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!

DH and I are convinced everyone on Location x 3 are convinced that Phil and Kirstie can somehow magically make their money go 20% further.

But it is good for judging people... ;)

I love the people who imagine themselves relaxing on a balcony with a glass of wine/cup of coffee/morning papers.

My train journey to work takes me past a lot of apartment blocks, with balconies, and fancy London houses extended to within an inch of their life, often with balconies or fancy patios.

Almost all have the obligatory two chairs and table bistro set.

I have never, ever seen anyone actually sitting on them, no matter how beautiful the morning or hot and sunny in the evening,

The balconies end up as storage areas for bikes, suitcases and laundry and the patios end up with a few decaying plant pots and a kiddies mini trampoline.

Yes to all of the above!

I also hate it on E to the C when their upper budget is, say 400k, but they are shown 3 houses priced 280k, 450k and 550k.

I love German windows though. LOVE them!

BBC did a segment called "I Escaped to the Country", didn't have many episodes though...

when i was housesitting i saw some of the American do-er upper progs and must admit American houses do appeal. most seem to have very usable basements with utility areas; good sized halls at least two lounges and well fitted kitchens plus good sized bedrooms with lovely en suites etc. not to mention lots had pools too!

They nearly always want a weaving loft/pottery studio/blacksmiths workshop/similar too. This is a must have.

must admit American houses do appeal America also has a lot more land. A large proportion of our house prices are the land the house is sitting on.

Back in the UK for a visit once I saw “Escape to the Sun, Home or USA” about people wanting buy houses in the USA (which for them = Florida, nowhere else) and they kept saying how they have “been there loads of times and love the lifestyle”. But they know absolutely nothing about living here, just about holidays here. Completely different. They hadn’t researched schools, etc. One couple was shown a place that had a community pool and rejected it because they “have to have a private pool”. Sure...because your terraced house in Wolverhampton had a private pool too. And they think life here is all theme parks, 24-hour shopping and unlimited refills in fast food joints. No clue about day-to-day life.

And I always chuckle at the ones who want big kitchens for entertaining and because they “love to cook” and it shows them in their kitchen at home hacking away at a carrot like they are sawing wood, having clearly never cooked a meal from scratch before. And pass me the bucket when they say “I can be here cooking and watching the children playing there”. They’ve clearly never cooked and their children clearly don’t play in a playroom with wooden toys like something from the Victorian era. The kids will be in their rooms playing computer games, just glad to be away from such awful, kitchen-obsessed parents.

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! Yeah, you've spent your life bringing up your family, and living sensibly within reach of your job, and now you actually have chance to fulfil your dreams ... but allergictoironing thinks you should live in a ground floor flat in a busy road 100yds from the doctor, living the lifestyle of a 90 year old even though you're only 65.

And those that want to run a B and B for a “slower pace of life”? Because getting up at 5 am every single day to start prepping breakfast for a bunch of strangers is the most stress-free way to spend your time.

Yeah, you've spent your life bringing up your family, and living sensibly within reach of your job, and now you actually have chance to fulfil your dreams ... but allergictoironing thinks you should live in a ground floor flat in a busy road 100yds from the doctor, living the lifestyle of a 90 year old even though you're only 65.

I don't think allergictoironing particularly cares where some couple on TV live. She was just pointing out that people buying a really impractical 'forever' home, ('forever' implying that they will stay there till the day they die or go into a home or whatever), is quite strange. It was a comical observation, not someone telling retirees what to do with their retirement.

I know a lot of people downsize in their early 60s as, by the time they actually HAVE to downsize, they may not have it in them to bother moving. Makes quite a lot of sense to me but meh. Not my money.

I can't stand the couples who wander round the houses holding hands, can't the fuckers view rooms without being joined at the hip, and the ones who say the master bedroom is too small (it looks spacious to me) what do they want to do in a larger bedroom, to swing from the light fittings perhaps.

And those that want to run a B and B for a “slower pace of life”?

to be fair, I know quite a few people who semi-retired doing just that, left the rat race in London and open a B&B. It works for them and they do have a slower pace of life. And unless you live near an airport, most B&B host don't get up at 5am to start breakfast! It's all relative 🤷

nd the ones who say the master bedroom is too small (it looks spacious to me)

so what, you are not the one buying the property, people have different standards!

I was on one of these TV shows. The twitter comments were brutal but luckily I've got a sense of humour/thick skin and knew editing was playing a huge part in perceptions. It's entertainment at the end of the day.

Muppet fair comment but not many of them do buy any of the properties shown. At the end of the show they are still looking, obviously none of the properties fit their exacting criteria.

With sites like rightmove and zoopla, I don't know why anyone needs to go on a show like that anyway!

"So Derek and Jane, you've seen the 4 homes here in Costa Del Sunshine, are you going to put in an offer on any of them?"

"Yeah, we're going to put a "cheeky" offer in on the first one, we know it's up for £120,000 but we think because the kitchen cupboard door handles aren't quite what we're looking for; we will obviously need to change them so have budgeted for that. We think that our quite reasonable offer of £35,000 should put a smile on the vendors face"

Or.

"I think we're going to keep looking" a.k.a. "we're not buying anything, ever, but we appreciate that you've funded a long weekend away in the sunshine for us, and now we have the ability to stealth boast to anyone who knows us via national TV, that we have enough wonga to afford a holiday home in Spain"

I know someone that was on grand designs or something like that. They were building their house on his families land. Lovely eco house tbf and the finished product is amazing. However the program was hilarious to watch, they asked what made them choose this land to build on. His wife waffled on about the view etc but failed to mention that they only chose the land cause it was what his parents gifted to him. They then did a whole bit about how he was living in the caravan on the land while his wife and the kids stayed with her family, now he might have occasionally slept in the caravan but he spent most of the time sleeping in his parents house half a mile across the fields and she was living in the house that they already owned 2 villages away. So now I take most of these programmes with a pinch if salt.

Ginny

I'm really not surprised. They set them up, as I said up thread, to look like twats make great telly!

Also, did your friends have a baby halfway through the build by any chance ?

My in laws bought their very average 3 bedroom house for £3500 in 1970 and it's now worth £250,000
Out of sheer curiosity I looked up my childhood home.
I m pretty sure it was bought in 1975/6 for £7500.
Looking at the street, houses dont go up for sale often but the nearest in terms of size and position and garage etc went for £250,000 in November last year. Loads haven't even changed hands since 1995.
Sigh, I couldn't afford to buy it now.

Ah yes, MCloud. Some kind of fertility god shagger. My theory is that as he ages, he will start bringing disease and pestilence rather that unplanned pregnancy.

YABU

ALL people on property shows are unreasonable - but it may not be their fault

I'm always amazed at the people who want some land because they want to keep a few horses, alpacas or another animal they have no experience with. They don't understand money and time involved plus alpacas are nasty spitting bastards.