Snooping around: Rural, urban or renovation

In town: Birmingham. These one- and two-bed flats in the old jewellery quarter are just a walk from the gourmet thrills of St Paul’s Square and cost between £134,750 and £191,750. They will benefit from a superb specification including Hatt kitchens, Neff appliances and Villeroy and Boch bathrooms, and some are available with off-street parking. But you have to buy off-plan.
Knight Frank, 0121 200 2220 Photograph: Knight Frank

In the country: Gwynedd. This two-bedder is on the edge of Snowdonia national park, near Machynlleth. Glories include a slate-floored sitting room and wood-floor dining room. It’s a shame one of the bedrooms is off the other. Cost: £240,000
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01244 328361
Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff

Wreck of the week: Wiltshire. This detached, thatched, three-bed cottage is in Ansty, an achingly idyllic hamlet near Salisbury. It needs stripping back and starting again inside, although the thatch and structure look OK – £80,000-£100,000 should do it, but that is on top of the £325,000 asking price. It also has a garage, a workshop, unmolested features and nearly half an overgrown acre. The bathroom, however, has been hewn out of a corner of the kitchen.
Smiths Gore, 01962 857427
Photograph: Smiths Gore

Bargain of the week: Dorset. Were it not for a fairly busy main road beyond the garden, a lane to one side and a slight cosmetic weariness, you would pay nearer £400,000 for a house of this size and vintage in prime countryside. As it is, £335,000 buys you a plot close to the coveted town of Sherborne with three bedrooms, a kitchen-dining room, a large hall and living room, and a thrill of period features: fireplaces, window-seats, and wood and stone flooring. There is an attached garage and a range of facilities a walk away in the village of Queen Camel.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01935 812323
Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff

Dream home: Suffolk. If the working day ends here beneath a crest of thatch, you can shed your woes in the flower meadow and enter perfect fulfilment. Half a hedged acre of countryside is yours for £450,000, and your casement windows overlook Barham village green. In summer you and five intimates can soak in the hot tub, dine in the summer house and harvest the fruits of the orchard. In winter you can crouch before the wood-burning stove in the living room.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01473 218 218 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff