Is Extreme Makeover Home Edition a Blessing or a Curse?

Since 2003, Extreme Makeover Home Edition has given many families that are in desperate need of a better home a chance to own the home of their dreams. Some families have also been lucky enough to receive new cars, scholarships, and other gifts. Many families have benefited from being on this reality show but others have not benefited from it at all. There have been many reports in the media about families losing homes they received from the show.

The Harper family in Georgia has received the most attention. They received an Extreme Makeover home in 2005 and are losing their home because they took out a $450,000 second mortgage on the home so they could start a business. The business failed and now they are facing foreclosure. They have recently made an appearance on the Dr. Phil to ask for help and talk about what happened.

A man in Idaho named Eric Herbert decided on his own to put his home up for sale because he said it costs too much to maintain it. He said he did not have enough time or money to maintain the house.

Viewers of the show and people who receive a home from the show do not realize how much it costs to maintain these homes. All or some of the families who appear on this reality show do receive a large sum of money that is supposed to be used for the upkeep of the home. But many families have used this money to pay down some of their debts or for other things. After this money is used the new homeowners are stuck with property taxes, higher utility bills, maintenance fees, and some families still have to pay a mortgage. This causes many families to feel overwhelmed by a home that was supposed to be a blessing. Many can't afford all of these expenses and have no choice but to go into foreclosure or put the home up for sale.

When the homes go into foreclosure or are voluntarily put up for sale, the homeowners might have a hard time selling the homes because the homes are usually bigger and worth way more than all the other homes in the neighborhood.

Many of the homes that are built on this show are just too big for many of the families that receive the homes. But the producers on this reality show are probably deciding to build these big extravagant homes because they get good ratings. It seems like they really don't think about how much money it's going to take to maintain these homes for the next several years.

The interesting thing about this show is that it always targets families that have the worst financial situation or have a bad medical condition. The main reason they target those types of families is for the ratings. These people are already having a hard time and receiving a brand new home from a reality show really does not help their situation. Many times it makes their situation worse than it was.

Not all families on this show have gotten into a bad situation. Some families have benefited from this show and are glad they took the steps to apply to be on the show.

As you have noticed many families who have appeared on this show have not had a happy ending with their homes. If you are thinking about applying to receive a brand new home from Extreme Makeover Home Edition, make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.

Sources:
Imdb.com
http://www.accessatlanta.com/entertainment/content/entertainment/tv/stories/2008/07/25/extreme_makeover_foreclosure.html
http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2008/08/10/selling-the-extreme-makeover-home-in-clayton-county-georgia/
http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/articles/2008/05/19/news/news01.txt