500 Words On House Hunters

I’m going to start off by saying this is not sponsored by HGTV. I’m also going to say that if you don’t enjoy the loyal, faithful, unchanging television masterpiece, House Hunters, you should click off. If you have somehow been deprived of the joy of watching House Hunters (I am GENUINELY sorry), the premise is simple: people are in the market to buy a home, a real estate agent shows them three homes, the people pick a home and move in. That is the abridged description but there is so much more to it than that.

I had dabbled in some House Hunters eps throughout my life, but during the Boston 2015 snowpocalypse was when I really became hooked. I had binged through multiple shows already, and by the 19th snow day I was searching for something new, that was when Netflix gifted me with the joy that was an entire collection of House Hunters episodes sans-commercials.

Myself, my roommate, and whoever else was lucky enough to be welcomed into our apartment, plowed through over 40 episodes of House Hunters and House Hunters International (there is a BIG difference). With each one only running about 21 minutes it was like eating a potato chips there was no way you could stop at one.

Every episode of House Hunters has basically the same plot. One person in the pair prefers vintage charm, while the other wants something more modern, or one person wants a fixer-upper, and the other wants turn key. The pair (usually a couple) always has opposing wishlists, as if they hadn’t discussed what they wanted with one another before going on television to look for a house. There is always some impossible request that needs to be met, like a guy has a fear of toilets so his toilet must be separated from the rest of the bathroom, or a woman has this ultimate dream of owning a house with a porch, solely for the purpose of being able to sit outside and gossip (both of these things have happened in actual episodes). If the episode has a particularly sassy real estate agent they will have to comment about how the house hunting process is “all about compromise” and that “for your budget you won’t be getting everything on your list”, because the budget never matches the wish list.

If you’re still reading this you might be wondering, “okay Meagan, thanks for describing all the premise of a 30 minute HGTV show that’s been on for 15 years in detail, but why does it matter?” House Hunters is something for anyone who needs a reliable, relatively predictable, but still entertaining TV show. It’s non-committal, and is over before you have time to consider how nosy you are just watching other people look for and buy a home. Does this interest overlap more with the stay-at-home mom demographic than the 21 year old college student one? Sure. Does that make it any less enjoyable? Nope.