Ruining People's Lives... By Giving Them a House

[@jonesfamilyfarms9325]

I feel like this is a prime example of people who are out of touch with reality (celebrities/politicians) who try to “help”

[@GabbyTeAma]

Absolutely

[@chadhumphries3970]

Did these people apply to be on this show ?

[@mckymcobvious3043]

my parent's small ELCA church has a "sister church" in a remote town in Guatemala. if I had to GUESS what they'd want most? outhouses. yeah, no, they didn't care about that at all! just ASK THEM!

[@iloveyoumadhuri]

Such people are also known as hucksters or scam artists.

[@yesimemoin0935]

It's a commercial to promote the builders, appliance and furniture sellers. The ad revenue was off the charts.

[@dinewalton]

The problem is that these poor families live in poor areas and bad locations and building a million dollar house in a bad location is just a horrible investment.

[@woodyssnake8562]

Investors buy up the area while it's cheep, because it's "a bad area" then build expensive apartments.If you pay attention they rotate the "bad areas this way

[@r5t6y7u8]

Tip: When shopping for a house, buy the cheapest home in the best neighborhood.

[@757Princess]

@@r5t6y7u8 how is this a tip to purchase a $400,000 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house? And that’s on the lower end 😅

[@vanesslifeygo]

the whole neighborhood is gonna be pulling up to ask for money lol. the sense of community that once was then disappears.

[@jaad9848]

All of these would all be up six figures if they had sold immediately after home makeover and moved to a more realistic for their budget home. A lot of the issues are caused by them trying to keep a home that requires way more cash flow then they have.

[@emmafinke4931]

Another issue they didn’t mention was that the homes were harder to sell after the makeover. This was because these large homes were often in poorer rural communities where there was no demand for these types of homes. A lot of homes also had custom features (movie theater, indoor playhouse, built-in fish tanks) that the average buyer doesn’t want to pay for.

[@RescueGirl]

I always thought that this show was stupid because they always gave enormous houses to people who couldn't even afford the one that they originally lived in.

[@teawithlecree5328]

Thank you, exactly what I used to think as well.

[@sabineollivier2161]

Yes I Aldo thought thé same. I loved watchîg this but …. After what’s happening ? Who pays thé bills ? Electricity, property, all thé taxes, thé mortgage etc….

[@nakedfeetkitchen]

I thought the same thing

[@RatedFforFUGlenda]

@@sabineollivier2161this is probably why they start paying off houses

[@Knowah82]

You kept watching a stupid show😂

[@chaundadon2612]

Used to be one of my favorite shows to watch with my family growing up, this sucks… getting older & finding out the truth sucks….

[@kathymurguia6881]

I was a teenager when this was on the only problem I saw the quality of the remodel and keeping your room clean then the adult world kicked in and saw an older u tube video like this and realized it wasn't a blessing

[@veronicao4643]

I was a kid and thought it was amazing. Crazy to see the truth now as an adult

[@pumelelabanca1442]

Its becoming like this with everything now. You find out that your favorite celebrity is a sex deviant. 5:40

[@devina3706]

I know what you mean… yes sometimes truth hurts. But let’s always remember God loves us ❤ look to the cross ✝️🐑

[@chase_modugno]

It could be worse, Christmas could have been a stolen Pagan winter solstice holiday.

[@GarthurFleck]

This really needs to be a Netflix Series.

[@mariamejawara]

They're gonna milk it so badly

[@rayjones9819]

As soon as the camara crew left, i would've sold the house and pocketed the money.😂😂

[@emimagination]

If I remember correctly there were a few who tried to do this but it was tough to find a buyer Edit to add: keep in mind that the 2000s were also a very different housing market than today

[@Ang.0910]

@@emimaginationright because the houses didn’t fit the neighborhoods and the people couldn’t afford the new property taxes

[@Yourstruly4.0]

Absolutely

[@ChristopherDwiggins]

They had to pay for the house. So they would sell it to pay for it.

[@valeriehenn6556]

Except the furnature I really like.

[@Azuluza-z9s]

This needs to be a Netflix series

[@juliannesteele7082]

It’s already a series. On Vice Tv. lol

[@nikkis8102]

@@juliannesteele7082 They are really bad at advertising it then. What is it called? Do you have to pay to watch?

[@djackson5105]

Oh I would definitely watch it

[@CryMeARiver63]

Extreme Makeover : Home Edition was a tv series . Started in 2003 and ran for 9 seasons.

[@salutemenow3096]

its literally a vice series. everything doesnt need to be on netflix/

[@jen37019]

I remember when Extreme Makeover came to one of my neighbor Debbie"s home in Colonie, NY. She was a foster mother to children with HIV and other disabilities and had one son of her own. The show built them this gorgeous house and one of the kids bedrooms was decked out like The Nightmare Before Christmas. The show also helped out with a camp for disabilities the kids went to down state. I was one of the lucky ones to be able to go inside the home, since we knew her personally. I also was a School Bus Driver at the time and we shuttled thousands of people to and from the construction site for the show, plus we drove the workers. ( I almost ran over Ty Pennington when he was being filmed, because he ran out in to the middle of the road without looking...lol) The home in itself was beautiful. We were getting ready to move and we sold all of our indoor birdhouses to Debbie so she could decorate the entrance of her home. I know she had a ton of financial issues after the house was built. The electric bills were sky high and her taxes tripled. I've lost touch over the years, so I am not certain if she still lives in the home. It was all very exciting to say the least.

[@kayblank]

If you shared the address, we can find out on Zillow.

[@sonjaflory5082]

I remember an episode featuring a boy with brittle bone disorder. They installed heated floors since he scooted along the floor to get around independently. As a kid, I thought it was so thoughtful and helpful. As an adult, I can’t imagine what the electric bill must’ve been!

[@alisong2328]

Same with the girl who could not go outside if it was warmer than 50 degrees.

[@randoawesomemix9501]

Heated floors are one of the most efficient forms of residential heating......

[@Juiciejuice]

​@@randoawesomemix9501also the most expensive and dangerous ways to heat anything.

[@aaroncantu5763]

It actually isn’t that bad . My grandparents have heated floors and it’s only like 20-30 a month if your constantly running them 24/7 at the highest heat 😂

[@Born_Stellar]

@@aaroncantu5763 I don't know if heated floors made advancements in the last decade, but I lived in a rental that was 'upgraded' with heated floors, the power bill was insane. me and my buddies had to buy space heaters to save money. It was like $500 elec bill for the first nov/dec bill we got when it started to get cold.

