# Multipurpose House Hunters/HHI rant thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 3, 2013, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009 "2013-11-03T23:07:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/21 "2013-11-04T22:38:36Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I used to watch these shows all the time, but the idiocy and whining just got on my nerves. It makes me wonder what’s wrong with me - I grew up in a house with TWO flights of stairs, ONE bathroom, and I SHARED my BEDROOM with my SISTER and my OTHER TWO SIBLINGS SHARED the SMALLEST BEDROOM!! We didn’t have a media room or a study or a gourmet kitchen or acres of land. How did I possibly survive without my own room and private bath? :rolleyes: You’re writing this from prison, right? Where all of your siblings are, too? That is, the ones who survived falling down the stairs. Clearly you had a sick, twisted upbringing. Another unwritten rule: the kid bedrooms have to be on the same floor as the parents’, preferably right next door. That’s so the kids can witness the[primal scene](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005R25Q1Y/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), or at least hear it and be fucked up for life. I’ve seen a couple of shows where the wife doesn’t feel secure if the master bedroom is anywhere near the front door. Like rapists and murderers can’t find her upstairs? There are no such things as locks? Personally, I’d rather be near the front door in case the children (who are playing with matches in their isolated bedroom down the hall) set the house on fire. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/22 "2013-11-05T02:10:05Z")
I much prefer HHI just to see what houses and apartments look like in other countries. I won’t watch any that are vacation properties or in resort areas. In the US I like to watch the ones in places where housing is super expensive like NYC or SF just to make me feel better about having to pay DC area prices for my place. Also, while I’m also sick of the "this kitchen must be totally gutted because it doesn’t have stainless steel " types, I’m also tired of those who must have exposed brick because it gives a place character. I hate exposed brick. You can’t hang anything on it, it’s rough to touch, impossible to clean and people get mad if you paint it. I don’t see whats so spectacular. I’d rather have a house with good bones in a good location. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/23 "2013-11-05T03:34:42Z")
I found the absolutely perfect house in Fresno - 624 N Echo [I guess I can post it, it was on several realty sites and zillow] 2 story, 6 bedroom - 2 downstairs with a full bath, 4 upstairs with a full bath and old school sleeping porch [a lovely full width of the back of the house screened in porch] and a lagniappe of a half bath downstairs for visitors. The kitchen was a bit small and chopped up, but nothing I wouldn’t be willing to work with. Single car garage in back, fenced in yard, trees … built in the 1920s in the craftsman style. Reasonable price too, asking $190KUS. I wouldn’t say that it didn’t need any work, the downstairs full bath would have to be converted to handicapped access for me so it wouldn’t still be all original, and we would have to put a small ramp in front and perhaps a chair lift at the back door. I could see some of these morons complaining that the bathrooms were primative, the kitchen totally unsuitable, the unfinished basement a horror, but in my eyes it would have been fantastic - about 6 blocks from my mom in law, 8 blocks from my sister in law. If we could have managed it, an instant sale plus a job in Fresno we would have tried our best to buy it. I can only hope it is back on the market when we are househunting Fresno in a few years [if mrAru doesn’t get that job in Key West he put in for.] [and I want to put a [Fridgidaire Flair range](http://www.etsy.com/listing/117943786/frigidaire-flair-electric-range-with) in - perfect for someone in a wheelchair. I wish some company would start making a brand new version of them. The burner arrangement pulls out so it would be like sitting at a keyboard shelf.] ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/24 "2013-11-05T14:53:05Z")
I’ve heard the “don’t want to sleep downstairs, it feels unsafe so I want a 2 story home” at least twice last week and I don’t recall hearing it before. Is that really a thing? Think of how many ranch houses there are in the US! ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/25 "2013-11-05T19:50:22Z")
> [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](#): > > Wow, I’m on a formulaic buy-and-renovate show, and the first home is always $200,000 over budget. I really like this space the neighborhood and it’s newly renovated and everything I’m looking for; how much is it? WHAT?! THATS $200k OVER OUR BUDGET WHY DID YOU SHOW US THIS HOUSE!!!??? That’s why I think the show should be called “Fuck You Homebuyer” instead; the host-lady just has way too much fun showing people an awesome house that has everything they want, and then yanking the rug out from under them: “Wow, this house is perfect! It’s just what we dreamed of! What’s the asking price?” “Way beyond anything you can possibly afford! Fuck you, homebuyer!” ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/26 "2013-11-06T04:41:22Z")
