My SO and like watching this show - especially the House Hunters International version. It is always interesting to see what real estate costs in other countries.
A few things I have noticed:
Buying property in other countries often means paying the full amount in cash - mortgages seem to be non-existent, which makes me wonder how people in those countries can ever hope to buy a home/condo.
Buying property on an island usually means it comes furnished - which seems to be a good thing as it appears to be quite costly to ship in your furniture or to buy new furniture there.
It seems big cities in the US are not the only places where real estate prices have soared. Some of the house/condo prices on the House Hunters International show are outrageous.
And for both the domestic and international versions of the show, many of the buyers and real estate agents are quite funny to watch - just recently there was a home that cost about $300,000 and the agent said, “it includes the coffee maker here.” Whoopee! A free coffee maker is thrown in for $300,000!
Maybe they will throw in the half used bottle of shampoo in the shower as well.
Also, I am amazed at the people who won’t buy a house because they don’t like the color of the rooms - uh, ever hear of a paint can and a roller? And even if you do like the color, have you ever seen a room after the furniture has been moved out? You probably have to paint it over anyway.
I agree, I watch it a lot. I thnk it’s a very zen and wise show.
Amost at the end of the show, right before the person decides on which house to get the three properties are reviewed quickly and they accompanyied bya 2-3 word description. After devoting a ton of time to each property - going through the rooms, the back yard, etc. - it all comes down to this: “New but pricey”, “Big garage”, and “Fixer with good location.”
I love the genius of distilling all this information into the these essential nuggets.
If I were on the subject of show, they could go on and on about my accomplishments and attributes, but at the end of the day I’d be something like: “Unorganized but means well”
I love this show. Its always interesting to see what houses cost in different parts of the country and how some things tend to be different. When my wife and I were looking at houses and condos a few years ago, we must have looked at 100 homes before we found something we liked, could afford, and could agree on. I only recall one place that had tile countertops and I remember thinking that it was kind of unusual. When we watch the show however, they always seem to have them in houses in California.
I get the feeling that a good portion of the episodes were shot back in the days of the boom prices because they always mention that the couple has to move fast.
My wife and I enjoy watching and commenting on some of the uglier houses with horrid decor.
I love this show, although I’m not a big fan of the hostess. For some reason she just irritates me. I love the house tours; it’s fun trying to figure out which house the buyer is going to go for. The best part is the look at the house several months after the buyer has moved in. It’s always interesting to see how they personalize the space. Just once, though, I’d love to hear someone say, 'This house is crap, I can’t believe I bought it!"
I like how they always want so much more than they can afford - “I want four large bedrooms with walk-in closets, a fabulous master bath, an open floor plan with a kitchen built for entertaining, a three car garage and a large lot”. they end up with the three bedroom, two bath with a yard that can best be described as “easy to maintain”. In fact, it does amaze me when they walk out to some walled-in back yard and oh and ah over how large it is. In my starter home I had nearly an acre. Now I have 14 acres. But no walk-in closets.
What you’ve got to realize with this show is that they don’t start filiming until the buyer is actually in escrow. So the other two houses that they don’t pick are actually decoy houses and are never really under consideration. Which explains why the buyers have to come up with really silly reasons for not buying a house and why they sometimes look at places that are furnished (often times that’s really the owners stuff that they’ve already moved in).
House Hunters is a favorite at our house. Being small-town people, we’re usually amazed at how much people will pay for so little in some locations. Recently there was a young couple looking to buy a starter home in the $300,000 range in the Twin Cities area. It made us go :eek: .
This thread also gives me an opportunity to bring up something my husband has been begging me to. See, we have this little game we play, in which you have to guess what color shirt Suzanne Whang is wearing during the opening credits. You can bet whatever you want. He’s been asking me to mention it here to see if we can start something.
I would say that for some of the prices that we see on that show many folks are probably inclined to pay for a “move in ready” home where the colors are more pleasing. If someone is about to drop $500k on a 1200 sq ft ranch, I am guessing here that the thought of painting that ranch is unappealing.
Plus, while I have never shrunk from a DIY home challenge, many people are just not inclined to do work on their home themselves. This becomes very eveident in another HGTV show called “BUY ME”. Painting your home is cheap. Paying someone to do it for you, not so much.
I had wondered about that and it explains a lot - in the old shows there was always that horrible fake phone call where they found out they got the house - yeah, like the camera just happened to be on you while you were driving down the freeway and got the call. Glad they stopped filming that stupid scene in the show.
It would also explain why someone stupidly buys a crappy fixer house for only $2000 less than the brand new, bigger house with the pool, huge backyard, new kitchen and appliances and in a better neighborhood.
House Hunters is perfect for Tivo’ing, not just for the ads but for the repetition. They could do 4 houses instead of 3 if they skipped the recap after the first commercial and the shortened the introduction of the buyers and the agent.
Just once I’d like to see buyers ask about mechanical stuff, maybe look at the foundation, the roof, etc. It’s all about layout and design.
I’m amazed at what you can buy in Mexico and Central America. A couple weeks ago on International they had an artist buying in Mexico, on the Yucatan, I think. The front of the houses were narrow and flat – they looked like storefronts – but the interiors were awesome with beautiful tiles and walls. As they say on HH, “It’s so airy!”
I like International House Hunters rather than the plain-Jane-United-States episodes. The two things that always amazes me are:
The houses on the West Coast are so incredibly expensive. A buyer gets a little bit of house for a lot of money.
The houses/condos in other counties are so tiny! IHH did an episode in Scotland and the “flats” were incredibly tiny, but the buyers kept saying things like, “The ceiling is so high! Very nice floor.” I’m thinking, who cares how high the ceiling is if you can’t fit a bed horizontially into the room? And who wants to buy a flat without a closet? Where do these people keep their clothing? Do they only have two shirts and one pair of pants???
I personally don’t mind Suzanne Wong, and I’m glad they did away with the phony “You mean we got the house! Good new honey, we got the house!” bit. No one, and I mean, no one was faked out on that. I do wish they’d show more houses though.
I love trying to guess which house they will buy based on their personalities. I love seeing whether people value an extra bathroom or a bigger kitchen more.
Not to brag, but I’m about 95% in guessing which house they pick.
I agree about the itty bitty houses in Europe. Who knew a dishwasher was such a luxury?
I’m glad they don’t do the kitschy part where they pretended to answer the phone. I’m also glad that they started telling actual prices. The first year or so they just said, “And this house is 20% more than the last one.”
