‘House Hunters’ to showcase island home search
An upcoming episode of a popular television show will focus on searching Sanibel for a property.
HGTV’s “House Hunters” will air “Spreadsheets in Paradise” on May 23 at 10 p.m. The episode will feature Steven and Amanda Ray, of Tampa, searching for their perfect dream home on the island.
“We have always wanted to eventually settle in Sanibel,” Amanda Ray said.
The couple have two children — Lucas, 13, and Jacob, 9 — in school, so relocating now is not what the family is looking to do. But they did want a place for the summer, school breaks and holidays.
“We kind of found a middle ground that we can use it in the slow season, then rent it out during the high season when the kids are in school,” she said.
Steven Ray explained that his grandparents began visiting Sanibel regularly in the 1960s, before the causeway was even built. They visited with their children, but eventually the family drifted away from the island being the family vacation destination. Then in the 1990s, his parents began returning to it.
“They would take trips down, and the family would rent properties,” he said.
Extended family joined and soon it became large gatherings.
“We did that all through the ’90s and early 2000s,” Steven Ray said.
When Amanda and he started dating as high school sweethearts, the family welcomed her along on its trips and she was introduced to the island. The gatherings continued on through their college years.
“Now that we have our own little family, we’ve continued all these years with Sanibel,” he said.
“It’s been a bit of a source of pride for me looking back,” Steven Ray added.
Amanda Ray explained that they had considered buying property on the island for years, but never really got serious about it. Then while sitting in the pool at a rental this past summer and scrolling past real estate listings, one stood out. For the first time, she clicked on the button for more information.
Notifications and calls started coming across on the phone and she answered.
Susan Ives, with Premier Sotheby’s International Realty, clicked with the couple and they decided to take it to the next level and get serious in their search. The first listing that Amanda Ray had been interested in ended up not fitting their needs, but the hunt across the island for the perfect one started.
“We looked at a lot of properties,” Steven Ray said.
There were some finalists, however, that the couple could not choose between.
“Really, HGTV got to see the ones we were serious about,” Amanda Ray said.
The couple applied for the show, which led to an interview process.
“We knew that we were shopping around for a house down there as an investment property,” Steven Ray said, explaining that they figured they could share their buying journey with others and get the word out about their rental, but it went further. “And spread the news about the recovery of Sanibel.”
He noted that “House Hunters” does not usually film investment property searches, but the story of Hurricane Ian and the island is known nationwide, and it would be their forever home one day.
“They loved the story of recovery, but also us being a part of the recovery,” Amanda Ray said.
The episode was filmed at the tail-end of summer.
“It was definitely a unique experience to say the least. It was very exhausting; it was long days of filming,” Steven Ray said, noting that the crew was great. “It was definitely a fun adventure.”
“It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. Our boys got to film a little bit, so for them to be a part of it was really cool,” Amanda Ray added. “It was cool to see how things are done in that kind of world.”
In terms of their criteria, easy access or close proximity to the Shared Use Path was a top one.
“We are big lovers of the ability to bike anywhere on Sanibel,” she said.
Also, the proximity to the water.
“One of my big things is I love to be able to wake up and look out the window and see the Gulf,” Steven Ray said, adding that he loves to open water swim, so he could also see the conditions then.
With a large family and large extended family, space was another factor.
Their goal for the timeline to complete the entire process, from hunting to filming with HGTV to closing, was to have the property on the rental market for this season and get their first renters.
“We were able to get it all done,” Steven Ray said.
Amanda Ray explained that Sharon Michie, with Cottages to Castles, hustled for them. She offered advice during their hunt, even visited properties with them, before they had ever signed with her for property management services. They were ready in October and had their first customers in January.
Steven Ray voiced gratitude to everyone who was involved. He also expressed appreciation to the community, explaining that when they were out and about filming, people were quiet and respectful.
“There were a lot of people behind the scenes making it work for us,” he said. “Sanibel’s been a second home to us now for decades, and now it literally is a second home to us.”
Amanda Ray noted that after the closing, they immediately got with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and joined the organization, as well as tapped it for advice on using native landscaping.
“We genuinely want to be a part of the next generation that helps to protect and preserve the island,” she said. “His grandparents passed that down to his parents and him. Now, we’re passing it to our own children.”