[@e4t662]

If It's too good to be true, It probably is..

[@KayciazWorld]

Every time!!

[@FaceTrillions]

✅️ right

[@teamsteed1]

Yep.

[@ThawZinMyo-gw3zz]

What? Is true?

[@cpjmorgan]

Ain't that right

[@Unhingedhealth]

I remember watching the show as a kid actually and I would be like oh my gosh, we should apply for the show and my dad would be like absolutely not because those people are gonna be stuck with way more bills than they realize and I would argue with him and be like no of course not the show takes care of that and he was like absolutely no they don’t, he was right

[@dayinah]

I wanted to be on that show too and was sad we didn't own a house, I guess it was a blessing in disguise 😅

[@healingtheinnerwoundedchild]

Wise dad

[@tonimartin8547]

Imagine the needless arguing you did, bringing that man's bp up just to be wrong

[@jkeilyndesmond9560]

I never understood why they just couldn’t remodel the homes into regular family size homes instead of giving them something lavish that they knew these families could not afford to begin with. As a kid watching this show back in the 2000s I always wondered how were they going to pay the bills if they were already on hardships?

[@marisha.art.channel]

I think you’re right. Now that I’m older and have a home of my own. I really understand that what they were doing was just taking advantage of people who were desperately in need. For whatever reason they wanted one more home renovation reality TV show during a time. When reality TV was done, best moneymaking trend in television and entertainment as a whole. This looked not only good for the renovation portion, but it was also just altruistic. Or at least it looked altruistic. Let’s call this what this is: taking advantage of people and who truly don’t understand the long-term consequences of it.

[@stitches318]

That's what the girl says in the video that they didn't expect that the home would be made over so extravagantly

[@bxrokk]

One reason: RATINGS!! At the end of the day this was a TV show and big and shiny entertainment always takes precedence.

[@fay8687]

Just like , at that time, when they "remodeled" people in shows like "the Swan"

[@BlckgalAnointed]

Same, I used to think the whole show was fake tbh, I just kept thinking about how high taxes would be.

[@seabizcut88]

As a kid from a small town I can still remember when this bus came to town. I still feel very sorry for the family. It was abandoned a few year later and just sat empty

[@naturalnashuan]

Ithink several of the houses were abandoned and ransacked. That would make an interesting part two to this

[@naturalnashuan]

I also heard that making a house in a low income area into a mansion drove up everyone's property taxes and they really resented the expensive house.

[@melissahancock3298]

That's so sad 😢

[@debl9957]

If you have the nicest house on the block in a poor neighborhood, you become a target.

[@O.oTimeTravelerO.o]

They need to sue!!!

[@lft3636]

I remember one episode where the kid is disabled that he couldn’t climb up the stairs, that they built an elevator inside the house. Imagine, paying for the maintenance, electric bill and the realty tax that comes with it.

[@Adonna2424]

Sad thing is, that's a necessity for a disabled person. And there's millions of us living without things we desperately need. 😢

[@rockmegently]

@@Adonna2424It’s a necessity unless you just build a one story home instead.

[@ChaozTheory808]

While i saw this i also immediately thought about the disabled kid with the elevator..

[@T.Harry79]

Upgrading families to a much worse financial hardship is crazy work. I used to watch that show and it never pulled my heartstrings. I noticed the finesse immediately.

[@Xarai]

its only hardship because property taxes and stupid republican bs

[@CrazyBrick30]

​@@Xarai I mean, property taxes are one thing, but are you seriously blaming extra utilities on Republicans?

[@duelknight]

​@CrazyBrick30, I agree. Don't bring politics up if it wasn't brought up

[@rodneymills6477]

@@duelknight That logic is a little circular? The jist of it is, "Republicans hate poor people. They make our lives harder."

[@jetson_]

So edgy

[@PLuMUK54]

The UK version of this show improves the participants' home to make it more liveable for people, children and adults, with special housing requirements. Often, the house is not even extended, so things like property tax and heating bills remain the same. Sometimes, special equipment, such as hoists or lifts (elevators), are added, which would entail increased electricity bills. However, the lives of the participants are not severely impacted by this. The US show seems to be badly thought out. It is planned for the impact of the reveal day. Our show is planned for life after the cameras have packed up and everyone has gone. I've seen follow-up programmes in which the participants talk about how much the show improved their lives.

[@AMinibot]

Plus, the accessibility features that use more electricity are often identified beforehand by the family as a thing that is genuinely needed and specifically wished for, with the real barrier being the upfront cost.

[@ethicallysourced_]

Unfortunately the US does not have a practical mindset about…anything really 🤧

[@jordan12118]

The US version wasn’t made to really care about the people on there it was made to entertain the millions watching at home sadly

[@williamnicolas122]

Oh you mean it's reality tv that is exploitative ? How strange 😮

[@AMinibot]

@@williamnicolas122 no, I think what they mean is that it's been proven possible to do this format in a constructive way and have it be a successful show. Which makes the US version look genuinely a bit stupid by comparison, because the exploitation isn't actually necessary in order to succeed.

[@haleysmith8778]

This is why kids need to be taught more about finances, credit, loans, insurance and home ownership in school. A lot of people don't learn about these things until they have gotten themselves into bad situations. I would have immediately sold this house, turned around and used the profit to buy a house we could afford.

[@CA1567-v8p]

Your government would never do that. Teach the kids calculus things 99% of kids will never use

[@g7924]

Kids won’t learn the regular stuff they’re supposed to learn in school now you want to add this? Nice idea though. They’re too busy making TikTok’s

[@nsbd90now]

@@g7924 I suppose it is ridiculous to expect their parents to teach them anything.

[@highfivedog]

There is a class war going on and the people at the top don't want anyone to know anything about money or how things actually work. They distract us with immigration, trans issues, other lgbtq+ issues and everything and anything that takes the spotlight from the fact that the rich get richer from poor people suffering, and it's intentional. We have the resources to end homelessness and hunger today. But we don't.

[@lunamalicreations]

This needs to be a full length documentary!!!

[@woodchuck3466]

Its from Dark Side Of Reality show episode 6

[@d0m3ll0tt4]

@@woodchuck3466ohhh need to check it out!

