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!

I love the way older couples want their "forever" retirement home, and only consider somewhere miles out in the countryside down a rough dirt track, up a 1:5 hill. With million stairs just to get to the front door.

Yeah see how you like that when you're 80, have arthritis & other health issues, and the doctor or even ambulance can't get to you in an emergency as you're snowed in! You can't get food delivered, the postman & Amazon will only go as far as the junction with the road half a mile away, you need a 4 wheel drive even in the summer to get there.....

Maybe thats why they want the 6 bedrooms and out buildings because John and Janet have been married 30 years and hate each others faces so want to get as far away from each other as possible !

You have a point if they are unrealistic about what their budget can buy. If it's too low, and they have to make big compromise, they are unreasonable not to see that.

The fact that other people might live in very cramp conditions is neither here nor there. Why do you think that's of any relevance whatsoever?

When you ask for a pay rise at work, are you satisfied if your boss points out that some people earn minimum wage, or other in different countries survive on a few pennies a day? It has nothing to do with anything, does it.

Now if a couple wants a Mansion with a £50k budget, of course they are ridiculous, but it's based on market price, not on where other people live.

When I win the lottery, I shall apply to be on E to the C and will come back and do a live MN will we/won't we thread for you all

& do you remember the £100, 000 home -mostly they were houses without skirting boards & lots of chipboard & mdf on the walls & dyed cement floors & worksurfaces & kitchen cupboards that are don't have doors. & look incredibly cold

Grand designs: We are building a six bedroom house on a completely unstable patch of ground near the clifftops. It will require steel and concrete rods being drilled into the rock to a depth of 20 metres to make the foundations secure, and special light adjustive glass because shutters are just too plebeian which we are having especially hand engineered in Germany and transported up a tiny narrow country dirt road. All the beams and interiors will be real oak and the walls will be insulated with real hay bales and there will underfloor heating.

-What's the budget?

£200,000

-Whose going to manage the project?

Me. I'm taking time off my Horse Whispering job for 5 months to oversee the project. Helen will continue with her baby jogging teaching practice.

-Do have previous experience of project managing?

No. But I'm sure I can do it.

-When will building start?

May

-When do you expect to move in?

October

-Where will you live in the meantime?

The shed.

Well, we've had a couple of setbacks, we'll need to borrow more money and I've had to return to the horses.

• How' much did you end up spending eventually?

£600,000, but its all been totally worth it for the views alone, and the kitchen looks great. Of course I don't get to enjoy it as much as I wanted as I'm now working triple overtime and new baby Oliver is only 6 weeks old...

Isn't the point of the shows that most of them are unrealistic?

Just think how boring these shows would be if ppl were reasonable and realistic

I do understand that anyone who is spending big money on a house (and no matter if you're at the top end of the market or the bottom, it's going to be big money to the individual concerned) will have some things that they consider essential. It's just that they are often 1) unrealistic , such as wanting to be far from other people but within walking distance of everything or 2) utterly trivial, such as 'oh, it's perfect, but the front door is offset to one side. If the front door were just in the centre, we'd definitely put an offer in'

The couple with a 2yo wanting a 'rural idyll miles from anywhere' as it's 'the perfect place to bring children up'. Until they start school and it's 10 miles away...

Also, the retired couple dismissing houses as 'there's only two toilets'. How many bumholes have you got?

I love it when they say, oh I can just see our Christmas tree in this room !!!!

The lampshade example is funny - it happens so much though - they walk in and criticise something that can easily or without too much difficulty be changed - eg taking out built in wardrobes. Or changing the pink or pampas 1970s bathroom suite.

I think the bigger the budget though, the more demanding and unrealistic people are.

I often see houses on Location and think I would love them. Admittedly you can't see the surrounding area a lot of the time.

I remember a LLL (last year) where they were in Paignton and they wouldn't buy one house because they had a cat and it was a busy road (it wasn't that busy) and another one because it was 4 miles from her mum and she wanted to be able to walk to her house.

And yes the retired couple this year who ended up not really downsizing at all!

My in laws bought their very average 3 bedroom house for £3500 in 1970 and it's now worth £250,000. They have nothing to improve its value other than looked after it very well and made sure it was well maintained. Both the kitchen and bathroom need modernising but are in a good clean useable state.

I love it when they say, oh I can just see our Christmas tree in this room !!!!

Or 'ooh, I can just imagine Dave and I sitting outside on the balcony with a glass of wine'

My friends house was on tv and rejected as the potential buyer "didn't like the kitchen lights".

Utterly stupid as they wanted somewhere to keep pigs and there was no chance of keeping a pig anywhere near this property. (The tv excuse was "you could rent a field")

CatherineOfAragonsPrayerBook you forgot the bit where woman declares she is pregnant again.

Yes they are unrealistic sometimes but it's also unrealistic to think people should just be grateful with houses where their children are crammed together and can't even open their door fully because the room is so small.

These people are nuts!

That's why they're selected. The programmes are supposed to be entertainment. More people will tune in to watch idiots fall flat on their faces than to watch sensible people making rational decisions.

Wanted Down Under annoys me. I used to live in Australia.

We want a large, beachfront house in Sydney in exchange for our terraced house in Grimsby. Obviously, we'll be spending all day on the beach with our children, because people in Australia don't go to work or have bills to pay and their children don't have to spend the week at school. There are no beaches, parks or petting zoos in the UK.

"Outdoor lifestyle"? Often it's too bloody hot to be doing your outdoor sports and people just stay inside in the air conditioning.

@FuzzyPuffling you forgot the bit where woman declares she is pregnant again.

Oh yes!

I think a lot of them are stooges and the shows are just pure entertainment.

I don’t think it’s so much the green eyed monster, as a completely unrealistic plan. Either that, or it’s what they’ve been told to ask for.

I can’t see how anyone retiring wants to live miles away from any amenities or public transport. Walking miles to the nearest shop, or driving everywhere is not going to be fun when you’re less mobile. Nor is not having any neighbours within hailing distance. You might just need someone in an emergency.

‘Here is a house that meets all your requirements, within budget ‘

‘It’s lovely! I’ll buy it ! ‘

...........25 more minutes of programme time left to fill................

My current house was $45,000 when built, and (the original owners) sold to us for 27.4 x that. They made a killing :( We are also that couple who looked for our 'forever home' who ended up going up in size, but not by much. Less stairs though.

I know a couple who were on House Hunters International and did buy one of the 3 houses shown. They are gloriously happy there, so it worked for them. Most I think are just day dreaming!

"We'd love to retire to Shropshire for the quiet pace of life"
"Ever been here before?"
"No"

"We'd like some rooms to let out as a B&B"
"Ever worked in hospitality?"
"No"

"We'd love to be self sufficient and raise pigs"
"Ever gardened before?"
"No, never, we have no fucking clue about any of it but thought we'd spend an extra £100K on a property with a huge parcel of land to farm, even though we could feed ourselves for 20 years with that."