Another Extreme Makeover Home Edition Home Being Sold

Add this home to the growing list of Extreme Makeover Home Edition homes being sold. The details:

The first home in Arizona to get the "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" treatment is for sale, the family blessed with the two-story mansion saying it is looking to escape the crushing bills that came with the house.

The extreme-home asking price: $1.3 million. The Gilbert house, on Redfield Road, has six bedrooms and six bathrooms.

Since moving in, the Okvaths faced soaring utility, landscaping and general-maintenance bills for which they were unprepared.

The Okvaths took out a $405,000 loan on the home in 2006. It was an adjustable-rate mortgage, and the Okvaths struggled to make the payments.

They almost lost the home to foreclosure in 2008.

The home was first on the market in 2007, for $1.8 million, and still didn't sell when the price was reduced to $1.5 million.

Bryan Okvath, who most recently worked as a long-haul trucker, has suffered back problems and is unemployed. Nichol is planning to enroll in culinary school.

The home's Realtor called the price "optimistic." Tony Moore said most million-dollar homes in Gilbert are in gated communities. The Okvath home is on an acre lot in an area zoned for horse property, he said.

"The challenge is you have to find that right buyer who likes the farmlike surroundings," Moore said.

Ok, let's review the situation here:

1. This family was given a very expensive home.

2. It's not clear whether they had an existing mortgage (if they're like most Americans, they did), but they took out at least one big loan for $405k.

3. The couple is unemployed, which is likely the reason they almost lost the house to foreclosure (they couldn't make the loan payments.)

4. In addition to paying the mortgage, they had crushing maintenance bills, making the financial problem even more difficult.

5. Now they're trying to get out, but it's going to be hard. Who really wants to spend $1.3 million on (what the comments seem to say) is a house in rough shape and in that sort of neighborhood?

Let me state something at this point: I love the show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They do good. They help people. We love to watch and cry with the rest of America. There's not much bad about the show itself.

But when you give an over-the-top house to someone that 1) usually has low or no income, 2) doesn't have much financial savvy (which often got them in their original predicament), and 3) can't afford to pay for the maintenance costs on a backyard carousel, elevator, $5,000 oven, and many of the other things they put into these homes, it's a recipe for disaster.

How about simply going into a community and building five to ten homes for needy people? I guess that doesn't make for good TV.

Comments

[Traciatim]

I think extreme makeover street edition would make for much better TV, especially if they made reasonable homes with extremely low maintenance costs (IE, Geothermal and solar heating systems, solar hot water with demand hot water heating, local low maintenance landscaping, drought resistant lawns, low maintenance siding, metal roofing, solid construction, etc.)

It would be educational, practical, and would feel good too.

[theCase]

"How about simply going into a community and building five to ten homes for needy people? I guess that doesn't make for good TV."

ding, ding, ding! we have a winner!

Habitat for Humanity used to be like this, but even they have turned to corporate sponsership and are always looking for media attention. That being said, H4H is a pretty good program.

[MC]

I'm floored most by the $405,000 HE loan on the house. That is a huge amount of money!

The house was "given" to them. No way their existing mortgage could have been that much (even in the bad old days a few years ago, unemployed people were not given mega-mortgages like that). It's also inconceivable that they needed that amount of cash just to pay the utility bills.

So, where did the money go?

Not sobbing over the plight of these folks, frankly.

[ron]

how about building reasonably sized and really energy efficient houses with geothermal and/or solar systems instead of wasting money on shitty mcmansions with giant, unnecessary rooms and granite counter tops.

my problem with the show has always been that it reinforces all the bad ideas of what a house should be.

[Ellen]

That is so sad. It's too bad that the houses made on this show can't be done in a way that would leave the family with low utility costs and minimal maintenance. They should really consider investing in more energy efficient appliances and architecture. Not only would this make owning the home more affordable for families, it would make the houses easier to sell if they ever wanted/needed to move. It seems like this should be the focus, not all of those frivolous amenities added just to get a good gasp when they walk in the door.

[Randy]

Did I read the original article correctly? They recently "added" a seventh child. Hello???

[Reid]

OK, for the record, the show recently did a house 20 minutes from where I live. They have finally started to learn from their mistakes. The house is super efficient and green. It is TINY compared to most of the houses they have built. There was a wind turbine put in to provide electricity. This home will be their 2 hour season premiere this year. It is outside of Superior Wisconsin. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be one of these stories.

[Strick]

Sounds like they'll still have a huge amount of "winnings" left over after (eventually) selling the house and paying off the loan (even if the proceeds of the loan are all gone). Here's to handling what's left better. (none of us are very hopeful of that, are we?)

Wonder if any of the madeover homeowners ever just sold their home (before draining the equity) and retired off of it? Just stinks to see a truck driver who once owned a $1.8 million debt free asset and who has back problems call himself "unemployed" instead of "retired"...

[JANETTE MAILLOUX]

I LOVE THE SHOW I WISH OUR HOUSE WAS MADE BETTER FOR FLOODING. I AM HANDICAP AND WOULD LIKE TO MEET YOU IN PERSON