22005 replies to this topic

[queasy]

Well, the new Hawaii ep was interesting, but I was kinda distracted by thinking how much the damned thing must cost, and then wondering if the husband ever said more than three words at a time. Even though the house tours are obviously recreated for the cameras, he could at least have looked at the bedrooms in that one place.

[greybear]

The show with the couple that was living with her brother--they said that they had two [or was it three?] dogs, a cat, and a bird that were staying with friends and relatives. One of the reasons they wanted their own house was to bring their pets home.

So do the producers REALLY think that we're stupid enough to buy the situation that they considered a 1000 sq ft condo? I know that the Kabuki-rigid format of the show demands that they have three places to consider, but they oughta make it at least realistic.

[BeachyKeen]

The theme music to this show is a thousand times worse than Divine Design's scat. (Ding-dong) kachow (knockknockknock) chachow (buzz).

Just awful.

[VaVaVoom]

The music is pretty bad. It always remind me of Seinfeld. I haven't watched the Thursday episodes in a while. Have they been away from California?

[gaPeach]

The theme music to this show is a thousand times worse than Divine Design's scat. (Ding-dong) kachow (knockknockknock) chachow (buzz).

I try to remember to turn it down. The doorbell sound always gets my dog barking and running to the door. The rest of it sounds like a bad porn movie. Not that there is anything wrong with that...

[queasy]

Have they been away from California?

Yeah, they've been branching out of SoCal a bit. They've done eps in Santa Rosa (Heh. I said "a bit"), Hawaii, New Orleans, New York City, San Francisco, Long Island, and probably a couple more I can't remember.

It's fun to see a bit of other places. Double Agents seems to be sticking pretty closely to the D.C. metro area, so it's in a rut, too.

Although there's a new (?) real estate show on BBCA called Escape to the Country. The host/realtor interviews the HOs, then previews several houses (with the cameras) for them. The HOs then watch the tape and pick two they want to visit in person. The format's pretty standard, but it's great fun to see some British houses for a change.

[wyndham]

In last nite's episode (the young couple with small child who lived with his parents for a year to save for a house) did anyone else notice that big pole right by the stairs going up to the attic? I thought instantly of Norm Abrams and Tommy on "This Old House" and wondered if the previous homeowners removed part of a load bearing wall to open up the space and inserted that pole (strut?) to hold up the attic floor. It just looked very out of space to me and I can't imagine how it would have fit into the original 1910 structure.

[wyndham]

Oops - that was supposed to read "out of place" - it's too early in the morning!

[jodela-he-hoo]

I've seen at least 2 episodes where they've dropped the horrible phone call, "we got the house?, OMG, I can't believe it!" and they're trying to change up the ending by making us guess which house they chose. It's 1000% better without the lousy acting of the homeowners.

I almost always wonder how they can afford the houses. Like the guy recently who went from a 2 bedroom condo to the architect designed house on the fairway with the "chill room", I don't recall what they said he did for a living.

Edited by jodela-he-hoo, Jan 6, 2004 @ 9:25 AM.

[queasy]

I saw an ep the other day featuring a young couple who was staying with the wife's brother after returning from an extended world trip. He was a musician and she was something vague like "educational consultant." They ended up with a Craftsman house (painted a fugly brown), and blah, blah, three choices...

The whole time I'm distracted by wondering to myself: How can they freakin' afford this?

I'm probably much nosier about peoples' finances than I have any right to be, though.

[Arabella]

I am totally hooked on this show. I will watch even if I had seen the same episode earlier in the week (or day). The only one I cannot watch anymore and have to change the channel is the one with the woman living and running a day care center in her mother's house. She may be a very sweet, nice person, and nothing personal, but her voice just grates and is at least two octives too high. Everything has to center around the kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiids. "Oh, look at this roooooooom. It's niiiiiiiiice, but where are the kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiids going to put their stuff?" "Oh, look at the yaaaaaaard. It's niiiiiiiice, but there's too much graaaaaaaaass. Where are the kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiids going to ride their biiiiiiiiikes?" "Oh, look at all the ceeeeeeeement. Where are the kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiids going to plaaaaay?" It seems as though the kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiids have the run of the house while she and her poor little girl are relegated to a couple of little rooms in the back of the house. For pity's sake, buy a house for YOU and your DAUGHTER and lease a bit of commercial space near a park in your neighborhood for the kiiiiiiiiiiiids!

