Extreme home foreclosure: House built for ABC show in foreclosure

Here's a wild one: The mini-mansion at right, which was built by the ABC reality show "Extreme Makeover" in 2005 as a gift to an Atlanta-area family, appears headed for foreclosure. How do you lose a house that someone gave you as a gift on national television? According to the  Associated Press, the family that owns the house took a loan against its value to start a construction business.

From Access Atlanta:

"Things couldn't look better three years ago for Milton and Patricia Harper of Lake City, who giddily accepted the keys to a small castle, plus enough money to pay taxes on it for 25 years.

"Now, the Clayton County house that "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" built is a two-story, turreted example of how things can go wrong. It's in foreclosure.

The A.P.:

"After the Harper family used the two-story home as collateral for a $450,000 loan, it's set to go to auction on the steps of the Clayton County Courthouse Aug. 5. The couple did not return phone calls Monday, but told WSB-TV they received the loan for a construction business that failed.

"The house was built in January 2005, after Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA and ABC's "Extreme Makeover" demolished their old home and its faulty septic system. Within six days, construction crews and hoards of volunteers had completed work on the largest home that the television program had yet built."

--Peter Viles
Photo Credit: A.P.
Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com

Comments

[Tim]

Sad... greed strikes again...

[puckhead]

Some people are just not meant to find success or happiness in life, even if it’s handed to them on a silver platter. Sorry, no sympathy for these people at all.

[toby]

It's a shame. That would have been a nice house to live in for the next 23 years.

[E]

That is the epitome of a dumb-ass.

Free Home, Free Taxes and they lose it through a cash out refi.

Had to be bigshots.

Had to start a business

They were already set.

Maybe they should have just gotten regular jobs and they would be doing just fine now.

Sorry...no sympathy.

[TakeFive]

Peter Viles wrote:

"How do you lose a house that someone gave you as a gift on national television?"

They didn't "lose" it. They sold it to the bank for a tidy profit.

But wait, there's more!

"The family returned to a new home, plus contributions worth about $200,000."

So they're up by about six-fiddy, and this is considered a loss. God Bless America!

[Jackie Romulo]

I have a feeling more of those Extreme Home Makeovers will make their way onto foreclosure. I can't feel sorry for them for messing this up.

[ty p.]

GREED!!!!

Some people are meant to live in a trailer.

ty p.

[CT]

A gift like the house they received is to be cherished and passed down to future generations. The honorable thing for this family to do for the trouble that all the people went through to give them this house would be to help other families that are deserving of home makeovers.

[Rational Renter]

Earthquake!!! Will it have an effect on house prices? :)

http://findingbottom.blogspot.com

[Scott McIntosh]

Wow.. What a beautiful looking home. I bet that home was decked out. I agree with the above posters on what a tragedy this is. You get a free house to live in because you probley faced some family crisis and were in need. Then you mess it up and do something stupid and let it go into foreclosure. *Sigh*

http://www.thewestwoodblog.com

[mech]

IDIOTS!!!!!

[Miguel]

http://realitytv.about.com/od/extrememakeoverhome/
ss/HarperMakeover.htm

is a link to more information about the harper family.

My mom said if you dont' have anything nice to say. . . .

So I'll be quiet.

[Valerie]

What happened to the $250,000 that was given to them for upkeep on the home???

[LA]

I'll believe the $450k was spent on a failed construction business when I see the business records. The next installment of this story will involve the IRS, no doubt.

[Nancy]

How selfish can one family be? There are plenty of people who would have been happy to live in a home like that.

[Mark]

I'm shocked!! Not!!!! ABC puts these people in homes that are way over their heads. I know it makes for good TV but a reasonable size and style home would make more since. I quit watching this show some time ago because I grew tired of the sob stories. They have helped a few very deserving families. They have also made some huge mistakes in some of their selections. The people were just flat out laZy. With a capital Z. Choices in life will make you or break you. Some of these idots have made too many bad one's to be given any more. Sorry! As this situation proves!

[Maria]

IDIOTS!! A free home for the next 20+ years and they had to open a business? Wow.

[Cal]

The number of people able to run a business successfully is small. Give people 450k to go and try and buy themselves a job and I would guess 90% would fail.

The biggest reason is that they would all try and start too big and never learn the key concepts of how to grown be successful.

There was a CNN article about 2 yrs ago abou a Tujunga couple HELOCing their home to death to buy a juice franchise (along wih a RV and other junk), I'll have to go see if their franchise eventually went along the path of their home.

[landry]

To me, one of three things may have happened with the Harper family. (1) They simply got greedy and made a bad investment. (2) The family may have been the target of con men. And (3), losing that money in a failed start-up business may just be a front for the family to cash in on the value of the home.

This is the exact reason I never watched this show. We can give valuable gifts to stupid and greedy people but no one even considers giving that money spent on building that home to a dozen homeless shelters or cancer reaserch.....

We have people dying in the streets and this Harper family just cashes in on a $450,000 gift for themselves.

[Kriss]

Harsh people. This family was dealt a terrible hand. Their child died because they lived in the inner city and medics couldn't get there in time. Then they saved every penny they had and sunk it all into a house that flooded with human waste. With a fresh start on life, they were trying to live out their own dream by starting a company they could support themselves and their children on. How could they have known the housing market would crash this badly? They are in the same crisis as so many other people in this country. The only difference is that they were on tv so we feel okay to anonymously stab at them. You wouldn't say these things to your neighbor who is dealing with the same pain down the street. The hurt has to be even greater for them. I'm not saying give them a new house, but empathize a little.

[RonC]

LOL!!!

[mpb]

How stupid can you possibly get?!!! What a waste! The parents were meant to be poor, too bad the kids didn't get a chance at a decent home and the opportunity to make a better life for themselves. But who knows, maybe that stupidity is in the genes as well. IDIOTS!!!!

[Dude]

Lottery winners are bad financial managers.

[Thomas J. Byrd]

I would be curious to know how the others faired as well. Maintance of swimming pools, keeping the grass trimmed and watered, keeping the lawn mower and other equipment running and serviced, shubbery pruned, weeded and general cleaning can be quite a job for many that have not experienced it at the level required for these houses before.

[Collette]

I feel bad for the people that volunteered from the neighborhood - took time off their own jobs just to help. And these greedy people end up homeless 3 years later? Pathetic...