USVI-On-Line

For those interested....tonight's episode of House Hunters International on HGTV features a new episode featuring St John. 9:30PM CST

~DRD

Thanks for the heads up! I am addicted to that show, and an episode devoted to STJ--accompanied by a PainKiller--is a perfect evening, as I see it.

drd434 wrote:For those interested....tonight's episode of House Hunters International on HGTV features a new episode featuring St John. 9:30PM CST

~DRD

Heh, was just about to post this but you beat me to it. My partner John McCann is the realtor on the episode! Here's what you'll see:

John and Stacey Alvarado live the good life with their young son, Andrew, on the island of St. Thomas. It's all a day at the beach until John gets a job on neighboring St. John, adding an extended commute via ferry across islands. Motivated to regain the lost family time and invest in their future, John and Stacey decide to relocate to St. John, but there's an added perk that comes with the move. They can bring their beloved dogs after deciding to take the plunge and purchase a home, since most St. John rentals don't allow four legged tenants. Investing in their family, both human and furry, fuels the search for John, but Stacey's fear of hurricanes makes buying an island home a stormy experience.

A little more info on HGTV's web site: http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-inter ... index.html

Just set the DVR. It's 10:30 for us in the East.

Thanks for posting this. Our TiVo automatically records House Hunters International but since so many episodes center around 100 square foot apartments in Europe I don't watch the show unless nothing else interesting is recorded. Now I'll be sure to watch

Wow!! Granted, we bought our villa on Gifft Hill at the bottom of the market, in the summer of 2010, but I found the options presented to the couple ill-fitted to their needs, and less than ideal. The one bedroom condo at Grande Bay was absurd for a couple with a child and two dogs, and commuting from Salt Pond to Cruz Bay every day would be on par with taking the ferry, unless they were living west of Charlotte Amalie. There continue to be a number of very motivated and in some cases over-leveraged sellers on St. John, in what is still a very illiquid real estate market, and buyers can offer well below the asking price and still close the deal. A perusal of the MLS listings will show a number of properties on the western side of the island that either list for or can be bought for $800K or less, with masonry construction, two or more bedrooms, and space for pets. In many cases, they have been on the market for a year or two. This episode was NOT what I was expecting!

Kevin

That was interesting and I agree that in no way would a one bedroom at Grande Bay be suitable for a family with two dogs (i own a unit there). But, I know John and he is one of the people in charge of selling timeshares for Grande Bay so it could have been added as an option solely as a marketing tool. Just my opinion....

Have a close look at the indoor interviews and I think you'll find they were taped at Grande Bay. And sorry for being selfish but I could care less if the 1BR condo was a good fir or not for the couple. It was just great to get a tour of Grande Bay on HHIntl...!!! It was 20 here in Minneapolis today - this show came at just the right time!

Was a great show. I do agree that there probably were many more places to show, however, reality TV us what it is, pretty set up. Perhaps they already had chosen the one they did. I laughed at her objections to the noise so many times and what tickled me was her worry at Grande Bay if there was a tidal surge during the storm to get up to the level of the apartment they were looking at. Good promo for STJ and Grande Bay as well. I've known John as well since he got here. Was good seeing someone you know.

As you can imagine if you think about it, the “reality” of the HH shows is that often folks have already looked at many homes in many locations and are already contracted or about to contract the property that they “choose” on the show. The “choices” in this episode were indeed wildly divergent.

We enjoy many of the Euro episodes in Paris where you get to see the various arrondissements, or where you have Brits moving to Italy or the south of France, or where you get to see a really cool place that doesnt get much attention, like the Isle of Man. Also have seen a few episodes shot in St. Croix that were interesting to see.

At least it looks like that they are now showing stuff that has been shot in the past year or so, because the sky high prices in some of the older episodes that made you say "really?" were often produced during the worldwide easy credit/real estate bubble when you see the copyright date in the credit roll.

Had a good laugh when the narrator referred to Gifft Hill as a suburb of Cruz Bay!!

The flim crew was here sept-oct.

To the comment regarding the older shows, we were watching one of the few older episodes from St. John a few months back, when something caught my eye. The couple was still back home, and reviewing potential homes on their laptop. I froze play, and stepped back a frame at a time. Sure enough, the villa on their screen was the one that we ended up buying not long afterwards: "Coconuts" (http://www.coconutsvilla.com). The folded up blue umbrella from the old Caribbean Villas web site was low in contrast, but unmistakable. The web site shot and screenshot are attached. Needless to say, were very happy that they passed on it!

Kevin

Sorry to burst most bubbles but here goes .... House Hunters only film once you OWN your property - ie: you have visited, looked at homes, submitted an offer, negotiated, come to an agreement and closed on your property and only then will they come and film.
As the selling Realtor you have to set up three properties to be filmed one of which is the property that the couple have purchased - sometimes as the Realtor you cannot find the best fit because the owner of the other homes dont want to be shown on house hunters international knowing that that would probably be some negative feedback and also they will (obviously) not make the sale
Pia

Kind of a bizarre episode in my opinion. I did know that they already own the property when the show is filmed but what realtor shows a couple with a child a one bedroom? He knew they weren't going to buy that so why not show a 2 bedroom?
Also, it struck me as odd that they seemed unfamiliar with St. John, especially the roads. They have lived in STT for 10 years. Are the roads that different?

Just felt like a weird one but perhaps a lot of episodes are like that but I don't realize because I'm not as familiar with the location.
Good for them on their purchase though!