Has anyone been on house hunters international?

[origami]

Just curious. I applied almost a year ago and got an email today asking if we were still interested. We might not be. I'm not sure. They might not even want us for sure. We are skyping tomorrow about what it entails but I'd love to hear from someone who actually did it.

[aMrsin09]

Emilyinchili was on it a few years ago.

Sent from my SM-G900I using proboards

[rupertpenny]

emilyinchile

I also applied, got the same email months later, and then nothing.

I did see the realtor from another episode of HHI showing someone an apartment in my neighborhood. My one brush with fame.

[potatopie]

I looked into it last year when we were casually looking for a place. It sounds like you have to have a place secured and then it's up to you to find two comparable places to "look at" for the show. Also, I think the compensation was like $500 or something.

But let us know if it goes anyway, I would love to be on it some day!

[origami]

Nov 14, 2014 6:15:34 GMT -5 potatopie said:

I looked into it last year when we were casually looking for a place. It sounds like you have to have a place secured and then it's up to you to find two comparable places to "look at" for the show. Also, I think the compensation was like $500 or something.

But let us know if it goes anyway, I would love to be on it some day!

It's $1500 -- just enough to get me to agree to embarrass myself on national tv

In the email they said they were interested in people who had or had not picked a place. We obviously have picked one so I did wonder about what they do for the other 2 choices. Realtors here don't speak english so our relocation company went with us everywhere when we were looking so they could translate. It's also complicated with the landlords needing to be there and having multiple RE agents blah blah blah. If they expect me to get a rep from that company to be on the show and coordinate visiting 2 properties then I think it's not happening.

[rupertpenny]

I have never seen a Seoul episode, I totally think they should pick you origami.

[frlcb]

Nov 14, 2014 7:01:55 GMT -5 origami said:

Nov 14, 2014 6:15:34 GMT -5 potatopie said:

I looked into it last year when we were casually looking for a place. It sounds like you have to have a place secured and then it's up to you to find two comparable places to "look at" for the show. Also, I think the compensation was like $500 or something.

But let us know if it goes anyway, I would love to be on it some day!

It's $1500 -- just enough to get me to agree to embarrass myself on national tv

In the email they said they were interested in people who had or had not picked a place. We obviously have picked one so I did wonder about what they do for the other 2 choices. Realtors here don't speak english so our relocation company went with us everywhere when we were looking so they could translate. It's also complicated with the landlords needing to be there and having multiple RE agents blah blah blah. If they expect me to get a rep from that company to be on the show and coordinate visiting 2 properties then I think it's not happening.

I know a few people who have been on it, and in the US. They show you homes of people the realtor knows, or just random homes. 

[origami]

Nov 14, 2014 7:45:13 GMT -5 rupertpenny said:

I have never seen a Seoul episode, I totally think they should pick you origami.

I saw 2 that I watched when I was considering moving here. The people had sad, unfortunate budgets and it did not make me want to move here. lol. The one guy's shower was a handle connected to the sink's faucet in a bathroom that looked like the size of an airplane bathroom.

[GilliC]

This got me looking to see if there were any episodes in Norway, and apparently there was one where a couple bid on an apartment in Bergen. I'm now extremely curious to see it, because I want to know how they handled that! The way the real estate market here works is that you see a place during the open house, then you bid on it a day or two later over the phone, usually in an active bidding war with the realtor calling you back every hour with the latest high bid. And in the end, it probably goes higher than you want to pay, so you move on and look at more places. Hopefully I can find the episode online somewhere, because I want to see if they faked this crazy cut-throat home-buying style in the show!

Also, here's a blogger who posted a bit about his experience filming the show in Taiwan:
www.matt-gibson.org/house-hunters-international-is-fake-so-what/

[origami]

Nov 14, 2014 9:25:38 GMT -5 GilliC said:

This got me looking to see if there were any episodes in Norway, and apparently there was one where a couple bid on an apartment in Bergen. I'm now extremely curious to see it, because I want to know how they handled that! The way the real estate market here works is that you see a place during the open house, then you bid on it a day or two later over the phone, usually in an active bidding war with the realtor calling you back every hour with the latest high bid. And in the end, it probably goes higher than you want to pay, so you move on and look at more places. Hopefully I can find the episode online somewhere, because I want to see if they faked this crazy cut-throat home-buying style in the show!

