If you’ve been watching reality shows of any type for a while, you probably know that a few aspects of those shows are manipulated in some way, either to make the filming process easier or to heighten the drama (sometimes leading to unfortunate experiences for the hosts). We’ve been hearing more and more that the same can be true for the many successful series that populate HGTV, including long-running favorite, House Hunters (which has spawned a number of spinoffs). But, it’s possible that the show is even faker than we previously thought, as we have new details from someone who was on the show.
Now, let’s be clear. We’ve known for quite a while that the House Hunters crew doesn’t actually follow along during the entirety of a house hunt. Anyone who’s actively looked for a house or bought one will know that the process generally takes months of frequently maddening activity, if not an actual year or more. And, to be frank, ain’t no regular TV show got time for that. So, House Hunters presents us with folks well into the process of looking for a new home, and three of their options, with one of them already being at the top of their list.
What's Being Said Now About How House Hunters Is Filmed?
But, a reddit post from someone whose family appeared on House Hunters suggests that the production fudged things way more than that, and said:
My family and I were on an episode of HGTV’s House Hunters... In reality the entire thing was staged. Like literally every detail. We had already owned the home for six months when our realtor was contacted by HGTV. Neither of the other two homes were even for sale. Every scene was shot several times. The ‘three month’ follow-up just showed us in different clothes in our actual home and was shot the same weekend... Bizarre experience. I haven’t been able to look at reality TV the same way since!
WOW. Alright, we’ve heard before from someone who’d appeared on House Hunters who said that they only film people who are closing on a house or already have closed on their new home. But the idea that they’d pick a family that had owned their home for a whopping six months seems a bit insane. This is particularly true considering how many people must be closing on homes at any one given time around the country.
Of course, if you bought a home many months ago, and are now being taken around to look at other “for sale” houses for filming, it makes sense that those other homes might not actually be for sale at all, and they are certainly unlikely to be homes you actually looked at during your real search. Plus, it’s possible that the homeowners / agents who are trying to sell a house wouldn't want anyone to be able to recognize a real for-sale property that had been dismissed (for whatever reason) on national television. So, there goes that.
I guess it also follows that the all important three-month follow up would be…uh, done much sooner than the three month mark. Just like the crew doesn’t have time to follow along on a full, real house hunt, they have no time to coordinate returning in that time frame when you’re dealing with many different homeowners that it would need to be done for. But, doing it at the same time as the rest of the filming? Is there any “reality” in reality TV at all?
It’s possible that the answer to that last question is, “Yo, it doesn’t matter!” Because even with word coming out about how HGTV doesn’t cover temporary living costs for those on their home renovation shows, while admitting that those same homeowners might get goods and services at discount prices because of being on the network, it’s still true that viewers love to indulge in House Hunters, and the many other home shows on the network, regardless of what we know about what goes on behind the scenes.
