House Hunters International

[telophase]

Watching tonight's episode of House Hunters International, which is taking place on an island in the Bahamas, which is a very desirable place to live and very very small, so housing prices are very high.

I know all that, but it still takes my breath away when the real estate agent says that the houses average $1.5-3 million, and the couple's budget is $1 million to find a modest house for themselves and their four kids. And I'm used to $1 million houses in the States being a certain level of luxury, which isn't the case on the island because what you're paying for is LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. (The couple own a hotel on the island - they're not the usual run of empty-nesters looking for a tropical home or well-to-do people looking for a vacation home.)

Comments

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

Yessss... episodes in the Caribbean have me gasping for air. SO. EXPENSIVE.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I always have to re-check the original air date for the episodes and wonder if the people still have that nice little $10million getaway on that isolated island...

[movingfinger.livejournal.com]

My mom watches those shows sometimes and I too lately wonder what happened to those nice first-time homebuyers who took out a loan for the mortgage and another for the down payment. They were usually in lightweight jobs and were planning to refinance in a year or so.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

On Sunday, I pretty much zoned out and watched hours of HGTV instead of doing anything useful, but I remember a show, filmed recently I think, which had a couple composed of a teacher and a newly-graduated-from-vet-school vet tech moving to Phoenix and getting a house, looking for 100% financing. They were looking at $300K houses with 3 and 4 bedrooms to start with, and I was boggled at the idea that they thought they could afford such a house on their probable salaries, unless teachers and vet techs in Phoenix make more than I expect.

Their financing fell through, and they ended up having to go for 5% down and a smaller house that was still somewhere in the 200Ks, and I'm still not sure how they're affording it. It makes me worry for these total strangers.