Also, here's a blogger who posted a bit about his experience filming the show in Taiwan:
www.matt-gibson.org/house-hunters-international-is-fake-so-what/

Wow that's different! That actually makes me want to watch the show!

[GilliC]

Nov 14, 2014 9:31:13 GMT -5 origami said:

Nov 14, 2014 9:25:38 GMT -5 GilliC said:

This got me looking to see if there were any episodes in Norway, and apparently there was one where a couple bid on an apartment in Bergen. I'm now extremely curious to see it, because I want to know how they handled that! The way the real estate market here works is that you see a place during the open house, then you bid on it a day or two later over the phone, usually in an active bidding war with the realtor calling you back every hour with the latest high bid. And in the end, it probably goes higher than you want to pay, so you move on and look at more places. Hopefully I can find the episode online somewhere, because I want to see if they faked this crazy cut-throat home-buying style in the show!

Also, here's a blogger who posted a bit about his experience filming the show in Taiwan:
www.matt-gibson.org/house-hunters-international-is-fake-so-what/

Wow that's different! That actually makes me want to watch the show!

It is different. It's kind of crazy! I saw all these people on the Buying a Home board back on The Nest with tickers counting down to closing on a house. The first time we bought a place here, we went to look at it on a whim and almost didn't even put our name down. Then we decided that night to bid on it, and 24 hours later we won after a half day of bidding and signed the sales contract a few days later.

And pretty much everyone in the office knows when people are bidding on a place, because a) they're crazy stressed out, and b) they keep running out of meetings once an hour when the realtor calls with the latest bid information.

[Wanderista]

I've seen episodes in several parts of Scandinavia and they would mention the different process but not really show it. I haven't watched the show much lately but I remember watching an episode about Norway that really annoyed me. A couple was moving near Oslo, Norwegian husband and American wife, and the wife basically didn't like anything local. They looked at traditional Norwegian houses and she didn't like any of the "character". They ended up building their own American-style McMansion that looked exactly like those types of homes in the US. I thought to myself, "Wow, have fun heating that!"

[emilyinchile]

As rupertpenny said, I was on it. Our payment was what you've been quoted. The reality was that H and I owned an apartment in Santiago, I had moved here from CA 4-5 years before filming. In the episode H is my FI (by the time they do the "3 months later" follow up we've gotten married), and I'm just now moving down to Santiago and looking at places. When we agreed to do it, we already had a trip to the US planned, so they did a day of filming with us there plus 3 days in Santiago once we were back. The realtor we used in the episode is an expat I know here who is a realtor focused on international clients, so I asked if he wanted the publicity of being on the show. If we hadn't known anyone to suggest, the production company would have found someone. We all had to send a little video showing that we spoke English and could be reasonably coherent on camera.

The CA stuff was the interviews you see at the beginning, where we say our backstory and what we're looking for in a property. The first Santiago day was mostly B-roll stuff, shots of the city and us walking around and talking about Santiago. Day 2 we saw the two other properties: one was a fixer-upper our realtor had bought for himself and the other was a property a friend of our relator's was selling (realtor had to find those properties, not us). Day 3 we shot the "3 months later" stuff in our apartment with all our stuff in it, then a moving crew came to put all our furniture in the guest room/hallway so we could shoot the house tour of our place looking empty. The days weren't super long, but they were tiring because they want you to be REALLY ANIMATED LOOK AT THIS APARTMENT IT HAS A DOOR I FUCKING LOVE DOORS DON'T YOU, BABE? The film crew was 3 guys, all nice. It was a fun, easy way to make some money and have a different experience.

[Deleted]

Yes.

It was interesting but would probably not do it again if I had to do it over. Pretty draining shooting all day, DH and I have had enough "fame" (SNORT!) in other areas of our lives that being on tv was not a big deal.

For us the $ was a nice bonus but not worth it for the hassle of filming.

That said, our crew on both shoots were great and did their best to make it enjoyable. DS1 was in it so we have a cool memento for him. Our family were all thrilled about it and super excited. I was already a fan of the show so it was neat to be on it.