[@emhym]

@@woodchuck3466thank you

[@nona4536]

@@woodchuck3466where can i see that?

[@nyleriverto]

@@woodchuck3466where can I access that series?

[@GLJosh]

A big house comes with big utilities bills.

[@future_me_6067]

High ceilings especially.

[@Bern_il_Cinq]

It was in AZ but for $2200/month they must have had the whole estate at 60 degrees for the whole time lmao

[@GLJosh]

@@Bern_il_Cinq It could have been watching everything in that theater room as well.

[@Luna-ml7id]

Think of the property taxes

[@mmtravel9726]

Big property taxes too !

[@scalesspeaks]

NEVER THOUGHT OF THIS!!

[@Tanouuuu]

I used to watch this show when i was a teenager. To me it was like a dream come true. I guess be careful what you wish for...

[@jefferystillwell2121]

No way I would trust the quality of a 4000 square foot home built in a week.

[@Blys6]

It’s not built in a week 🙄did you even watch the show?

[@410kane]

Tv shows make it seem like somethings done in a short amount of time, but in reality it took months or years of shooting

[@clarencesmith467]

I was in a movie that filming when I was in literally 9th grade came out after I graduated in 2012 4 years later😭 but worth the 🫸🫷😅😂

[@Ilar-en7lg]

Exactly

[@Ilar-en7lg]

​@Blys6 It was built in 7 days. Didn't you watch the show?

[@WhiteArrow76]

In 2009 CBS news did a six part segment on six families who were struggling with financial troubles. Not only did it completely ignore the fact that it was at the height of the recession, but in the end, three of the six families ended up resolving the issues and keeping the houses.

[@keshiajuice9610]

Its the "Pimp My Ride" house version basically

[@atxchaser]

Pimp my ridewasa fake show too

[@keshiajuice9610]

@@atxchaser yes that's the comparison here

[@ingiyan8741]

What looks good isn’t always good.

[@leslie3550]

I think the Pimp My Ride show had more cheap products used. They made the car look good from the outside. But there were major problems inside and with the items they put in the cars. This version is about people not being able to afford the bills that their new house accrued. Less about being cheaply build.

[@DallaS.88]

​@@keshiajuice9610 man, PMR. Plenty of "winners" also thought they would fix problems with their cars too lol. Intro is some beater car needing some serious work, get it back with a milkshake maker in your backseat but your engine is still about to blow up

[@Your_pixels_are_showing]

I feel like half the people in this comment section have never even watched the show. Or even understand the family's chosen were in severe poverty. They had absolutely no idea, couldn't even fathom the costs associated with a huge home like that. I also think most don't realize the new house was built over their existing home. Yes, of course they would try to save it. It's where they raised their kids. That property, even though changed, had been their home for years if not decades for some.

[@dozzer009]

Exactly! Why they didn’t just come in and work with the existing house and then redo the inside with all the perks? Absolutely heartbreaking 💔

[@lb6056]

Because it wouldn’t have made for good tv. Its disgusting.

[@dontgettoknowm9864]

If they had a home, they have a clue about expense. This is greed and stupidity. Anybody who has a budget or knows how to work with their paycheck knows if they get a huge house that they’re gonna have to sell it and buy one that they can actually afford.but people act emotionally and selfish and get themselves into trouble and I don’t feel bad for them

[@92cgray]

I completely understand that now that I am adult because it never crossed my mind these ppl were actually already struggling financially.

[@Eszra]

Actually there was one family that made over 6 figures a year and could actually afford the house but ABC said they look at other factors. Not sure if they still have the house though.

[@LovelessYayaoi]

There was a makeover of a house in my neighborhood. Apparently, it was built on property owned by a community youth program that was right next door. The family didn't even last a whole year, I think. The house now belongs to that youth program.

[@healingtheinnerwoundedchild]

That's one year in nice surroundings, not many get to live in some luxurious homes EVER.

[@material___]

Wow am I old! Right as I’m watching at 0:40 I’m thinking that’s a small tv not even remembering this was like 2004 and he goes “I never seen a tv that big” just takes me back. Even the cameras quality tells the time.

[@Starfish2145]

These families were USED by the show. They were not told that their property taxes and utilities would double or triple. Not sophisticated people. I feel that they were taken advantage of.

[@Bern_il_Cinq]

@@Starfish2145 The lesson to be taken here is that free rides aren't really free and that you could bless some people with a mansion and they'd still ask for more.

[@LLandS18]

Look I'm Canadian and our power bill is tend to be more expensive than Americans. My grandmother used to live in a Victorian estate. Spending the family for generations. I live in it now. But I've gone completely Solar so I have zero power bills. And after 4 years it's completely paid itself off. But will my grandmother live there and hadn't done any of the modern updates that I have like putting new insulation in the walls replacing the windows. It gets down to - 40. Which apparently Celsius and Fahrenheit line up. I didn't know that. And at the worst her power bills were $ 400. I don't know what the hell they were doing in that hoax. I have a power bill of almost $3,000. It's insane.

[@ibizawavey8630]

Always playing the victim card.

[@nakedfeetkitchen]

But how did the adults not know their utilities and property taxes would increase…?!!

[@Tryp-j9d]

DAMN, you’re STUPID!!!

[@pahkjeemean6461]

I definitely watched this show as a kid and loved it. Always dreamed about how it would’ve been like to suddenly have a nice home and go on vacation at the same time. I really do feel bad for all these families… I really hope things would’ve turned out better

[@AlexMuchacho]

My parents worked their whole lives very very hard to provide for us and live in a "safe" neighborhood. We were all real happy and then someone down the street built this enormous house within the span of a summer. The. Another popped up, then another...next thing you know they were everywhere and the property taxes went through the roof. After a few decades they had no choice but to move. I completely understand how these people feel. The brighter the picture the darker the negative.

