On the hunt: Moses Lake couple featured on HGTV real estate show

MOSES LAKE — Mark Biallas said it was his wife Lisa Garmon, a real estate agent in Moses Lake, who helped facilitate the purchase of their condo in Mexico.

“She kind of did a sales job on me, too,” Biallas said in jest.

The couple’s idea for a permanent getaway in Bucerías, Mexico, turned into much more when they were selected to be featured on “House Hunters International” — a TV show the couple is large fans of.

“We watched it all the time, but we never really thought about being on it,” Biallas said. “Not even after we purchased our condo in Mexico. The idea didn’t hit us until a few weeks after. We were watching an episode on a Sunday evening and I told her, ‘Hey, we could do that show. We’re buying a place outside the country, we qualify. So I sent them an email and we got accepted.”

Biallas and Garmon had been traveling to the Puerto Vallarta area for the last six years and began visiting Bucerías about four years ago.

“It has that old Mexico-style charm with the cobblestone streets and street vendors and all of that stuff so we like it a lot and said that’s where we wanted to be,” Biallas said.

Upon hearing they had been accepted, Biallas was excited while Garmon had a few more nerves.

The couple purchased their condo, a penthouse near downtown Bucerias, in April and the episode was shot in July. After his initial email, Biallas filled out a questionnaire and was contacted by HGTV to be featured on the show.

A camera crew traveled to Moses Lake to shoot for a day, showcasing Biallas and Garmon’s back story, and then another five days in Mexico for about eight to 10 hours a day.

“In the end it was a lot of fun,” Biallas said. “We had a great time doing it. We had a great crew to work with. Met some cool new people that we call friends now and it was really a lot of fun. I’m sure we’d do it again.”

The episode, which aired on April 28, featured photos of the couple’s home buried under three feet of snow during last February’s ghastly string of storms — a stark contrast to the breezy beaches of Bucerías. Biallas and Garmon worked with Puerto Vallarta-based real estate agent Taniel Chemsian and viewed three properties: an unfinished suite near the beach, the penthouse they had chosen and a house too far outside of town for their liking.

Biallas, a co-owner of A & H Printers Inc. in Moses Lake, met Garmon when she would come into his shop to pick up blueprints. On the show, Garmon revealed that she didn’t pick up on his interest, but eventually Biallas was able to win her over and the two have been married for about four years.

Biallas’ grandfather, Albert, founded the shop with a partner in 1954, before Biallas’ dad, Roger, took over. Now, Biallas and his sister Stephanie run the shop. Biallas, who began working at A & H in junior high school, said his youngest son now works there.

“Hopefully in the future he’ll take over for me,” Biallas said.

Biallas and Garmon had friends and family over to watch their television debut. Biallas said he was happy with how the episode turned out, even if it took him some time to get used to being in front of the camera.

“It was a very different experience — nerve-wracking,” he said. “By the time we were done shooting we were getting a little more comfortable with it, but first couple days we were pretty nervous.”

About 70-80 hours of footage was distilled into 20 minutes.

“All in all, it turned out really good and it was fun to watch and we enjoyed it and all of our friends said it was good and they liked it,” Biallas said. “They didn’t make us look bad, which could have happened really easily with some of the stuff that we filmed ’cause towards the end we were probably getting a little goofy.”