Snooping around: Rural, urban or renovation

In the country: Oxfordshire. This home in Filkins, near Burford, is on the market for £249,950. It includes a conservatory, a flag-stoned sitting room, a dining room, and an en suite bedroom, and you have the pleasure of living in a glorious Cotswold village. The only problem might be that each bedroom is reached by a separate staircase.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01993 822661 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff

In town: Suffolk. This Ipswich home is part of an old school with its own garden and 4.5 acres of shared parkland. Five beds, plus a self-contained annexe, it's on the market for £475,000 – but people with that kind of cash may not like the neighbouring council estate.
Jackson-Stops & Staff, 01473 218218 Photograph: Jackson-Stops & Staff

Wreck of the week: West Sussex. This detached 1920s house in Angmering-on-Sea is on the market for £650,000. Structural cracks, an elderly roof and uncool fittings will relieve you of up to another £200,000, and you’ll want to rethink the layout, too. On the plus side it has wonderful coastal panoramas plus direct access to the beach. Planners have sanctioned a three-bed house in the large garden.
Graham Butt, 01903 856400 Photograph: Graham Butt

Overseas: France. North of Beziers in the Languedoc, this is the perfect spot for those who want a restful retreat at a relatively low price. You can choose from two 18th-century small stone houses situated in an ancient hamlet. Each has flagstone floors and exposed beams, two small bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen and a shower room. But with magnificent views over the Orb river valley you won't want to be inside, but out on the terrace. On the market for £117,800.
Savills, 020 7016 3740 Photograph: Savills

Dream home: Mull. If you’ve always fancied a 'Monarch of the Glen' lifestyle, Torosay Estate on the Isle of Mull offers all the necessary elements: a Category A listed castle, pheasant and woodcock shooting, woodlands that are home to red deer, formal gardens, extensive parkland, agricultural land and its own coastline – all in all covering 880 acres. The estate is run as a commercial enterprise. Tobermory is 22 miles away and Oban 45 minutes by ferry. Offers in excess of £2.8m.
Savills, 0131 247 3704 Photograph: Savills