# Reason #412 to yell at the program "House Hunters" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 31, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825 "2019-05-31T12:03:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 31, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/21 "2019-05-31T15:55:11Z")
I love how on so many of those shows they have say a $500,000 budget, but if they find a $450,000 house they act like they have to spend $50,000 on upgrades because goshdarnit we wanted to spend $500,000! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/22 "2019-05-31T16:10:16Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I love how on so many of those shows they have say a $500,000 budget, but if they find a $450,000 house they act like they have to spend $50,000 on upgrades because goshdarnit we wanted to spend $500,000! Mine is “she teaches yoga to dogs, he owns his own business finding four leaf clovers - they have a budget of $500,000 and want a home suitable for entertaining as well as raising the triplets they expect to arrive in August.” My biggest question with shows of this type is “how big is that trust fund you are spending?” ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/23 "2019-05-31T16:12:06Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I love how on so many of those shows they have say a $500,000 budget, but if they find a $450,000 house they act like they have to spend $50,000 on upgrades because goshdarnit we wanted to spend $500,000! Usually it goes like this: “Our budget is $500,000.” “Okay, the house will cost $400,000 and we’ll do $90,000 in renovations” “Woah, that’s a little too pricey.” ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/24 "2019-05-31T16:28:34Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Of course it’s fake. Everyone knows that. Otherwise every episode would end with “They chose House #2, but were outbid.” That’s why it’s a hate-watch. Ahh, gotcha. ;). It wasn’t obvious to me from reading comments thus far. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/25 "2019-05-31T16:46:24Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I love how on so many of those shows they have say a $500,000 budget, but if they find a $450,000 house they act like they have to spend $50,000 on upgrades because goshdarnit we wanted to spend $500,000! I know it depends on the situation, but banks aren’t really in the habit of just handing you an extra chunk on cash for renovations that may of may not raise the property value. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/26 "2019-05-31T16:53:18Z")
Tiny Houses will blow the last of your brains right out your ears! I’m still spending far too much of my life remembering one young woman who ended up buying a USED yurt (no plumbing, I guess these folks don’t go potty) so she could set up her “sound therapy” for her customers, by rubbing wands over various sizes of glass bowls. Another trust fund baby. C’mon, Beckdawrek. Let’s go scream and swear while watching Building Off Grid. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Emergency911](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/43a26b/32.png) [@Emergency911](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emergency911)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/27 "2019-05-31T17:01:36Z")
The Mrs likes to watch these shows. The whiny snowflakes that complain because :the paint scheme just isn’t to their taste", etc, drive me up the wall. I end up making comments and then realize I am so lucky to have a wife that isn’t like that whatsoever. By the end of the episode I am complimenting my wife and thanking her for not being like “them”. I am beginning to think she puts the show on just to get more compliments out of me! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/28 "2019-05-31T17:14:47Z")
House Hunters International has a couple of redeeming feature. First is the subtle reactions from the realtor showing the properties. The woman in Paris (and I have seen here in other areas of France) is my favorite. The second is the sometimes goofy animations they have on the maps that show the home locations. Yeah, the bar for entertaining me is low. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/29 "2019-05-31T18:01:31Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > My kitchen is white precisely because I hate having to clean the kitchen by touch; it’s also in a damn dark place: no matter what time of day, no matter what weather, you need to switch the lights on. If it had had decent natural light I would have gone for a light wood. But definitely, no cleaning the kitchen by touch! > The carpenter pointed out “it’s going to look like a lab” “I’m a chemist :D” “ok then 😛 want some bunsens or you got your own?” “I’ll make do with the stove, thank you.” Based on this alone, you & I could have been happy together in another universe. Non-white doesn’t mean non-dirty. Why is that such a hard concept for people to grasp? And what is a kitchen if not a laboratory? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/30 "2019-05-31T18:05:01Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I love how on so many of those shows they have say a $500,000 budget, but if they find a $450,000 house they act like they have to spend $50,000 on upgrades because goshdarnit we wanted to spend $500,000! Mine is “she teaches yoga to dogs, he owns his own business finding four leaf clovers - they have a budget of $500,000 and want a home suitable for entertaining as well as raising the triplets they expect to arrive in August.” My biggest question with shows of this type is “how big is that trust fund you are spending?” ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/31 "2019-05-31T18:06:49Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I used to love so many shows on HGTV - especially the DIY type shows where you could learn how to do home projects. All of those seem to have disappeared, and instead, we’ve got staged remodel shows and the aforementioned HH idiocy. (“Natural light… man cave… granite and stainless steel… light and airy… walk in closets: where are you going to put your clothes, dear? hehehehe”) I gave up on the network. It has nothing to offer me. Seems like a million years ago This Old House was more of a project show. Like they’d have an Old House, and one week they’d do the roof, maybe windows the next, bathroom over a couple shows, etc. May not have been TOH, but I remember it being the 80s version of YouTube how-to videos. Very helpful. HGTV is really only good for getting people to pay contractors, not so much for inspiring DIY. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/32 "2019-05-31T18:27:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > > [@DummyGladHands](#): > > > > “I’ll die if I can’t have my white kitchen!” > > What does the coroner put as Cause/Manner of Death? 😕 Hypoculina alba. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/33 "2019-05-31T18:30:41Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Seems like a million years ago This Old House was more of a project show. Like they’d have an Old House, and one week they’d do the roof, maybe windows the next, bathroom over a couple shows, etc. May not have been TOH, but I remember it being the 80s version of YouTube how-to videos. Very helpful. HGTV is really only good for getting people to pay contractors, not so much for inspiring DIY. Yeah, these sorts of shows really aren’t how-to shows; they’re more like the Sears Wish Book for homeowners who dream about remodeling or moving. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/34 "2019-05-31T18:38:07Z")
