House Hunters on HGTV

[DangerMouse]

Think I saw the ultimate in stupidity on this show this week. A couple from North Carolina went to Costa Rica to buy a vacation house. Their budget was $700,000. What I can't believe is that anyone would commit that kind of cash to a place they had never been before. What were they thinking They had 3 days to buy something on their first ever trip to CR.

 

[Texas Proud]

Think I saw the ultimate in stupidity on this show this week. A couple from North Carolina went to Costa Rica to buy a vacation house. Their budget was $700,000. What I can't believe is that anyone would commit that kind of cash to a place they had never been before. What were they thinking They had 3 days to buy something on their first ever trip to CR.

I saw the last half of this one.... was thinking the same thing... the guy kept saying "I thought a beach house would be on the beach"...

I wonder what they get doing the show... and if they are supposed to buy or not...

I can tell you that I have never bought a house with only looking at three...

 

[ziggy29]

I can tell you that I have never bought a house with only looking at three...

I suppose it's possible they looked at more, but they only focused on three of them that seemed like they were on the "short list" to consider.

 

[W2R]

I can tell you that I have never bought a house with only looking at three...

My ex and I bought our house in College Station (in the late 1980's) after looking at only three. This one was the first of the three. We loved it and instantly just knew that was our home.

But actually I do understand what you mean. I looked at over two dozen houses with the realtor, and did over 200 drivebys without him, before buying my present house. I think he was about to give up. This has been a good house for me, though. I bought it with the idea that I would spend the rest of my life living in it.

 

[DangerMouse]

To me the craziness comes from buying in a country you have never been to. It's not just another part of the US, but another country, another culture. I have been places on paper that I thought I would love, but the reality once you get there is so different. To make that kind of investment without having experienced Costa Rica is so out there. Think it was CarDude who was thinking about moving there, but after he went there for a couple of months realised it was not for his family. $700k is a lot of buyer's remorse to experience.

 

[Rustic23]

We bought a house in Houston without ever seeing it. I knew the area, and we had our daughter go by and look at it. We knew we it was not going to be our retirement home and we would only be there four or five years. My comment to my Daughter was 'If you like it and you think we would buy it!' Worked out fine. However it helps to know that this was our 18th move in 26 years. We have lived in lots of houses. It is really what you make of it. That being said, it will be a cold day in H3ll before I pay $700,000 for a home in a foreign country! That kind of money will buy you a 5,000 sq ft home on about 2 acres of lake front in my neighborhood.

 

[Orchidflower]

An older lady (80?) who lived by me in Illinois had two older daughters in their mid-40's to early 50's. First, they bought a house over the internet with the help of a realtor in Florida. Then the 3 of them bought a convertible and took off for Florida from Illinois. Next, when they got to Florida, they bought themselves a boat after never having driven one even! Within a couple years, the mother died, but I was always thrilled for her that she got this one last swing at living it up with her kids. What a way to go, eh?

Actually, I know a few people who have purchased their houses over the internet without ever seeing them in person first. Nobody seemed disappointed, so guess it worked for them.

 

[explanade]

Regarding the 3 houses, that's probably more to do with the constraints of the 30-minute show. They don't want to show more because people would lose interest.

Actually, I heard that some buyers are close to buying a home and then the producers come up with two others for them to look at so that they have 3 homes to look at in the show.

 

[DangerMouse]

Interestingly enough on an expats board I am a member of, HGTV are advertising for people to go on HH International. The requirement is you must have bought in the past 2 years, which makes me think that people may have already bought and moved into a place and HGTV just comes up with another couple of places to look like there really is some decision making going on.

 

[Texas Proud]

My ex and I bought our house in College Station (in the late 1980's) after looking at only three. This one was the first of the three. We loved it and instantly just knew that was our home.

But actually I do understand what you mean. I looked at over two dozen houses with the realtor, and did over 200 drivebys without him, before buying my present house. I think he was about to give up. This has been a good house for me, though. I bought it with the idea that I would spend the rest of my life living in it.

I am not saying that I would not buy the first house that I looked at.... just that I would look at MORE... just to make sure...

I also took a long look online at all the houses before I went... so I knew their layout etc.. and I guess if I saw one that blew me away... well, no... even then I would look at others... but would make an offer quickly on the one that I liked...

I am 52 and in my second house... the first one I had for 25 years...

 

[Kronk]

I am not saying that I would not buy the first house that I looked at.... just that I would look at MORE... just to make sure...

We're trying to buy the first house we looked at. Went through it at an open house, loved it. Went through it again with the realtors, loved it. But even we needed to see 7 more houses and look at a lot more online.

 

[Onward]

I watch HH Intl so much that I've come up with a system for predicting which house they'll choose:

1. Throw out the highest priced place
2. Of the other two, pick the one with the best location.

I guess I need to get a life.

What I can't understand is all the buyers who claim they can run their US-based business from a beach in Belize, using just a laptop and a portable printer. It's hard enough to run a US-based business from the US. I've telecommuted exclusively for the last ten years, and there are so many complications. How does a realtor from Baltimore move to Central America and sell houses in Baltimore? I just don't get it.

