HGTV on St. Croix

It's funny...when I started this thread (and right up to the show) I had NO idea who the "buyers" were. They used to be tenants of ours. Really nice couple. He also has a real estate license with Calabash Realty (same as the Realtor on the show), and....I'm pretty sure he's a poster on here!!

Hmmm..... it's funny how many of the people looking for new homes on House Hunters International are already realtors. I've even mentioned to my husband before that it seems like a good way to drum up business for a place. Free advertising for a location and a real estate firm in the name of a show. If you like how the place looks you're more than likely to remember that realtor, since you've already seen how well informed on the place they appear. Oh well, who cares--- I love being able to see places around the world.

I thought the production values on this episode were completely different that we usually see on Househunters. I too was disappointed.

i have only seen one episode where the person didnt buy a house. wow they did low ball alot. did they really think the offer would be accepted??? only time on these shows where ive seen low balling work is where the property is in the millions. maybe they just dont really want a house or should just build one to suit. yeah, and where was suzanne, and lindaj, you are right the shows production values were lacking. didnt like it so much. nessie ( the realtor) seemed like a fun girl.

Sorry, but I don't care if the guy posts here, I thought he was a jerk. What was their house worth in San Francisco & did he accept an insulting lowball offer when they sold? I also think it's dishonest for a realtor working for the same company as the one represented on the show to have that show aired. And what about the fake scenario with the boss sternly warning to get the buyer to put in a bid? Shame on HGTV. They even picked a hazy day to film it.

And I don't ever remember seeing the boss (broker) come on and tell the agent to hurry it up! This show did seem to be really different from the usual format, or maybe it seems that way because we are familiar with the areas and the people involved. I did enjoy it, even more so when I realized I knew the people. That was cool! St. Croix looked great, too. I hope Ness's phone is ringing off the hook this morning. She did a great job.

Trade,
I don't THINK Doug had his license with Calabash at the time the show was filmed. I think that came later. (Maybe as a result of this association?)

That's a little better but I still thought he was being a jerk with the kind of lowballs he was offering; If he has seen that many houses (which he obviously has) he knew what the housing costs were & was just wasting time.

Here he is::

http://www.calabashrealtors.com/calabash-agent-directory.htm

This was not the episode I had heard about. Just found out it won't air until Jan or Feb 2010.
It will be a condo search and they DO buy something.

any idea when this was filmed?

I'm guessing June or July. That is based on the age of the baby. He was born early Feb., if I'm remembering correctly, and he looked about 5-6 months old. When did that sailboat go up on the reef? They could have left that shot out.

I don't see the one in Spratt Hall listed any more. The other two came down a bit, but not to the stupid price he offered.

I'm guessing that he really just wanted to live on the boat rather than in a house which his wife didn't want to do.

LOL. Trade, you could be so right. I've seen that argument more times than I can tell you. I was thrilled when my husband agreed to move off the boat and into a house.

I got the same impression,Trade. Can you imagine the poor wife's life being cooped up inside that boat with two children?! Hey maybe that's the source of Lizard's 'scary mist'! The unhappy spirits:-X of deranged wives who were cooped up inside boats with small children!:P

I just had to add my two cents here since I was looking forward to this episode and was really disappointed with it. First someone who has lived on the island for over a year KNOWS the area they are willing to live in? So you know the house at Sprat Hall which was inappropriate to begin with with only two bedrooms and this family had to little boys who would have to share ALWAYS and no room for guests, c'mon get real! It was an effort on the Realtors part to show the West side of the island, than onto Enfield Green which was a nice home but clearly out of their budget and range and away from the marina? The third home in Cotton Valley although nice was not up to their standards evidently?

My question is there are numerous homes on the MLS within their budget and they are beautiful homes so why choose the three they did to televise unless it was a deliberate attempt to show as much of the island as they could with no concern if they were suitable for the buyer? Now I read that he is a Realtor working for this agency who by the way made it sound like the agency was tired of showing him homes and wanted him to make up his mind and sign.....when the owners summed it up they had looked at quite a few homes already and weren't buying 'till they found the perfect one,, which the realty knew about.

This was a pretty lame way to bring attention to the beauty and the homes the island has to offer and the buyer came off as a real persnickety cheapscape wanting something for nothing.

I think we all probably agree the whole thing was just a TV show, period. And if it was meant to showcase the various areas of the island, then I say thanks to Doug and Lindy for setting themselves up for the slamming they are taking. It would have been nice if they had bought one of the places. Then it wouldn't have seemed so "fake" to us, which it obviously was. But St. Croix came off looking great. It's probably the same kind of thing in other locations. The locals watch the show and say what the ---- did I just see?

It will definitely be interesting to see what happens on the January show, with the condo search. At least they buy this time, so we've been told.

A few years ago there was a couple who bought a home the size of a hotel on Roatan.
When we went there with friends who had bought property, we met his Realator. We mentioned the show. The Realtor said it was all put up, that the home was still on the market. Don't know if that was true or not, but with this show last night it does make one wonder.:-(

I wonder if the homes shown were all listed by Calabash or were they other realtors' listings. I just don't understand having to have such a fake episode when there are plenty of people looking for & buying homes, even in this economy. Oh, well. I think my other instinct was right. He wants to live on the boat & he's trying to force her into it. Poor wife. She's probably going to school full-time for nursing with 2 little kids & he's probably sailing around. :@)

I'm sure it's just the logistics of putting the show together. Most people take weeks or months, or longer, to find a home. Obviously the film/production crew can't be here for all showings. I suppose they could recreate the showing, but that's just as fake. Think about them looking at (and weighing the pros and cons of) a house with their own clothes already hanging in the closet. No, I think I already knew better than to think it was completely real, but now...I'll be looking at every show with a more skeptical eye. HGTV is my favorite channel, though.

Yeah, I knew they always have already made their choice & just showed 3 of the houses they looked at but this one was so different from any others that it really stands out.

Amazing what good actors they all seem to be! I thought Honnies' cameo was a bit lame, but Ness' reaction was adorable. Doug and Lindy certainly seemed "real", even to the point where people are upset with him for low-balling, etc. Maybe we need to get him involved in CCT (community theater).8-)

Many try to lowball but wasn'this offer about $150K under asking?

8-)My husband and I just bought a condo in May and we filmed for House Hunters International in August. I am not sure when the show will air yet, we are told possibly December or January. The show that aired last week with Doug Freeman was a different production company than the one that we had. Our production company was Pietown Productions and theirs was Leopard Production Company. The show did seem a little different than what we usually see, maybe the different producer is the reason. I will say that we had a wonderful experience filming the show and I think it will make St. Croix look as fabulous as it really is. Our two sons ages 11 and 13 will also be in the show. I won't tell you where our condo is....you will have to watch the show.

I noticed that some one on this thread mentioned that Doug Freeman worked for Calabash. I had some old realty magazines that show that he was employed there before the time of the filming. I am not positive, but I have a May 2009 magazine and I believe that they filmed for the show sometime in July. I could be wrong about this, but when I was there at the end of July I was told that there was a crew on island filming a few weeks before us.

I thought that the island looked beautiful on the show, just surprised to see that there was no purchase made. Was it a setup for publicity? Oh well...who knows...Swe are just very excited about owning on STX!! We feel very fortunate...look for us on HHI, we are the family from Ohio(Brrrrrr!)