20 Things You Didn’t Know about House Hunters

Originally aired in October of 1999, House Hunters is an American reality series that airs on HGTV that follows couples, individuals and families in search of a new home with the assistance of an experienced real estate agent. In all episodes, the buyers must select from three properties and choose one prior to the end of the episode. The show ends by revisiting the buyers several weeks or months after they have purchased the home. At this point, they describe the changes made to the home and the effect it has had on their life. In almost all instances, the buyers are satisfied with their choices.

The following is a list of 20 things you didn’t know about House Hunters:

Creators are an Actual Couple

The creators of House Hunters, Tara Sandler and Jennifer Davidson has been an actual couple for around 25-years. They actually got the inspiration for the show when looking for a new home for themselves. At this point, the couple realized the potential for a television program which they brought to HGTV. The network loved the idea and started working through the logistics of finding and filming homes then filmed and released it in 1999 with only 26 episodes. Of course it is now one of the most popular television shows in the United States. After its success, the idea to branch out internationally opened up an entirely new viewing audience for the show thus contributing to their success.

Each Episode Costs between $45-$50,000

The cost to make each episode ranges from $45-$50,000. This incorporates the crew labor cost, equipment, permits, food, salaries and the $500 paid to the buyers to participate on the show. The local realtors actually work on a volunteer basis with the knowledge that they will be receiving commission from the sale of the house at the end and it acts as excellent publicity for their company.

Families on the Show are real

Although House Hunters is a pseudo-reality show, the families and potential buyers are real people. This is corroborated by the numerous blogs from people who have actually been on the show and purchased a home through House Hunters. Of course they are taking direction from the director but they are not actors who are acting surprised when a bit of drama unfolds. These buyers are genuinely surprised and have real emotion. This helps make the show much more of a reality than staged acting.

Filmed in Every State

There has not been a state in the United States in which the crew has not filmed and episode of House Hunters. This has allowed the producers to showcase a variety of housing markets in different cities and states across the U.S. and utilize differing budgets. An apartment in New York City is going to have a much different costs than one in North Dakota with the buyer’s budget and requirements differing greatly.

Difficult to get on the Show

House Hunters receives between 100 and 200 applications per week depending on the season. The show is specifically looking for those who are quirky or want something unique in their home, this makes for good television. Producers search for conflict and drama but want people with whom the audience will fall in love with. The process is as follows: fill out an online application, the casting director follows-up with an email or phone call followed by a phone interview with the producer. Following the interview, there is more paperwork and a 10-minute audition video. Once selected, they will give you a call.

Director Treats Everyone to Lunch

Hungry buyers, directors, producers and other crew does not go over well for television. The filming takes a significant amount of time so the director treats everyone on the show to lunch during each of the five days on-set. In many instances, the director will take the family to dinner as well and even provide on-set snacks. Many of those featured on the show miss the pampering treatment once filming completed.

Homes not always for Sale

Interestingly enough, not every home showcased in House Hunters is actually for sale. There is one specific account where the potential home buyer told the media that the houses they perused were not even for sale. In this episode it was the friends of the buyer who rigorously cleaned the house for preparation of the cameras. This is the only report of such a situation which could have been an anomaly. The producers rely on buyers to setup the tours but there buyers could not find realtors who wanted to be on the show. Therefore, they had to fake it by showing the house of a friend.

Housing Crisis Helped the Show

The housing crisis crippled many states in the U.S. of which is now recovering. During this time, the housing crisis was good for the show as the number of episodes triple during the peak of the bubble crash between 2005 and at the end of the Great Recession in 2009. This is because the real estate market in many areas favored the buyer so those who had enough money to purchase a home were seriously looking.

Immediate Product Integration

Once a sponsor closes the deal with House Hunters, their products can immediately be integrated into the show since crews are shooting nonstop. Product placements range from the products a couple mentions or interacts with during their viewing to the shots of an automobile throughout production. This is highly beneficial to the sponsors as they are receiving almost instant publicity.

