Extreme makeover home edition north pole ak

Some rooms had damaged walls, and one of the bathrooms was missing plumbing fixtures. The open house attracted more than a dozen people in its first hour.

Several had questions about upkeep costs. The house is heated by both heating oil and an outdoor wood boiler. A few of the open house visitors said they worked on the construction crew in One former volunteer who would not give her name said she was disappointed in damage to the house. Debra Reeves of Fairbanks had a curious visitor over the weekend when temperatures hit 42 below zero.

Moose like to stick close to the house when it gets this cold, she said. Photo courtesy Debra K. Edit Close. Toggle navigation. Close 1 of 3. Recommended for you. Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community. Submit here. Newsletter Sign up. There was an error processing your request. Breaking News Breaking news, as it happens, in your in-box. In , the Harvey family was given a spacious 4, square-foot house, but the bank auctioned it off six years later.

This pattern became common with many former guests of the show, who took mortgages out on their new, expensive homes to pay off old bills or start new ventures. It's hard to say where the fault lies. Should ABC have given families smaller homes, or should the families have not accepted the mansions? The St. Augustine Record reported the show built a six-bedroom, seven-bath mansion for a family of four, which many would say is more house than they ever needed.

In addition to the doubled or tripled power bills, brand new makeover houses come with higher tax bills as well. Perhaps fortunately for the families, the reality show helped them in some creative ways. Endemol, USA , the company behind Extreme Makeover: Home Edition , did some serious acrobatics to help the families avoid paying taxes on their makeover. An IRS loophole says if your home is rented out for less than 15 days per year, you do not need to pay taxes on that rental income.

With that in mind, the show explains to families that they are "renting" the house from the family for a week, and the improvements are the rental payment, meaning they don't have to pay taxes on the improvements. While this plan helps families upfront, they'll still be responsible for the future property taxes that will undoubtedly rise with the increased value of their home. It's hard to imagine a scenario where you would actually sue the people who built you your dream home for free, but it happened in Extreme Makeover: Home Edition built a house for the Higgins family, five orphans who had lost their parents to cancer and heart failure.

The home was built for them and the Leomitis family who had taken them in. The show built them a nine bedroom mansion and even provided new cars and groceries, but after the cameras left, things got ugly.

According to the Higgins children, the Leomitis family launched " an orchestrated campaign " to force them out of the new mansion. The family allegedly used racial slurs, verbal abuse, and physical abuse to drive out the orphans. The Higgins children moved out and promptly sued ABC, stating they were promised a house which is not in their name.

Though ABC did not make an official statement on the case, they did remind fans the show was intended to build a home for the Leomitis family, who had taken in the orphaned kids.

For Extreme Makeover: Home Edition families, life hasn't been easy. They have dealt with truly tough circumstances, and those can weigh on you. And sure, a brand new house can change your life, but it can't fix everything.

That was certainly true for Debbie Oatman, who received a brand new 3, square-foot home for her and her children. Oatman is the single parent of four boys, three of whom are adopted and two of which have HIV and special needs. However once the cameras left, Oatman's children say she went back to her old problems.

Oatman told friends that being on the show took away her family's privacy. With her boys' medical problems broadcast on television, they started being picked on at school. However, the kids tell a different story. Kevin Oatman described verbal and sometimes physical abuse before and after the show.

In fact, between and , Colonie police filed 18 incident reports for Oatman.