Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Savannah

[Belinda Barfield]

I've watched this show maybe twice. I cried both times so I decided not to watch any more episodes. It has been pretty interesting though to see the whole thing coming together. I can't imagine trying to build a 3100 sq ft house in a week, including demo of the existing structure and clearing debris. It's raining now and forecast to continue through the night so I'm not sure if they will meet the Thursday completion schedule or not. I have to admit, I liked the TOH project here a number of years ago a lot better than this one. The TOH crew was around a little longer. Great project though.

http://savannahnow.com/news/2010-11-...outs-overnight

[John Pratt]

I spent 80+ hours working on the one they did here in Lawton, OK. It truely is amazing the way they keep the time schedule down to the minute and stick to the schedule. You really build the house in 5 days because the first two days are spent getting the family out, emptying the house, and tearing it down. However, if you have ever worked on one of these, you can never watch the show again. You become somewhat jaded by the way the show depicts the build process vs. what actually happens. The show makes it seem like the makeover crew is working hard throughout the week really making it come together. In reality, you would be lucky to see the four "stars of the show" a total of three hours during the week and you will never see them if there isn't a camera around. Additionally, you never see the four or five takes to get the camera shot just right for the family to come out or for some "special project" that they are suprising the family with. I think it is a great thing they are doing, but it is really different working on the site vs. what you see on TV. One of my favorites was when the guy with the glasses did a scene where he describes using a scroll saw to make an ornamental object, and then says he needs to get busy because he has to make 25 of this item. He made a 15 sec cut for the camera and then left while 5 volunteers jumped in to actually do the project.

[Belinda Barfield]

None of this surprises me, John. A friend was at the site over the weekend and said she did a lot of standing around while they did seven or eight takes of people carrying empty boxes out of the house to simulate moving stuff, etc. For some bizarre reason the powers that be thought it would be a good idea to tie in some type of "southern fried" theme and they fried several bricks from the house. I'm still not getting that one! Either way, the show much go on!

[Matt Meiser]

So are the 3 pigs doing the counters?

[Belinda Barfield]

So are the 3 pigs doing the counters?

Nope, the 3 pigs are not involved in this one. One of the pigs wanted to volunteer but work got in the way. Apparently they were overwhelmed with volunteers. Paula Deen even got into the act.

[Scott Shepherd]

Nope, the 3 pigs are not involved in this one.

They'll be volunteering when the homeowners can't afford the $1000 a month electric bill from all the new electronic bells and whistles they put in. When they can't afford it, those pigs will become breakfast and dinner

[John Pratt]

It can be overwhelming for the family sometimes, but from a money standpoint, they don't really have any worries as the mortage is usually paid off so they only have to worry about the utilities. Even in the case of utilities, they usually receive a lump sum of cash when they move in that can be in the thousands of dollars from local groups and businesses. I know in the house I worked on they received $10K in "spending" money when they moved in.
Another problem is that they are building million dollar homes in hundred dollar neighborhoods. A 4100 sq/ft home just doesn't fit in a (max) 1300 sq/ft neighboorhood.
I know here the family was under a tremendous amount of stress when it was completed and couldn't even stay in the house for a week because of all the looky-looes who wanted to drive by or knock on the door to see the inside of the house. They actually posted police outside the house to put a stop to it.
In the end it didn't have a happy ending for the family here. The Dad hooked up with some other women, the kids were taken by child services, and the mother commited suicide after about 1 year. Unfortunate to say the least.

[Matt Meiser]

Except everything they get is taxed as winnings so they have to take out a new mortgage to pay the taxes. Obviously how much varies by state. But the family in Detroit that "won" early on in the show was in foreclosure last I heard.

[David Weaver]

Except everything they get is taxed as winnings so they have to take out a new mortgage to pay the taxes. Obviously how much varies by state. But the family in Detroit that "won" early on in the show was in foreclosure last I heard.

That's probably a common scenario. Around here, the taxes on something new like that would really ruin your day if you were low income - $1000 a month or so for a $450,000 house.

I recall seeing a statement from NBC/ABC whoever it was when they were contacted about a family who had taken out several mortgages on their house and finally lost the house. They (NBC/ABC, ...) said something along the lines of "we don't comment because the house isn't our business after the build is done" (paraphrased).

You could read into that several different things. I read business as business in trying to figure out what they were getting to, and realize in reality, that it's important that the show generates revenue by creating demand for the ad space. That's their "business". What goes on in the house after the show airs doesn't affect that, so there's no reason for them to try to bind the occupants of the house to anything when the build is done.

[John Pratt]

What is really amazing is the ABC has no real cost associated with the build other than paying the "Talent" and production costs. Everything, and I mean everything is, donated by the local business, contractors, etc. When they did the build here, there was a guy stopped by and handed over a check for 300K to the ABC people as a donation towards future builds. It is a sweet deal for ABC and the people who love the show, but for everyone else...not so much (including the families). It was definitely an experience and I enjoyed taking part in it, but when it is done you don't feel as satisfied knowing the hardships for the families and what really goes on behind the scenes. I can no longer watch the show and I would never be a part of another build. I will stick with the Habitat for Humanity homes that we put up several times a year.

[Bryan Slimp]

I read once that they get around some of the tax issues by "leasing" the property from the family. I'm not sure how this helps, but the production company improves the "set". If they didn't have something figured out the show wold have been over before season 1.

[Brian Elfert]

The family rents the property to the production company or someone for the duration of the build. Improvements by a renter to a property are not taxable for the landlord (the family).

The tax issues come in to play with property taxes and taxes on any other money given to the family. The families can't necessarily afford as much as $1000 a month in property taxes.

One family took out a mortgage or mortgage(s) on their new house to start a business. I don't recall if they got foreclosed or not.

[Rick Davidson]

I was just involved with the one that was done here in Oregon at the OSD. It just aired on Halloween. It was quite the experience, but I agree it's a lot different then what you see on tv. Turns out they actualy have 2 builds going on at the same time so when Ty is doing his "special project" means he is at the other build site.

[Matt Meiser]

I recall something about that in the paper here but there is a lot of money and stuff like furniture, cars, etc. that is given to them too.

When they were doing the one here, they were also doing one in St. Louis so Ty was driving between Toledo and Detroit, then flying to St. Louis and back. He ran out of gas on the side of I-75 and was rescued by a mom and daughter who recognized him standing beside the road on evening.

[Belinda Barfield]

I did see in the local paper that there is a fund raiser/auction on Saturday night to raise funds to pay the couple's existing $80,000 mortgage. I do not know the employment situation of the couple that "won" but property taxes won't be cheap for them. The property is at the edge of Ardsley Park, which is one of thie high dollar historic districts. I do know that the couple has significant medical bills for their youngest child, one of the reasons they were chosen for a makeover. They moved to Savannah from my hometown to be closer to a medical facility that can handle the needs of their son. I hope that once everything is handed over to them they can hang on to it.

I've also heard a lot of stories around here about beneficiaries of Habitat for Humanity homes not being able to pay property taxes, etc. It must be very frustrating to finally have a home and then not be able to keep it.