To think some people on property shows are unrealistic?

[hondagirl500]

I was watching escape to the country the other day...a youngish couple, budget of about £600K, looking for a 'family house'. The one I saw them being shown was 4 bedrooms, garage, big garden, big kitchen diner. But all the way through they kept saying things like 'not big enough for a family', 'box room is too small' and so on.
I was brought up in a 3 bed semi, 5 of us, my brothers shared a room that is literally 10x10 feet, I was in the box room which only had room for my bed, and a tiny drawer unit. My parents were brought up in 2up/2 downs, when they had families of 9!
These people are nuts!

Ceramics teacher Lynn and professional tightrope walker Stephen are looking to escape to the coast from the bustle of the city

Haven't watched any of these shows for ages, I loved to laugh at the daft shite couples came out with as jobs. Am sure I remember a cupcake maker and a violinist or cellist and they had a million quid to spend on a house, more if they had to get a mortgage, but they didnt want a mortgage unless blah.
I assumed it was a inheritance or lottery win. Unless cellists make a small fortune?

Totally unrealistic, I can’t watch they piss me off.

My absolute fave is Grand Designs. It's always "we have JUST enough money for this, as long as we borrow some more from the bank and my elderly mum. We have four children already but we'll be JUST about ok all in the static caravan". Five months later "Jenny and Michael have some news...".

Having said all that, people are fortunate to be able to afford a dog kennel in the London area, which we are. I'm glad husband & me bought our house in 1984, we certainly couldn't afford to do the same now if we were starting out & it is only an ordinary 3 bed semi.

Oh don’t get me started on Grand Designs. Pretentious wankers that have to have everything particularly designed and then sit there in a monstrosity of a house declaring that the £’000’s of debt is worth it. How the fuck is it worth it?

@PowerslidePanda

Did the houses that you and your parents were brought up in cost £600k? If I was spending that kind of money on a house, I'd be picky about it meeting all my requirements too.

Do you really think that people who have a budget of £400k or £200k or even £40k care less about where they live than people with a £600k bigger? Of course they don’t! What a crazy idea.

In past years families often lived in smaller places, children sharing little bedrooms etc, but that doesn't mean subsequent generations shouldn't aspire to something bigger if they can afford it. These programmes reflect all types of buyers.

Escape to the Country doesn't though really. It's 95% semi-/retired couples looking round a 6-bedroom converted barn with a kitchen the size of the Isle of Man, going "ooooh, I don't think this'll be big enough for entertaining."

Yes. Yes I am jealous. Although not that jealous because a lot of them are letting themselves in for some unhappiness when their plans meet reality ("we want a real community feel, so we're moving to a tiny town where it's all going to be like The Darling Buds of May!" - no).

*with a £600k budget

Let's all take a quiet moment to remember Grand Designs Disco Floor Couple.

Thing is, if these people were realistic about the sort of property available in their budget in the location they wanted, they wouldn't have been house hunting for long enough to end up on the show.

£600k is an obscene amount of money if you think about it, but that still only buys you a very ordinary house in many parts of the uk. The problem many of these couples have is they think they have a big enough budget to get their dream home, usually they either dont, or the area they want to live in doesn't have enough properties for sale to get something that suits them perfectly, even if it would be in their price range.

I like watching the programmes, just for the houses.
Escape to the Country: I wonder just how many couples ever bought the properties? I know there was at least one, as they did a revisit when they were in the area for another episode.
Always find it funny when Peter and Jenny want room for the grandkids, their new B&B business and, of course, all the horses, chickens, rabbits, dogs, alpacas and dodos they'll want to keep

Location: At least Kirstie tries to make the house hunters see reason. I remember a couple who had a very specific list of 10 or so streets in East Molesey (IIRC) and the house just had to be in one of those roads.
Or the couples who would only consider one side of the road not the other, because the school catchment area would only stretch to the correct side of the road. They had read the Ofsted report from donkeys years ago and wanted to have the "correct" school for the children they planned to have in 5-10 years.

Grand Designs: I like the programme a lot, but I really dislike all those people who started their build completely naive and without research, then wonder why suddenly their budget is gone, they only have half the house finished and will live in a caravan/with their parents/in rental for ages. The finished product often looks really nice, but a lot of people are not aware how much work is involved and would probably not "self build" if they knew in advance.

I believe our family house was bought for about £3500 - back in the early 60's. Probably the equivalent of £600K nowadays!

It would be around £60,000 in today's money. It really demonstrates the absolute insanity of today's house prices.

I always had my own bedroom and I like my kiddos to have their own too. 🤔

Let's all take a quiet moment to remember Grand Designs Disco Floor Couple.

I've been to that house during London Open House weekend a few years ago, some parts were really nice, but it felt quite small

I don't thnk it's green eyes as much as unrealistic and a bit disingenuous. Of course a 4 bed house is "big enough for a family". If they don't like it, they should just say that not give a daft reason that many people will .

It's also the ludicrous idea that they have no clue as what their budget will buy them in their chosen area and seem crestfallen when they're not being shown mansions.

The ones that drive me bananas are the ones on escape to the country who go ‘we want a four bed cottage. With big rooms, high ceilings and lots of light. But it must be a cottage.’

What!?!

How do the Grand Designs people always afford to go 500k over budget...?!
The second homes programmes give me the rage. Pricing local people out of the market so that city folk can have somewhere to pop off to for five weekends a year. Whole communities are eradicated over the winter months! It's awful.

Like every episode of love it or list it?

The people on these programmes want two things. 1. To be on TV. 2. Their friends to know just how much money they have available. In reality, I suspect that very few of them actually go through with it and actually move, even if they say they have made an offer.

I think Grand Designs is the ultimate waste of money indulgence as the couples make such ginormous spaces that seem so impractical - acres of cavernous glassy spaces that will cost a fortune to heat, but just 2 bedrooms.

It's no wonder so many of them are novelty holiday rentals now. That water tower white elephant in London was on the market for ages and no one would buy it!

Problem is, people with tiny toddlers want massive open plan spaces. They don’t think ahead to when they have teenagers who want to be able to get away from everyone.

Oh I am completely envious of the people on these shows. They seem to have NO CLUE that other people don't have diamonds dripping out their arseholes, and very little choice where to live.

I would like MY problem to be having piles of dosh and not knowing which spacious beautiful home I should deign to live in.

Like I say, I get all chippy and ranty when I think about it!

My favourite is how they always need outbuildings / ‘space’ for the husband’s hobby. ‘Plenty of room for your motorbikes / gaming / painting miniature figures / hide from your wife here, John’

The woodsman's cottage was revisited on Grand Design's a couple of weeks ago. That was bloody amazing and they are my heroes. Happy to see they are still blissfully in it over a decade later.