HGTV Dreamhome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

T

thumbelina

New member
Are you ready for the HGTV Dreamhome? I enter every year. I know realistically, I will never win, but, I look at it like the lottery "Hey, ya never know?" Someone is going to win. Maybe it will be someone on the SA boards. Good luck everyone!!!!!!!!!!!
I love to look at house designs. I enjoy the different designs.
 
Got the email from HGTV this morning and got my first entry in. First thing would be to put it up for sale, pay the taxes, and pocket the rest. It should be an easy area to unload given that there's money there.
 
With my stupid dial-up I haven't even gotten to look at it yet!! I guess if I win ~ it will be a BIG surprise :laughing:
 
My Dream house is on a beach...but NOT this house!!
If I won, I would show up with a U-Haul, empty the house of furnishings, put them up on ebay accentuating the fact they were from the HGTV dream house, then sell the house and buy my dream house on a beach in Hawaii!!
The HGTV house is so impractical in so many ways...the kids bedroom on the ground floor facing the ocean??? Little ones I would worry about drowning after wandering off since the parents bedroom is on the 3rd floor....teens I would worry about sneaking out (since the parents bedroom is on the 3rd floor).
The guest bedroom has to share a bath with the kitchen/living room AND you have go to past the washer and dryer room to get to it.
A breakfast nook on the 3rd floor in an awkward place at the top of the stairs (and a whole floor up from the kitchen). It would have been better suited where the "reading" room is located.
the strange strip of sand on each side of the narrow grass strip called a "backyard", the dog house that offers no protection for a dog...
LOL I could go on and on, but you all know what I mean!
 
To date. I don't think one winner has actually kept the house. I believe they all sold them. Probably couldn't afford the taxes. I don't know about last year's winner, last year was the first year they threw in 250,000 dollars + the house, probably hoping one person would keep it.
This years house is worth 2.2 million, honestly, who could afford the taxes on that?
I would sell it. Had to.
 
thumbelina said:
To date. I don't think one winner has actually kept the house. I believe they all sold them. Probably couldn't afford the taxes. I don't know about last year's winner, last year was the first year they threw in 250,000 dollars + the house, probably hoping one person would keep it.
This years house is worth 2.2 million, honestly, who could afford the taxes on that?
I would sell it. Had to.
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The whole drama is somewhere on the internet. In a nutshell, though...

Last year's winner did move into the house, never sold his first house, and didn't have the money to cover the taxes. From what I also heard, someone in the family got sick and the medical bills piled up. He even had the nerve to try and sell the house on his own on the internet for almost double it's value. The last I heard, he's in a big financial mess!

Also, even when you are given money to "offset taxes", you are still required to pay taxes on the cash. It's still better than nothing, but some people don't realize that.
 
YIKES. I hadn't heard about that, LilDarkSide, but I'll have to look it up now, because I'm curious.

My husband and I took the online tour of the house, and we were just flabbergasted by how incredible it is. We were trying to brainstorm to figure out if there's any possible way for us to keep something like tha, but in the end if we won it, we'd be contacting high-end realtors in the state to help us sell it, and would take a 2-week vacation to enjoy the property and all of the coastal fishin. By the way - I don't think a fisherman designed the exterior of this house, because I don't see a fish cleaning table anywhere outside. Tsk!

A note, on the off-chance that someone reading this may share greenie's thoughts on the matter and happens to win this incredible prize: If you win a high-end home like this, DO NOT STRIP IT before you try to buy it. The housing market is in a slump as it is right now, and high end buyers often expect a home to be fully furnished with excellent items in order for them to consider buying it. Think of it this way - if you're a multi-millionaire and want a beach home to add to your real estate portfolio, would you rather buy a bare-bones house on the coast that you'll need to decorate and furnish, or would you rather buy one that already has furnishings of the caliber you are used to, to which you just add some personal touches?

Having said that, there ARE things I would probably take from the house, most of them from the kitchen. :D I just wouldn't strip the place dry.
 
http://www.kltv.com/global/story.asp?s=7451192&ClientType=Printable


HGTV Dream Home Owner: "Foreclosure Proceedings Have Begun"




It's the beginning of what looks to be the end of quite a journey for Don Cruz and his family.

When asked if the house will be foreclosed on Don Cruz replied, "Yes. It will be sold on the courthouse steps, the first Tuesday of January. All I know is we're out of money and we're four months behind on payments."

Four months behind on the mortgage Don took out last year. The money from that loan helped him pay off the taxes on his winnings to the IRS.