 

[Texas Proud]

I watch HH Intl so much that I've come up with a system for predicting which house they'll choose:

1. Throw out the highest priced place
2. Of the other two, pick the one with the best location.

I guess I need to get a life.

What I can't understand is all the buyers who claim they can run their US-based business from a beach in Belize, using just a laptop and a portable printer. It's hard enough to run a US-based business from the US. I've telecommuted exclusively for the last ten years, and there are so many complications. How does a realtor from Baltimore move to Central America and sell houses in Baltimore? I just don't get it.

Well, I guess it might work the majority of the time... but that Costa Rica one picked the highest priced one... and I don't watch it enough to know anything...

 

[Onward]

Well, I guess it might work the majority of the time... but that Costa Rica one picked the highest priced one... and I don't watch it enough to know anything...

It didn't work in Curacao last night either. Overall I've had pretty good luck with it. It works at leat 33% of the time.

 

[cardude]

That was our friend from Nosara who was selling the house. He said it's all rigged and they had already been there shopping for a house beforehand, and the one they wanted (the one on the hill) was already picked out. I thought the couple was a little strange with the little dog and all, but he said they are very nice and super friendly.

We actually stayed in the house with the great pool and super high up observation deck last time we were there. Great house.

The real estate is really high there, obviously.

 

[explanade]

Saw an episode in Orlando, from 2009 I believe. A young couple was looking for 5 bedrooms 3 baths. So the first house they showed had like 3500 square feet and it had two garages, for 4 cars!

And it was $280k. I searched the development and looks like there are a lot of foreclosure sales. But the show didn't mention it at all yet this couple bought a home listed for $290k (another McMansion) for like $40-50k off and they attributed it to their agent's negotiating skills.

Guess the show doesn't want to inject a depressing note about the economy or particular markets.

There was also a London episode where a young woman who had flipped a dozen properties in London bought a 1-bedroom apt. for $800k, $400k off the original $1.2 million asking price. So some signs that the financial crisis has hit home prices but would never have imagined London would be affected.

 

[explanade]

I mostly watch HHI, not HH.

So they just aired an episode about a guy who discovered the” FIRE movement” in 2014.

So now, he and his wife are moving their family from Dallas to Almunecar, Spain, which is on the Andalusian coast.

They stick to a $1000 a month budget. Usually on HHI, they show a couple of properties which are over the stated budget and one of the house hunters say they are willing to stretch. But not in This episode, both husband and wife want a hard $1000 cap so they get two of the choices under $1000, for either a 3 or 4 bedroom apt with ocean views!

The guy says they should never have to work if they don’t spend too much. He and his wife appear to be in their 40s and the children are around 10, a boy and a girl.

He wanted to be close to town so that they wouldn’t have to have a car. But it’s hilly so unless they live in the town center, tHeres a lot of up and downhill walking.

They choose a place out of tOwn, 4 bedroom, 2 baths with a large terrace with ocean view for $875 a month!

They end up gEtting a car and have a couple of electric bikes to help deal with the hills.

Hmm so how have they fared through the pandemic and now market downturn?

How will they cope if one or more of them get seriously ill?

Do they plan to send the kids to US colleges?

 

[oiseux]

wow, I was surprised to see this old thread revived --- but you were the last poster.

I recall seeing this episode. They do have a few episodes where they followup with the people and see how they are doing. Those are pretty interesting (called "Where are they now").

Most of these expats have either private insurance or state health insurance. And although we have a big downturn, we also had a big run up too. So a lot could have happened since 2014.

 

[explanade]

Actually this episode just aired for the first time last night.

So it's new, though not sure when it was filmed.

 

[COcheesehead]

A friend of mine was a producer for a TV production company that shot some stateside House Hunters episodes. This may shock you, but some stuff on TV is staged(!). So everything you see may not really be reality, but just good TV.

 

[gromit]

A friend of mine was a producer for a TV production company that shot some stateside House Hunters episodes. This may shock you, but some stuff on TV is staged(!). So everything you see may not really be reality, but just good TV.

Exactly. I read an article years ago about an episode. The couple had actually already bought one of the homes, the show didn't like the couple's reason for the move so they changed it and the two other homes shown weren't even for sale. One was just the home of a friend of someone that worked for the show. Still a good way to browse home interiors, but you can't always believe the managed reality.

 

[explanade]

Oh it's obvious a lot of it is staged.

In this episode, maybe the move to Spain isn't even permanent.

Without work or family ties to Spain, they'd have to have a long-term visa.

It'd be interesting to see their situation.

For all we know, they don't have a special visa and they will just return to the US within 3 months.

There have been such cases, like people who are bloggers or social media influencer wannabes, doing an episode of TV to get more attention.

 

[Dash man]

I worked with a girl that did HH. She had to have the house already purchased before filming.

 

[CatinKS]

I worked with a girl that did HH. She had to have the house already purchased before filming.

So what do the owners buyers get from HH? I figured it was closing cost etc...,
but maybe some individuals want to be on TV so bad they do it for almost nothing.

 

[Dash man]

So what do the owners buyers get from HH? I figured it was closing cost etc...,

but maybe some individuals want to be on TV so bad they do it for almost nothing.

She wouldn’t say. I suspect it was the basic fee no name actors get.