Most Episodes are aired

Of the hundreds of episodes produced by the House Hunters crew, the vast majority make it on the air. In fact, there are only around 10 episodes that never aired and that was due to unfortunate situations like divorce, death or acts of God like Hurricane Katrina.

Tons of Filming for a Few Minutes of Production

The average time spent filming at each of the three houses is around six house. Part of the filming is partaking in different activities that the family enjoys such as eating out at a restaurant or going to the beach. This provides a background story for each of the suppliers. Other filming includes the buyers at work or at the gym. The typical total amount of filming is around 30 hours to yield 23-minute long episodes.

Three New Episodes per Week

In 2014, House Hunters hit their 10,000th episode which is absolutely incredible. This indicates that they are filming year-round across the country and globe. This equates to releasing three new episodes per week. Each episode takes between three and five days to film with hours of recording. There are little-to-no other shows currently on television that produce this number of episodes per week.

Three People on a House Hunters Shoot

For a show that produces so many episodes, it is surprising that there are only three people working on the shot: the director, camera person and audio person. Since they are filming in several locations, it is important to be mobile so this is the bare minimum needed for filming. It also helps them keep the cost per episode under $50,000. Most shows have teams of people filming to ensure the shots are perfect. Of course there are behind-the-scenes crews such as the editors, administration, sound technicians, etc. significantly contribute to the show. After the 60+ hours of filming, someone has to go through and edit all of the footage to 23-minutes. This is a monumental job that must be completely quickly so they can air the episode.

Works with Local Professionals

The show uses local contractors as well as filming professionals from the area. On one episode of the show, the director used a local sound person in Utah and the cameraman was from Colorado. This helps create jobs for the local and regional community while still producing an excellent show.

8 Different Directors

The point of having so many directors is two-fold. First, there are so many episodes being filmed constantly, one director cannot be in every place. Second, each director adds a little bit of their own spin to the show giving the audience a different perspective with each viewing. The director that has been with the show for the longest is Susan Hall, a veteran of 12 years and the show has been around for 17 years.

15 Domestic Teams Filming Simultaneously

The United States is a very different place in the north, south, west and mid-west so filming a variety of locations round the country is a must. Audiences watch because they can relate to the local market or it is so far away from their world that they are intrigued by the cost and environment the show beams into their living room.

20 Spin-offs

Due to its popularity, HGTV has launched similar but more unique versions to increase viewership. Tiny House Hunters is a similar concept as House Hunters only it focuses on people who are looking to live the minimalist lifestyle and downsize their living quarters. This could be to a mobile home or just a small square footage house. Island Hunters is House Hunters with a tropical twist. The show follows buyers who aren’t simply looking for a house, they are searching for a getaway destination, their own private island. The families tour three islands, all of which have vacation homes and beautiful beachfronts. Then they pick one of the three options. Houseboat Hunters is the same concept only for buyers searching for a floating home which could be their primary home or simply a vacation home.

25 International Teams Filming Simultaneously

Testing a variety of markets, there are 25 international crews filming simultaneously. This helps producers find the quirkiest and most interesting people to film in some of the most interesting real estate markets on earth.

25 Million People Watch the Show

Despite its saturation of episodes, the show has become so popular that 25 million people watch the show on a monthly basis. As part of the saturation of the television market with hundreds of episodes, that also means the show is on more often so viewers have more of an opportunity to watch.

447 Brand New Episodes Aired in 2015

At a staggering average of 1.22 new episodes per day, 447 brand new episodes of House Hunters aired on HGTV in 2015 alone. House Hunters has averaged 406 episodes per year for the past four years consecutively without any type of mid- or post-season break. This is due to the fact that there are crews working tirelessly across the United States and internationally to ensure there is a diversity in the viewing. The audience would stop watching if it was the same market with the same costs and the same aspirations for eh home, this is boring television that is mitigated through thousands of hours of filming around the world.