HGTV Dream Home 2012
an irresistible blend of excess and bland furnishings
When I moved into my first grown up place, I watched an unfathomable amount of HGTV. When I wasn’t helping Briscoe and company solve crimes on back-to-back episodes of Law & Order – spoiler alert: they always do it for the money – I was giving the side-eye to dubious design choices inflicted on eager homeowners with matching freeze dried smiles. And each year, just in time for the holidays – because we all totally need to feel like shit about our homes the one time of year we’re most apt to open them up to others – HGTV would offer up its Dream Home Giveaway. Now I’d admit, I always watched, imaging what I’ll do with all that unneeded space in a neighborhood devoid of a decent all night gas station or RiteAid. Then I’d wonder about property taxes, heating cost or the location. My faux worries weren’t unwarranted it seems: the bulk of previous winners have opted to sell the properties because they couldn’t afford the tax bill!
Do you care? Did you enter? Do you have an extra $800k to give to Uncle Sam?
I’ve never had the HGTV bug but a long time back (when I was in the home market) I made the mistake of going to one of those “Parade of Homes.” Which was basically an array of McMansions by built by different developers in one place. It made house shopping really depressing because there was no way (and still isn’t) that I could afford those cathedral ceilings or master bedroom suites, let alone the tax and utility bills.
Haha. Those “parade of homes” should be subtitled: see these properties before they’re distressed, destroyed and in foreclosure!