Y’all need to watch _House Hunters Renovations_ or it’s sister show _Beachfront something something Renovations_. It’s an hour with ALL the HH crazy AND the staged reno crises you get in _Property Brothers_ and _Love It or List It_. It’s particularly amusing when they’re complaining about the dated fixtures or paint color of the house they’re going to completely gut, anyway. And they pretty much always do a gut job on the kitchen – it must be a condition of being on the show that they have a designer re-do the kitchen. And usually tear down a wall, plus re-do a bathroom or three. Often the homeowners claim they’re doing to be doing most of the reno themselves to save money… only for the contractors to end up doing it all because the homeowners don’t really know how to do anything. And I think both shows are filmed in California, so the budgets are insane even if the homeowners are a goat yoga instructor and a throat-singer. Also, you don’t have to guess which house they bought during the tours by the fact that it’s always the one empty of all furnishings – the previews for the reno part always show them tearing down the kitchen or random wall, so you can easily identify which house they chose. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/35 "2019-05-31T18:46:28Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > “I’ll die if I can’t have my white kitchen!” > > WHAT?? I have a white kitchen, I guess, white cabinets is what they mean?? I hate it. It’s the kitchen and food can splash! Every time I get down on the floor or up the step stool to clean cabinet fronts, I wonder WTF these people are thinking. I think they’re thinking the hired help/cleaning service will clean it, if they’re thinking about that at all. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/36 "2019-05-31T18:56:11Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Hypoculina alba. Nice! ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/37 "2019-05-31T20:06:12Z")
Well, as long as they don’t murder someone over their preferences: [YouTube clip from British comedy show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWoWHzq21tA) ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/38 "2019-05-31T20:12:16Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > It seems like some haven’t heard that the show is (at least sometimes) really fake? Like, the buyers have already chosen a house, or are viewing properties that aren’t in fact for sale? > [House Hunters: What It Was Like to Be on the Show](https://hookedonhouses.net/2012/06/11/house-hunters-what-it-was-like-to-be-on-the-show/) This is a post by a former buyer, whose account is quite damning:See also: > [House Hunters is fake: here's why it matters](https://slate.com/human-interest/2012/06/house-hunters-is-fake-here-s-why-it-matters.html) > ETA: I agree with others that the International HH show is fun for getting to see how people live in other countries, even if it’s staged. A friend of mine and her husband were on HH last year. They had already bought a house they loved (a 1920s foursquare) when it was filmed. “He wants vintage charm, she wants modern” was the storyline HH used. So at their house she talked about knocking down walls and getting rid of all those “old” fixtures. He was “aghast” that she would do that to these beautiful rooms. They were told they also needed something specific to complain about so she picked closets. It was pretty funny to hear her bitching about how she couldn’t possibly live with the bedroom closet, when she was already planning to turn a another bedroom into a huge walk-in. You would never have thought that was the house they would pick. They were much nicer about the other two houses (except for the closets!). ---
**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:** [May 31, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/39 "2019-05-31T21:17:36Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > I love how on so many of those shows they have say a $500,000 budget, but if they find a $450,000 house they act like they have to spend $50,000 on upgrades because goshdarnit we wanted to spend $500,000! > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Usually it goes like this: > “Our budget is $500,000.” > “Okay, the house will cost $400,000 and we’ll do $90,000 in renovations” > “Woah, that’s a little too pricey.” I like the ones where the budget is a firm $400,000. First of all, every house the realtor shows them is over $400,000-- “I know it’s little over your budget, but there are so many great _upgrades_\* and features.” So they decide on a house that’s $450,000 and THEN announce they’re going to gut the kitchen and bathroom and spend $90,000 on renovations. :dubious: - I really hate the word \*upgrade \*and all it stands for. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825/40 "2019-05-31T21:53:07Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > It seems like some haven’t heard that the show is (at least sometimes) really fake? Like, the buyers have already chosen a house, or are viewing properties that aren’t in fact for sale? > [House Hunters: What It Was Like to Be on the Show](https://hookedonhouses.net/2012/06/11/house-hunters-what-it-was-like-to-be-on-the-show/) This is a post by a former buyer, whose account is quite damning:See also: > [House Hunters is fake: here's why it matters](https://slate.com/human-interest/2012/06/house-hunters-is-fake-here-s-why-it-matters.html) > ETA: I agree with others that the International HH show is fun for getting to see how people live in other countries, even if it’s staged. Wouldn’t it just hurt if you were closing on a house you’d decided on, and found the _perfect_ home while shooting HH. And had to make up ridiculous excuse why you couldn’t buy it. Like the land, barns and house you wanted, but it didn’t have a double sink in the bathroom. StG [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reason-412-to-yell-at-the-program-house-hunters/834825.md?page=3)