How many extreme makeover homes were sold

However, while the house was free to the families, the rest wasn't. Many of these families were left with giant mansions that required higher taxes, utility bills, and upkeep. India Dickinson and her family were given a beautiful 4, square-foot home , but were barely making ends meet before the show. When I first heard about a free house going into foreclosure, I was confused. I figured the families must have squandered their money away on frivolous cars and luxuries.

How could you lose a house that was given to you? Well it's a little more complicated than that. Because most of the families on the show are barely scraping by, any new expense can put them over the edge.

When their taxes and utility bills are doubled, tripled, even quadrupled, they simply cannot keep up. In , the Harvey family was given a spacious 4, square-foot house, but the bank auctioned it off six years later. This pattern became common with many former guests of the show, who took mortgages out on their new, expensive homes to pay off old bills or start new ventures. It's hard to say where the fault lies. Should ABC have given families smaller homes, or should the families have not accepted the mansions?

The St. Augustine Record reported the show built a six-bedroom, seven-bath mansion for a family of four, which many would say is more house than they ever needed. In addition to the doubled or tripled power bills, brand new makeover houses come with higher tax bills as well. Perhaps fortunately for the families, the reality show helped them in some creative ways. Endemol, USA , the company behind Extreme Makeover: Home Edition , did some serious acrobatics to help the families avoid paying taxes on their makeover.

An IRS loophole says if your home is rented out for less than 15 days per year, you do not need to pay taxes on that rental income. With that in mind, the show explains to families that they are "renting" the house from the family for a week, and the improvements are the rental payment, meaning they don't have to pay taxes on the improvements.

While this plan helps families upfront, they'll still be responsible for the future property taxes that will undoubtedly rise with the increased value of their home. It's hard to imagine a scenario where you would actually sue the people who built you your dream home for free, but it happened in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition built a house for the Higgins family, five orphans who had lost their parents to cancer and heart failure.

The home was built for them and the Leomitis family who had taken them in. The show built them a nine bedroom mansion and even provided new cars and groceries, but after the cameras left, things got ugly. According to the Higgins children, the Leomitis family launched " an orchestrated campaign " to force them out of the new mansion. The family allegedly used racial slurs, verbal abuse, and physical abuse to drive out the orphans. The Higgins children moved out and promptly sued ABC, stating they were promised a house which is not in their name.

Though ABC did not make an official statement on the case, they did remind fans the show was intended to build a home for the Leomitis family, who had taken in the orphaned kids.

For Extreme Makeover: Home Edition families, life hasn't been easy. They have dealt with truly tough circumstances, and those can weigh on you. They sued the Leomitis, ABC, and others for damages including fraud and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Specifically, the Higginses claimed that the Leomiti family "orchestrated [a] campaign to degrade and insult" them, particularly with regard to their race.

The Leomitis denied the charges, claiming that the Higgins siblings did not follow household rules. ABC was accused of not delivering what the Higginses believed was promised to them: a home and security. After years of legal wrangling, the case was dismissed in Jim and Carmen Simpson, along with their three children, were living in a broken-down home in Savannah, GA, in November of One of their children had special needs and severe breathing difficulties, and the family's living conditions were causing the child to suffer unnecessarily.

When they appealed to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition , they were thrilled with the result: a beautiful, airy Victorian style home with a therapy room and pool. Less than two years later, the Simpsons felt they had no choice but to put the house up for sale.

Adding to the pressure, they'd had another baby since moving in, and Carmen was a stay-at-home, homeschooling mother. The home was far more than the family could afford before they even moved in. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition always went way over the top with the new and renovated homes given to the program's winning families.

But some homes were more extravagant than others, such as the one featured in a episode focused on Arizona couple Nicole and Bryan Okvath and their eight children. Their new, 5, square-foot home sported a carousel, a home theater, and other luxury amenities that drew a lot of power. The family shortly faced astronomical power bills. In , the couple split up, leaving Nicole to raise the eight children on her own. The house was sold far below the market value, and the family got rid of the luxury items in an effort to start a simpler life.

