Extreme Makeover, Downsized Edition

“Extreme Makover: Home Edition” is a reality show with great intentions where struggling families are given big fancy houses. But when the cameras stop rolling, the economic realities of owning  such a huge house kick in.

In an effort to create more dramatic TV, homes were built far beyond the quality of the surrounding neighborhoods…making them hard to sell. And, more house means more equity…of course the struggling homeowners are going to take it out!  How else are they going to pay the huge utility bills?

Not surprisingly, some of these homeowners are falling on hard times.

From The Wall Street Journal:

The house at 10512 Baldy Mountain Rd. in Sandpoint, Idaho, looks like just another vacant foreclosed home. Some appliances, a bathroom mirror and even the hot tub are missing. The dining room of the three-bedroom house has water damage.

But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill problem house. Call it an Extreme Foreclosure. The 3,678-square-foot McMansion is a product of the popular “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” reality television show. It isn’t the only “Extreme” home to fall on hard times.

…

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.

Producers aren’t just changing the format to to what’s right, they are keenly aware that social mood has shifted. Frugality is in. Living within your means is in. Nowadays, nothing about “bigger” and “fancier” is inherently “better.”

…

Several owners have sought loan modifications to reduce their payments in order to stay in their homes, lenders say. Some families seek a quick-fix by trying to sell. But because Extreme Makeovers tend to be big, fancy residences plopped into working-class or rural communities, the houses can be a hard sell.

The house in Sandpoint, which was owned by Eric Hebert, appears to be the first Extreme Makeover home to actually fall into foreclosure, in October. Mr. Hebert did not answer requests for comment. But he told a local television station last year that “the biggest mistake I think that I made was I took too much money out on the house thinking that I was going to have a job, you know, in the future.”