I’m a sucker for property shows, where couples go searching for a new home.
In the UK we have various – Location, location location, which has the best hosts and tends to deal in ‘normal’ houses and budgets; Escape to the Country, which has much bigger budgets for couples who are trading city life for the countryside idyll, and A Place in The Sun, which has British people looking for holiday or retirement homes in sunnier foreign climes, and has spawned a whole property search website, exhibitions and magazine.
But I’d like to watch more! What are the property shows from your neck of the woods with which I can satisfy my nosiness?
I don’t watch these types of shows as much as I used to. The one that I like to watch now on occasion is My Lottery Dream Home hosted by David Bromstad. Usually the lottery winnings aren’t huge, some are only a couple hundred thousand. David makes the show. He isn’t snobby like you think he might be. He seems like a really nice guy.
I watched an episode of this where the lottery winners were from near me, in Akron. The couple worked at a gas station and won a “measly” $150k. They needed a new home for their huge blended family. This little lottery win totally changed their life! And they were able to find a 4 bedroom home for under $300k. It was really sweet, I was so happy for them!
Yes, we’ve watched a ton of Escape to the Country episodes. We were so sad to hear about Jonnie Irwin’s cancer diagnosis. He was one of our favorite hosts. We can’t stand Jonty. I think he looks like Farquaad from the Shrek franchise. I love looking at all the houses, but I have to say barn conversions don’t appeal to me. Location Location Location used to air here ages ago, but not now. I liked it. There was a variety of properties, and the hosts were so helpful and intelligent.
Over here, there aren’t too many I enjoy anymore. Househunters got so boring, and most of the houses were just as boring. We started only watching the international version, but we don’t even watch that one these days.
I love property shows. It’s so satisfying to see other people work and spend money and it’s always a happy ending. I get the best couch naps falling asleep to HGTV.
The only show I don’t like is on some other channel. It’s bizarrely called Zombie House Flippers, and to make the title fit, they’ll do things like zoom in on a moldy corner or decaying roof, with a greenish filter and scream sound effect. Also it’s blatantly scripted. The premise is that these five people pool their money to renovate a house and sell for profit, but there’s always a part where one of them does something drastic like knock down a wall without the permission of the others, and then they fight. That is not at all what I want!
Husband and I are having our kitchen remodeled next spring, so we’re paying particular attention to kitchens right now. Also, we’ve already chosen a wall tile, and now it seems like we’re seeing it everywhere. I hope that means it’s good.
This is why I barely watch HGTV anymore. And it used to be one of my favorite channels. Everything gets shoehorned into a very predictable script that is played out in every episode. Even when a show starts out as something a little different, they still get smooshed into the format sausage maker. So boring.
Set in Mississippi, so great accents, personable hosts, largely fixing up older homes. Trying to revive their small city!
He’s a woodworker who often repurposes anything they demo. He’s always poking around someone’s back barn ain’t no one been inside in years. Looking for lumber.
We watch that and have tried Escape to a Small town or something, but the same people.
We used to watch Househunters International, but we lost interest.
Two things bother me about Escape-
The cameraman will spend a minute focusing on a knick knack or flower arrangement- which of course woont come with the house- and then they skip over whole rooms.
Next they will show a big house for a large family- 6 bedrooms, 3 reception rooms, a formal dining room, and a eat in kitchen big enuf to play soccer in- with one bathroom. Huh?
It doesn’t matter how much they win, they buy the lowest cost houses. Example:
Lottery winner: We won $15 million in a scratcher.
David: How much do you want to spend?
LW: $200 K
On the the hand, people in House Hunters Mothership are all 20 years olds with jobs like “influencer” and “travel blogger”, and they are buying $900K homes. AND they complain about the brand new kitchens (Oh it has granite counters and the cabinets aren’t white. it will ALL have to go!)
We like House Hunters International. It’s fun to see something different. As an American, I am amazed how little Europeans can live with! Fridges that were too small for my dorm! A hot plate for a stove! And such prices!
We get a kick out of the regular real estate people. It’s like they’re pushing their “brands” rather than being a dispassionate third party. French expert Adrian with her fashion colors and her jaunty beret. Dutch Flor with her hottie dresses and boots. British Richard with his bald head and beard made out of bees.
Since the OP is British, do you get a version of House Hunters International where UKers move to America? I would love to see those. See what we look like.
I watched a House Hunters that was filmed in Wisconsin where I grew up. They buyer’s idea of “local” and the choices they had were ridiculous. Homes 40 or more miles apart, in the country. Now I wonder if everything from locations we don’t know are just as distorted.
What I found interesting with the House Hunters International show set in Europe was the idea that the kitchen is essentially furniture supplied by the new homeowner.
I know, right! Do some research people. Yes, I’d like a three bedroom house with a two car garage in Manhattan, with a view, for $200K. Should be doable, right?
The House Hunters Family rules:
Whatever the customer sets for a upper limit, the first house always exceeds it.
Whatever the customer wants to spend, you can never find a home for that. Even if yesterday, an episode in the same city found a similar house for $100K less.
If possible, get one of the couple to be the dumb- or hard-ass. Play up the bickering!
I still like the show.
Although it is “well known” that the buyer has already bought the house before filming starts*, I remember an early HHI where the buy bought TWO of the homes. I wish I could see that one again.
*We like to guess along as to which house they chose. Sometimes we can tell which they pick by how long the woman’s hair is, or how visibly pregnant she is. The one of the three that is different is the house. The furniture in the house that looks like it belongs to them? That’s the one. And the one where you can see the house number? never that one.
One of the reasons I bought a house 20 years ago was because I figured if the idiots on House Hunters could do it, I certainly could. These days I fast forward though everything except looking at the actual houses. Occasionally I will rewind if someone is looking at incredibly expensive houses to see what they do that they could afford it. I love seeing how people live around the world on House Hunters International. The people who compare everything to what they had in America are annoying, though.
That’s why I quit watching House Hunters. The buyers all drove me crazy. They were so uppity. If the bathroom didn’t have a double sink, look out! They’d be looking at what I would consider a dream kitchen and say, “It’s kind of dated”.
The lottery winners all seem down to Earth and grateful.
The closest I can think of is the aforementioned A Place in The Sun, where occasionally you might get an episode with someone looking for a second home in, say, Florida. Most episodes cover much more modest purchases though (eg an apartment in the Algarve for £80,000).
I remember watching one episode where a couple were buying somewhere in Florida, and ALL the houses had what looked like glassed in back gardens/yards (inc swimming pool). All I could think of was ‘are the insects that bad??!!’