PM if you want to chat more about it.

[pixy0stix]

YOU HAVE TO DO THIS! YOU HAVE TO!

[pixy0stix]

(and I completely clicked on the wrong board and saw this. I swear I'm not stalking you.)

[origami]

emilyinchile and @bandwife
Did you have any privacy concerns? DH is in a mood and refusing to go forward with this b/c he does not want his employer's name mentioned at all, and he's convinced it will be b/c they are the reason we're here. He's also concerned about publicizing our budget b/c there are other expat employees from the same company here. I told him we could just tell everyone we actually know that the show lied and as long as they didn't say the company name, or describe it b/c then it would be obvious, then who cares? Well, he cares. He clearly didn't have his coffee this morning. ETA: did you have to get your company's permission to do this? If no, was a company paying your rent?

And thank you for sharing!!! I just got the questionnaire to fill out and send back with pics, so I know this may not happen. The guy on the phone acted surprised that our landlord didn't speak english and that we had to use a relocation agent to translate so I have a feeling they'll look at what it takes to come here and be like, "newp. not worth it." But we'll see. If DH isn't on board then of course we can't do it anyway. He's now asking me why I can't just do it myself. Yes I moved to Seoul with my preschoolers and no husband and no job b/c...... kimchi?
ETA2: my sister is now telling me I should let the show say I'm the one with the job and make one up. Lol.

[MauMau]

origami very few of the international ones mention the employer's name. I watch way too much of the international one. lol!! And you can just lie about the budget right?

@bandwife has me curious if I'll ever see her rerun. lol.

[Deleted]

MauMau Well I'm shy but... we're the only Isle of Man relocate on HHI as far as I know.

origami If your DH is concerned about that I wouldn't go on the show.

They had two story lines for the show, one about me and what I do, one about DH and his career change. We could tell from how filming was going that they were probably going to feature DH's storyline (it was the reason for the move but they actually found us through what I do). In the show it really ends up being about DH - no mention of what I do.

I think DH ran it by the company? It's a very well known company here and is a big employer. I think for them it would be considered a positive to have a family featured on HHI relocating for a job there.

Privacy: not super concerned. As I said both of us are very "Google-able" from other things we have done and have been on tv before. And the show doesn't air over here (UK)!

We didn't have concerns over what our budget was because everyone coming here gets some living allowance but it's up to them how much they use of that for rent. As in, no one gets the rent paid directly by the employer.

[origami]

Thanks @bandwife!

When you say, "If your DH is concerned about that I wouldn't go on the show" is that because you don't believe they would agree not to say the company name (or make it obvious by describing it) or that they would not honor an agreement like that? I think lying about the budget would take care of some of DH's worry, and the point about it not being aired here is good too. I hope his company would see it as a plus but it's hard to know so I guess he'll just have to ask and see. I appreciate your comments!

[Deleted]

origami I just think it would be stressful to try and make arrangements like that with the producers and shoot director. For me anyways. I'd be stressing over it during the shoot.

Have you shot your send in video? If you're at all interested in being on the show I'd continue with the selection process and then if they want to so a show with you discuss your needs then. You can always back out.

Saying this from experience as I decided not to be on another reality tv show I was up for after they offered it to me and the producers were very nice about it. They want people that are 100% excited and committed to telling their story.

[Deleted]

Oh and my DH was pretty ambivalent about being on the show, said it was my call. When we were both tired from it and a bit grumpy about losing a day to shooting when we were on vacation at home - I felt bad about it!! So I'd make sure your DH is on board.

Do you have kids? That was the other expense/hassle. We actually paid for my sister to come over from London and watch our son the weekend we were shooting. We needed a day and a half of just DH and I looking at apartments, etc.

[origami]

Nov 15, 2014 5:52:06 GMT -5 @bandwife said:

Oh and my DH was pretty ambivalent about being on the show, said it was my call. When we were both tired from it and a bit grumpy about losing a day to shooting when we were on vacation at home - I felt bad about it!! So I'd make sure your DH is on board.

Do you have kids? That was the other expense/hassle. We actually paid for my sister to come over from London and watch our son the weekend we were shooting. We needed a day and a half of just DH and I looking at apartments, etc.