The rest was supposed to help with monthly expenses. Instead, Don said, the money paid for two family emergencies including his wife's brain surgery.

"There's no way we could have afforded to do it if we hadn't won the house. And then my dad ended up with cancer. I paid for all the cancer treatment, paid for all the surgery and that ate up all the money we had," Don said.

When the dream home went on the market it was listed at almost $5 million at one point. The price has now dropped to $1.43 million.

"The $1.43 million will pay off that and all the bills that we're behind on. And we'll break even," said Don.

"So you're essentially a million 430 thousand dollars in debt," asked KLTV 7 Reporter Christine Nelson.

"Yes, ma'am," Don said.

Most of the past dream home winners have sold the house to help finance a more affordable dream. Something Don Cruz refused to do from the start. But Don said he does not regret his decision not to sell.

"It's still been a blessing. I'm going to miss all of our family and friends here," said Don. "But no regrets, whatsoever. I'd do it all over again."

Don now stares in the face of what looks to be the final days of living in the dream home. An experience that, for him, turned into a money pit.

Don said he has moved his wife and son back to their Illinois home, but they're behind on payments on that home too.

He said he's still holding on to hope to get a buyer for the dream home before the home makes the scheduled January auction. Which means a deal would have to be done by next Wednesday.

In response to the foreclosure news, HGTV issued the following written statement:

"...there are always options available to winners, including, in many cases, the option to sell the home back to the developer during the first year of ownership and receive cash, as there was in the 2005 HGTV Dream Home Giveaway. We know that Don Cruz and his family had a strong desire to remain in the dream home and now find themselves in this current challenging situation. As we have from the beginning, we will continue to respect their right to make their own decisions."

Christine Nelson reporting. [email protected]
 
LIDARKSIDE; said:
Last year's winner was Robert O'Neill, Sr. I tried searching for his website where he layed out his whole sad saga, but it doesn't appear to be anywhere to be found.
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That's because you're looking up the wrong name. :laughing:
 
hairbandgirl said:
LIDARKSIDE; said:
Last year's winner was Robert O'Neill, Sr. I tried searching for his website where he layed out his whole sad saga, but it doesn't appear to be anywhere to be found.
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That's because you're looking up the wrong name. :laughing:
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I deleted my post. I was looking up the 2007 winner which is listed as Robert O'Neill, Sr.
 
:wave: If ONE of us wins that dream home it will be 7 seven to 10 ten thousand dollars alone in Florida tax monies YEARLY due on the home every year. Plus 300.00 to 500.00 just for the electric bill monthly. PLUS the winner pays all closing costs before moving in & TRANSFER fees & title fees. That is a few thousand and WINNER pays the TRUCK title insurance license fees on that truck exporer looking thingy blah blah blah also in the first month or they wont let you take it off the dealership. I think we all need to PROTEST HGTV with LETTERS and say her in all reality GIVE us a HOME that is meant for low to MIDDLE income not RICH people.I find it really dishearting they get these womens hopes up & make them fall in LOVE with something they have to give back. Lets bring ina 500.00 thousand dollar home would be a million dollar HOME to most middle income.I LIVE in a million dollar home only because I live in California & on a beach block but when I bought my home it was only 150.00 thou years agao. Hey!!! KEN lives in FLORIDA Lets all go on VACATION to KENS two million dollar FLORIDA home lol :laughing:
 
That's odd :scratch:

HGTV's website DOES say that's his name.......but the news article (with pictures of the house in Colorado) says another name. :scratch: And the article is from Dec 2007.
 
hairbandgirl said:
That's odd :scratch:

HGTV's website DOES say that's his name.......but the news article (with pictures of the house in Colorado) says another name. :scratch: And the article is from Dec 2007.
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As far as I remember, it was the 2007 winner that this all happened to it. Don Cruz was the 2005 winner. :scratch:

I really do prefer the big houses as the prize. I look at it like winning cash. I'd rather win $2,000,000 than $500,000. With the exception of this "ding dong", most winners just sold the house and pocketed the cash.
 
They use millage rates to calculate taxes, and they differ from area to area of each state.

The tax rate is referred to as the millage. The millage varies by taxing district within the county. Each taxing district's total millage is comprised of individual millages determined by multiple taxing authorities operating within that district.

There's money in the Florida Keys. So, $16,000 per year isn't surprising. If our house were the size of the "Dream Home" right here where we live now, taxes would be even much higher than $16,000.

