StacieH (Jan 2, 2009)

I just watched one last night that was strange. They lived in outside of Louisville, KY and wanted a weekend home 20 minutes away, in the city. Which is fine, I guess.

They WANTED a view of the city, but the condo they ended up choosing had a courtyard view, because the street view was....too noisy! Well duh....you're in the CITY!!!


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## barbeedoll (Sep 26, 2005)

I'm hopelessly hooked on these two shows, but like it when Suzanne Wong is on them.

Barbeedoll


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## FireMen2003 (Apr 1, 2004)

They show too many repeats.

Season Pass has picked up most of them but I haven't seen any new ones in a long time.

I like trying to figure out which one they picked at the end.

Folks have alot of weird demands...


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## greggt007 (Dec 9, 2005)

StacieH said:


> I just watched one last night that was strange. They lived in outside of Louisville, KY and wanted a weekend home 20 minutes away, in the city. Which is fine, I guess.
> 
> They WANTED a view of the city, but the condo they ended up choosing had a courtyard view, because the street view was....too noisy! Well duh....you're in the CITY!!!


my wife and i had the same thoughts on that louisville home. a vacation home 20 minutes away!?! what are they thinking? i guess if you're out in the country (20 minutes is arguable) and it would give you a city like experience and you could use it more often than a florida home. but really. you wanna go to a ball game downtown or the restaurants? make a day trip! you'll be home by 9.
250k for a 1br condo in louisville?? yikes.
they convert the 2br to 1br and then make the kids sleep on the couch. huhuhUH????


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## Waldorf (Oct 4, 2002)

Watch these occasionally... for fun, imagine taking a drink every time someone says "nice". You'd be in the hospital before the first commercial break.


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## ElJay (Apr 6, 2005)

I've watched it in the past (recording logs show about 200 episodes ), only if to laugh at the hilarious things people want [demand] in their homes. I recently upgraded my disk space so maybe I'll start recording them again.

I like it when the international version goes to Europe. It's always interesting to see people buying ruins for megatons of money.


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## The Flush (Aug 3, 2005)

I like the one where the guy was really excited about the above ground pool like you can buy at Wal-Mart, but the wife was worried about it being too much maintenance.


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## Craigbob (Dec 2, 2006)

My S2BX and I used to watch them. What got us about the shows was not what people demanded/wanted from a house, but how most could not see the potential of those homes that just needed some paint/flooring to give it a brand new look.

I think too many of the buys on that show are looking for the perfect house that meets every demand AND is move in ready with no work.


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## Frylock (Feb 13, 2002)

The Round Rock episode actually showed 2 houses about 5 houses down from me. What's funny is the house the guy bought went up for sale less than a year after he bought it. He really did a number on it too!


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## FireMen2003 (Apr 1, 2004)

Frylock said:


> The Round Rock episode actually showed 2 houses about 5 houses down from me. What's funny is the house the guy bought went up for sale less than a year after he bought it. He really did a number on it too!


The young guy with the Hummer who's parent's owned the cable company?


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## dbranco (Nov 20, 2003)

Waldorf said:


> Watch these occasionally... for fun, imagine taking a drink every time someone says "nice". You'd be in the hospital before the first commercial break.


LOL! My friend and I have commented on the same thing! That word is definitely overused - the word "great" comes in a not-so-distant second.


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## jdfs (Oct 21, 2002)

I know somebody who filmed one of these. I am not sure if they are all done this way, but they had to have one of the houses under contract. Then they go and look at that one and two others for the cameras. So basically, the couple knows which one they will buy beforehand and they have already seen the properties.


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

jdfs said:


> I know somebody who filmed one of these. I am not sure if they are all done this way, but they had to have one of the houses under contract. Then they go and look at that one and two others for the cameras. So basically, the couple knows which one they will buy beforehand and they have already seen the properties.


I'm not sure it's still like that, but it definitely was early on. In fact, in the early episodes you could almost always guess the winner because it would be the empty house. They others would still have furniture in them.


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## jdfs (Oct 21, 2002)

billypritchard said:


> I'm not sure it's still like that, but it definitely was early on. In fact, in the early episodes you could almost always guess the winner because it would be the empty house. They others would still have furniture in them.


The person I am talking about filmed it this year in Virginia. I think the point is they want to show them moved in and not have it dependent on the negotiation process. Also it allows them to finish taping quicker.


