Successful HGTV's Annual Million-Greenback Dream Dwelling Giveaway Is Really A Nightmare

In line with a 2018 Nation Dwelling report, out of the primary 21 winners of HGTV’s annual million-dollar dream residence giveaway, solely six have been in a position to reside in the home for longer than a yr. Not as a result of the furnishings weren’t as much as their requirements or the craftsmanship left one thing to be desired, however due to one tiny (however extraordinarily vital) oft-overlooked technicality — taxes.

Take the 2019 residence, for instance: it is set in Whitefish, Montana, the place it is nestled amongst towering pines and has the mountains as an ethereal backdrop. CNBC claimed that the winner of that home would have an annual property tax invoice of over $12,600. CNBC additionally spoke with Mark Luscombe from Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting, and he estimated that the federal taxes alone amounted to $789,140. Moreover, the state taxes are possible one other $100,000 or extra, placing the ultimate tax quantity at nearly half the entire worth of the dream residence giveaway prize bundle.

The opposite 15 winners who did not stay of their brand-new houses most probably offered them again to the builders or put them in the marketplace after attempting to make a go of it. In fact, some households cited different causes, like not wanting to tug their children from their present pals and college. However for essentially the most half, it is that daunting fixed in life, taxes, that may flip a winner’s dream into one thing straight from their worst nightmares.