Property

[#1]

You would have had to be living in the Amazon rainforest not to have been aware of the plethora of property programmes on television.
Personally, I think they are pretty boring and very irresponsible.
Take the one on auctions for example. Usually it seems that there is money to be made. The new owners will revamp the whole house for a few bob and pocket thousands. In my experience it doesn't work like that. The figures quoted for things like rewiring and new bathrooms/kitchens are often very stupid. Even if they are doing it themselves, loss of earnings should be taken into account.
Often it is inferred that if the property is a 'rental machine' it doesn't matter about doing it up to any decent standard - doesn't seem to matter that the tenant will be paying good money for it.  Also, they never seem to mention the possibility/risk of the tenants from hell who ransack the place.
Then there is the Grand Designs one where all these folk want to build a massive property (usually resembling a box) with 'lots of light' i.e. windows at every turn.
They then put very little in it and clatter about on wood or marble floors, blinded by the light, baking in the summer heat, freezing cold in the winter and forever cleaning windows! Very often they resemble an up market office block more than a home.
I remember one that was open plan, in the shape of a cross, with the kitchen in the middle. Dread to think what the place smelled like when they were cooking cabbage, sprouts, fish and the like.
As this forum is mainly occupied by men I am interested in opinions on them - if anyone will admit to watching!

[#2]

only watch Grand Designs, liked the wood one in the middle of the forest, with the only family, cant sell clause 

[#3]

Had forgotten about that one - I agree, it was excellent. I recall that he was a forester and that is why he was given permission to live there. Made a an agreeable change to the usual builds.

[#4]

I like Grand Designs and Property Ladder - if only for the comedy value of watching them ignore everything Sarah Beeney says and make a mess of it.

[#5]

I quite like any of these property programmes - I think it is because I am just plain nosy about what people want to live in!  Some of the places they show for example in Homes under the Hammer are such a mess and when someone has done it up for resale it becomes a different house!
As for Grand Designs my favourite was the "watermill" built where there was no water, and the chap had to loose the balcony he wanted - and he had all the trouble with the planners - but he had to persist with it as he had put so much money into it.  Mind you would not have liked to live in the place.

[#6]

It's the Homes Under The Hammer one which sometimes seems unrealistic to me, although in fairness, just occasionally there will be something that doesn't work out as planned, and they don't gloss it over .
It is astonishing how folk will spend thousands of pounds at an auction when they haven't even seen the property - seems a bit reckless. 
A buyer will often say something like they have a budget of £5,000 and they are going to have the place rewired, new central heating, bathroom and kitchen. I just wish that I had the telephone numbers of their suppliers and tradesmen!

[#7]

Quote from: poppy

A buyer will often say something like they have a budget of £5,000 and they are going to have the place rewired, new central heating, bathroom and kitchen.  the telephone

Probably 2004 prices as they are old repeats shown again and again

[#8]

If they do the labouring themselves and buy bathroom suites at these prices then they will get close to the quoted prices.

[#9]

What I don't like is the idea they promote that the only purpose of property is to make money. I forget which programme it was, but one I saw was castigating people for reducing the value of their homes with their 'individual' tastes in decorating. If they don't intend to move, who cares?
Houses are for living in. Decorate them however you like. If you want to move, then maybe consider painting everything magnolia. You can have too much daylight.
I also don't understand why all the prospective buyers they show have no imagination - "I won't buy this house because I don't like the wallpaper", or how people with apparently ordinary jobs can afford to spend huge amounts of money creating these dream homes. Where do they get it?

[#10]

I agree totally Denzil & some of the ideas that these poncy designers have, is beyond. Getting rid of filth and excessive clutter is the only valid thing (apart from fixing major faults of course).

[#11]

I too agree that Denzil has hit the nail on the head - houses are to live in, not to make money out of.
I only query the prices because some things you can't legally do yourself, for instance rewiring (unless you are an electrician). Also, having had jobs done in my own property, I have some idea of costs. Also, while they are doing the work themselves, they are not in paid employment so that should be factored into the equation but never is.

[#12]

You can legally re-wire yourself, but you need a qualified electrician to issue a test certificate for a lot of things, or your Local Authority - but that will cost an arm and a leg, best get an electrican.

[#13]

Quote from: pierre_pierre

only watch Grand Designs, liked the wood one in the middle of the forest, with the only family, cant sell clause

Was on again last night - I really like his way of life.
He was also in a different show in recent times too (possibly Countryfile)

[#14]

We do occasionally have these types of programmes on -only as moving wallpaper though, not though any pretensions of learning anything- I really wonder who is supposed to benefit from such programmes? If you take into account the free advertising of estate agents etc. (lets face it the poor guy's need the money!! don't you feel sorry for them?) there's a fair amount of overt product placement going on. Not to mention the auction houses names carefully in shot. Which I doubt the production company does for free.
So I guess, the programmes are there because they're cheap to make, and bring in some revenue as well. If you watch the credits at the end (I must get out more!) I don't think the BBC actually makes any of them.

[#15]

I also caught the one about the chap in the forest - fascinating and just what I would like as I adore being surrounded by trees. I also thought that it was good that he couldn't sell it on and would have to demolish it when he has finished working the forest - prevents encroachment on nature.
I suspect that there is something not quite right or 'up front' about some of these programmes though.
The one that was on C4 last night involves an architect who is given large amounts of money to transform a property - it's really big stuff (loft conversions etc).
The folk in question had a typical family house (3 teenage children hence lots of clutter). They handed over £124,000 for a complete makeover including a loft conversion with balcony. So far so good. However, on the last shots the place bore no resemblance at all to their previous home. It looked as if it had been staged - all minimalism and cubic furniture. It was quite obvious that it just wasn't 'them' at all. I think that they should have put back their stuff (furniture etc), albeit less of it and then it would have been a true representation of the change.
Every house that he has transformed has been the same - large open plan spaces and modern, minimalist decor.
Bifold doors onto the patio are his 'thing' - very expensive and largely useless really because there are so few days in the year when they can be taken advantage of.
I can't believe that they have all wanted to live in such surroundings. Open plan is fine, but you have to be on top of the clutter and not really mind having little privacy. It's just not about real life IMO, but can be addictive viewing, alas.