Anyhoo, most people entering aren't even planning on keeping it.
 
http://money.aol.com/cnnmoney/reale...swallowed-don-and-shelly/20060627161909990001
In the 10 years that HGTV has run the contest, the Cruzes are the only winners who've chosen to live in the Dream Home.

Most of the rest sold, happily pocketing the cash. The Cruzes say they too had offers, for millions. But as soon as Don saw the house, he was determined to find a way to make it home.

The house is really three structures: a main building, a separate master bedroom suite and a lakefront guest cottage. Some 550 tons of limestone went into the construction of the main house, much of it used to build the 30-foot fireplace in the great room.

Ten cedar trees were used to support the beamed ceiling, the trunks shaved down to square posts around the perimeter. Six sets of glass french doors let in sweeping views of the yard and lake.

In addition to the great room, the main house has two bedrooms; 2½ baths; a state-of-the-art kitchen (lots of granite and stainless steel); a sunroom, laundry room and entertainment room (the centerpiece: a 50-inch TV); and a workout area with his-and-hers treadmills.

A breezeway leads to the master suite. The guest cottage, built into a dock on the lake, has water views from a wraparound balcony on the second floor Downstairs, the living room windows work like garage doors, rolling up into the ceiling to eliminate barriers between the house and the lake. From the couch, Don can cast his fishing pole while he watches TV.

Spectacular? Sure. But spectacularly costly to own too. So Don immediately began strategizing about ways to make living there affordable.

Plan A: Turn the place into a bed and breakfast - a reasonable enough plan until Don found out that he doesn't own the land under the house but instead has a 30-year lease, with the right to renew. Without full ownership, he is subject to town rules, which don't allow new businesses in the lake area.

Plan B: Sell the guest cottage. Without ownership of the land, however, the Cruzes are obligated to keep the property whole. Scratch Plan B.

Still, Don figured, they'd be okay. After all, they had the $250,000 in cash that they'd won with the house. "We were used to living on $40,000 a year," says Don. "I thought we'd be able to live on the prize money for a few years at least."

But living expenses in the Dream Home, like the house itself, are far bigger than what they were used to in Batavia.

Upkeep is $2,900 a month. Homeowners insurance runs $7,000 annually. The insurance and gas bill on the Cruz fleet (they own seven vehicles, including the SUV they won in the contest) costs $1,000 a month. That's on top of the $1,000-a-month mortgage payment for the Batavia house, which they've kept, just in case.

Then there are the incidentals. Fixing up the family boat, which got little use in Illinois, cost $11,000. A dog run for their three dogs was $6,000. Between family and friends eager to see the Dream Home, the Cruzes have company nearly every weekend.

The tab: about $1,000 a pop. They've donated $40,000 to charity. And then there have been the splurges - $5,000 on Christmas presents; $2,000 for scuba lessons; an $1,800 go-kart.
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http://www.local6.com/money/9818933/detail.html
Cook won a $3 million-plus house in HGTV's Dream Home promotion in April. While the 5,700-square-foot house was free, Cook has to pick up the tax bill He said taxes on the North Carolina lake house run $19,396.64 a year, plus maintenance costs.

"It's a dream that anyone would love to have — owning a house like the Dream Home," he told HGTV. "But then reality sets in."

He said the electric bill on the dream home is more than 10 times what he currently pays.

The state auditor from West Virginia plans on living in his dream house for a few weeks before selling. He likes the area, though.

Cook said he'll use the money from the sale of the Dream Home to buy a place a little more his style in the area. He plans on retiring next month.

The home overlooks Lake Lure in Rutherford County, N.C., and has been assessed at $3,015,100.

Although HGTV has given away 10 Dream Homes, only two winners have used the houses. One winner in California used the South Carolina Dream Home as a vacation home for family and kept it for eight years, according to HGTV. Another man has lived in his Dream Home in Tyler, Texas, for about a year, according to The Asheville Citizen-Times.

Cook was one of 40 million people who entered the Dream Home contest.
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My question is...why are they not giving cash to along with the house and car this year? Is it because the Cruz Family thought they could swing the house with the cash and have been so public about their woes?
Is this a way to encourage a normal person from trying to keep the house?
 
I don't believe they always gave cash with the Dream Home. It's probably just a matter of the total amount they decide/agree on as the total prize which is probably determined by the company's annual revenue. They probably first decide how much is going to be needed for the house decided upon and how any extra money will be used as part of the prize.
 
Lets see, at about $1000 a month rent, plus $200 for renting covered parking nearby-the $250,000 plus the money from the sale of the dream home would keep me in total luxury at the St. Francis-for what, a thousand years or so? :crazytongue:
 
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