One of the largest homes ever built by ABC’s “Extreme Home Makeover” is facing foreclosure.
I’m actually a little surprised this hasn’t happened before. The show’s premise is this: Find families facing severe hardship/less-than-stellar living conditions, and alleviate those problems by building them a brand new, ridiculously large home.
In the case of this foreclosure, the family used the home, built by more than 1,800 community volunteers, as collateral for a $450,000 loan.
Bad plan.
The reason I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before is that the families featured on “Extreme Home Makeover” get GIANT, new McMansions to replace their old decrepit homes. They are also often the recipients of new cars, payoffs of their mortgages, and scholarships for their kids. How do these families - most of them already facing financial hardship – afford the taxes, maintenance, and utilities for these enormous homes? How can they afford the lifestyle that goes with their new home?
I commend ABC’s Extreme Home Makeover for trying to help families turn their lives around by giving them a better place to live. But the “extreme” part of it seems too much for me. There are more modest ways to give folks a leg up… but then I guess they’d have to call it “Modest Home Makeover” and no one would watch!
I feel sorry for the family who wasted such a blessing by trying to use it to make more money. I feel sorry for a community who put blood, sweat, and tears into helping this family, who in turn, squandered it.
It’s quite sad. It’s also a good reminder not to waste the opportunities that are given to us.
You may also like:
Comments on this entry are closed.