'Extreme Makeover' house in foreclosure (Atlanta, Lake City: mortgage, loan, new house)

[gt6974a]

Talk about a bunch of idiots!

.....................Lake City mayor Willie Oswalt was among the volunteers who helped build Harper's home 3 1/2 years ago, and Beazer Homes was the main sponsor. The mayor told WSB he is baffled.


"Beazer gave them $100,000 cash, paid their mortgage off and they still can't make it," said Oswalt.
.................

'Extreme Makeover' house in foreclosure | AccessAtlanta

[BobKovacs]

That's the part that has always annoyed me about EMHE- you take a family that has little income, huge medical bills, etc., and move them from a dilapidated 800 sf house into a 5,000 sf McMansion- and then you wonder why they can't afford to pay the utility bills. What people in these situations need is a safe, clean, efficient home that puts a roof over their heads- not 5,000 sf with a plasma screen in every room.

Of course, these morons are a special case- they took out a $450k mortgage on a house that they owned free and clear, to start a construction business. Number 1- shame on the mortgage company for floating a loan to people who obviously don't have the income to pay it back (if they do, why were they on this show in the first place? I can't afford a $450k mortgage!!). Number 2- how stupid do you have to be to take out $450k to start a company in an industry that you've got little to no experience in? Just because the equity is there doesn't mean you take it out!

[tallrick]

I bet those families are burdened down with a new, much higher property tax payment as well!

[ramblinwreck17]

"You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day or teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime."

A person with a sound financial mind can take a 60k year job and live like a king. A person with little financial bearing can be given 1M a year and ruin themselves.

The funds, free mortgage don't matter- it's the financial IQ of the person.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Wow, I thought everyone knew that construction and restaurants are the most 'dangerous' new businesses to start because of the high overhead.

I do wonder what the hell was wrong with that bank, but I suppose they were just looking at that house with all that lovely equity in it.

I've never watched Extreme Makeover, is this essentially what they do? Put poor people in really expensive houses? I would imagine they would have the same pitfalls we discussed in a previous thread about putting people who have been mired in the social service system for generations into a middle class neighborhoods. Without a support network there to guide them, they're subject to all manner of predators.

[BGS99]

Your life is the culmination of decisions you make. Sure, things happen out of your control. How you choose to proceed will make you who you are. Throwing money (or houses) at people in need rarely works. It doesnt get to the root of the problem. Just like when you see someone win the lottery just to go bankrupt shortly after. Help people learn better decision making skills so they can provide for themselves.

[atlantagreg30127]

I agree with the above comments. When people suffer something in life and live in bad conditions, the LAST thing they need is more to worry about in the way of utility bills, or for that matter, an out-of-place fluffed home in a soso neighborhood that you have to worry about getting broken into every day.

Extreme Home is a ratings showcase, nothing more. I'm sure on a personal level they do care about helping these folks out, but they do more hard than good by putting them in overdone homes. They just need a solidly built, quality home - not an indoor basketball court or hydrolics in the garage. Not unless you plan on giving them 5 million dollars along with the home.

And yes, some blame in this particular case has to go to those who received the home for some apparently very poor decisions afterward as well.

[BobKovacs]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

I've never watched Extreme Makeover, is this essentially what they do? Put poor people in really expensive houses? I would imagine they would have the same pitfalls we discussed in a previous thread about putting people who have been mired in the social service system for generations into a middle class neighborhoods. Without a support network there to guide them, they're subject to all manner of predators.

Essentially, yes. When the show first started, the first few episodes consisted of relatively modest remodels to repair problems with the house. A few episodes into it, they tore a house down and built a brand new one in it's place- since then, it's been one new house after another. For a while, it was becoming a "let's upstage the last build" type of thing, with each show getting more and more ridiculous and extravagant- recently there have been a few less absurd builds, but they're still far more than 95% of the owners needed (or probably wanted). I've pretty much given up watching the show, since it's all about excess now.

What really amazes me is that this is the first foreclosure on one of these houses that I've heard of. It wouldn't surprise me if there have been many more. I also can never understand why they build some of these lavish houses in some pretty ratty inner-city neighborhoods (I know of two in NJ)- it puts the family at risk of breakins or worse- especially after the whole world has seen the lavish interiors, electroncis, etc., that the houses have.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by ramblinwreck17

"You can give a man a fish and feed him for a day or teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime."

A person with a sound financial mind can take a 60k year job and live like a king. A person with little financial bearing can be given 1M a year and ruin themselves.

The funds, free mortgage don't matter- it's the financial IQ of the person.

Circumstances can be a factor, though. Even a financially responsible person can get hammered by layoffs, medical situations which reduce income, etc.

[BGS99]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Circumstances can be a factor, though. Even a financially responsible person can get hammered by layoffs, medical situations which reduce income, etc.

Bad circumstances can happen to anybody. The choices made when faced with these circumstances will determine the outcome.
There are plenty of successful people who have been hammered by layoffs, medical situations, etc.