[@MaseraSteve]

Good to know thanks! That's such some evil law going on. In my country, it doesn't matter what will the surrounding turned into. Once you've paid it for cheap, you'll always pay the same accordingly as long as the house doesn't look Fancy. We have a family member who used to be a middle class back in the 90s working for my dad uncle's company. He obviously isn't working anymore. And his own eldest child is the useless Bastard with no achievement other than being married too early and a slacker. Digressing a bit, but you know what the condition of them now, very poor.. The home surrounding nowadays were an upper class mansion, but since they bought it when the area intended for typical middle class home, and the taxes were more less the same to this day

[@MaseraSteve]

@@TanyaKatherine it's indonesia, we don't have over complicated taxes system too! Oh btw we taxed the billionaire for 35%!! Middle class only need to pay 5% for income taxes. if you're upper middle class it's 15% anything below $5500 it's tax free for the poor. Sounds like utopia, till you heard the corruption and oligarchy, you'll rarely see the money goes into public service but our previous president did a lot for public recreational area , pavement , and international race tracks for tourism. But the taxes for middle class business entity are chocking them 😂🤭 I'm an aspiring entrepreneur obviously going to move out

[@BaseReality8279]

In my area taxes and more based on sqare footage # of bathrooms or if your on the lake ( water frontage) so im off the water in a medium size 2 bath home. My taxes are very reasonable despite being surrounded by houses that cost minimum double of mine.

[@JJSo12345]

No one had a discussion about the costs that the family would have to pay for maintenance, repairs and taxes in order to live in the house…? WTH?!? Did no one advise them in any way? Truth is, the family should have sold the “gift” house immediately and used the profits to create an affordable situation for their lives and future.

[@mogamatyusufmartin9171]

True

[@giacamalo8177]

Yep I think I would go from excitement to “how am I going to afford this?”

[@MiniM69]

The same level of savvy required to cash in on a brand-new, customized mansion is the same level of personal finance education needed to have the conversations you mention.

[@LLandS18]

I just don't understand how power bill gets over $2,000. How does that happen. As a Canadian I was not Americans paid last for the utilities. Maybe I'm wrong. My grandmother at the time was living in our ancestral family home. A 200-Year-Old Victorian mansion. And she refused a lot of the modernization. So a lot of it was original. The one thing she did allow was a modern heating system. The highest bill she ever got was $500. I've inherited them and we did one winner in it before we modernized it. Like got insulation put in rewired it got brand new windows. Put a better roof on it. And the highest bill I got was $600 for 2 months. And that was with running the pool heater and all of the electronics at a modern house has in it. They were very wasteful. And it gets down to minus 40. I just don't understand. Plus the show didn't force you to take out more loans and more loans and more loans. You did that. You should realized after one month of that bill that you couldn't live in that house and sold it.

[@jaywholoveseveryone1721]

There were instances where people could NOT sell their houses. What you suggested was easier said, or typed, than done.

[@ArainaNespiak]

It’s actually disgusting! I remember watching this show and feeling so happy for these ppl. I know what it’s like to not really have a home, so it affected me. Knowing the truth just broke my heart, how could they do this to these already struggling families!? Makes me sick

[@socalencounter]

I remember they did one near my hometown. Neighbors in the construction zone said it was an awful experience. staff would harass them to open up their bathrooms for the volunteers or whoever. Safety was a huge concern. Everything sounded rushed just to make it safe enough for the walk-through. I remember being told that the turnaround was not a week it was several in reality.

[@MackenzieStith]

they build the house off set in a warehouse and bring it in in chunks on trucks to be put together

[@jenniferwilliams5478]

Of course u can't knock down a home, rebuild one and move everything in in one week...

[@paulmann5328]

I would like to think something like this would and should take several weeks 😅

[@d.52555]

@@MackenzieStithWOW!

[@amyhpete]

This doesn’t ring true. They’d have brought in luxury ports potties

[@billepperson2662]

1:01 "nobody's seen it, you're gonna be the first to see your new bedroom" cut to a cameraman filming her open the door from inside the room

[@Shinigami88X1]

That or the second cameraman was waiting in the room like a serial killer

[@HeavyMetal45]

You don’t think the people that made her room saw it?

[@92cgray]

They mean no one as in their family members and Viewers watching.

[@elylioney6390]

​@@HeavyMetal45The Tag Mahal

[@destructionman1]

They were all blindfolded, getting around by feel, even the contractors who built it

[@MONEYM723]

They did this to a house that was literally two blocks from where I lived. It stuck out like a sore thumb. Those people lost the house within the same year. It was sad as hell. Empty and just falling apart.

[@Noori-xq2kw]

People are saying she should of sold the house but I don’t know anyone that would buy a mansion in the hood. Part of buying a mansion is to live in an exclusive neighborhood. Maybe eventually she could’ve found a buyer but I imagine it would’ve been difficult . That house is just a monstrosity.

[@bxrokk]

Exactly. An unspoken rule of real estate is that it's better to own the worst house in the best neighborhood, than the best house in the worst neighborhood.

[@Afmedic85]

Location, location, location

[@RazorRamonElJefe]

They could've still sold and been financially stable at the end. Staying was their own decision and ultimate cause for their demise

[@GymJones865]

Location, location, location. My cousin is a realtor.

[@LLandS18]

@@Noori-xq2kw Also wasn't the hood. That's actually kind of offensive. It was a middle-class neighborhood where her house was. In fact, most of the places where they renovated these houses were middle class to upper middle class. But I guess that's super convenient for your narrative. Considering a lot of the family members who did sell their home immediately had no problem selling their house. Also saying that the network is responsible for her poor financial decisions is like saying the Lotto Max should pay because you blew through all your Lotto earnings and then went into debt to maintain your frivolous lifestyle. It's just so ridiculous. She's not a victim, she did this to herself.

[@michaelanderson-harding]

You guys need to keep up with this because this needs to be talked about way more! That’s a cruel joke to play by an organization who makes enough money that they could have kept up with this and helped these people they wronged for no good reason!

[@JesusSaves721]

Just a FYI to everyone: Over 200 homes were built and as of 2020 / 9 families had to give up there homes due to financial issues, 2 went in foreclosure. Now I'm not for greedy companies whatsoever, but acting like this is an issue with only 5% is pointless! Some people are just not good at handling money, OR maybe certain ones just wanted to downsize and pocket the cash. What a waste of time this ended up being.... The More You Know!

[@JenniferSDuran]

It's good to know this and adds more depth to the whole picture.

[@kylector]

Do you have a source for your stats? The 200 homes and the 9 families as of 2020.

[@emilydowns5285]

What an ignorant and privileged thing you are saying

[@Stcksj]

EXACTLY

[@theslacker]

we have this show in Romania also, but here almost everybody owns the house, so taxes and utilities remain the same. they just make a big upgrade by making it livable and cozy, upgrading with technologies and new apliances. not making the house bigger in dimensions. so this show works pretty well here and is a big opportunity for people who don.t have the means to make their life much more beautiful.

