Kentucky Family Decides to Sell Their Extreme Makeover Home
By: Diane Tuman, Zillow Content Manager | June 2, 2009
Three years ago, the Hassall family of Berry, KY, received an Extreme Home Makeover. Their home at 1884 KY Highway 1284 W Berry, KY 41003 was torn down and a new one was built in seven days as the Hassall family went on vacation to Disneyworld. Now, with great regret, the Hassalls have decided to sell their home for $349,900.
According to an interview with Andy Cunningham of WKYT, there are several reasons for selling:
“Between the mortgage payments, other home costs and our medical expenses, we just can’t afford to stay there anymore,” Brian Hassall said. Hassall went on to say maintaining the 3,300 square feet home and the more than five acres it sits on is too much. “We thought long and hard about our decision and it wasn’t easy,” said Hassall.
Another reason they’d like to move is to be closer to Cynthiana and to their medical providers in Lexington.
The Hassalls have endured a lot of heartache in the past few years. Brian is a Cynthiana police officer who was shot on duty. He continues to be afflicted with migraines from the incident. His wife, Michelle is battling cancer as well as a rare blood disorder. The couple has two adopted children, including one with special needs.
According to this McClatchy article, the Hassall’s are in debt for the house, too:
…the Extreme Makeover’s producers paid only their second mortgage, which they took out to pay for the adoption of their son. After the old house was torn down and the new one built, they were left with a first mortgage on a house still valued at $117,000 (according to property records), much larger utilities bills and a new and larger tax bill.
As you can see, between the debt for the house and their mounting medical bills, the Hassalls had to make a very difficult decision — one which has raised a reaction in the local newspaper. And, as this article points out, the Hassalls are not the first Extreme Makeover recipients to sell their home.
Check out some great photos of the Hassall home.
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Comments
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mary on June 3, 2009 8:04 am
GOOD HOUSE……….
Liz Provo on June 9, 2009 12:59 pm
This is so sad, but it’s not the first time I’ve heard of this happening. Winners of HGTV’s Giveaways have also had the same fate. Perhaps its time for a little less glitz and glamour and a little more attention to helping home buyers (even if FREE) to be able to live within there means. Don’t we get it, even now after all the irresponsibility seen within the mortgage and real estate industries coupled with potential homeowners whose eyes are bigger than their pocketbooks.
Extreme Home Makeover will actually be here in Western Mass this month for a makeover supervised by a local builder and fellow member of the Western Mass Homebuilder’s Association. Pecoy Custom Homes is a very socially responsible builder, and has been touted for his “de-contructing” of homes and recycling materials to the local ReStore. I wonder what he will think his role as GC in this makeover. My guess is that, sadly, his team will have little say in the extravagance of the design.
Minneapolis Realtor on August 6, 2009 11:24 am
My parents live a few blocks away from the house they built in MN and everything seems to be going fine there. But some of the people that receive the homes just don’t understand the maintenance costs of keeping a huge home going. By the looks of the mortgage on the new house they should be able to buy a decent place free and clear.
computer chess on September 8, 2009 12:56 pm
So much for all the hard work and goodwill…
London Floor Sanding on October 20, 2009 9:41 pm
What a shame. Obviously the producers of the show were trying to do a good turn for this wounded policeman and his family though apparently a nice new house was the least of their needs.
I have read so many of these Extreme Home Makeover disasters I must conclude being a ‘victim’ of this show is a curse rather than a blessing. Mother always said, ‘nothing in life is free’ and maybe that is the ultimate lesson of this show, perhaps the producers are more enlightened than we suppose and have a secret agenda to teach us all a lesson in proper accounting practices and the dangers of high mortgages.
If they really want to embrace the schadenfreude they should do a follow-up series, ‘Extreme Home Foreclosure’. It would appear they have a large number of potential subjects.