this post was submitted on 01 May 2025
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I'm not sure about elsewhere in the world, but daytime TV in the UK is full of programmes where people want to move house to somewhere a little nicer or chilled - whether it's to escape the rat race, bring up kids outside of a city, to retire, whatever. They have the strangest "contestants" though, like (and I'm pulling these from my arse but I doubt they're far from the truth) meeting Tarquin, 44, a part time artist; and Helena, 49, who volunteers at the local farmers market.
"Their budget is 1.2 million pounds"
what the actual fuck
My (half serious) conclusion is the contestants like you describe are either the no-I'm-not-wealthy class of idiots that have simply come from money and don't realise that's not the norm, or they're drug dealers that found a skilled accountant.
I'm under the impression that these shows are designed to make regular people think one or more of the follwiing:
if you stay in the race long enough and work hard enough, you can attain the same thing
if you can't, you're a failure = go drown your sorrows by being a good consumer.
be unhappy with their situation and persuaded to blame minorities or the government.
Yeap, same thing with "find my dream house" shows in America. I think the major difference is that instead of the people being in their 40s, it's usually people in their 20's. The source of the funding is ultimately the same, rich parents. The likely difference is between trust fund kids in the US and just people whose parents have finally taken their much awaited dirt naps in the UK.
I think rich parents are basically a prerequisite to owning a home for anyone under 40 nowadays. I'm one of the only people in my friend group of people in their late 30s who owns a home, and that was due to what I consider a minor miracle.
I was lucky and bought an abandoned house from the bank for 30k after the last recession, and that was only possible because I got a loan I probably shouldn't have qualified for through USAA. So, still a bit of nepotism, but because my dad was in the service, not because he was wealthy.
My first house appraised for less than what we were paying for it. Not a lot, but more than we really had access to. My grandfather spotted the difference. So whole it's true I worked hard, it's little moments of privilege like that that really helped put me where I am today. I think folks in my position tend to over look it often. I'm 33 now. I think I'd still own a house, but all of this stuff compounds into each other. I would've had to pay exorbitant rent longer at an apartment complex. When I ended up selling that house I wouldn't have gotten that extra year's worth (or however long) back. It would've been less money to invest. It would probably mean we couldn't have bought as nice of a new house when we moved. All these little extra things from a family member being able to help spot the difference between the first appraisal and loan.
Yeah that's the House Hunters trope. It's in the US too on HGTV.
Lisa is a 25 year old retired yoga instructor and Drew is a 28 year old brick layer who does crack in the alley behind his apartment. They are looking to upgrade into a home in the suburbs because Lisa is expecting any day now! Their budget is 3.5 million. Can they find a home?
oh no, they have a bunch of requirements and accidentally spent double their budget on the house but are still just fine somehow
Every single episode of those shows features a couple that has already purchased a house, and they pretend to give them two other choices to "pick" between.
Especially noticeable when they find a fake option that's a better fit for their wants/needs than the one they actually chose and the same price or cheaper.
Yeah the one episode I watched beginning to end you could see the lady dying inside while touring her actual dream home that cost significantly less than the one they "ended up going with." I didn't know that was how the shows were set up so her reactions puzzled me until I learned that fact.
After that I figured that episode was the peak of the genre and never bothered again.
The fake jobs are euphemisms for having a trust fund.
That, or having bought their first property long enough ago, and in the right place, that it's appreciated massively more than the place in the country that they've got their eye on. The property ladder is, possibly was, a thing.
Still is, at least to an extent. Bought a house 10 years ago for $110k, and while I’ve paid down about $30k of that between my modest down payment and 10 years of mortgage payments, the house has appreciated ~2x, meaning that I could potentially bring a $100k down payment to a new property. Even with everything else appreciating in the meantime, that makes viable many more options than I would have had if those mortgage payments had been rent checks.
Same. I bought my house a year before the housing market went up. Paid 110,000, now my bank says it's worth 250,000.
Honestly, as cool as it is for me, that's just not fair to everyone else. We barely made enough for the 110k loan, and this house is barely big enough for everyone. No fucking way could we have gotten 250k in any sort of loan.
Also when I say barely I mean barely, the seller actually went down to 110 from 120 because that was the max we could get, and we knew him personally. So on top of the price spike, we actually couldn't afford our house, if I hadn't made friends with the guy previously.
Yeah, same thing with House Hunters in the US. Those made really good memes. "Stacy, 23, who is a professional whistler, and her husband, Joe, 25, a part time stick weigher, are looking for a more relaxed pace and a smaller, cozier home. Their budget is 7 million, and they're looking for no less than 3,000 sq meters"
Those are good shows to hate watch in a hotel when you don't have anything else to do.
Except for this one time. It was an African American family where a single working mom had to use the dinner table to get work done after hours, her mom lived with them and had to sleep in the same bed as the younger daughter, and the teenage boy had outgrown the length of his bed.
I can't make fun of that. This family needs a new house.
Next episode had a white family. Their biggest problems were that the kids didn't each have their own bathroom, and they didn't live close enough to the golf course. Now that's more like it.
You picked quite suitable names
It’s absurd, but then again; The post above this one in my feed was how the “starter home” price in 200 different us cities is now $1 million.