[@hiyellagal]

Romania as good common sense; US not so much.

[@hoopslaa5235]

Romania probably doesn’t assess taxes on value in this way here. Like many countries you can build 10extra bedrooms into an existing structure and nothing changes! Must be nice!

[@kekeke4467]

In my country its similar. our tax rates work so that it is on the unimproved land value. Additionally, the shows tend to make nice but affordable houses usually for people with special needs or people whos houses have been destroyed..​@hoopslaa5235

[@zoe-lou2522]

Same here in Germany.

[@zzulm]

In the US homes are investments not a human right, the system is profit over people.

[@thobiem]

2:20 I always wondered about that when I was watching this growing up. I think I kinda assumed that the show took care of the bills. But really giving people who are struggling to get by month to month a giant house, without accounting for bills that naturally come with a house that big, is actually insane. In hindsight, just giving the family the money they used to build the house would’ve been so much better.

[@RayF6126]

They subsidized building costs with volunteers, the reserve materials they had that they also sold to companies building houses, they didn't get a pay all the permitting fees. The money they paid to build the mansion would probably have been a year or two of extra income at most but would have been more useful.

[@ishathakor]

or even just making small changes rather than transforming it into a giant mansion. like replacing old appliances, maybe getting them new mattresses and doing various other interior design changes that makes the house look nicer. plus paying off the mortgage. that would cut their living expenses down significantly AND improve their life quality without burdening them with a house they can't afford to live in.

[@smlid]

EXACTLY!! I thought the same thing! They were barely able to make it before, but how in the heck do you pay bills on a mansion? Or property taxes?! That show didn't make sense at all!!

[@stufftod]

How does a 2200 electricity bill equate to a 400k loan

[@glodaily]

I had the same thought

[@MixedChick1]

I'm wondering that too

[@roojistanr5015]

Yeh true

[@crinkly.love-stick]

The electric bill was an example. They also had gas, water, sewer, internet (which was fairly new and expensive back then), massively increased property taxes and insurance.

[@Avaddon911]

@@crinkly.love-stickinternet was cheap as hell back then.

[@chigal0926]

I never liked this show. My mother was a real estate agent for 10 years. I asked her about these massive housing upgrades and if this would affect their property taxes. She told me it would cause a massive increase. The majority of these people could not afford to keep these homes. What a con!!!

[@mikey4016]

And to think the founders of the U.S.A. fought a war because they couldn't own property and could only rent it from the government. It's very sad how it's all turned back around.

[@sagthenaturalsiren5997]

You really needed a realtor to tell you that…

[@gregorysteimel5165]

So it's the government's fault.

[@angus_ismyname3424]

My HS bf lived close to one of these houses. They came to his neighborhood for a family that was struggling (I can’t remember their struggle story) and built this crazy, enormous house. We used to always go for walks to pass it. One of the kid’s room faced the street and he legit had this huge dragon/dinosaur head decor on his wall. So over the top. The neighborhood was lower middle class so it stuck out like a sore thumb.

[@liesbeth250]

I was maybe 14 when this show was on television, and I clearly remember telling my mom that these people won't be able to keep up with their new homes. If a 14 year old can see this, the producers can see this too. They just don't care, they want the ratings.

[@3rdeyegirl83]

Well said! Agreed

[@Megan-rz4fc]

Exactly, same

[@greg_216]

The real damage is to the country as a whole. The show contributed to inflated consumer expectations about the size of a "normal" house, and we're still living with the fallout. New home builds today are remarkably similar: too big and too costly for most working class families.

[@LurkingLeviathan]

100% i feel like as 27 year old I'm still thinking I need more space than I actually do for myself and my dog. I just need a yard for her. And I hate stairs. Probably don't need that extra room just put my computer in the living room. Even that 1 bedroom house is over a quarter mil in the pnw even if I wanted to its just a far off dream I gave up on

[@Hollyberrystreats]

Yes!

[@Xiosoranox]

Funny that no one wants to mention this. I'm 28 and it's insane seeing my generation cry "we'll never afford a home" but then scoffing when you show them a 980 sq ft home built in the 70s sitting in an average middle class neighborhood. They only want Mcmansions.

[@alaynajordan8459]

​@@XiosoranoxExcept that 980sqft house is upwards of $250k. Yeah we actually can't afford that.

[@linchen5129]

​@@alaynajordan8459 💯🥲

[@ursulatroxler7428]

The taxes and upkeep and homeowners insurance must be unbelievably expensive .

[@WhiteArrow76]

Habitat for Humanity has run into similar albeit rare circumstances with partner families losing their homes. In Lee and Hendry counties in Florida, the Habitat affiliate lost 10% of their partner families to foreclosure, which many of them blamed Habitat for.

[@carybensilhe4869]

As soon as they said the size of the home, I could already sense the issues a home that size creates like property taxes, electricity/heating/cooling costs, etc. Very costly

[@GavinsMarineMom]

And insurance

[@thechrisandphaedrusshow]

This is the problem with North America.... As long as it looks good from the outside it doesn't matter how messed up it is on the inside!

[@trippietoadie1296]

It’s like that everywhere

[@bocawilliams9200]

With North America? You know that covers a HUGE amount of the world with some greatly impoverished countries. Many of which have no similarities with The United States.

[@yesterdayseyes]

Yes, all of North America 😂

[@hoopslaa5235]

@@yesterdayseyes wow how boring is your life. Mexico is literally all unfinished houses outside because there’s a tax loophole if the home is still under construction then it doesn’t have to pay and fees or taxes. So the outsides all have an UN-finished second or third story with re-bar sticking out of the columns and the insides are the only thing nice so they don’t get robbed by people see a nice outside of their house! You’ve clearly never been to Mexico or guat or nica or costa etc. el sal?! Haha. Damn you’re DUMB. Damn you’re really uneducated and LIFE in-experienced. ! Sucks to be you!

[@melsutubeification]

🎯🎯🎯

[@zd4v1d]

So, they are not only expected to provide a house for them, but to maintain them for the rest of their lives? As much as I despise the media, I think some of the responsibility goes to those adults on the receiving end. Oftentimes it's better to say NO to a handout.

[@acceptinglife6491]

Who remembers the boondocks episode on this😂😂 man that show was ahead of it's time!!!

