Tampa woman to appear on 'House Hunters'

This fall, expect to find Tina James and her friends huddled around her TV watching her nephew play football for the University of Kentucky.

She's got the perfect place to entertain: a new house with lots of open living space.

James bought it late last year as part of an episode of House Hunters, which airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday on HGTV. Camera crews documented the entire process, from looking at houses to putting in an offer and, ultimately, celebrating her big purchase.

"It fits me perfectly," she said of her new house. "It's fun. It has character. There's space for personal and quiet time, but the floor plan is very open and lends itself to having people over."

James, 33, was in the market for a house when a friend suggested she contact House Hunters. She had never watched the show, but her sisters were big fans.

"My parents were saying it's a great time to invest, and I wanted the sense of being grown up," she said. "There's only so long you can stay in an apartment."

Still, she was kind of scared. She had been laid off from her community relations job for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and knew the panic of not having a paycheck.

What if it happened again?

James, who now works at the Patel Conservatory, was shocked when producers asked for an audition video. She made a 2 1/2-minute video tour of her Island Walk apartment in Town 'N Country, dishing on the pros and cons. She describes it as a "ghettofied version" of Cribs, MTV's celebrity home tour show, minus the fancy home, music and script.

James narrowed her search to three houses and called on her real estate agent, Sean Ready from ReMax, to play himself on the show.

"At first he was like, 'We're doing what?' " she said. "After that he was kind of cool with it."

The taping took place during her house hunt in December and again in February once she got settled into her new place. She's sworn to secrecy about the house and its location, except to say she got just what she wanted at a great price.

Even if it comes with added responsibility.

"It's mine, but in a scary sense," she said. "If something breaks I have to fix it. I just can't call the leasing office."