‘House Hunters’: Do the Realtors On the Show Get Paid?
One of the top shows on HGTV is House Hunters. If you’re a fan of any type of reality TV, you know that sometimes, it’s not real. House Hunters, according to fans, is no exception and needs to be more real. This hasn’t stopped it from being one of the most loved shows on TV. One of the most important questions is who gets paid on House Hunters.
What is ‘House Hunters’ all about?
House Hunters is an unscripted television series from HGTV following people looking for a new home. With the help of a local real estate agent, the buyer must decide from three locations, and they discuss what they like and don’t like about each location, then, prior to the end of the show, they make a decision. The show ends with the buyers talking about how the purchase has influenced their lives.
The show is indicated as being a reality show. However, the buyers are typically already in escrow. As such, House Hunters isn’t really reality because the buyer already owns the house they choose. The other homes are from those that were considered and chosen by producers. Sometimes, the “reject” homes are those staged by friends. This has led to questions about the authenticity of the show. However, it has been argued that the focus of the show is the home buying process. In order to account for time and production constraints, the use of people already in the process helps to show the entire process within these constraints.
Do the couples get paid?
A lot of people want to be on House Hunters. One of the top questions is: Do you get paid? Well, yeah, you do. Nowhere near as much as you’d expect though. In fact, according to The Things, couples and families only get $500 for being on the show. Considering these people competed against 100 to 200 applicants for that week’s show, that’s not a lot. It’s been broken down to where it takes about 30 hours to film each episode. This isn’t even done in a couple of days — more like 3 to 5 days. There is an upside to the long hours and fairly low pay — production buys you lunch when you’re shooting.
Are the realtors paid?
None of the realtors on the show are paid. You’d think that’d make House Hunters less appealing, but you’d be wrong. The realtors do it for the free publicity. After appearing on the show, there’s often an increase in real estate sales once the episode has been seen, especially in less-frequently known areas. Realtors also play the game and often encourage other clients to display their homes as the “reject” homes. This gets more publicity for these homes, increasing the likelihood of sales.
There’s no denying it. House Hunters is still a great show. There’s something for almost anyone that likes it. Not only do the buyers get what they wanted — their dream home — but realtors get free publicity, which is great for their careers.
House Hunters is a great show for some light entertainment, and it’s clearly great for everyone involved. Keep watching to find out what happens next and where House Hunters goes next. It could be to your own neighborhood or nearby.