She and her four boys were gifted a home filled to the roof with fancy amenities, a grand staircase — and the taxes and utility bills to match. Such additional pressures would try the patience of anyone, but Oatman had some behavior issues that were already wellknown by her children. The new responsibilities and bills only exacerbated her emotional outbursts and anger. According to her now-estranged son Kevin, "I honestly thought things would change after we moved into the house and it would make everything better.

She was happy and excited for maybe the first week, and then it was back to the same old garbage. Oatman has claimed that the local celebrity status the show brought has been damaging, and that the family no longer had privacy. With taxes tripled and a mortgage to pay, she turned to charitable financial managers to help her form a trust. During this time, two of her sons became fed up and moved out.

Though initially pleased to help out the families in needs, these neighbors soon learned the reality of their hard work and efforts: more money out of their pockets. After the family spotlighted in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is whisked away to enjoy a family vacation or activity, the team went straight to work on the new home.

Cast and crew also included any neighbors, friends, and members of the community that wanted to help. While all efforts were focused on the family of the new home, surrounding neighbors often felt the effects of this team effort. With the crew working well into the evening, the spotlighted family was able to enjoy the peace and quiet of their vacation. Back home, however, neighbors were subjected to heavy construction work throughout the night. In addition, neighbors located right next to the renovated homes were often bombarded with leftover construction supplies, wood, and even received property damaged all in the name of doing a good deed for others.

Happy family, new home, and a chance at live renewed: all the makings of the perfect happy ending. However, when faced with the lingering issues of owning such a lavish home, some families simply cracked under pressure. In the case of Debbie Oatman and her family, their familial situation became worse than before. Oatman, known to have a violent temperament, actually become more verbally abusive to her children after they receive their new home.

In an interview with TimesUnion. She was happy and excited for maybe the first week, and then it was back to the same old garbage. However, Oatman claimed that the increased scrutiny and notoriety added pressures that she was unable to bear. In additional cases, families have also been torn apart by separations and even divorce stemming from issues surrounding their dream homes. We cannot help but wish to be gifted with some fantastic prize that we could never afford on our own.

In many cases, this was the motivation for viewers to apply for the show. However, what is never truly highlighted are the consequences of being awarded such prizes: taxes, taxes, and more taxes. The producers of the show often found tax loophole and exceptions to avoid such hefty fees. However a property owner could lease a home One of the most unbelievable aspects of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition was the short amount of time allotted to complete the construction.

Crews were given seven days to renovate or completely rebuild some homes, working tirelessly throughout the night. Viewers were always amazed at what they were able to accomplish in just a short timeframe. However, there is always some form of smoke and mirrors in the case of TV shows like this one. In some cases, the crew could not meet the strict timeline and would complete just enough of the work so that the big reveal could be accomplished.

Among the stories of inflated bills, property taxes, and maintenance were more horrific tales of incomplete and shoddy workmanship. Such was the case for the Home Edition finalists the Georgia Yazzie family. Their home came with an incredible promise: no future electric bills due to their new solar technology. However, five months after their home was completed, they were faced with more problems than they began with.

As reported by The Navajo Times , "Problems had started to surface with the air conditioner, water was draining from the roof right into the foundation, and the greywater irrigation system was malfunctioning, creating a stinky cesspool in the yard. Without water, the landscaping was dying. In addition to the failed irrigation system, they also had problems with the heating system.

As it turns out, shoddy construction and incomplete insulation work were the sources of their problems. ABC did make minor repairs to some of the problems, but the Georgia Yazzie family had to face the rest on their own.

In yet another case of parents choosing the new home over their children, the Higgins children focused their anger on ABC.

In , the family brought charges against ABC family claiming that they did not fulfill their promise for the children.