Snooping around: Homes around £300,000

Property of the week: Easdale Island, Argyll. There are no roads on this, the smallest inhabited Hebridean island. These two former slate miners’ cottages have been linked and renovated with wooden floors and a slate fireplace. There's only one bedroom, but the second cottage is now an open-raftered artist’s studio. A ferry will deliver you to mainland shops - there are none on the island - if you choose not to keep a boat. Cost: £220,000.
Alexander Dawson, 01631 563901 Photograph: Alexander Dawson/Alexander Dawson

Wreck of the week: London SE13. Around £40,000-£50,000 would replace the kitchen and bathroom and heal the decor of this dated, three-bed Victorian terrace. It’s close to Hither Green station in south London, and for £299,950 boasts an attractively sized bay-windowed sitting room with original wooden floors, and an upstairs bathroom. Out back there’s 30ft of garden. The only loo is a night-time trek downstairs.
Kinleigh, Folkard & Hayward, 020 8857 9494 Photograph: Kinleigh, Folkard & Hayward/Kinleigh, Folkard & Hayward

Take three: homes around £300,000. This two-bedder in Brislington, Bristol, lets you sample the flavour of a country seat c1780 when this stately home was built. Yours is the penthouse with a reception, kitchen, dressing room and roof terrace. From the alfresco hot tub you can survey the nine-acre grounds. Residents share a ballroom, pool, spa, allotments and chapel, all 3.5 miles from the city centre. Beware the £3,000 annual service charge.
Davies & Way, 0117 986 3681 Photograph: Davies & Way/Davies & Way

Take three: homes around £300,000. This elegantly refurbished three-bedder in Bishopston, near Swansea, is exactly £300,000. You get a reception, a kitchen/dining room, an attic and a garage. It also boasts oak flooring and tiled mantelpieces, and a posh bathroom. A bay window enlarges the sitting room and one of the upstairs bedrooms, while the dining area looks on to a south-facing garden. The third bedroom is miniature.
Gower Coastal Properties, 01792 367700 Photograph: Gower Coastal Properties/Gower Coastal Properties

Take three: homes around £300,000. Sleaford in Lincolnshire is the setting for this 18th-century cottage by a wood. Inside there are two receptions, a kitchen, a utility room, a pantry, a cloakroom, three beds and a bathroom. From the upstairs sitting room, with its wood-burning stove, you can gaze out to the Lincolnshire Wolds. Outside there’s an orchard and vegetable garden in the third-of-an-acre landscaped grounds. Yours for exactly £300,000.
Humberts, 01636 701401 Photograph: Humberts/Humberts