[truffles17]

Ugh, that lady bugged me too. I didn't mind her yapping about the kids as much as the sea-ment. Her pronunciation grated on my last nerve.

[Kim]

wyndham, if you think of something to add once you have submitted your post, please edit your original post instead of posting twice. See the FAQ for details.

[AliLou]

The whole time I'm distracted by wondering to myself: How can they freakin' afford this?

I live in Southern California and I find my self thinking this same thing almost every episode. Especially when someone is moving from an apartment to a house. How do people save up 80,000 for the down payment?

Like the girl with the awesome Duplex apartment and then she bought another duplex that came with a tennent.

It's sad but I am addicted to this show and completely jealous of everyone on it, I want a house!

[KingBigScreen]

Like the guy recently who went from a 2 bedroom condo to the architect designed house on the fairway with the "chill room", I don't recall what they said he did for a living.

He was a real estate developer. Nice Porsche in the garage, too.

[gaPeach]

They ended up with a Craftsman house (painted a fugly brown), and blah, blah, three choices...

That was a small house so I was surprised they picked it. And she was pregnant at the end so with a small child I see them moving and soon. I think they liked the backyard on that one. Certainly not a deciding factor when I looked a houses. Well, it worked in the equation but the house had to be big enough to fit all my stuff.

I will watch even if I had seen the same episode earlier in the week (or day). The only one I cannot watch anymore and have to change the channel is the one with the woman living and running a day care center in her mother's house. She may be a very sweet, nice person, and nothing personal, but her voice just grates and is at least two octives too high. Everything has to center around the kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiids.

I totally hated that episode for the same reason, so WORD Arabella.

[queasy]

I'm starting to appreciate HH more these days -- at least the hunters almost always find a place in the end. Those danged buyers on Double Agents end up not buying about half the time. HH also does a much better job of showing the people moved in and the house decorated at the end. It makes for a tidier finish.

And of course Suzanne Whhhhang is greatly preferable to that awful Double Agents host. Stop screeching at me, Jillian!

[AliLou]

Would anyone mind telling me what channel shows Double Agents, I am unaware of this show and cannot locate a thread for it?

I think I want to watch it!

[queasy]

It's on the Discovery Channel. The regular one -- not Health, or Style, or War, or whatever else crap they have. It airs daily at 2 p.m. in the Mountain time zone.

Edited by queasy, Jan 9, 2004 @ 9:01 AM.

[ChillinTheMost]

When I quickly read the description on tv last night, I thought it said she was a "pedestrian". …I might start using that when people ask what I do. "I'm a pedestrian. Part-time, actually. I do drive sometimes."   -- Green

Hee.

Well, the new Hawaii ep was interesting, …he could at least have looked at the bedrooms in that one place.  – queasy

Yeah, it gave the impression that he had no say in which house they got anyway, so why not just sit outside in the sun and wait for the wife to let him know where they were moving. He seemed almost “slow” [for lack of a more appropriate word] but I doubt that he really is.

Not going to quote here, but two general statements that I want to agree on:

(1) Yeah, sometimes it seems like these people must have purposely lived in semi-poverty to put away everything they made to make a giant step in home ownership!

(2) I am amazed at the difference in the homes they show to the same people. From small to huge; run down to move-in condition; price differences ranging $70,000.

Do the realtors listen to their clients?
"I want the home move-in ready."
"This house needs a little work, new carpeting, kitchen, bath... Want to put in an offer?"
"Ummm, no."
Loved it last night when the realtor wanted to show his client the garage and she said, "I don't think we need to do that..."

Last night [the other ep] a couple was desperate for MORE room. The first home... "It isn't any bigger, but will the couple give up size for a more interesting design plan?" They loved the home they were in, but needed more room, so I'd have to go with NO! Sheesh.

On a more positive note...

Suzanne's shirt last night was incredible!!! Probably the first, and only, time I'll ever say, "Forget the houses, show me Suzanne's blouse again! Can I get pillows in that material???"
--In case you didn't see it, it was a beautiful rich red with some green and... well, you can't describe it adequately. It was beautiful material.

