A Place in the Sun

[bloodyhairy]

I have a love/hate relationship with this show. Mostly I love it, and the escapism it represents. It also makes me question my own future, and whether I could see myself retiring abroad (currently single!). Most of the presenters are very good and amiable, although do try a little hard to 'push the product', often when the person viewing has no interest at all!
What gets on my nerves, is the buyers' obsession with space. Why would you need a huge kitchen, or 4 bedrooms, when it's just going to be you and your other half knocking about there?
And what do you expect for 50 grand?!
And then when they view, it's like they've lost all sense of their own identity; they're literally looking at it through their own children and grandchildren's eyes. One woman rejected a property because it had a shower, and no bath for her grandchild Just how often do you think they're going to be visiting, for this to emerge as a major and insurmountable issue?!
And other went round mentally kidproofing the place, even though there were no grandchildren on the horizon yet Get a life!!!
Don't get me started on those who treat the whole thing as a jolly, with no intention to buy. You can see the presenters visibly sag, when they say 'what we're going to do, is go home and weigh up the finances, then return to the area in a few weeks.'
Worse still, are those who put in eyewateringly low offers, even though the place (invariably in Spain) has already seen its price slashed, and is already way under budget. Where is the integrity???
What are your thoughts on this programme?

@HuggedTheRedwoods

Also wish they would do a follow-up series or bloopers at the end of each episode

I would also love to see follow-ups too, it would be really interesting to see how the full experience pans out.

There was a very recent episode in Paphos (but recorded in May 2019) where the couple had an offer accepted on an apartment - they definitely didn't buy it! I live there so have inside info taps nose The village where the apartment was is lovely but home to a popular expat bar (shown on the programme) which is notorious for drunken fights Jonnie also mispronounced four out of the five village names on that episode; you'd think the producers would take five minutes to check with local agents!

As an aside, has anyone else noticed how buff Ben Hillman is these days?

Oh yes about Ben.....

They all look pokey little bolt holes to me unless budget is 200k plus. I don’t see the point

Interesting episode yesterday, a couple from Birmingham ( I was when they said they were almost 40- I had thought they were about 30 ) relocating to Spain, just pre pandemic.
He was a chef. I wonder how it worked out for them ?
Was he able to get a job despite tourist numbers being decimated.
They got a lovely house.,

Buff Ben is on as we speak....

I keep confusing myself by watching old episodes on 4seven and More4, need to remember to check the date of recording in the closing credits! Ben has transformed himself hasn't he? 🏋️💪

The Florida episodes always intrigue me; how does it work with those big houses on complexes/villages with a lake in the distance? They have a patio and/or private pool opening up onto communal gardens but no boundary fences or walls

We watch them wherever we can find them some of them so old. Makes it difficult to discuss particular couples though sadly. Ben and Jonny are our favourites, Jasmine and Laura are ok but can’t bear Scarlet. Her ‘negotiations’ make us die.

I've watched loads of these whilst off work recovering from covid
Today there was the couple from Bolton moving to lucca in tuscany. Really surprised at how much £75k could buy, they ended up putting an offer on a really nice property.
Then the couple with younger teenage children moving to spain, couldn't speak the lingo, he hoped to work as a joiner.....hope it worked out for them as mum was recovering from breast cancer. This was their last chance to do it.

The agent that the presenter phones always answers the phone straight away and always understands English.

And the offer is always made in pounds Sterling. No matter where the house is.

I think I may have come across peak unreasonable on Escape to the Country. Couple being shown a very large property with various outbuildings, man goes into the first room and announces "This just wouldn't do for my business". Presenter pointed out through gritted teeth that it was a sunroom which no-one in their right mind would use for a business, he hadn't seen the rest of the house let alone the space in the outbuildings that would have been perfect for his half-arsed business venture, but it was plain that he wasn't going to change his mind because he didn't want to lose face.

@MedusaElectronica

And the offer is always made in pounds Sterling. No matter where the house is.

I understand why they do that, it's so annoying though when the presenter says 'You can catch a bus down to the marina for around £1.70!' Just say it's €2 ffs! Mind you, they always show the exchange rate in the closing credits - you forget it was 1.40 euros to the GBP six years ago

I understand why they discuss the prices in £, and for the benefit of UK viewers, but it makes a mockery of it being real and in real time that they call a Spanish EA and make the offer to the EA and vendors in Sterling.

Can you imagine Gavin of Haart in Eastbourne negotiating an offer in Euros?

Phil and Kirsty often have to wait for a vendor to get back to them later or the next day. In APITS the EA and the vendor are right there, on the end of the phone, with their currency calculators to hand, to make a counter offer in a round number of pounds.

'The agent has spoken to the vendor and confirmed they will accept an offer of £187,654.24'

I've only seen one episode of APITS where the exchange rate was mentioned; the couple put an offer in but the rate changed significantly enough to make a difference - I can't remember if it went in their favour or not.

Sun, Sea and Selling Houses always used euros - made it so much simpler but then they were based in Spain.

purs ah that’s why the silly numbers, the exchange rate? I’ve just watched the hopeless Scarlet ‘negotiate’ again. She didn’t even mention they were cash buyers and went straight in with ‘they absolutely love it’

I saw the Tuscany one. Properly was €76k but had been on the market for nearly a year. Couple offered €71k and got their hand bitten off I mean everyone knows it should have been an offer of €65k and meet them at €68K tops.
Zero negotiation skills.

The episode filmed in Kefalonia - I want to visit the island now. It looked lovely.

It gets me how the only thing they imagine themselves doing is sitting on the terrace with a glass of wine admiring the view. That's it, the full extent of their plans.

There was a great one this week where they were in a part of Florida where many properties are in tower blocks, and the buyers hadn’t told APITS that she couldn’t stand heights. And was very reluctant to go on the wine drinking balcony of the first tower block of the itinerary.

joystir to be fair at least half the men seem to plan to be on the golf course. The obligatory golf course shot: the woman laughs and says ‘ooh yes, that will suit Gordon’ and smiles indulgently as if it some kind of rare naughty secret.

I loved the Kefalonia episode this week. Although I was smiling at the lingo bingo, so who cooks, wine on the balcony, lots of light etc. Loved the house they decided on in the end.

I loved that house too.
Laura's white dress was beautiful.

The programmes where the punters have to decide between somewhere in the UK and somewhere abroad always irritate me. It's virtually inevitable that the houses abroad look better, just because of lower house prices/sun etc. But no-one ever factors in that it's not sunny all the time and being stuck indoors in some Spanish resort in winter is really pretty boring. or that the UK property will probably also increase in value more quickly, and that the cost of moving and travelling between the UK and wherever the property is is dead money. They also need it to be pointed out that they're probably fantasising if they think friends and families will be queuing up to visit them - or indeed that, if they do, they'll find the expectation that they will provide free accommodation increasingly irritating.

I was cheering when I watched one where one of the couple had sensitive skin and, after several days of his face going deep crimson and the skin peeling everywhere, they finally realised that the move was never going to work.

Oh dear. Sporty Sarah has broken her shoulder and wrist just by looking at the pool

Not funny really of course. I hope the producers make sure everyone has travel insurance, in America.

Agree they are always sat on the balcony drinking coffee or wine...
There's a good one on channel 4 about people moving to start businesses. Think it's called a new life in the sun. One couple moved to Austria to open a ski chalet. Didn't speak german, x 2 teenage kids were kicking off, huge financial input as the building was decrepit (borrowed £140,000 as well as using proceeds from sale of their houseback in UK) and the resort was very small....
Can you tell I'm off sick from work, recovering from covid