Snooping around: Rural, urban and renovation

In town: Leicester. From £74,950 for a studio. Residents get membership of the in-house arts cinema and pop down to a digital gallery and cafe bar. Most flats have balconies and all get an underground parking space. Phoenix Square is right in the city centre, and the makeover of this district is just starting, so buyers are pioneers.
Savills, 0161 244 7700 Photograph: Savills

In the country: Devon. You get views of fields and river from this two-bedder in Ermington, near Modbury. Renovations have polished its quaint interiors. The village has a school, pub, bistro and bus route, and is handy for beaches and the A38. It’s a shame it is a bungalow. Yours for £345,000.
Marchand Petit, 01548 831163 Photograph: Marchand Petit

Wreck of the week: Surrey. This 300-year-old two-bed cottage in Cobham requires rewiring and the kitchen, bathroom and windows salvaging - expect to pay £25,000. It's just a stroll from the centre of this commuter town, but is on a busy main road with no parking. Available for £195,000.
John D Wood, 01932 864252 Photograph: John D Wood

Dream home: Suffolk. He dreams of thatch-browed dormers; she goes for contemporary chic. Harmony can yet be achieved in this 15th-century cottage in the village of Hitcham near Ipswich. The ancient core is sprinkled with brick hearths, exposed beams, open studwork and mullioned windows, and attached is a modern extension housing the dining room and two vaulted bedrooms – one with a balcony with views over the gardens to your personal meadow. Yours for £575,000.
Abbotts, 01473 280645 Photograph: Abbotts

Overseas home: America. Rub shoulders with Jack Nicklaus and Nick Price by buying a $1.2m fully furnished luxury hunting cabin at the Pine Creek Sporting Club in Okeechobee, Florida. The cabin is lovely, if you like a lot of wood panelling, but what you are really buying into is the members only, champion clays and wing shooting community, more than 1,000 acres of quail fields, members’ lodge and swimming complex, dog kennels, horse stables and miles of horse, biking and nature trails.
Pine Creek Sporting Club Photograph: Pinecricksportingclub.com