Realty Check: 'Extreme Makeover' Downsizes Its Dream Homes

[HipChick]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304017404575165840903285032.html?mod=WSJ_latestheadlines

Each week, an average 9.4 million viewers tune in to ABC-TV for what, over seven seasons, has become a classic formula: Find a struggling family with a heart-tugging story and send them on vacation as an army of volunteers work frantically to replace an existing home with a much nicer and bigger one in just 106 hours. Each episode ends with a dramatic tear-filled tour of the new home, packed with donated furnishings, and outsize extras like a carousel or bowling lanes.


ABC's popular reality show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" makes dreams come true for needy families. But some people are tapping the equity on their expansive new homes, only to fall behind -- and into foreclosure. WSJ's Dawn Wotapka reports.

But after the cameras have gone, another trend has been developing: Homeowners struggle to keep up with their expensive new digs. In many cases, the bigger, more lavish homes have come with bigger, more lavish utility bills. And bigger tax assessments. Some homeowners have tapped the equity of their super-sized homes only to fall behind on the higher mortgage payments.

The show's producers say they are aware of the problem and are making changes appropriate to current economic reality: downsizing.

Back in the boom, the makeovers got a little out of hand because of competition among home builders aware of the free publicity that came with the show and who tried to outdo previous projects. These days, the show is backing away from the boom-era showpieces. We "scaled back," says Conrad Ricketts, an executive producer for the show created and produced by Endemol USA.

The average size of current makeovers is 2,800 to 3,000 square feet. A 2005 episode featured a house in Lake City, Ga., that became a 5,300-square-foot English castle boasting five bedrooms, seven bathrooms, five fireplaces and an outdoor kitchen. These days, the houses appear more subdued, eschewing over-the-top amenities.

[Missy Vixen]

1. Wouldn't it be nice if "Extreme Makeover" built Habitat for Humanity houses instead?

A local woman got a gigantic home complete with swimming pool last year. I have wondered how she's keeping up on the (hugely inflated) property taxes of the new place.

We don't watch "Extreme Makeover" anymore after reading a series of articles re: the number of foreclosures among those receiving the new homes and getting in over their heads with equity loans to pay off taxes...

:eyes:

[RandySF]

3. Ruins the point of the show

Who is going to tune in to watch an average looking house built without the gigantic plasma television?

[Missy Vixen]

5. IMHO, but

how about the following?

Anyone on unemployment
Anyone who knows someone on unemployment
Anyone who wants to see someone truly deserving
Anyone who lives in a modest home, and understands how it feels to wake up that first morning in the house they OWN.
Anyone who will be happy for someone else's good fortune
Anyone who would be willing to patronize the sponsors of a program that seeks to help people obtain a house they can actually afford to stay in.

Plasma/LED's are now at a much more affordable price point than they used to be. Wouldn't it be better to give the family one "bigger" gift, like the nice TV and a good DVR or some up-to-date kitchen appliances, than the excess that now passes for "entertainment"? How about a basketball hoop in the driveway or some new bicycles, so the kids can get some exercise daily? The ridiculous items put into these houses (a carousel, for God's sake,) could go towards building more than one house per episode, rehabbing a house that was perhaps, a bit more modest, or here's a suggestion: A less expensive, more "green" house, and fund the kids' college education.

I'd tune in. I'd tell other people to tune in, too.

Again: IMHO.

[Shallah Kali]

6. That would be so awesome! Think how many more houses they could do

and the people could afford to actually keep their home after! Also would it not be wonderfully practical as well as cool if they made a point of making the home as energy efficient as possible even adding things like solar panels when suitable?

[AnArmyVeteran]

2. I always wondered, what's to stop them from selling the houses right away for a big profit?

Do the families have to keep their new houses for a period of time or can they put them up for sale as soon as the EM crew leaves? And anyone notice how the mansions they build are in average, to even poor neighborhoods? These new houses would make the entire neighborhood look like a dump. And the property values would lead to huge tax bills and force most of the families out.

I like that they help people, but they could help a lot more people if they just built small, regular houses instead of those gaudy monstrosities that I'm sure look out of place in the neighborhoods. And how would you like to be their next door neighbor in a falling down shack while your neighbor has a mansion?

[Mari333]

4. one of the smartest things I ever did

sold my huge old farmhouse with 13 acres before the recession and downsized to a little 900 sq foot house in town. easy,cheap, just the right size for one human and some pets.

cheap as hell to live in.