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## 2004raptor (Dec 31, 2005)

I started watching this about 2 weeks ago. i have my tivo set to record all episodes and my comcast dvr set to record only new episodes (HD). I wish I could remember more details but there was an older couple (60's maybe) that were downsizing from a larger house ~3000 sq ft to a smaller 2000 sq ft. It seems like every room they went into they made a comment on how small it seemed or maybe it wouldn't fit some piece of furniture they currently had. 

Well, you're actively looking for a *smaller* house, what did you expect, more square footage?


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## sushikitten (Jan 28, 2005)

We actually caught a HHI last night. And was annoyed, like I mostly usually am with spoiled rotten rich folks. Maybe it's just because I cannot fathom living 'as the other half' does. A vacation home in Fiji with a budget of $350,000-$500,000 - for a family of six, with plans to go there all the time. While I cannot even fathom a vacation home, let alone a budget like that, I even get stuck on flying six people to Fiji on a regular basis!

But even if I get past that, they were whining about marble countertops in one house because "that's what we had in our old house" and they were saying that since the house was under budget ($340k I think) they'd have money to renovate.  And they wanted a pool, because "We don't know how our kids would SURVIVE without a pool."  And one of the rooms was just way too small for a kid's bedroom (probably 14x14ish, maybe a little bigger). And at one house, one of the big things they complained about was the balcony railings weren't safe for their little ones - like that would be soooooooooooo hard to change. 

Ugh.

Of course, they ended up with the most expensive property at the top of their budget.


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

*What are your favorite quotes from House Hunters?*

There was a show last night with houses in Hawaii.

The realtor said things like...

Being this close to the water you'll need to purchase Tsunami insurance.

This house is in a Lava zone 2, but you won't have to worry about that. 
Your fire insurance will kick in before the lava gets to your house.


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## FireMen2003 (Apr 1, 2004)

sushikitten said:


> We actually caught a HHI last night. And was annoyed, like I mostly usually am with spoiled rotten rich folks. Maybe it's just because I cannot fathom living 'as the other half' does. A vacation home in Fiji with a budget of $350,000-$500,000 - for a family of six, with plans to go there all the time. While I cannot even fathom a vacation home, let alone a budget like that, I even get stuck on flying six people to Fiji on a regular basis!
> 
> But even if I get past that, they were whining about marble countertops in one house because "that's what we had in our old house" and they were saying that since the house was under budget ($340k I think) they'd have money to renovate.  And they wanted a pool, because "We don't know how our kids would SURVIVE without a pool."  And one of the rooms was just way too small for a kid's bedroom (probably 14x14ish, maybe a little bigger). And at one house, one of the big things they complained about was the balcony railings weren't safe for their little ones - like that would be soooooooooooo hard to change.
> 
> .


The pool would be pointless to me. They have beaches all around them. No need for a pool!

I missed the first portion of that show. Just the whining about the resort feel of the last house and they still bought it....


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## mpar1 (Feb 14, 2005)

jdfs said:


> I know somebody who filmed one of these. I am not sure if they are all done this way, but they had to have one of the houses under contract. Then they go and look at that one and two others for the cameras. So basically, the couple knows which one they will buy beforehand and they have already seen the properties.


There was an article on an Orlando web site about 18 months ago about this. The realtor is contacted by the production company about participating in the show. The realtor agrees and then finds a buyer(s) who will appear on the show. The buyer(s) already have a house under contract, which is one of the three shown on the episode.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

jdfs said:


> The person I am talking about filmed it this year in Virginia. I think the point is they want to show them moved in and not have it dependent on the negotiation process. Also it allows them to finish taping quicker.


I'm sure they do it that way because it's better than the alternative. We knew a family that was renting in our neighborhood and was looking to buy their first house. They got hooked up with one of those HGTV/TLC type shows about buying their first house and the show went out with them and taped them visiting several homes over the course of a few months. However, they never did find what they were looking for, or perhaps never found the right deal, and the show scrapped the plans to use their footage. The family eventually did find a place and move, but I think they lost out on the chance for it to be on TV.


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## verdugan (Sep 9, 2003)

sushikitten said:


> I like the International ones because I get to see how much things costs in other countries.


+1

We expect places like Tokyo and Paris to be expensive. So if you want an apartment in a good part of town, you're probably going to end up with a small place and pay a lot. But at least it will be nice.

We've seen a couple, mostly in the Caribbean where we couldn't believe how much they paid. One was (maybe) in Bahamas. One guy, "self employed" stock trader, who lived in a small island (only golf cars), and wanted to have a water view. What surprised us is that he paid 1 or 2 million USD for a really crappy house. As in "wow, somebody would pay *any* money for it?"

Sure, it was by the water, but there are other islands out there with similar views where you get more bang for your back. To each his own.


