Who has seen that Home Hunting International show?

[The Backlash Cometh]

I don't know if that was the correct title. It's a series which shows house hunting outside the U.S.A. The average price of the houses featured on the show is one million dollars. I was just wondering if this show dated? Or is this the reason why we can't raise taxes on the rich?

[frazzled]

1. It's House Hunters International

And yes, I love that show because I get to see how people live in different countries. But you are totally wrong about the average price of a house (or apartment): if you're in Hong Kong or Paris, yes, the prices are high. But one of the fun parts of the show is looking at places where prices are amazingly lower than here: a fabulous apartment in Buenos Aires for $180,000 (that would cost three million in New York), a beautiful and huge 18th century house in Brittany (just a couple of hours from Paris) for $200K.

There are few political lessons to be learned from this show: just that economies and housing stock and demand differ vastly from place to place.

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. I just saw three shows running back to back yesterday

and the lowest price was $800,000.

[frazzled]

6. Three shows is not representative.

I've been watching that show for years, and I'm telling you that many times the properties are amazingly reasonable. They do expensive cities and expensive properties, and cheap places and cheaper properties. Believe me, I'm an expert on that show.

Example: there was one the other night about a young woman who wanted to relocate from Texas to Paris. She got a job at a bicycle/walking tour place and had a budget of $1000 a month for an apartment rental (which wouldn't get you very much of anything in a major US city), and wanted to live in a nice section of Paris. The agent told her it was impossible, and ended up showing her three places: one at $1250, one at $1400, and one at $1600. She ended up taking the middle one and dipping into her savings. This was not millionnaire territory by any means.

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. I might have continued to watch it if I had seen such variety.

[JackintheGreen]

22. Yeah, that's not really representative of the show

There seems to be a split between rich douchebags looking for a second home on the Riviera (fuck them, I won't watch) and people with legitimate reasons for needing a home out of the US. This second category is largely made up of Europeans (or other non-Americans) who have switched jobs or been relocated by their companies or their spouses. Sometimes they're wealthy and obnoxious (like the family that wanted to live like "real Moroccans" in a zouk and everything, then ended up building a western styled home in the country), but almost as often they seem like real fish out of water trying to make due for their family in circumstances not exactly of their choosing.

[pipi_k]

7. Yep, I've seen it lots of times and

I too like seeing how people in other countries live, and what's important to them.

Sometimes I'm appalled at the size of the bedrooms, some of which are mere closets. Many of the kitchens are no bigger than galley kitchens on boats.

And some of the total living space makes me feel claustrophobic. Which isn't to say my own home is a palace or anything, although it feels like one after seeing some of those homes/apartments.

My favorites are the ones in places like Costa Rica. I would live there if I could. Homes set in jungle surroundings. Open patios. Quaint little towns. Outdoor living is very important to the people down there, which is why the rest of the house besides the patio is barely utilitarian. I love looking at other people's homes...

:)

[SoCalDem]

13. Me too.. I have fantasized about going back to live in Panama

Balboa



our street



across the street from the pool



view from the balcony of my 6th grade classroom

[pipi_k]

18. Cool photos!

I guess it was some time ago... :)

[SoCalDem]

20. waaaaaay long ago. we came back to the states in 1962

:)

[SoCalDem]

24. an aerial shot of the base & me on first day of school

naptime with Toby

[The Backlash Cometh]

25. That sofa is timeless.

[SoCalDem]

27. In Panama all the furniture was bamboo or wicker

and tile or concrete for all the other.. mildew capital of the world.. fence posts became trees on a year:) Dry season meant it only rained twice a day :rofl:

[The Backlash Cometh]

28. Dry season can be a bitch.

I suspect your photo of the Admin building was taken in dry season.

The ground will crack in the dry season.

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. Thanks for that.

[Frustratedlady]

2. That has been going on for several years.

I don't watch it anymore, as it usually has pompous rich people complaining that there is an a/c unit at the next house that would disturb their peace and quiet...talking about their huge parties and whether or not they would have room for those events...bragging about how much they got the seller to go down.

The other show I hate is the one about millionaire homes and the opulence of the wealthy. Ballrooms where they display their expensive collector cars, closets that are more like fancy dress shops, indoor/outdoor pools connected by tunnels...on and on and on.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Which brings me to my original point.

Is this show outdated? Or is this what the reach are using to spend money that would be put to better use in taxes?

(Oh, and yes, that comment of the Master bedroom, "Yes, because I am the Master."

[Wind Dancer]

10. I don't know if that episode was dated...

but that guy reminded me so much of Tom DeLay.

[SoCalDem]

12. all the shows are numbered and dated.. the ones mentioned were new.

:)

I loved the couple moving to Korea & their "bedroom":rofl:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. Didn't you love the bedroom?

I :rofl:ed when I saw them try to slither up those steps and crawl around in that "room." But that's the place they finally went with.