We do. Do they not let you bring your kids house hunting? Our kids are in school FT but some of the shooting days would be on the weekend so they'd be there. :S

And no I haven't sent in any video. We just got told to send in pics and answers to a questionnaire and then there would be a Skype interview if they wanted to move forward with it.

[GilliC]

By the way, I now feel like an idiot, because I went to watch the Bergen episode today and realized that it's someone I know!

I'm curious about how much of their episode was faked, because it seemed fairly authentic!

[frlcb]

Nov 15, 2014 7:38:13 GMT -5 GilliC said:

By the way, I now feel like an idiot, because I went to watch the Bergen episode today and realized that it's someone I know!

I'm curious about how much of their episode was faked, because it seemed fairly authentic!

You can ask them but every person I know who has been on it, both international and US, said it is completely faked. You have to already own or rent (or have a contract) on a place. I know a couple from Oxford who was on it and they had been living in the UK for 3 years and when they filmed it they said they were about to move. I like the show but totally not authentic at all.

[Deleted]

Nov 15, 2014 9:34:06 GMT -5 frlcb said:

Nov 15, 2014 7:38:13 GMT -5 GilliC said:

By the way, I now feel like an idiot, because I went to watch the Bergen episode today and realized that it's someone I know!

I'm curious about how much of their episode was faked, because it seemed fairly authentic!

You can ask them but every person I know who has been on it, both international and US, said it is completely faked. You have to already own or rent (or have a contract) on a place. I know a couple from Oxford who was on it and they had been living in the UK for 3 years and when they filmed it they said they were about to move. I like the show but totally not authentic at all.

Mine was totally faked.

We had been living in the apartment for 10 months already.

[Deleted]

Nov 15, 2014 6:09:16 GMT -5 origami said:

Nov 15, 2014 5:52:06 GMT -5 @bandwife said:

Oh and my DH was pretty ambivalent about being on the show, said it was my call. When we were both tired from it and a bit grumpy about losing a day to shooting when we were on vacation at home - I felt bad about it!! So I'd make sure your DH is on board.

Do you have kids? That was the other expense/hassle. We actually paid for my sister to come over from London and watch our son the weekend we were shooting. We needed a day and a half of just DH and I looking at apartments, etc.

We do. Do they not let you bring your kids house hunting? Our kids are in school FT but some of the shooting days would be on the weekend so they'd be there. :S

And no I haven't sent in any video. We just got told to send in pics and answers to a questionnaire and then there would be a Skype interview if they wanted to move forward with it.

Your kids sound older than mine was at the time so maybe they would be fine?

We shot mostly over a weekend because DH didn't want to take vacation days for it. This meant we didn't have daycare to put DS into. And it would have been really rough for him. Tiring days for us and he was only 2.5 at the time.

That's cool that you don't have to do a video. I dragged my feet on it. They contacted us to see if we wanted to be on the show, sent us a questionnaire and asked for some photos, then asked us to submit a short video.

[emilyinchile]

They didn't mention my employer and actually said that I do something else entirely (I'm not sure why they decided to say that I worked from home online, but according to the episode, that's what I did at the time). I wouldn't worry about that side of things at all, I don't imagine there being a problem with saying something like "we moved for H's job" without specifying what that is.

As far as budget, they changed what our actual budget had been in order to make the other two properties work. I do understand your H being sensitive to that side of things if you're on an expat package where he thinks CWs might have issues with the budget, so I guess you'll have to let him decide whether that's something that can be overcome by telling people that the show is pretty much all fake or whether it's going to cause office problems.

[MauMau]

origami a recent one that was shot in the last year had children with them. A toddler and maybe a 3-4 year old. They even came to the house. Not just the city scenes. They had them at all three places they looked at. So it wasn't like they were only at the house that was there's. Lol

[origami]

Nov 15, 2014 23:00:23 GMT -5 MauMau said:

origami a recent one that was shot in the last year had children with them. A toddler and maybe a 3-4 year old. They even came to the house. Not just the city scenes. They had them at all three places they looked at. So it wasn't like they were only at the house that was there's. Lol

Oh good! That would easier. Or "easier" because God knows what they would say.