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## Pralix (Dec 8, 2001)

I love the couples that go to mexico looking for houses. The show never makes note that foreigners are not allowed to own property in Mexico.


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## DevdogAZ (Apr 16, 2003)

Pralix said:


> I love the couples that go to mexico looking for houses. The show never makes note that foreigners are not allowed to own property in Mexico.


From what I understand, there are ways to do it through trusts and such.


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## Frylock (Feb 13, 2002)

FireMen2003 said:


> The young guy with the Hummer who's parent's owned the cable company?


Yep. The house was being sold by the Realtor who helped them find it.


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## FireMen2003 (Apr 1, 2004)

Frylock said:


> Yep. The house was being sold by the Realtor who helped them find it.


Interesting.

What did he do exactly?


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

DianaMo said:


> *What are your favorite quotes from House Hunters?*


On a show featuring a home in Madison, Wisconsin that was previously a funeral home...

...and that's the casket elevator...

Imagine the possibilities! A laundry elevator!


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## barbeedoll (Sep 26, 2005)

DianaMo said:


> *What are your favorite quotes from House Hunters?*
> 
> There was a show last night with houses in Hawaii.
> 
> ...


I laughed at this one, too. They were looking for cheaper prices on the Big Island and the first problem was the VOG (the visible volcanic ash in the air). All they needed was a big billboard for a lung cancer clinic.

On the first house, most every window looked out onto the big corrugated aluminum containment tank and the two guys focused only on the fact that it was an eyesore. They never seemed to process that it meant there was no running water to the property, only what was collected from rain by the tank.

Then the Lava Zone 2 issue, which doubled their insurance. Plus, it was a large lot (3 acres? 1 acre?), but it was a spaghetti lot. Only the width of the house, but really, really, really deep.

The next one had the Tsunami insurance problem, with the big signs announcing the Tsunami evacuation routes. It did have an ocean view. But when they walked down the path to see the water and ask if there was beach access, the realtor said, "No". When you looked down, it was all huge sharp rocks.

The third one, which they chose, had cinders spread for a front and backyard AND the corrugated aluminum containment tank. Only it was a SMALLER tank in height, but not in diameter. So, having less water collected to run your house is a plus?

None of the houses had lush foliage or even looked like they were vaguely in Hawaii. I also wondered where these guys would work on such a sparsely inhabited place.

I laughed so hard I had to rewatch several times, and then call others in to see it.

Barbeedoll


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

The best episode ever is in New Orleans and has the Mickey Mouse collector as the buyer. O.M.G. It's hilarious. When they reveal the house after she's moved in, you literally go into shock.


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

I remember that one. Do you recall the shrubs outside of her new home?


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

There was a recent show where the shoppers lost out on a house they had made an offer on, and were later shown a property right next door.

This news story goes one step farther, the homeowner bought the same house twice. The new wife picked it out and didn't know her hubby had owned it in the past.

www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-biz-walter-jacobson-mansion-jan06,0,1293868.story

chicagotribune.com

Elite Street: Walter Jacobson sells Lincoln Park mansion for $1.9M

By Bob Goldsborough

Special to the Tribune

12:03 PM CST, January 6, 2010

Chicago television legend Walter Jacobson has sold his five-bedroom, vintage mansion in Lincoln Park for $1,975,000.


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## Frylock (Feb 13, 2002)

FireMen2003 said:


> Interesting.
> 
> What did he do exactly?


Well, he turned the small bedroom into a "home theatre", but it was ridiculous, because the bedroom was so small. And then he painted all the walls blood red with a splatter type look, so it looked more like a gruesome murder took place in the room. Not exactly a real selling point!

He did put a pool in the backyard which looked good. Though it needed more of a patio around it. The problem with that lot is that it has a small backyard, so it took up most of the yard.

Lots of the decorations and decor was clearly more bachelor pad, which just doesn't make sense in this neighborhood. He actually had moved out and into a condo downtown which I believe his parents also helped him buy.

When I went to look at it, I didn't realize it was on the show. I just saw an open house down the street. At the time it had been on the market for a few months, and had already had a few price drops. He definitely lost money on the house. It has since sold.


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## hyimted (Apr 13, 2003)

this is one of my favorite "backup" shows (shows i dvr for when nothing else is on).

what kinda surprises me is how much emphasis there is on a view? i keep thinking, how often do i spend actually looking outside my house. the honest answer ... almost never. another thing that surprises me is the focus on outdoor room for their pets. i mean ... i love my pets ... but i'm not going to focus my home buying decision on how much room they have to play. 

if anything, that show has made me realize how flippin' expensive it is to live in california. i see some of the homes in ... i dunno houston or wherever ... and for 300k i'm just floored at what you can get.


