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I love watching Extreme Home Makeover! I think they do a beautiful job!
But I have been wondering something for awhile an have never seen or heard a consistent explanation before...Do the homeowners have to pay the mortgage for the homes? I know in a couple of shows the mortgage has been paid off but I didn't know if that's the case for all or not. Anyone know?
Most all of these makeovers are considered remodels, and the show is paying for all of the expenses of the new home additions.
So at the most, the homeowners would just have to continue paying the remainder of their original mortgage. The homeowners get the benefit of the added home equity.
That said, I wonder how much their utility bills shoot up after the remodels and how much their property assessments shoot up. Heck, just finishing off a basement family room raises property taxes, imagine what super-sized conversions would do. Making someone's living space better is one thing, majorly overdoing it to the point that it might be a finanicial hardship in the end is another.
Most of the houses are falling apart to begin with. When they build a new house it is easy to put in energy saving materials. A sound house does not leak energy the way a house full of holes does. The utility bills no doubt go up, but it cannot be that much considering what poor condition the houses were in to begin with. I am sure property taxes go up, but I am sure that the families find a way to pay it. They could give tours of the house to raise the money.
I just wonder how a family who can't afford to purchase even a used mattress suddenly will be able to afford additional expenses. Don't get me wrong, I like the show - it appeals to the humanitarian side of me, but the practical side of me cringes and wonders how the family will do a couple of years down the line. The only episode that seemed to address future financial matters was the one where they built on the B&B addition to the house.Originally Posted by Feifer
Then again, I volunteer at a local homeless shelter several times a week and would rather see many families being helped with "average lifestyle" donations than 16 or so families a season being helped with extreme lavish excess.That's just not television entertainment, though.
Catherine
ITA, kc. Rather than spending several million on THE MOST EXTREME MAKEOVER EVER! why don't they simply remodel the house, improve it and expand it, and use what's left to help people who are actually homeless?
Also, I don't buy for a second that all of these families are as hard off as the show makes them out to be. The Anderson family had a big screen TV in their living room, and the mother had gold rings on EVERY finger of BOTH hands.
Duckgirl I wonder how hard off the families are too. I don't want to post any spoilers of the Birmingham house but I know the family was having hard times but the city of Birmingham had helped them out before and I'm sure we would have again. I've been curious about how they were going to show them. If they would make their situation so bad it would make us cry. Even though I know it wasn't that bad.
Tis true, property assessment will shoot up, along with the tax bill. But, without having a mortgage to pay, the fees are affordable. In some episodes, they have given money and/or paid all bills for a year. At least giving the homeowners a chance to save some money. With that being said, if the owners still can't afford the house, they could sell it. As sad as that would be, I'm sure they would make a pretty penny.
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