Edited by ChillinTheMost, Jan 9, 2004 @ 9:59 AM.

[tonyorlando]

I saw an ep the other day featuring a young couple who was staying with the wife's brother after returning from an extended world trip.

Didn't the wife's voice sound exactly like Drew Barrymore? It was freaking me out towards the end of the episode.

[Green]

I caught part of a rerun last night of a 2002 episode, where a single lady was looking for a condo or townhouse. She was very tall, and had a rather unfortunate figure - long, thin legs, a tiny rear end, and a giant torso. She wore the absolute most unflattering clothes that someone with that shape could ever possibly wear - tight pants and shirts that fit like a second skin, and just screamed, "Hey, look! Here's where I keep my fat rolls!". It was so distracting, I didn't even get a good look at the homes. I'm really not trying to be ugly about her body, because we all come in different shapes and sizes, and can't all be supermodels, but damn. There are a million pieces of clothing that would have been flattering for her, and less dangerous to the eyes of the viewers. It was at least a verification that there is no make-up or wardrobe assistance on this show, except for Suzanne.

Also, she found a condo she was all excited about, but had hardly any furniture to speak of, so the "8 weeks later" was kind of a bummer. She sat on the floor next to the fireplace "reading a book", and her office consisted of a fax machine and a folder sorter sitting on what looked almost like a footstool. But, she really didn't seem to mind because she loved the place so much. I didn't hear much of the dialog, so maybe it was mentioned that she was waiting on new furniture or something, but it was a very different follow up than I'm used to on this show.

[jerseydevil]

I saw the same episode. I got the impression that money was an issue, so she didn't have enough money to furnish the place all at once. She said she was going to do it a little at a time. But she did say that she got rid of some of the furniture she had in the apartment before she moved. What could she have gotten rid of? She hardly had any furniture to begin with, and yes, she did have very unfortunate taste in clothes. It was as if she dressed to accentuate her figure flaws, rather than hide them.

Edited by jerseydevil, Jan 9, 2004 @ 4:08 PM.

[ChillinTheMost]

I'm not really interested in the "8 wks later" or "3 months later" part of the show unless they did something structural or changed something about the house, itself. I could care in the least where they put their furniture, or what furniture they buy. I do like it when they redo the kitchen, paint, put in hardwood floors, stuff like that.

I didn't see the ep you're talking about. I saw the two that came on at 10pm. Was that the earlier one?

[jerseydevil]

Yes, it was the earlier episode, and it wasn't the first time this episode aired. It was from last season.

[Peanutbuttercup]

I thought the guy they had on tonight was kind of sweet. He was so concerned with finding the perfect house for his dog. And after he bought the house with the big yard and no steps to go up and down, he kept repeating, "Valkyrie likes it here! Valkyrie likes it here!'
It kind of reminded me of myself when looking for a new place to live. After a roof and running water, the only two "must haves" are a fenced yard for the dog and a quiet street to lower the odds of the cats being crushed under a car.

[ChillinTheMost]

Went house hunting on Saturday and... OMG, I just realized... We really liked the THIRD house!!!

We didn't put an offer on it though. It was just our first day out and this is too huge a decision to make after just looking at four houses. I have a feeling, though, that if we had seen that house after being out for a month or so, we would have jumped on it. Maybe. Sigh.

--oh, dear, I just thought about it a bit more and the first house we looked at needed a lot of work, definitely a "no", the next one was pretty nice, and we liked the third one...

where were the cameras??? I didn't know House Hunters was a secretly filmed show!!! I'll let you know when my episode is shown... [unless they don't show it because we didn't put in an offer and hence, no dramatic phone call reenactment from our agent...]

Edited by ChillinTheMost, Jan 12, 2004 @ 10:14 AM.

[queasy]

Where were the cameras???

Heh. I was just wondering the other day what's in it for the HOs. At least on design shows, they get some free stuff, even if it's crappy stuff. I really don't know why people looking for houses would put themselves to the trouble of having cameras along for no good reason. Maybe they get paid a small amount?

[ChillinTheMost]

Maybe they get paid the difference between the crappy house and the nice one they eventually buy?
"This is what you can afford, but we're going to confuse the home audience by giving you $70,000 and letting you buy this really nice place!"