I _like_ these shows, but I did see one that had me going “WTF?”. A woman house-hunting with her fiancé who couldn’t have stucco. Because: “I would have to _ **power wash it every night** _ so I could feel clean.” :eek: And wall-to-wall carpet would have to be steam-cleaned every night as well. :eek: She didn’t need a new house, she needed medication and therapy! ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/27 "2013-11-06T05:47:41Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I used to watch these shows all the time, but the idiocy and whining just got on my nerves. It makes me wonder what’s wrong with me - I grew up in a house with TWO flights of stairs, ONE bathroom, and I SHARED my BEDROOM with my SISTER and my OTHER TWO SIBLINGS SHARED the SMALLEST BEDROOM!! We didn’t have a media room or a study or a gourmet kitchen or acres of land. How did I possibly survive without my own room and private bath? :rolleyes:\ We had seven people living in a three-bedroom, one bathroom small house when I was a kid\* - I watch these shows where the people need 5,000 square feet and six bathrooms for a family of four, and I just roll my eyes. \*With water from a cistern and no flush toilet for the first year or so! And I walked to school uphill both ways! In the snow! ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/28 "2013-11-06T13:54:21Z")
> [@toast\_pakora](#): > > I’ve heard the “don’t want to sleep downstairs, it feels unsafe so I want a 2 story home” at least twice last week and I don’t recall hearing it before. Is that really a thing? Think of how many ranch houses there are in the US! That preference does seem to be on the rise in recent episodes, but the sentiment isn’t new. My college roommate, 15 years ago, was a sweet Chinese girl engaged to a middle-aged American uber-Conservative, and he had given her that idea. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/29 "2013-11-06T20:20:31Z")
The couples are almost always stupid, but I still enjoy seeing the different houses and styles of living in various locations. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/30 "2013-11-06T20:57:58Z")
If I moved to one of those houses in a village in Europe or Asia somewhere, I’d want to go totally native and do without a microwave, freezer, cable-- all of it. I would want hot water and indoor plumbing. I just want to smack the people who move (by choice) to the far-flung reaches of the world and whine because there’s not an American style house available. Plus, they refer to anything that’s not like what they’re used to as “weird.” Or they complain that the baby’s or toddler’s room is “too small.” GET OVER YOURSELVES, PEOPLE! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/31 "2013-11-06T22:49:08Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > The couples are almost always stupid, but I still enjoy seeing the different houses and styles of living in various locations. The one for India was interesting. As I recall it was 1 flat and 2 houses looked at. The one beautiful house they turned down - because it came with a family of servants in a cottage in the garden that had been working at the house for several generations …:eek: I can understand a modern American family not understanding how to deal with servants, I grew up with a nanny and my mom had a couple maids [large Victorian mansion, thank Ghu the parents sold it before I hit 13 and we moved to something more sensible in a different town] so to me dealing with a couple servants is easy. But the house was worlds better than either of the other properties on offer. [And apparently there is an issue with electrical supply dependability in India, I would go for the freestanding house so I could order in a few solar panels and a battery bank to aid in dependability.] ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/32 "2013-11-08T04:16:15Z")
I have to detour from ranting for a minute to comment on a delightful couple who were on tonight. They’re retired and moved to Nicaragua to run a youth hostel. They love adventure and wanted to be immersed in the local community. Not only were they totally into each other, but virtually everything they said about the properties was positive and enthusiastic. Even when they didn’t like something (like a composting toilet) they just said they didn’t want it but their comments were without scorn or disdain. So refreshing. The wife in particular was so upbeat and just open to everything. I really liked them. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/33 "2013-11-08T18:40:09Z")
> [@grude](#): > > On HHI how do the couples deal with immigration issues? Most aren’t citizens or even have a tie to the country they are moving to, even “third world countries” usually have strict immigration laws except for spouses or children of citizens. A lot of countries don’t even let non-citizens own real property, so it is strange for people to just decide on a whim to go across the world and buy a house and live there with no issue. Melissa and John are tired of the Cleveland winters and their family of 8 has outgrown their small double-wide trailer. Will John’s experience as a Kinko’s cashier fit with this vast 2.5 million euro Belgian villa located in the middle of historic downtown Brussels? Will customs notice the fake passports in time for the lease signing? ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/34 "2013-11-08T19:07:16Z")