[@mayo506]

what episode?

[@acceptinglife6491]

The one where they had pimp my ride and extreme house makeover. It's the episode with X-ibit. Just look it up

[@estupedude21]

Lmao damn foreal

[@beautifulcaramelman]

​@@mayo506it's called "the real" from season 1.

[@SaschaStradtmann]

In Germany, the show ran as well. What contestants and production company did not know: contestants had to pay massive amounts of taxes on the makeover of their homes, because the German tax office considered it as "benefit in kind" and hence income tax had to be paid on the increase in value of their homes after the makeover.

[@helloiamgobo]

As someone who was on the same not nice block as one of these that had their house redid-- it was pretty nice. From what I remember as a kid, you had to prove you lived on that block to get to your own house. The thing is, they had a main tent that provided catering the entire week. Various stuffed chipotle burrito's and other food, various drinks-- Expensive drinks like Pom juice I'd never heard of until then. You could take as much as you wanted to go eat back at your place or right there. My family loaded up and ate good for a while. Felt bad for the family though, saw a For Sale sign after a few months.

[@MaximusBlack]

If you can’t pay the bills with no mortgage. They should have sold the house. Even at a discount. Pocketed $500,000. Bought a $250,000 home in cash and had $200,000 left over. Invest. That would have been a blessing. Instead you take out $400,000 in loans to pay bills you can’t afford? They got emotional and wanted to live way beyond their means.

[@fongdimbulator]

Absolutely. Should have sold up as soon as they realised they needed to borrow money from the bank just to sustain the cost of living. Absolutely wild financial decision making.

[@daisymin426]

You can't blame them, most poor people don't know how to make profit or much business/economic knowledge. They're just trying not to drown in debt. That why the poor stay poor and the rich get richer. The education system doesn't teach regular people how to file taxes etc, whilst the rich get opportunities to learn about those things *hence private schooling, financial advisors etc or can afford to higher people to do it for them.

[@daisymin426]

Thankfully, it's 2024. There's social media, and that knowledge/info is easily accessible.

[@cherfromtn8225]

​@@daisymin426Middle class and wealthier people don't understand the financial knowledge they have. They just assume everyone understands money. The truth is, is your parents did not have money and did not teach you how to manage money, you don't know how to handle it, either. Each class holds hidden belief systems that have been developed to help a person function in THAT CLASS. These ways of behaving also serve to keep you in that class. That is why this family did not immediately recognize they should have viewed this house as an asset and sold it--since they could not afford it. They did what poorer-class people do. They took out a loan. Instead of capitalizing on an asset, they allowed it to become a liability. If this show wants to help people, they needed to have had a financial planner work on a budget with them and built a house they could actually afford. Probably no market for that kind of show, sadly. You can read Ruby Payne's book "Understanding the Framework of Poverty" to see how the hidden belief systems work in each class. This book is not ideal (it is written for educators), but it makes you realize you are following the rules of your own class--without even knowing they exist.

[@rockmegently]

The homes were not easy to sell. If you watched the whole clip, a lot of them mentioned that they were trying to sell but couldn’t given that most of these home were put up in low-income or impoverished communities. The first family said they had to sell that mega mansion at a discount and barely came out even after the exorbitant bills.

[@Tormekia]

People not realizing taxes and utilities are going to blow them out of the water is sad.

[@ICONICPARIS]

Well when you've never had a house like that how are you supposed to know?

[@ibizawavey8630]

People not realizing that taxation is theft blows ME out of my fk mind. Reminder that the USA was formed because people in boston didn't want to pay 2%!!!!!!!! in taxes LMFAO

[@Your_pixels_are_showing]

These were people in severe poverty. Always living paycheck to paycheck. How were they to know what costs would be associated with living in a massive home like that?

[@MyChannel-ol1zz]

@@ibizawavey8630No it’s not lol

[@Allen-bt9hr]

How do you not know those two things are going to increase drastically plus insurance.

[@OriginalWhitee]

"The things you own end up owning you." Tyler Durden

[@waymoreawesomer]

A hard lesson about cost of ownership. Just because you can afford to buy something, doesn't mean you can afford to own it.

[@sharae951]

They didn’t know the homes would look like this

[@RachelRae]

@@sharae951if they were in any season after the first then they did.

[@sbielec30]

I would say maintain it… not own it.

[@randihigginbotham5070]

This! This is a whole lesson in the shortest way. Many will not ever understand this. Brilliant way to teach it.

[@ishathakor]

??? they literally couldn't even afford to buy it in the first place. this lesson doesn't work with people being gifted homes they can't afford. they couldn't afford to buy it OR own it. that's the point of the video

[@asrr62]

I hate people who set others up for failure.

[@Carmellasandy]

2:22, an electric bill for 4000sq/ft home should not be $2300, what’s going on??? More like $250-$300

[@mikey4016]

Not built efficiently, designed to fail.

[@thetallman72]

It's Arizona. House that size probably has at least 2 possibly 3 A/C units. They are going to run most likely 11 out of 12 months of the year. You can't just run one unit because it will just try to compensate for the space the other 2 aren't cooling. That alone can be close to a $1,000 in the summer. I live in a 1,600 sqft home in south Texas. In the cooler months my bill is about $300. Their bill could easily be $2,200. Especially if there is a pool and hot tub/2 to 3 water heaters. And they don't have experience with pool maintenance, and knowing how much it can impact the power bills.

[@MinoQ-y2j]

Seriously, wtf were they doing to get this high electricity bill???

[@Kaboomboo]

That's very naive. I can wager you haven't had to pay for an electric bill for anything larger than a small apartment or at all. A house that large requires a lot of electricity. You need it for the appliances, a/c, lights, entertainment. It all adds up dude. I had a two story apartment with two separate AC units it cost 400 some months.

[@salvadormendoza5045]

Giving someone a house or updating their house is an amazing gift. Unfortunately big houses come with big bills. This show was a huge hit I'm surprised abc didn't just pay their mortgages that would of been the true help these families needed

[@Tim85-y2q]

They did in a lot of cases, but the mortgage wasn't the biggest issue.