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## walkerism (Aug 16, 2001)

So the shw is fake? That's a little disturbing knowing that you have to have a house on contract. Is property virgin fake too? I always enjoy behind the scene tid bits.


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## barbeedoll (Sep 26, 2005)

DianaMo said:


> There was a recent show where the shoppers lost out on a house they had made an offer on, and were later shown a property right next door.
> 
> This news story goes one step farther, the homeowner bought the same house twice. The new wife picked it out and didn't know her hubby had owned it in the past.
> 
> ...


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## uncdrew (Aug 6, 2002)

jdfs said:


> The person I am talking about filmed it this year in Virginia. I think the point is they want to show them moved in and not have it dependent on the negotiation process. Also it allows them to finish taping quicker.


What do they get for being on the show?

I've interviewed to be on some of the home decorating types of shows, and was a finalist in one. They would have paid for a complete remodel of our office, including all work (built in cabinets) and lots of new furniture. I could hand-pick my own designer to work with, and they'd pay for that.

We never got to a final amount, but I think it was about $10k.

We were pretty bummed not to get selected. We actually don't want to be on TV -- just wanted the free remodel.


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## FireMen2003 (Apr 1, 2004)

Did they change the format for this year or these older episodes?

Lately, they have been showing the floor plan of the houses. Also, some shows, they no longer tell the price, they just give a rough estimate (low 200's or high 200's).

Interesting...


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## hyimted (Apr 13, 2003)

yeah, the style is definitely different now. it even visually looks different &#8230; like they're shooting on film or something.


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

Did anyone here recording Sunday nights new episodes of HH and HHI and end up with recording times of 389 minutes or so?

This appears to be a Comcast DVR feature and I'm curious if others experienced it.

*House Hunters*
First Time Buyers Seek Short Sale in Sacramento HNT-4004H

*
House Hunters International*
Country Home Versus City Home Along the Gold Coast of Australia HHINT-1609H

http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters/show/index.html


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

What did you think of this episode?

Did you think the house with the grass roof ever had a chance?

*Doug's a Single Dad of 3 Teenage Daughters Who want a Larger Home Near the Cincinnatti Area*
Episode HNT-4006H

Scheduled to reair:

April 13, 2010
10:00 PM e/p

April 13, 2010
1:00 AM e/p

http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters/d...ger-home-near-the-cincinnatti-area/index.html


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## billypritchard (May 7, 2001)

DianaMo said:


> What did you think of this episode?
> 
> Did you think the house with the grass roof ever had a chance?
> 
> ...


First off, 2 million in Cincy is crazy. That's like 2M here in St. Louis, so whoa. And then it was ridiculous that they made a big deal of creating a family home for the girls, but by building a new house, the first girl would be in college by the time it's done! Very silly.


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

Steve Jobs house plans; more HGTV than Cribs
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/apple/steve-jobs-house-plans-more-hgtv-than-cribs/8294


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## TiVo'Brien (Feb 8, 2002)

I wonder how often the people in House Hunters International actually end up trekking all the way to the Seychelles, Turkey, Mexico, Belize, etc. Once the novelty wears off, all that travel, expense, and schlepping has really got to discourage frequent use of their foreign home. I wonder how many of the homes are (or will be) sold after a few years? To me, it *sounds* like a good idea, but ultimately it's just so impractical.


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## catcard (Mar 2, 2001)

TiVo'Brien said:


> I wonder how often the people in House Hunters International actually end up trekking all the way to the Seychelles, Turkey, Mexico, Belize, etc. Once the novelty wears off, all that travel, expense, and schlepping has really got to discourage frequent use of their foreign home. I wonder how many of the homes are (or will be) sold after a few years? To me, it *sounds* like a good idea, but ultimately it's just so impractical.


I always wonder that, too. I can see those that actually relocate to another country - that makes sense that you need to find a place. But those that simply buy a vacation home - how much do you really get to use it? Unless I was planning to live there at least 6 months per year, it doesn't seem to make sense.

I know some people rent them out when they are not there but I would be wary about possible damages when you are not there to keep an eye on it.


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

One of my favorite shows is Teen Cribs, which is another show where you can see inside houses.

Recently my Tivo recorded a tv listing for Teen Cribs, but what was aired was something closer to Teens buying cribs.


