Back to the country

I rather enjoy seeing around the various properties. Guess I'm basically nosey. Have to confess I do find many peoples' idea of downsizing somewhat amusing.

I record Escape to the Country every day and watch them when there is nothing on that I want to see. I enjoy seeing the properties but, unlike Location Location Location or Place in the Sun, they only show 3 and we are rarely told the outcome. I always feel let down.

I can`t stand those programes, the off button is more appealing.At least Come Dine With Me can be entertaining,sometimes.

I'm always a bit amused at how they complain absolutely massive houses are tiny and there are just the two of them...

I like it if the people at least say that they've been given new things to think about - by the programme showing them properties or locations they wouldn't have thought of.

JaneJudge

I'm always a bit amused at how they complain absolutely massive houses are tiny and there are just the two of them...

I agree.

I occasionally watch this on iplayer or the cruise programme with Jane MacDonald on C5 catchup. Bit of escapism really when I get fed up with all the other things that are on. They do seem to have some nice properties with budgets to match. Might be good to see something more realistic, not all of us who live in the country have grand mansions and acres of land, a small cottage, a neat little terrace house or a down sizeable bungalow might tick a few more boxes for more of us.

When Escape to the Country first started it was in a totally different format to the current ones. More normal families, and were shown four properties on line and then chose two of those to view.
I sometimes watch this programme with total disbelief and amusement, Middle aged or elderly people buying great mansions in the middle of nowhere, often accessed with steps everywhere. Nothing is ever mentioned about how close they are to shops, stations, Hospitals, Doctors, even motorways, etc. Just the village pub and convenience store. Often, even those are a mile or so away. Even when it is said they are just 50 minutes or an hour from where they current work, or have family, I know they are talking about the distance being covered at about 3 am on a summer morning - not during rush hour or tourist times!!!

Rarely, do any of the properties shown get purchased to these viewers. I so wonder if the local Estate Agents actually pay to the BBC for their properties to be including in the programme. Quite often, those properties shown are nothing like what the viewers asked to see.

Location, Location, Location is far better and usually has a successful outcome.

Yes Like others, I do sometimes watch just out of a sort of voyaristic nosiness.

I know what you mean. They show properties that I can only dream about and some of the people walk around them as if they have a bad smell up their noses! Makes me really mad. Then at the end they dont even buy anything and it makes me wonder if they just want their 15 minutes of fame. I would settle for owning my own caravan right now!

The number of ones that say they are "downsizing" and then complain that every one is too small!
I just wish I had a pound for every one that says they want enough land for chickens/sheep/horses etc that they have never had before .
Why do they show people that are retirees, that want it to be their last home, houses that have multiple stairs, steps up and down into rooms, and gardens on different levels also with lots of steps?

I always wonder if they’ve ever heard of downsizing which is what many of us do at their age. Certainly wouldn’t be ‘upsizing’.Sometimes I think of all those homeless people and people living in tiny flats with a few kids.

JaneJudge

I'm always a bit amused at how they complain absolutely massive houses are tiny and there are just the two of them...

And the kitchen's as big as a railway station, but 'it's rather cosy, isn't it?' You have to ask, what on earth are they going to be doing in it?

I watch location x 3, but nothing else. Television porograammes are entertainment and if they just chose boring ordinary house hunters. The programmes would be boring and ordinary as well.

This is why I like Lx3. The people are housebuyers who are really househunting - and usually make a purchase and I always love the moment when Kirsty takes an over fussy buyer, wanting a better house than their budget can buy into a room by themselves and metaphorically, gives them a good shake and tells them in words of one syllable why £200,000 will not buy a detached 4 bedroomed house in Guildford with a big garden and garage.

Well they need a big kitchen to spread all the take away boxes out on the worktops, after all they will be so busy looking after the horse/pony/sheep/chickens they won't have time to cook

How many times have I heard "the kitchen is the heart of the home" and they all want an island in the kitchen. So predictable.
I watched a programme with George Clarke the other day where he helped a lady renovate a small cottage, looked lovely and much more interesting

They must have so much space for entertaining all those dear friends who are going to trek miles to admire their former neighbours’ kitchen island.

I have the Isle of Man in my kitchen, I'll have you know

I wonder what jobs these people have that they can afford multi millions?

nanna8 On 'Escape to the Country' which I have stopped watching, most buyers are retirment age or thereabouts and have the cash from a their existing house and since many will have been home owners for 30 years or more that can be quite a lot, plus as most are in their 50s plus, they have often inherited money from their parents. I do not think many £ million houses are bought with 90% mortgages.

Lx3 has purchasers with as little as £200k budgets. Two incomes of £30,000 plus a decent deposit, saved or given by parents makes that quite possible. I live in leafy and very expensive South Oxfordshire. The cheapest property for sale in the village, a good sized two bedroomed flat with a large balcony in landscaped grounds, costs £220k

grumppa

They must have so much space for entertaining all those dear friends who are going to trek miles to admire their former neighbours’ kitchen island.

That’s what my DH says too.?Or admire the Aga ( which they haven’t a clue how to use) or equally useless fireplaces in bedrooms or defunct bread ovens.
Still, part of what makes Escape To TC so entertaining is laughing at the participants and the facile comments by Jules or the blonde woman.
I enjoy looking at the gardens though.

I think you get on the programme if you own several massive dogs, want to have a field for llamas or alpacas, have a classic car collection, want a room to build a model railway, want a man cave, or a kitchen you can host a large reception in.Any or all of those things.

lemongrove That is why I stopped watching Escape to the Country. With Lx3, it is the babies that seem to come thick and fast.

Sometimes Escape to the Country finds houses miles from where the people want to be and not at all like what they asked for, so duplicity on both sides. They do occasionally get it right, however, and the house hunters slap in their offer pdq sometimes before the programme has ended.

As a matter of interest I know someone whose farmhouse, up for sale, was about to be viewed. It didn’t make it to the programme, however, as it was one of six shortlisted by the producers and they went for three others. Obviously they hedge their bets when making the programme.

My friend’s house was on Escape to the Country. It got loads of Oohs and Ahhhs and was pronounced just what they were looking for. It was not bought ( although did sell very quickly).
The TV buyers bought something else in the area, much smaller and very much cheaper.
I wonder if the programme makers check if the properties can be afforded before making the programme.