[@marisha.art.channel]

I think you’re absolutely right, and I really do think that this show would have been a little bit better if they had just stuck to updating and upgrading the house as people already had while also trying to keep their expenses low. They could have updated furniture or you know, fixed holes and walls or fixed roof or whatever.yeah it would’ve raised the value of the house and raised the property taxes a little bit but I think that if they had kept in mind that these are people who are not gonna be able to afford much more than it wouldn’t have been so bad. I also think that maybe the show should have just covered some of the cost of taxes or something. I don’t know if there’s a whole lot of things that they could’ve done differently, but they didn’t do it and they took advantage of people in need.

[@smittysmeee]

The lady just said her electric bill was more than her mortgage ever was. And remember, a mortgage you pay off and are done. Utilities are forever. The show took the cheap way out.

[@flyinpolack6633]

Wow. Even winning stuff sucks nowadays..

[@ashleyw.6702]

😅😅 yeah.

[@WhiteArrow76]

The reality of this situation was far less dramatic. In the realm of philanthropy, organizations which provide any kind of housing assistance have to accept the risk that things may not work out. The fact of the matter is, they don't have any control of what happens after. Given only 4% of the shows recipients were impacted by these risks, that's hardly enough to bring the shows effectiveness into doubt.

[@kilaa3417]

Bro what

[@hereforthefreewater]

Who the hell gets a $400,000 loan to pay a power bill? Sell the effin house jeez

[@Bern_il_Cinq]

@@hereforthefreewater They leveraged equity out of the house because it was free. That's a great lifestyle decision in terms of stretching out your reality TV real estate into an income but financially they were hemorrhaging net worth the entire time. Then they sold for a profit and had the nerve to get on this and ask for more. Ungrateful people I swear.

[@ryanroberts1104]

Dumb trash. You can't fix that.

[@h_iii]

It's stupid to do but I also get it. The best way to describe it is for some people owning a home like that is a dream come true. Something they wished for, forever. Now all of a sudden, their dream is being torn away from them so they do anything to keep it going. When you made it to the top of the mountain, you want to stay there.

[@MyChannel-ol1zz]

That part was confusing. Even with higher property taxes the loan should be able to covers costs for years.

[@kyleydiamond]

selling a house is not always something you can decide to do today and have done by tomorrow. some houses take YEARS to sell

[@ramrooster85]

I remember the house that was Built in Gainesville. My mother volunteered to work there. They told her to clean up the Catering from when the City Officials had Lunch there to see the construction. My Mom said, “Nah, I came here to help build a House, not clean up City Officials Garbage!” She left after that, and we never watched the show again.

[@CoolMinded0]

What they didn’t feature is the death threats the families got from the volunteers that did the half-ass work to be on TV after they sold the house.

[@jameshall915]

your Mom is a Boss.

[@ingetout]

Unless your mother works in construction, I wouldn’t want her to build my house either.

[@adieljonsson864]

What a stupid story.

[@mOOOp42]

Property taxes are the true crime that ruined these people lives.

[@sibongilethwala7080]

I used to sit and cry episode after episode they were so touching. Especially the homes that were made more accessible for someone with a disability. Sad to think they were caused more problems.

[@juliandavidac]

The audacity to say that the show must go on.

[@Fjordes]

My cousins family was the Stott Family, epaiode 152 in Lena IL. Joey ended up not being able to afford the house anymore, divorced, and had to move elsewhere bc of increased costs. Lena ain’t a big town either. Basically one of those towns with a vintage drive in, a single bar, and less than a couple hundred homes upon entrance. They were thankful in the moment for the life changing event in highlight. Money will always ruin people’s lives.

[@Afmedic85]

They did this for a family of 4 boys with a single father in a town near me. There was an article in the newspaper a few years later about how they couldn't afford the upkeep and did everything they could to save money. They ended up selling it and its a law office now. The town its in isn't a very nice place either, its 1 step above the hood. The town right next to it is always on the list of most dangerous cities

[@daniellenewby3169]

i remember reading about these stories in a article and it was real sad and some of these people were shunned by their own neighbors for being “irresponsible”.

[@jayking2698]

Who in their right mind really thought they were going to be able to afford to keep it up?!🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ Seriously, each family has a home they can afford not only mortgage but the heating and cooling, taxes, insurance!

[@pjt3887]

Part of the reason why so many were in over their heads is the cost of living. Lack of financial education. Property taxes and utilities are insane. This is why I'm happy with a small home.

[@Chula92]

No these ppl need a series to tell each story and hardship they faced

[@angelgarza2215]

2:50 turn off the ac dude

[@KuriaGerald]

😂😂😂😂

[@ldbwa1050]

Still a huge house tho smh

[@lg_1226]

They literally turned off everything in half their house. She even said the movie theater light bulb was $900 alone. They screwed nearly every person they gave these lavish homes too

[@ohkreally8913]

Would love to see a full length episode on this topic

[@nancyd8031]

ABC should do a show with the same families and help them out

[@R_A_3000]

And maybe build them a new house 😁

[@gaildevaney6074]

They were given a once in a life-time opportunity and squandered it.

[@Naturefan354]

​@gaildevaney6074 Exactly! I wish I got that opportunity

[@CoolMinded0]

From what I heard ABC pulled their episode from Disney+, along with other families that sold their houses.

[@nancyd8031]

@@CoolMinded0that’s crazy, I didn’t know that!

[@TylerEubank]

0:41 “I never seen a TV that big” shows a 32inch 💀

[@FurkanSavas]

you're probably young...

[@jaywholoveseveryone1721]

Ruining People's Lives...By Giving Them a House...just to make a show. And, BOY did we watch

[@ashleychildresss]

My grandpa’s construction business was on this show so they were the company who built the house for free and we never recovered financially tbh

[@RazorRamonElJefe]

It seems that was your grandpa's mistake. Not the show's.

[@rachellecalero1012]

Woe! it's like signing a waiver for an unseen unfortunate event... Good thing that vice covers this so that people and small to medium companies will be informed before they say yes to a "show"... yeah, we enjoyed their shows we chose to watch but not knowing what was happening behind the scenes. One example also is the Beast games, where there was alleged contestants were "exploited shamelessly" in his upcoming series beast games...

[@OsOthellO]

A week of “free” construction work shouldn’t bankrupt a building company. False Narrative.

[@jackiechan_wtf4041]

Your gramps were betting that all that advertising would generate new customers to his construction business? What a terrible strategy!! 😅 You don't put all your eggs in one basket, and live on hopes and dreams.

[@lv7603]

Grandpa made a mistake.

