Escape To The Country (Nit Picking).

At the end when the result is usually negative, we say "they just wanted to be on the telly!"

However, we do know of two couples who did relocate not that far from here 🙂

Freya5

Amazes why an older couple, entering a large kitchen, say "it's not big enough". When they enter a good size bedroom, with en suite, and state the same. Unrealistic to say the least. Or as we say, "more money than sense."

I think these sort of comments are just an excuse. The couple have no intention of buying. Many haven't got a buyer for their own house and don't intend to move.... they just want to be on TV and have a few days away at the expense of the programme. I often think this when a couple are choosing to move somewhere that they haven't even visited!!! Why would anyone sane do that?
(suspicious? Moi??)

I can picture the Christmas tree there...

I really need to move to a house with a bay window in the front for the Christmas tree
It's a dilemma once a year🎄 😁

Amazes why an older couple, entering a large kitchen, say "it's not big enough". When they enter a good size bedroom, with en suite, and state the same. Unrealistic to say the least. Or as we say, "more money than sense."

I like this thread but I'm slightly disappointed I thought Nit-picking must be some sort of activity people were escaping to the country to do. You know "We want a few acres to keep pigs and hens, grow our own Veg and do some nit-picking"

RosiesMaw

sodapop

If anyone else mentions " the kitchen is the heart of the home" I'll scream ( and scream till I'm sick) to quote Violet.

Oh and “put our own stamp on it” 🤮

Try putting your own stamp on it pet when it has listed status ,linen fold panelling you can't paint, windows you are not allowed to change to double glazing and some ones listed Oak tree at the bottom of your garden and blocks all the light on that side of the house. They ignore the rain gauges at each end of the village, move in and then complain that there are no theatres or cinemas. Of course, there aren't you are in a b...rural community, with no post office never mind a theatre. I have not made any of this up and have had it all moaned at me.

My next door neighbour put on Facebook that her daughter’s house, in a nearby village, had been on the programme.

Looks a lovely property, but the most expensive one in the village, which is maybe why it’s been on the market for over a year.

I don’t think a sale resulted and unfortunately I didn’t see the actual programme so no idea how it came across.

sodapop

If anyone else mentions " the kitchen is the heart of the home" I'll scream ( and scream till I'm sick) to quote Violet.

Oh and “put our own stamp on it” 🤮

A house a few doors away from us was being filmed the other day for the show. It has had at least 5 occupants since we moved here 12 years ago. One family never actually moved in. It has listed status and a very old-fashioned impractical kitchen which presumably cannot be structurally altered.
I am beginning to think that perhaps Estate agents who cannot sell properties are contacting these programs.
An Estate agent who moved into the area about 2 years ago seems suddenly to be selling property that has been difficult to sell or stood empty for a time. He puts property on Google and I have even seen one on a TV advert where someone gave a guided tour omitting all the drawbacks.
People who do not know the areas lap it all up then find themselves isolated, when they have to commute in very bad weather. Or find themselves isolated from family and friends who live at the other end of the country.
We have another example of this two doors away. They moved in just before Covid had the place gutted and moved out 12 months ago.

Yes loopyloo. That "lovely stream" at the bottom of the garden becomes a rushing torrent.

Or "has it ever flooded?"

PS. And people who want to retire to their "forever home" are shown a house with a steep back garden like the Alps which would be impossible to cope with as they get older.

I wonder if the prospective buyers are given a script beforehand:

Ooh, look at that view. I can imagine waking up in the morning to that ....

Ooh, a log burner/island

This house is a contender.

I like the flow ......

I can picture the Christmas tree there...

I can hear the birds singing.

....

No one ever says:
Where is the nearest doctor's surgery/dentist?
Where is the best school (even when they have children)
How far is it to the supermarket/pharmacy/hairdressers?

I don't like the format of this programme now. If they are only going to show 3 properties, they should all meet the client's brief, there is no room for a 'mystery property'. I preferred it when they showed 4 houses and didn't have all the candle making/ pea picking/ wine tasting segments. I watch on iPlayer and fast forward through those bits!

If anyone else mentions " the kitchen is the heart of the home" I'll scream ( and scream till I'm sick) to quote Violet.

And the comment regarding the size of their dining table. How wonderful it would be at Christmas and the tree could sit in such and such a place.

25Avalon

They also think they can hold down Jobs an hour’s drive away and manage 5+ acres.

Yes.... and all the time keeping alpacas!

And why do retired couples want about 4/5 bedrooms, probably all en suite?

Yes, I know family/friends will come and stay occasionally, but it still makes for a too large property for two.

Well, it would to me.

nanna8

I always wonder where some of the young couples get the money to afford these places. They seem so fussy and demanding,too. I suppose they are told to be like that by the producers but it is a tad annoying.

Yes, we don't watch it so often now but sometimes say "How much?" 😲

I always wonder where some of the young couples get the money to afford these places. They seem so fussy and demanding,too. I suppose they are told to be like that by the producers but it is a tad annoying.

They also think they can hold down Jobs an hour’s drive away and manage 5+ acres.

I 've seen one or two in Cornwall where people have got a job organised and are planning to work somewhere like Helston while living in St Austell or Bodmin. They seem to think it's a pleasant little commute and have obviously never tried to drive anywhere at the height of the season.

While some of the properties they are shown are completely unsuitable you also get the couples who are shown houses that are exactly what they have specified and then find they don't like the reality at all. The dawning horror when they realise what a "character" cottage is really like!

Sparklefizz

MayBee70

It’s always interesting when in some of the programmes they show areas that I know and it isn’t an area that I’d consider living in.’You get so much garden for your money with this house’. Of course you do: it’s drug central! I’m still addicted to that sort of programme though!

I agree.
One time the couple wanted a 30 minute commute to Bristol. The presenter told them that a particular house would be within their 30 minute commute. I know that road! In their dreams!! The journey would take at least double that, maybe even more, sitting mostly in gridlock.

Another time the woman wanted to commute by train and they were shown a house which the presenter said was only a 10 minute walk from the station. She neglected to mention that it would be up an extremely steep hill on the return journey. I know that hill as I had to walk up it to school every day. The woman would have calf muscles like a weight trainer after a few months.

One time the couple wanted a 30 minute commute to Bristol. The presenter told them that a particular house would be within their 30 minute commute. I know that road! In their dreams!! The journey would take at least double that, maybe even more, sitting mostly in gridlock.

Just wondering which one that was?

Sparklefizz

MayBee70

It’s always interesting when in some of the programmes they show areas that I know and it isn’t an area that I’d consider living in.’You get so much garden for your money with this house’. Of course you do: it’s drug central! I’m still addicted to that sort of programme though!

I agree.
One time the couple wanted a 30 minute commute to Bristol. The presenter told them that a particular house would be within their 30 minute commute. I know that road! In their dreams!! The journey would take at least double that, maybe even more, sitting mostly in gridlock.

Another time the woman wanted to commute by train and they were shown a house which the presenter said was only a 10 minute walk from the station. She neglected to mention that it would be up an extremely steep hill on the return journey. I know that hill as I had to walk up it to school every day. The woman would have calf muscles like a weight trainer after a few months.

I was telling DD about the woman who wanted no more than a 2 hr commute to her job at Heathrow, "So 5 miles away then" was her reply.
Have any of these researchers travelled on M4 or M25 or M3 first thing in the rush hour?
The local London-bound motorway I used to use to get to work was getting clogged at 5.30am, and that was 20yrs ago!

Llamedos13, thanks, I hadn't thought of looking there!