AIUI, at least as far as Mexico goes, although they can’t actually buy the land, they can _lease_ it, usually for a substantial period of time, like 100 years. So they are buying the lease on the land and also buying the improvements (the house and/or other buildings). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/35 "2013-11-08T19:55:58Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Melissa and John are tired of the Cleveland winters and their family of 8 has outgrown their small double-wide trailer. Will John’s experience as a Kinko’s cashier fit with this vast 2.5 million euro Belgian villa located in the middle of historic downtown Brussels? Will customs notice the fake passports in time for the lease signing? Frightening reality-TV mashups: - Jon & Kate Plus 8 Go Househunting (yes, I know they’re divorced now) - The Duggars Go Househunting ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/36 "2013-11-08T20:08:21Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Melissa and John are tired of the Cleveland winters and their family of 8 has outgrown their small double-wide trailer. Will John’s experience as a Kinko’s cashier fit with this vast 2.5 million euro Belgian villa located in the middle of historic downtown Brussels? Will customs notice the fake passports in time for the lease signing? “The asking price was 2.5 million euros, but we offered $50,000 American, a case of my home-brewed beer, and the two youngest children-- I can never remember their names anyway-- and they went for it. We’re furnishing it with bean bag chairs and aluminum lawn furniture for now, as the sale took all our ready cash. But I’ve applied for work at _Le Kinko’ s_, and the wife is taking in washing. We’ll make it okay.” ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/37 "2013-11-08T22:41:27Z")
While sitting at the tire shop last night waiting for my car, there was one of these shows on. Couple decides to move from Milwaukee down to Paraguay with their two kids. House hasn’t sold, so they’re going to rent until they can buy. Of course, they get down there and suddenly he has to work sooner than he had planned! They only have days to find a place to rent! Whatever shall they do??? They’ll be whiny little bitches for whom nothing is good enough, that’s what they’ll do. They’re fucking renting, short term, until they can buy a house, and they’re acting like they’re going to be living in their rental for the rest of their lives. Reject first place because it doesn’t have a pool. Reject high rise because they can look out onto balconies across the way and that’s “too close”. My car was ready at that point, but I wanted to push them off that balcony… ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/38 "2013-11-08T22:57:20Z")
> [@toast\_pakora](#): > > I’ve heard the “don’t want to sleep downstairs, it feels unsafe so I want a 2 story home” at least twice last week and I don’t recall hearing it before. Is that really a thing? Think of how many ranch houses there are in the US! My husband is from England and I found this peculiarity of his annoying. He wanted nothing to do with any downstairs bedrooms, and didn’t want to look at single story houses because those are known as “bungalows” in England and usually bought by older people who can’t navigate stairs anymore. I’m not complaining, we ended up with a 2-story home with all bedrooms upstairs. It just would have been nice to have one bedroom downstairs. You know, for visiting parents or for us in our later years. He’d just never seen a house with bedrooms downstairs & it just wasn’t “normal” in his eyes. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/39 "2013-11-09T03:36:21Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Frightening reality-TV mashups: > > - Jon & Kate Plus 8 Go Househunting (yes, I know they’re divorced now) > - The Duggars Go Househunting We saw a bit of the latter when Josh & Anna were house hunting in the DC area. If Jim-Bob and Michelle ever sell you could be a reality show out of that. A huge house in the country with an open floor plan and full commercial kitchen, a pantry that you can back your vehicle in to unload, small laundromat, large master suite en suite w/ private sitting area, and two barrack like dormitories w/ attached communal bathrooms. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2013, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009/40 "2013-11-09T11:52:17Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > We saw a bit of the latter when Josh & Anna were house hunting in the DC area. If Jim-Bob and Michelle ever sell you could be a reality show out of that. A huge house in the country with an open floor plan and full commercial kitchen, a pantry that you can back your vehicle in to unload, small laundromat, large master suite en suite w/ private sitting area, and two barrack like dormitories w/ attached communal bathrooms. Don’t forget a K-12 set of classrooms and a chapel on the premises. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multipurpose-house-hunters-hhi-rant-thread/673009.md?page=3)