[@labradorklife72]

I worked with someone who received one of these houses. It was built so quickly that the workmanship was shoddy and problems with expensive repairs cropped up quickly. And there was the tax bill and utility bills that were astronomical. Bigger isn't better.

[@felixvelo]

Ignorance is a horrible thing.

[@officetechtyping]

I live in a 5 bedroom 5 bathroom home in the desert. The highest utility bill we've had is 750 a month. Edit: 3 floors.

[@guerline685]

Do you have a pool?

[@officetechtyping]

@@guerline685 no.

[@ProfCantonius]

@@guerline685 or turn off power to the pool

[@LLandS18]

@@guerline685 my grandmother at the same time the show is filming was living in our family a home. Which is almost to 200 year old home. And it has a pool and it has a jacuzzi. None of the windows had been updated because my grandmother wouldn't allow us to do it the insulation hadn't been replaced it was still seaweed insulation in the walls. The only thing she allowed updating was a modern heating system. Sure I live in Canada but I've always been under the impression the Canadians pay more for utilities than Americans do. And she never not once had a utility bill over $700 we can get winners that go down to -40 and that's when Fahrenheit and Celsius link up

[@valeriaswanne]

Whaaa the house that was built in a week isn't efficient?! Who could have guessed 😂

[@njhbgy98]

The best thing to do would have been to immediately sell the house after it aired on TV which gave it the best publicity/advertisement potentially getting the MAX value. After getting the $ from selling the house, now the families can get buy a smaller or cheaper house they can easily manage financially based on their current annual income. Not to mention, they would still have that extra $ from selling the Extreme Makeover house. Problem solved! oh well. I wonder how many families ended up going this route.

[@toxicchipmunk134]

I don't think Corporations and Ethics fit in the same sentence.

[@youngmasterzhi]

Unless it’s pure ethical egotism

[@toxicchipmunk134]

@@youngmasterzhi Yup. >_

[@relighg]

I dont even know why families would agree to it not knowing how taxes not only increase for that property but also for the maintenance cost

[@Tim85-y2q]

Because they're blinded by the short term gain.

[@TheRedScareIsAlive]

This was early on. They ramifications hadn't been publicized. This was before social media.

[@alisong2328]

And they didn't know the scope of the project and just thought their house was getting rehabbed.

[@SeizingJday]

They mentioned they weren't aware how large they were making it

[@Tim85-y2q]

@@alisong2328 Even that is going to have major property tax implications in most jurisdictions though.

[@kukachoo42]

my first thought is always "what about the property taxes?"

[@502Darrick]

I used to live with my grandmother in highschool and they put one of these houses next door. They paid her $1500 for inconvenience because they worked on the house literally 24 seven. You just see kind of the behind the scenes of it and how many normal people are really working on this house and the host literally only came in for two minute shot his scenes and left. It was horrible. They use my granny’s water to fill up the pool. People were peeing in her yard and the working conditions just seemed horrible and rushed. They still live in the house so I assume they can pay all the bills but honestly, it was a horrible experience just even being next-door to it. Imagine somebody building a house 24 seven next-door to your house people talking and yelling screaming lights everything

[@WrongedSports]

There were so many of these "Upgrading" shows like Home maker and pimp my ride and probably 5% of those people that got upgraded houses or cars didn't have the item in 2 years.

[@elysiumalien]

i grew up and thought about this show and wondered how they would afford the new electric bill and property taxes

[@archangel_josh]

The very definition of "more money - more problems". The same thing happens with lottery winners.

[@MaekarManastorm]

Get a job

[@austinlyles6152]

Why the hell would you take out loans to pay the bills instead of just sell the place. That makes zero sense.

[@grahamkristensen9301]

Sunk cost fallacy. They were given this one in a million opportunity and didn't want to lose it, so they did everything the could to hold onto it, even if it was to their own detriment.

[@bradleywhite6815]

probably because they felt bad. They were given this gift and were trying drastic means to try and float the cost so they could keep the house televised and given to them. often times these families become targets by their communities for being ungrateful if they complain or up and sell the house.

[@Dkvizu]

Hard to sell a mansion in a neighborhood where it sticks out like a sore thumb. The people that can afford a house like that don’t want to live next to normal working people

[@ryanroberts1104]

@@Dkvizu So ask half price, they got the damn thing for free!

[@gotyoutriggered.8644]

​@@ryanroberts1104Do you think the original mortgage is paid off? They would end up with nothing after paying it off.

[@hyenapack800]

This show came to my city many years ago and 6 months after the show left the homeowner was reaching out to people asking for help paying the outlandish bills this show left her with. They installed 45 lights in her kitchen alone.💯🤦🏽‍♂️

[@jimmolnar7822]

Property tax is the biggest legal scam!

[@LLandS18]

@@jimmolnar7822 no, it's not. You like water coming to your house? You your wastewater being taken away? You like pay roads. You like the plow trucks that come in plow the snow away put salt down. How do you expect to pay for those things if it isn't taxes.

[@anyangrb]

@@LLandS18they should still be reasonable. The fact that they rise exponentially even when you don’t do upgrades but values go up doesn’t directly correlate with cost of these services

[@CA1567-v8p]

Property taxes shouldn't be another mortgage that's stealing by our government

[@franky2473]

They did one of these homes around the corner from my house in Fairfield, Ca. I think the family adopted kids or helped kids in some way can’t remember but they came remodeled the house with a theater room an elevator and other things. Around 2009 or 10 they lost the home when the housing market crashed. I still drive by to this day and it’s still standing. Still remember the entire neighborhood watching the house being built in a week

[@GaryInHell]

Minute into the video and already know where this is going now being a homeowner myself and having my property taxes and home owners insurance go up TWICE since we bought the house 2 years ago

[@Xarai]

donbt pay insurance its a scam annnd australia doesnt have property tax :D

[@boujiebarbie3198]

I need yall to make this a multipart series with many seasons and in depth investigations!!!! I been wondering if this was what they are showing us!!!

[@aprilporter6092]

I only watched this show once and it was the first thing I thought - "how are they going to afford this? It's going to end badly."

[@EnnVee959]

Yes. I wondered about the financial sustainability of something like that.

[@TomGeek1980]

I know someone who gave someone a house and he was shocked when they couldn't afford to live there anymore.

[@TobinOsusky]

HGTV does this to every person featured on every single show they produce.

[@obfuscatethecode5696]

TLC too. The exploitation makes these companies rich