House Hunters Junkie: The Sequel

 

It’s been over four years since I first wrote this post on about my love for House Hunters on HGTV.

Y’all, I’m still obsessed. You’d think my interest would have waned by now but it hasn’t. See, HH has evolved: they no longer have a host. (Sorry, Suzanne Whang!) I think this is an improvement because now we don’t waste time watching some lady walk down a generic street. We get right to the good stuff—the insides of the houses! Also, they often show you where houses are on a map. What a great visual. Because, if you fancy yourself a pseudo real estate expert like I do, you know that location is everything.

The show also keeps my interest because they keep getting CRAZY people. Now, I don’t think HGTV actually chooses them because they’re crazy. I think HGTV is going for interesting stories, good locales, etc. And the people aren’t obviously crazy like on those intervention or hoarder or couponing shows. But to me, they end up looking ridiculous!

For example, I was watching a House Hunters International (which I actually like better than domestic HH, especially if it’s a beachy place) and this family was looking for a house in St. John. (Bonus since it’s a place I’ve been to!) 

So the voiceover person says that this couple has been scrimping and saving their entire lives to afford a place in St. John. They have two college-aged kids. Even dad tears up when they talk about how long this has been a dream for them and how they can’t believe it’s finally coming true. They have worked hard, lived modestly and now they have a budget of a million dollars for this beach house.

“And they have one day to find it,” says the HH voiceover person.

HUH??? ONE DAY? You’ve saved a MILLION dollars, dreamed for 20+ years and you can only spare ONE DAY to go house hunting? I mean, I would at least want to take two days just so I would have on different outfits for the show!! WHY? WHY? WHY?

I love St. John. I love House Hunters International but these people drove me nuts!!

Then there was one in Charlotte I think where this couple (who were both doctors) and their kid + one on the way had $700K to spend. The houses were awesome because they were older, close to town and beautiful. But the one they chose had no garage. NO GARAGE for $700K? I realize you gotta make some sacrifices living in the city but come on! Of course, in the follow-up segment they were all, “We love not having a garage! It’s no problem at all!” Okay, guys. Your kids obviously don’t have any ride-along toys.

And now onto the wackiest HH I’ve EVER seen. There’s so much to say that I better bullet point it.

(Or check it out here if you like: http://www.hgtv.com/video/fiji-vacation-home-for-six-video/index.html)

• House Hunters International
• Family with mom, dad and four kids live in Tucson
• They want a vacation home in Fiji because that’s where they honeymooned and they “love the people.”
• They pack up their four kids and go house hunting. The house they choose is a compound of several houses.

Now here’s why this one is so ridiculous:

• These people have a pretty modest house in Tucson. Their two daughters—who are 11 and 15 months—have to share a room! My point? They ain’t loaded.
• Fiji? Really? Is it necessary to go SO FAR? How often are you gonna take your FOUR kids to Fiji? Again, they ain’t loaded and that’s a long flight for those kids. Plus, don’t they have to go to school?
• The house that’s a compound: It’s beautiful but not really kid-friendly. Each villa has a bedroom or two and since they can’t be in different houses from their kids, they were just all going to sleep in one room.
• So let me get this straight: You’re gonna spend $500K on a vacation home that takes like 20 hours to get to by plane, pay for six of you to fly there enough times a  year to make it a worthy investment and then, when your jet-lagged kids finally get there, you’re gonna all pile up into one room? All because you like the people?

I take it back. Some House Hunters ARE as crazy as Hoarders.