I Tried This ‘House Hunters’ Reddit Hack That Predicts Every Winner

Much of the appeal of watching “House Hunters” is playing detective, tuning into side comments and reactions that hint at what the ultimate house will be. You’ll be tempted to learn the secret to predicting the outcomes, like me. However, you might sincerely regret it once you know because all future “House Hunters” viewings will be forever changed. Consider yourself warned, far more than I was before embarking on this experiment, which began with a Reddit thread.

One Redditor shared a lofty claim that he can predict the outcome of every “House Hunters” episode based on one simple fact: the chosen house will not have personal touches inside. Because, as user DullBoy68 puts it, those aren’t “actually for sale/rent, they just found someone’s house to film in.” Other commenters—equal parts amazed and impressed—agreed and shared their own experiences, all adding more support. Intrigued, I set out to test it, and now I too can join the ranks of these “House Hunters” devotees.

As a control, I enlisted my husband. I kept him in the dark while watching an episode together. We watched as a Manhattan couple looked for more space with fairly reasonable expectations. Glued to the screen, I spotted photo frames, kitchen gadgets, and toiletries while my husband noted the properties that ticked off the wish list of both house hunters best. We came to the same correct conclusion: the couple chose the Midtown apartment free of personal items and also closely matching their descriptions of an ideal home.

The Redditor was spot on in this case, but I needed more evidence. One more episode, I said, and shared the secret with my husband. Next up was a family longing for more space to spread out in North Carolina. Pen and paper in hand, I jotted notes like bathrobe hanging in bathroom, random stuff in garage, cat sitting in living room, and baby chair as they toured two properties, and I swiftly ruled them out. The third home, one completely devoid of floors (!) as well as personal items, would soon be crowned the winner. Sure enough the Reddit theory worked again.

Actually, it worked a little too well. It stripped away the intrigue and uncertainly I’ve come to know and love. Instead of focusing on the homebuyers’ conversations, I looked for personal details in the background, ignoring the crazy comments that are partially why we tune in at all. That is until I clicked play on one more episode, following a single woman searching for a comfortable San Antonio abode. Self-described as “team take a bath”, she walked into not one, but two completely empty homes. The mystery is back, I rewound and dissected every comment. This time, the winning home was not determined by the lack of a picture frame but instead by bath tub preferences, and I guessed the wrong empty home.

Even though I knew a shortcut to the ending, the thrill of watching remained alive and well. I have hundreds of episodes remaining to test or sit back and judge homebuyers choices, just like the good old days.