My wife and I have both been pretty hooked on real estate and renovation shows for the past year or so. What I love about these shows is that they are both entertaining and educational. There is always something new to learn about real estate, home renovations, and the housing market.
1) House Hunters International
House Hunters International is the global version of House Hunters. The show features families or individuals who are moving abroad and show them looking at three different houses/condos/apartments. At the end of the show they pick one of the homes. At the very end, they show them a few months later when they are all moved into their new home.
The great thing about this show is that they show cities all over the world. It’s interesting to see the different architecture and home prices depending on the city (for example an apartment in Hong Kong versus a house in Costa Rica). Getting to see the different real estate markets and how far money goes is the main benefit of this show.
New episodes are shown every weeknight on HGTV 10:30pm/9:30c
2) Holmes Inspection
In Holmes Inspection, Mike Holmes, inspector/handyman/general contractor extraordinaire goes into homes that seem to be having issues (cracking ceiling, leaking roof, etc.) and conducts not a homes inspection but a HOLMES Inspection. Holmes does a thorough inspection and points out everything that is wrong with a house (and for most of these houses, this is after an inspector has already conducted an inspection). Once he finds everything that is wrong, he brings in a crew and they fix everything…even if it require gutting the house.
In the few episodes I have watched of this show, I was impressed by Holmes ability to find so many things wrong with a house. It’s also great to see the crew rebuild the house and make it right. In one episode they ended up putting in $150k worth of work. They ended up having to pour a new basement floor, redo all the electrical, redo the roof and insulation, and more.
New episodes air Sundays on HGTV at 9pm/8c
3) Buying and Selling
Buying and Selling is a show where the Property Brothers, Drew and Jonathan Scott, help a homeowner sell their current house for maximum value and purchase a home. They help the homeowners make small renovations that will sell their property for maximum value, as well as find a new home that fits as many things on their wish list as possible.
I like how this show is not just a renovation show but also not just a show about finding a new home. You learn a little about maximizing the value of a home and a little about buying a home and how to find a home that fits most of the things on a wish list.
New episodes air Wednesdays on HGTV at 9pm/8c
4) Love It or List It
Love It or List It is a show where homeowners who have grown tired of their current house not working look to Realtor David Visentin and designer Hilary Farr to help them out. David tries to find them a new home that will fit all of the things on their wish list, while Hilary renovates their current home. At the end of the episode the homeowner must decide whether they are going to love their house or list and move on.
While some of the dialogue in this show is annoying at times, if you can get past that it is interesting to see what Hilary comes up with for solutions in the current home, as well as learning more about certain real estate markets through seeing the homes David finds.
New episodes air Mondays on HGTV at 9pm/8c
5) Bath Crashers
In Bath Crashers, licensed contractor Matt Muenster ambushes people who are home improvement shopping and one lucky homeowner will get a free bathroom renovation. Over the course of a few days Matt and his crew transforms the homeowners bathrooms into stunning rooms.
Bathrooms are challenging rooms to renovate because of their small size and the number of necessary pieces that need to fit in this small space (sink, toilet, shower/bath, etc.). I always like seeing how they renovate the bathrooms on this show because it shows how to make the best use of the space available, and also because Matt thinks of creative ideas that give bathrooms a “wow” factor.
New episodes air Mondays on DIY Network at 10:30pm/9:30c and Saturdays on HGTV at 11:30am/10:30c
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Photo by ARNOLD Masonry and Concrete
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Ugh- these are the shows that make me wish I still had cable! I LOVE House Hunters!!!
@Holly at ClubThrifty HGTV is one of the main channels we watch, there’s so much good programming!
I am a big fan of House Hunters International. It gives me ideas on where we want to travel to next. Holmes Inspection is a good one as well because it shows you a lot about the things that can go wrong with a house if you are not careful when you buy.
@OneSmartDollar Holmes Inspection is amazing! I love how he finds so much wrong. I can’t imagine what is all wrong with the house we bought…what did our inspector miss? Hopefully nothing, but I bet Holmes would find a number of things.
My wife and I aren’t huge fans of renovation shows. I suppose it’s because we really have no skills in that area and would be tempted to do some of the things and spend money we don’t want to. I do see the value in them though. House Hunters International does sound interesting though as we both love to travel.
@FrugalRules We have no skills in the area either, but we also haven’t owned a home yet. We bought a house that will need some renovations over the next 5 years or so until we decide to sell. We are looking to maximize the sweat equity.
House Hunters International is awesome, they’ve taped it in tons of countries already and I’m sure they will keep finding new locations to tape.
One program I enjoy is Holmes on Homes and Holmes Inspection purely because he does it right. I’ve done many renovations kitchens, bathroom etc on both my other homes. I’ve watched a few of the other programs like house hunters International but have no desire to move back to the UK or outside of Canada at the moment. Some great programs you listed. Mr.CBB
@CanadianBudgetB Oh we could use some tips from you in a couple years when we will need to renovate our bathroom and kitchen. We intentionally bought a home that needed work…hopefully doesn’t come back to bite us!
I love those shows. I have gotten so many good ideas and how to look at a house for its structure not the current style or decor from HGTV. I also want to win the Dream House someday.
@Eyesonthedollar Through HGTV and our realtors we really went through the home buying process focusing on the big things: how old is the furnace? How old is the AC? What condition is the roof in? How is the structure? Did the basement get wet? How is the location for resale? HGTV discusses most of these things, and I enjoy learning more and more.
I love House Hunters (not Intl…I can’t relate!) and Love It Or List It. LIOLI is like crack to someone who likes HGTV type shows. It’s got real estate AND renovation in the same show….Eeee!!! I find these shows really motivating for all the projects I need to get moving on.
-M
@seedebtrun Haha the renovation + real estate seems to be the new trend, as “Buying and Selling” also does the same thing.
I don’t like the international show but I do like property brothers and kitchen cousins… why do I like these shows and waste my time on this drivel? Because it is fun to dream.
@Money Life and More “Because it is fun to dream.” Exactly.
My wife and I suckers for all these house shows! For whatever reason, we watch a ton of home shows on the weekend. She was so sad to find out that House Hunters is fake …
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A great piece of information.. The home renovation shows are quite interesting.. Home renovation includes everything from beautiful floors to renovating kitchens, bathrooms, cupboards everything… One must concentrate on floors more than anything else… Great collection of information.. Well done..!!