The Truth About The HGTV Dream Home Giveaways

Millions of contestants enter each year for the chance to win HGTV's Dream Home Giveaway, a stunning prize that includes a designer-curated home, a car, sometimes a boat, and hundreds of thousands in cash. The sweepstakes began in 1997 with a gorgeous log cabin that was imported from Finland and reassembled atop a vista overlooking the Grand Tetons in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Two decades later, the homes have spanned the entire United States, ranging from breathtaking ocean-side villas, to jaw-dropping mountain retreats, to classic country manors.

On the outside, winning this fabulous prize package valued at well over $1 million couldn't look any sweeter, but as they say, the devil is in the details. Along with the winnings comes an equally astounding income tax burden, as well as sky-high home maintenance costs and hefty property taxes. Then there are the realities of what goes into making HGTV Dream Homes even happen in the first place, like the corporate sponsorships and even the tragic death of a contractor who worked on one of the renovations.

Of course, we're not implying there are more negatives than positives to winning this spectacular slew of spoils — There aren't. But there are a few things that hopefuls may not be clued in on about winning the home reno channel's grand prize. Here is the truth about the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway.

In 2018, Country Living looked back at all of the past HGTV Home Giveaway winners only to find the sobering statistic that "of the 21 people who've won Dream Homes over the years, only six, or about 28 percent, actually lived in their home for more than a year." In fact, the longest any winner could maintain residence in their Dream Home was eight years.

That was Tina Carlson, the 1998 winner, who sold her coastal South Carolina bungalow after "her parents got too old to travel and couldn't come as often as they'd like," according to HGTV spokesman Emily Yarborough, who spoke with The Press Democrat. Most other winners followed a similar path of either taking the cash option or selling the house in order to satisfy the tax burden and recreate a "mini Dream Home" closer to their family roots.

Kathy O'Dell, the 2015 winner, did exactly that when she won a sprawling Martha's Vineyard charmer (above). O'Dell, a Huntsville, Ala. native, told AL.com there was "no way" her family could front the nearly $1 million tax bill on her prize package, so instead, they took the cash option and used it to pay off their five kids' student loans, as well as upgrade their family home of 26 years. "We bought our dream home here so that my husband could keep the job he loves," O'Dell said.

This may seem antithetical to the whole concept of giving away a "dream home," but then again, dreams aren't real, and HGTV is well aware of just how unrealistic keeping one of these places proves to be.

There's a reason every other commercial on HGTV is for Home Depot or Lowe's, and it's not because those home improvement giants think the Property Brothers are super dreamy. It's because every single program on that network is designed to hypnotize the home viewer into thinking a DIY bathroom remodel is a piece of cake, or that if you put $10,000 into a renovation, you'll get back $100,000 in return.

The HGTV Home Giveaway is basically this exact concept, only better, because it allows the viewer to fantasize about incurring none of the hassle of a home renovation but reaping all the droll-worthy Instagram likes. No one made this more clear than Burton Jablin, the president of HGTV in 2005, who told Business Wire, "The HGTV Dream Home is the perfect representation of the HGTV brand."

"Though only one person wins the home, every HGTV viewer can take away ideas and inspiration from HGTV's Dream Home 2005 special that can help them turn their own homes into the homes of their dreams," Jablin continued. 

The hope, of course, is that through the prominent display of product labels and outright endorsements from designers and contractors, fans of the HGTV Dream Home Giveaway will know exactly where to get their shiplap, Edison bulbs, and ensuite sliding barn doors.

Aside from, you know, winning more than $1 million in cash and prizes, one of the big perks for HGTV Dream Home Giveaways is the so-called "Winner's Weekend." This is when the lucky new homeowners (or cash option recipients) get to visit the property for the first time and enjoy the sights of what is usually an affluent and beautiful neighborhood.

2002 winner Milton O'Brant gave the head's-up to future recipients of a "Winner's Weekend" when he told The Balance Everyday, "You will eat the finest foods, visit the area's best attractions, and receive numerous gifts and keepsakes." Kathy O'Dell, the 2015 winner from Alabama told Al.com, "They treated me like a queen!" 

But it was 2005 winner Don Cruz who really championed the "Winner's Weekend" when he told The Balance Everyday what an "amazing experience" it was. Cruz said he ended up meeting singer and actor Dwight Yoakam during his visit to Dallas, near the Tyler, Texas lake house he won. He also said how wonderful it was to meet the 100 or so sponsors who were there to cheer him on.

It's actually remarkable to think Cruz could have walked away from his HGTV Home Giveaway experience with any kind of positive feelings, because out of all 21 winners, he had the roughest run of them all by far...

Though charitable contributions are a nice offset to the huge tax liability of winning an HGTV Dream Home, it's still wonderful that some of these fortunate folks found it in their hearts to give back large portions of their prizes. One of those winners was actually Don Cruz. Yep, the guy who lost his dream home to foreclosure after some unfortunate financial circumstances. That wasn't before he "donated $40,000 to charity," according to CNN Money.

Then there's Cheryl and Joe Smith, the Florida retirees who won a stately custom-designed farmhouse (above) set in desirable Sonoma, Calif. wine country in 2009. Not wanting to be far from their grandkids, the Smiths decided to sell the property, but they also chose to donate the furnishings — worth a jaw-dropping $187,000, according to the Sonoma Valley Sun — to a charity called Harmony Foundation for Children, which serves underprivileged kids.  

See? We told you there were more positives than negatives to winning a mansion, a car, a truckload of designer furniture, and a pile of cash. Who knew?

There was a ton of buzz around 2008 winner Stephanie Dee's reaction, or lack thereof, when HGTV host Lauren Lake surprised her live on the air with the grand prize. Dee could barely maintain eye contact with Lake throughout the cringe-worthy five minute exchange that literally ended with Dee barely mouthing the words "thank you" after Lake announced her new status as "a mom turned millionaire." In fairness, Dee did confess that she was "overwhelmed" by the ambush, but her demeanor was more like a person waiting for a door-to-door salesman to leave than someone who basically just won the lottery.

Like most winners, Dee, an Iowa resident, quickly sold the Islamorada, Fla. beach house she had won. "We pretty much knew that was the case right when they walked in and told us," Dee's husband, Tommy, told the Twin Cities Pioneer Press.

As for what really caused Dee's curiously cagey behavior the night of her win, the simplest explanation is shock. In fact, she told the Miami Herald (via Houzz) as much when the paper accompanied her during her first visit to the bay front home. "Shock, I'm still shocked," Dee said, later adding, "I had no expectations of winning. You dream, but you never think you will be the person who wins it."