drewstewartcolumbia This show is great if you need a nap. It alleges to follow couples and family in the search for a new home every show sticks close to the same exact formula. At the beginning, viewers are introduced to the couple searching for the home telling the audience thei background, jobs, family size and why they're seeking a new home. They always work with a real estate agent who shows the buyers three properties giving them the asking price of each home, which doesn't necessarily reflect the home values in the areas where the buyers are searching. At the end of episode, the buyers are seen talking over coffee. The dialogue is always the same at the end. The buyers start their conversation," We have a huge decision to make." The conversation progeseses to, "Which house meets our needs the best?" One of them states a problem they have with said house along with why they don't like it. Occasionally they'll bicker about the budget and the kitchen and bathroom space before making up and before saying, " I guess we need to call the realtor." Then they wrap the show with an update with the newly minted homeowners showing how much they like their new place. Sounds plausible, right? But in reality the couples seeking the houses already live in their chosen home and show is entirely staged. Several former producers and home buyers have corroborated this. That said it does give viewers the Nickel version of how the home buying process works, but a reality series it isn't.

Neil Doyle Especially when you get to see the interiors of so many differently styled homes, some with breathtaking oceanfront views or distant mountains and valleys providing the terrace with eye candy.What gets me is the insistence that no kitchen is complete or saleable without granite counter-top, that every home has to have at least three bathrooms, that a master bedroom is too small if it's anything less than 14' x 18', and that any room featuring wallpaper is an absolute no no.Interesting too, to see couples (interracial, hetero or gay) viewing the properties together, some couples looking about as ill-matched as you could possibly imagine but obviously each couple totally committed to living together indefinitely in homes that range from 200,000 to 1.5 million of U.S. dollars, and often basing their decisions on how big the yard is for their beloved dog or how safe the yard is to accommodate kids and pets when it lacks a proper fence.Even more fascinating is House Hunters International which shows the vast difference in standards between European and American real estate markets, along with some gorgeous scenery in exotic settings which compensates (sometimes) for a certain lack of craftsmanship in utilities.

leaselee In general, is anyone else sick and tired of all these WHINEY rich kids whose Mommy and Daddy are obviously paying for the houses these spoiled brats are "buying" on this show?My husband and I are both professionals raising two children, and BARELY getting by, while these snotty twenty-somethings are on the show "buying" houses that they cannot possibly afford. Does House Hunters have something against real, working families, or are these spoiled kids all part of the House Hunters extended family (producers, writers, executives etc):In closing, please put some real people with real incomes on your show to at least give it a modicum of reality. Enough is enough of couples who are "musicians" or "artists" or "party planners" or other such nonsense.Join the REAL world!!!

blanche-2 "House Hunters" is a great show on HGTV with a simple concept - house hunters look at three homes and choose one, discussing the pros and cons in between. Hosted by the lovely Suzanne Wong, there is something very involving about this show and some other HGTV offerings, such as Designed to Sell, Buy Me, and How Much is My House Worth.I think it's the couch potato aspect combined with fantasy that works well for this show and others on the network. We can pick our own favorite house and then say things like, "I knew they'd pick that one," or "They're idiots" when they choose, and we can also discuss how much money we think they have while asking the age-old question, "What is the big deal with hardwood floors and granite countertops?" (Without them, your house may as well go into foreclosure.) And we can listen to them carp about the color of the rooms - as if they aren't willing to paint. When the home owners are revisited in the new place later, we are able to analyze their taste. This all easily replaces looking out the window while the new neighbors are moving in.The house hunters themselves are usually delightful people with whom the audience identifies, though not only. Many of them have pets, and if they don't, they usually acquire them once they move. So one can ooh and ah over babies and puppies. HGTV is onto a good thing.