Well they still haven't answered my questions, I'm beginning to doubt that they will, probably don't want that information exposed.

 

fucking bastards, I should become gay and start designing stuff so i can have my own show on HGTV.

 

They had a really awesome house in the mountains of NC a couple of years ago.

 

Nice House
I like HGTV

 

Contests on TV are just there to boost ratings, the higher they are the more they can charge for advertising. I don't think they could care less what happens to the winners as long as they have better ratings.

 

Well, reading an article the California property tax maxes out at $1 per $100 dollars of assessed value, so if some of you cali homeowners could help us out on what the ratio of assessed value to real value is we could start some figuring here.

We are starting out with $22000 for property tax (to be adjusted)...annually

 

FOR REAL!??!!
NO WAY!

lc

 

Well here's the answer they sent me:

Hello and thank you for your email.

The 2009 Dream Home Giveaway is just that...a dream of lifetime. It?s an opportunity to own the home of your dreams. And this year's Dream Home is yet another incredible home by the Dream Home Team; a classically styled farmhouse located in beautiful Sonoma, California.

While it is true that some previous winners have made the personal decision to sell the home for various reasons, they have in turn used the opportunity gained from winning the spectacular home to fulfill their other dream projects. Whether they sold for tax reasons or not, each made a personal decision based on their individual situations.

For information about the amount of taxes that may be associated with winning this Dream Home, we recommend that you consult legal counsel for advice based on the approximate retail value of the prize which is provided for in our Official Rules.

What else they didn't answer:
What are the association dues for Armstrong Estates?
and
What are the property taxes for this property?

 

but then they also add all kinds of other taxes and fees and shit so it ends up being approximately 1.5-17% of assessed value/purchase price.

 

it's still less than you would have to pay up front.

in the past, with the HGTV dream home giveaway, they have always included a pretty nice sum of cash that will cover the taxes on everything (including the cash)

so, you have a pretty kick ass house & a new SUV, as long as you can swing the property taxes & homeowners insurance, you are good to go.