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## DianaMo (Oct 22, 2003)

*
House Hunters Million Dollar Special*

Sat 1/1 3:00 PM Central time HGTV
Duration: 1 hour
Rated: TV-G
Special, Home and Garden, Interests


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## Hot4Bo (Apr 3, 2003)

billypritchard said:


> I'm not sure it's still like that, but it definitely was early on. In fact, in the early episodes you could almost always guess the winner because it would be the empty house. They others would still have furniture in them.


I also know a family who was on the show. They were actually living in the house already. The show moved all their furniture out to film it empty.


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## Fl_Gulfer (May 27, 2005)

These are great filler shows when you finish watching the shows from the night before and have that comercial time to make up for before bed.
I couldn't believe the International show the other night where tha Aussy girl moved to India. I would have got a divorce and went back to Aus. lol


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## eaayoung (Feb 5, 2008)

Fl_Gulfer said:


> I couldn't believe the International show the other night where tha Aussy girl moved to India. I would have got a divorce and went back to Aus. lol


Crazy in love.


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## nirisahn (Nov 19, 2005)

Fl_Gulfer said:


> These are great filler shows when you finish watching the shows from the night before and have that comercial time to make up for before bed.
> I couldn't believe the International show the other night where tha Aussy girl moved to India. I would have got a divorce and went back to Aus. lol


I agree. Can you imagine trading the home she had in Australia for that piece of crap apartment in Mumbai? The husband should have moved with her to Australia instead of the other way around.


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## purwater (Aug 25, 2005)

I enjoy watching both of these shows, but a couple of things always bothers me. Why is it that they seem to have a budget of say $300-350K, but a lot of the time they buy a house that is $400K or more? How can you have a budget and then spend more than you have? The other thing is how do these people afford homes that are this expensive? I know they are picked for the show and they probably pick folks with more money than average, but I remember one couple that bought a house that was around $350K and he worked as a street maintenance guy for a local town and she worked in retail sales for a department store or something similar. Neither job paid a lot and they didn't have much of a down payment so I'm not sure how they pulled it off. Me and my wife work and make fairly good money for my area and there's no way we could handle that much mortgage. Maybe that's why there are so many foreclosures today.


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## TheDewAddict (Aug 21, 2002)

purwater said:


> I enjoy watching both of these shows, but a couple of things always bothers me. Why is it that they seem to have a budget of say $300-350K, but a lot of the time they buy a house that is $400K or more? How can you have a budget and then spend more than you have? The other thing is how do these people afford homes that are this expensive? I know they are picked for the show and they probably pick folks with more money than average, but I remember one couple that bought a house that was around $350K and he worked as a street maintenance guy for a local town and she worked in retail sales for a department store or something similar. Neither job paid a lot and they didn't have much of a down payment so I'm not sure how they pulled it off. Me and my wife work and make fairly good money for my area and there's no way we could handle that much mortgage. Maybe that's why there are so many foreclosures today.


That was always my beef with HH International. I don't care that some Dr is spending $500,000 on a "weekend home" on a Caribbean Island. I watched it to see what "real" people were paying for homes in other countries. I remember the couple with a budget of around $50,000 looking for a place in Berlin. That was what interested me. People who were actually going to be LIVING in the place they bought, not just visiting.


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## Frylock (Feb 13, 2002)

TheDewAddict said:


> That was always my beef with HH International. I don't care that some Dr is spending $500,000 on a "weekend home" on a Caribbean Island. I watched it to see what "real" people were paying for homes in other countries. I remember the couple with a budget of around $50,000 looking for a place in Berlin. That was what interested me. People who were actually going to be LIVING in the place they bought, not just visiting.


I like the differences. I like to see what a normal person living in Berlin might buy, but sometimes I just want to see the extravagance of the millionaire's weekend home. Variety is the spice of life.


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## DougF (Mar 18, 2003)

My wife watches this, so I've seen a little bit here and there. I always remember the guy who pulled out some kind of decibel meter at each house to check the noise level.


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## Cooldude_choco (Apr 10, 2011)

This is one of my fav shows. One of my fav episodes was the one in the Seychelles. I don't know what the realtor was thinking with her outfit but there were a few shots which more revealing than she intended.

The most revealing shot was when they were looking at the kids room in third property. Right after the male buyer says "look at that!" referring to the crib in the room, the camera pans across the realtor. Let's just say that there was no part of her anatomy visible from behind that was still left to your imagination.:up:

I couldn't tell you much about the properties, but the realtor in the Seychelles episode, Marisa Bantele L'Efèvre was spectacular!


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## Cearbhaill (Aug 1, 2004)

Interesting first post!


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