I’m watching Escape to the Country - how do they afford those homes?

[CormoranStrike]

Youngish couple, he has kids from a previous relationship, new baby and she’s happy to now give up her career - they’ve got a budget of £900k!

How on earth do people manage that?

Tbh though some of the couples who go on are pretty ridiculous and deserve to end up in the backend of nowhere with no shop and a pub that won’t serve them because their family didn’t live there during the civil war and consequently they don’t know which side they were on.

There was one woman with about 3-4 sons and a dh who worked from home. Every time her opinion wasn’t the same as his he’d say “no, think about it”. I really wanted her to tell him to fuck off and that she wanted a divorce but she seemed to not notice it.

Love Julian and Alistair. Cant stand Johnny - pushy little twerp. Me too

Haven't watched this in years, probably like PPs have mentioned that I can't really relate to it. On a housing related theme, I do enjoy Homes under the hammer though. Half the reason to watch is to listen out for the music they wheel out after the pun is delivered - naff but satisfying

Catherine was Catherine Gee. A bona fide posho who thought the searchers were well beneath her. Why does Nicky say 'Barksheer' (Berkshire} rather than 'Barksha' like normal folk?

Remember one from years ago (although might have been LLL) where they were moving from REALLY, REALLY close to Heathrow to the country and were complaining about the road noise.
The camera panned across fields and then zoomed in across even more fields to see a lone van driving down a road.

I used to enjoy www.channel4.com/programmes/coast-vs-country/episode-guide/ for a bit of fun. Very cheesy lines and competition between the two presenters, but more of a mix of people and budgets.

Guys. It's manege, not menage.

Why does Nicky say 'Barksheer' (Berkshire} rather than 'Barksha' like normal folk Because she's from Kentshire

Catherine was Catherine Gee I remember her, more wooden than a tree!

Why does Nicky say 'Barksheer' (Berkshire} rather than 'Barksha' like normal folk Because she's from Kentshire Is that the real reason?

Or even ‘manège’.

A ‘ménage’ is something else entirely, especially if it’s ‘ménage a trois’. ;)

I could never get over the fact that Catherine Gee isn't Ben Fogle's sister. In my head it seemed obvious they'd be related.

I agree Coast v Country is great. A much better mix, although 'coast' is very loose and can include anything up to a mile from the actual coast so it might as well be 'country'.

I hate open bloody plan. I just know if they came to my house they'd be knocking the wall in between our kitchen and lounge and saying 'open it all up!'. No worries that the washing machine sounds like a helicopter when it spins, you can stick the subtitles on the tele while you enjoy the cooking smells and look at the washing up post dinner.

I have friends in an ETTC scenario whereby both had first houses bought by parents, sold for higher profit, New house and both given financial gifts to buy it.

They could easily buy outright a house for £850000. She does crafts at the local school and he tinkers with computers.

They are lovely people

YY to the ‘entertaining’ space. Do they really believe their old friends will be happy to drive 3/4 hours to the arse end of nowhere to visit them? They’ll most likely be forgotten two weeks after they move, apart from the odd Christmas round-robin saying how they former friends and neighbours are still living the London life with an endless round of theatre/opera/sophisticated wining and dining at wr known metropolitan hot spots.
Unless they buy a property on the coast, where they will stop people using them for a free holiday after the first season of being taken for mugs.

The wrap round garden!!! 🤔
Goats or Alpacas!! 🤣 🤣

I could never get over the fact that Catherine Gee isn't Ben Fogle's sister. In my head it seemed obvious they'd be related

Absolutely, they have the same posh accent.

Cant stand Johnny - pushy little twerp.

Johnny only got the gig because his wife was the programme controller for C4.

YY to the ‘entertaining’ space. Do they really believe their old friends will be happy to drive 3/4 hours to the arse end of nowhere to visit them?

I think that too, or do they think that they will become instant friends with everyone in the village?

And a love it when they stand in a kitchen the size of Yorkshire and claim it is too small because 'i love to cook and want enough space for family and friends to sit around chatting while I prepare a meal'

Sod that, when I am cooking GET OUT OF MY SPACE I can think of nothing worse than people sitting around watching!

Oh, and sometimes the simpering wife looks up at her husband adoringly and says X does the cooking, this is his space.

I also never understand why a retired or soon to be retired couple, want to 'downsize' buy a mansion intend to spend their whole significant budget on a property. Me, I'd go smaller, and free up surplus money to enjoy my 'new' life
(I may be over invested in ETTC)

A friends parents did the best down size move.

Sold up a 5 bed detached house, furniture and cars and bought a flat in central London.

I also never understand why a retired or soon to be retired couple, want to 'downsize' buy a mansion intend to spend their whole significant budget on a property. Me, I'd go smaller, and free up surplus money to enjoy my 'new' life

I would as well, at least unless I had separate capital to pay nursing home fees. It'd be galling to buy this lovely house which would be a substantial inheritance only to lose it to pay care home fees. Better to buy a smaller, lovely place for less money and enjoy the money to travel or whatever.

I watched a Location Location Location where they had an 18 year old with a million pound budget.

but they explained why she had that much (she'd got compensation for mistakes made during her birth which left her in a wheelchair).

I'll be honest I'm guilty of having alpacas on my dream home list as I'm a knitter and love the idea of yarn practically on tap. Know sweet fa about alpacas though 😂

Brizzle, perhaps their house budget isn’t all of their money? Maybe they also have money aside as savings for travel and/rainy day expenditure.

FWIW, I think a lot of the hand holding and ‘wife steering’ on these shows is a production team thing, in order to keep everyone in shot for the cameras.

Blue, the best house in town thing was cringe some. That gallery guy judge was such a motormouth. Just STFU and let the others speak .