[SoCalDem]

16. They were smart to take that place .. here's why

they wanted to immerse themselves into Korean life.. Taking the place that looked that Anywhere, USA, would not have been as valuable of an adventure:)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. I'd have picked that one, too.

It was way cheaper, conveniently located, and the bedroom was... interesting.

[izquierdista]

4. Their "average" is not the world's average

Kind of like everyone didn't live in a house like the Cleavers had in the '50s. Sotheby also puts out a magazine of what they have listed, but one million would be more like the down payment.

Real estate prices vary and you can buy cheap in other countries, but Western European prices are comparable to U.S. prices, maybe even a little higher. A lot of those places with cheap prices have poor infrastructure and you may have to sink additional money into bringing your home infrastructure up to what you are used to.

[rox63]

8. Not all the houses are like that

You should see when they go to places like Bulgaria or Slovenia, and you can get places for well under $100 K. This weekend they were running all shows about houses in tropical resort areas, which is why the prices were so high.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. Explains a lot.

though, I suspect the prices they advertise, and what a local would buy it for may be different.

[rox63]

33. I enjoy the show just for the look at places I'll probably never be able to afford to visit n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

9. For Americans, simply residing in another country does not

relive you of your American tax paying duty. To have no American tax requirements, you have to give up your citizenship, and take another one. Citizens of some other countries pay taxes only on income in country, and by being domiciled in another country, they pay those taxes instead. That is not the case for Americans. We can not just buy a house and live in it to avoid taxes, we have to stop being Americans and become citizens of another country.
Of course there are evasions and things people do to avoid tax, but you are not off the hook just for living in some low tax nation as a US citizen.

[SoCalDem]

11. If you are retired, and have no job, your tax burden here might be minimal

Many retirees can retire & live luxuriously in some countries, But if you have health issues, you had better check in advance to see what your new home country will offer you. Medicare is useless outside the US..

Unless you live in a very remote area, you could easily do banking with debit cards & online bill pay..and if you had a stateside go-between, it could be a seamless transition.

In Central/South America, a retired couple could rent a nice place for less than they could here (many US cities)..and you are never too old for adventure.. I would LOVE to do this, but my husband's not up for it..and of course we have cats & I'm not sure how taking pets with you would work..

I would advise NOT buying right away.. Once you have the "flavor" of a place and have local friends, I suspect that you might have a better chance of finding a nice place to buy eventually..and for less too..

[doc03]

14. I watched it yesterday for the first time, first of all every home was

out of my price range on the international and the domestic shows. There was one couple that found an apartment in Korea that I could afford. I am amazed at the prices of homes in what I thought were third world crap holes. For the most part the show seems to be geared to upper income people. Like a vacation home on the beach in Panama for over a million, that's not in my league.

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. This has been overly inflated.

Possibly because Americans are behind the construction of homes in the Panama area.

I had a relative who went down about twenty five years ago and said you can get beach front for $50,000. Of course, that's what he did. Develop the property and sell it to foreigners. Jacking up the price.

[SoCalDem]

26. In the late 50's we rented a big ole house (walking distance to the sand)

for $50 a week:)

The guy wanted us to buy it for $1500.00 :rofl:

this is the beach:

[WinkyDink]

29. I watch it every night. You are WAAAY off on your alleged "average price."

[The Backlash Cometh]

30. Someone just brought up the point that the shows they aired were

in tropical areas where the prices were steep. I only saw three shows, so I understand it was not a good representation.

[rox63]

34. Sometimes people will buy a total ruin and renovate it into their dream house

I've seen lots of episodes like that. They buy a place that is practically falling down, and they restore it to its former glory. There have been several episodes like that, mostly in Mediterranean locations. It's not all rich people buying luxury vacation villas.

[SoCalDem]

35. I love the one in Italy, where the realtor shows them a "newer" place

built in the 1600's with a bathroom of sorts OUTSIDE on a steep hillside, barely attached to the house..:rofl:

[Nye Bevan]

36. And the half-ruined French farmhouses

that "need a little work".

[SoCalDem]

37. Yep.. the last time anything was done to it was when a bomb hit it in WWII

:rofl:

[Raine]

31. Yes, I LOVE that show. I LOVE to see the kind of homes people

live in in other parts of the world. What I find interesting is how much smaller so many of the houses are, no room for all the junk that there is room for in American homes. If the corporate interests bankrupt Americans they better not think that they can sell all their crap to the rest of the world. People in other countries don't have room for all the brick-a-brack like they do here.

[a la izquierda]

38. Makes me want to move the hell out of this country.

I keep telling my husband I yearn for a simpler life. His solution is for us to try and save and buy a small piece of property and a small farmhouse. I think I can deal with that.
But still, my favorites are the cute, ancient little places in Eastern Europe. :loveya: