Man Says HGTV Dream Home Too Expensive

[BlackSheep]

Thanks, but no thanks...what a deal!
Donald P. Cook, who won HGTV's 5,700-square-foot Dream Home in April, says he's selling the house. The annual $19,396 tax bill plus maintenance costs are too much for the state auditor from Alum Creek, W.Va.
Cook plans to live in the house near Asheville, N.C., for a few weeks then sell it. The home overlooks Lake Lure in Rutherford County.

Cook plans to retire in October and stay in West Virginia. He said he'll use the money from the Dream Home's sale to buy another house. Taxes and upkeep contributed to his decision to sell-the Rutherford County Tax Collections offices said the home is assessed at $3,015,100.

In an interview with HGTV posted on its Web site, Cook, an auditor for the state of West Virginia who has been disabled since childhood by multiple sclerosis, said the electricity bill alone in the home is more than 10 X's what he pays now. “I don’t think there’s any possibility I could afford to live there,” he told the network. “What we plan to do is live in the Dream Home for about three weeks, then sell it.”

Cook said he plans to retire in October, but he wants to stay in West Virginia. He’ll use the money from the Dream Home’s sale to buy another home. “It’s a dream that anyone would love to have-owning a house like the Dream Home,” he told HGTV. “But then reality sets in.”

The house is fully furnished, but Cook said he would consider selling all the furnishings and appointments inside-except for a signed painting by Brevard artist Ann Dergara. Cook said he does plan to travel-his prize came with a new GMC Yukon, which the company swapped out for a handicapped-accessible van-and $250,000 in cash.

So far, HGTV has given away 10 Dream Homes, but only two winners have used the homes for any length of time, Yarborough said. One winner in California used the South Carolina Dream Home as a vacation home for family and kept it for eight years, and another man has managed to stay in the Dream Home in Tyler, Texas, for about a year.

The other winners have sold their homes.

Yarborough said Cook, who lives with his wife, Myrna, probably will build a home on one level to accommodate his wheelchair. “This (the Dream Home) enables him to live his dream-it just isn’t in this particular house,” Yarborough said.

[Shannie0308]

I entered to win that house everyday for months. But from the sounds of it, I wouldnt be able to afford it either. That kinda sucks.

[Lilypad]

Flip this house?