Extreme Home Makeover

[Dunkopf]

They do that work so fast. They need a follow up show. "Extreme makeover, 5 years later". See if the house is still standing.

 

[toejam]

Quote:
Or to see if the people still live there.

I do have a question, how do they afford to upkeep the home?

 

[punk-a-doodle]

Haha, sorry, had to laugh at that Dunkopf. Used to work security and largely dealt with gated communities and such. We'd see how the houses were built, and weren't a bit surprised when people started complaining that their brand new house was falling apart.

Yeah, tv show. The homeowners knew. But on a more realistic note, if say, I had a farm and a developer cut the land out from under me, or if the government "paid compensation" for putting a highway through my fields, heck yeah I'd be mad. There is no replacing lifestyle or attachment with monetary compensation.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
Unless there was a 2nd, almost identical episode, they lost the home to foreclosure. It's sad.

Short story, the difference in utility costs between the original home and the new home was unaffordable ($1600 monthly for electric and water!). They tried to sell the house, but were not able to sell. The house was oversized and over-priced for the neighborhood, and then the real estate bubble burst.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/0212Extrememakeover.html?&wired
http://www.zillow.com/blog/2009-09-02/gilbert-az-extreme-makeover-home-listed-for-13-million/
http://www.azcentral.com/community/...100212home-makeover-gilbert-family-12-ON.html

The home was really nice, but the show needed to consider the cost of living in and maintaining the home when they decided to build it. A smaller, more energy efficient home would have been a much better choice than all the bells and whistles.

 

[mulewagon]

Quote:
Oh, that's horrible. The people running that show ought to have experience by now, and know not to "give" somebody something they can't keep. (If some good fairy ever gifts me with a house, my dream home is concrete block and telephone poles!)

 

[saddina]

Same problem with the HGTV Dream home houses, They're always sold off immediatly (one family lived in thiers for 6 months), but often the winners can't pick up and move across country for a "free" house, when in reality that means no job, huge ultility bills, and the property taxes are killers.

 

[chickened]

I never understood the term "reality show" reality is they cannot afford to live in a home like the ones they give them before the show so why do they think they can afterwards? reality would be selling the home or mortgage it to the max move out and back to the trailer court.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

They DO help with a lot of things such as making homes accessible or providing some special needs designs. Problem is that they get too carried away with things. It is not that difficult (or certainly should not be with the talent the show has available) to remodel and redorate instead of demolish, of if they no demolish, to rebuild on a smaller scale. A middle class family does not normally need to go from 1800 sq ft to 5600 sq ft. Build in energy saving features--one of my dh's hiking buddies has a huge house that often creates more energy than it uses; a high electric bill is something like $25. More often than not they get money back for selling some of the electricity their solar panels produce. Why don;t they do that kind of projects--building houses that require minimal utilities, are green and sustainable?

 

[debilorrah]

http://www.foreverwildexotics.org/

There is success story.

Honestly, those of you that have homes that you love, you would never contact the show for help to start with! I've seen their handiwork in person and let me tell you, the people that run Forever Wild are incredible people who lived in dilapidated house so they could save those animals. They NEEDED a better home. You folks don't.

 

[HHandbasket]

I personally know someone whose husband was on a demolition crew for Extreme Makeover Home Edition a few years ago. Ever notice that all the rebuilders and suppliers (Sears, etc.) get TONS of credit on the show, but the demolition crews' company logos are either pixellated out or just plain covered with tape so they get no credit?? Ever notice that?? From this same person, I was told that Ty Pennington is a TOTAL weiner and that the whole bloody thing is a farce. More than half of the people whose homes have been rebuilt cannot afford the special amenities that have been put in the homes... drives the utility bills up so high that Average Joe could never, ever in a million years afford to live in it.

A large percentage of the homes they've done over the years have been sold or gone into foreclosure.

I used to love love LOVE that show until I talked to someone who was actually involved in it. What a joke. I'll never watch it again.