HGTV 2012 Dream Home Giveaway: Win a Home in Utah, a Car and Cash (Over $2,000,000 Value!)
It’s that time of year again… time to enter HGTV’s Dream Home Giveaway! Through February 17th, head on over here to enter the 2012 Dream Home Giveaway and you may just win yourself a home in Utah. Yep, the winner of this giveaway will snag a home in Midway, Utah (the “HGTV Dream Home”) plus home furnishings, merchandise, a 2012 GMC Terrain SLT2, and $500,000 in cash (total value of this grand prize is a whopping $2,038,755!). Good luck! 😀
* You can enter twice daily: Limit one online entry on the HGTV Website, per valid email address, per eligible person per day; limit one online entry on the HGTV Front Door Website, per valid email address, per eligible person per day
(Thanks, Living Rich with Coupons!)
Wow, wouldn’t that be nice?!
UTAH?! No offense if you live there, but holy crap it would cost a fortune to cool that monster…
Actually to heat it! Midway is about 15 minutes from Park City.
Umm, cooling the house wouldn’t be the problem, it would be heating it in the winter that would kill ya. That is ski country up there 🙂
Income Taxes on the prize, property taxes and maintenance fees as well as Homeowner Association fees is what you should worry about.
Beautiful home!! 🙂
I’d imagine that $500,000 would all have to be used to cover the taxes on everything!
Actually, $500k wouldn’t even begin to cover the taxes. For a prize valued at over $2 million that puts you in the highest tax bracket of 35% plus your state tax of maybe 6%, so 41% of $2,038,755 is over $835,000 in taxes owed! I hope whoever wins is independently wealthy to pay the taxes on the prize and then the utilites and property taxes to keep the house running!! 🙂
It doesn’t make much of a difference in the math, but technically only the amount over $379k would be taxed at 35% 🙂 The rest would be taxed in the respective lower brackets.
Also, presumably one would sell his/her old home if they got a new “free” one…so add $200k to the $500k and and you’ve mostly covered the taxes.
But, like others have said, you’re stuck with the heating/cooling/landscaping of that giant home! 🙂
You can opt for cash in lieu of the home: “Grand Prize Winner will have the option of receiving $800,000 in cash in addition to the $500,000 cash prize and automobile mentioned above for a total ARV of $1,338,755.”
Sas to say but nobody ever keeps these when they win.
I’ve been entereing……..but can you imagine the amount of taxes you’d owe if you won?
I would love to win! I live in UT already and I could keep my job if I won.
Same here!
Me too! I am actually a high school teacher in the school district of this home, so this really would be my dream!
How cool would that be!
I’d move to Utah for that house! 🙂
What a beautiful house!
Wonder how much you’d have to pay in taxes if you did win…
Stunning house, not sure if I could keep it- too far from family but would seriously consider the cash option (keep car & $500,000 plus another $800,000) wonder how much would be left over after taxes…
A good rough estimate is 30% of the total ARV ($1,338,755).
I’ll pass. I’ve heard of big taxes and utilities on these homes – not even worth it.
Wonder if the winner could sell it??
The winner can, and is actually expected by HGTV to sell the home. From: https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10654803/#.TwSiL9SXS18
But HGTV spokeswoman Emily Yarborough emphasizes that the network still doesn’t expect winners to actually live in the Dream Home.
Which, in this economy, is kind of scary. What if you aren’t able to sell the house within the current fiscal year…? Then you’re stuck with quite a bit of taxes you’re going to have to finance.
You can just take the cash option instead! “Grand Prize Winner will have the option of receiving $800,000 in cash in addition to the $500,000 cash prize and automobile mentioned above for a total ARV of $1,338,755.”
This home isn’t that far from where Mit Romney’s home was…I think they had a heck of a time finding a buyer.
The good news is that the location is on the radar of tourists. It is designed for Three adult couples to vacation in…it seems inappropriate for a family to live in. So I think you could use it as a winter rental. It is halfway between Park City and Sundance. The Sundance lodge rentals sell out year round. But…my husband’s commute would increase, but it’s do-able.
If my #s are right you would owe $138596.59 in tax if you won this! Regular tax rate, not sure if Utah has more for gift tax 🙁
The only way you could keep it is if you turned it into a time share or rental. No average american could actually keep the HGTV dream home for longer than a month before having to foreclose on everything they work to own. Why do they have to do millions! Make it possible for someone (average joe) to keep these homes.
I agree. To date, not one winner of the HGTV Dream Home giveaway has kept the home. All but one have sold the house and the one that tried to keep it lost it and it was sold at auction because he couldn’t afford the taxes. The intial taxes are only the first thing, I think many forget your property taxes are due every year or forget about them since they are usually rolled into your mortgage payment.
Eh, I wouldn’t mind paying that in taxes for over $2mill in prize. WOW. I’m ready to get out of Ohio… I’m sure my odds are excellent…HA!
OMG, the income taxes on *that* prize! Not sure I could sell the house fast enough to pay it
Does this mean that you can enter once a day on both sites for each email address you have?
Yes!
thank you for the chance to win I would love to win a new home in Utah anywhere is better then where I live now.
I don’t think it’s as bad as all that where taxes are concerned people. Yes you have to pay a large portion in tax. That is why they give you the extra 500K (which you have to pay tax on also, but would still make a dent in the tax owed). You could then sell the car and take a pretty small mortgage if you really wanted to keep the house or just sell it. Plus a 2 million dollar home in Utah is just ludicrous if all the houses in the area are not in that price range. Selling it ASAP while it’s furnished and has all the extra publicity would be the only option.
I would just sell it, pay the tax and have a huge amount left over. Close to a million dollar left over in cash?
oh I am sure all the houses in midway are at LEAST in the price range or more.
Actually most of the homes in Midway are NOT in this price range. This is one of the very most expensive homes in the Midway area. The town of Park City is the upper price range.
pretty sure most people aren’t purchasing $2 mil homes in this economy. you’d have a hell of a time flipping the house
I’ve decided not to worry about the taxes until after I win.
Ha! Love this!! I’m with you!!!
Yes, that is awesome. 🙂
that’s the kind of thinking that people had when they bought homes they couldn’t afford with mortgages they couldn’t keep up with….they just decided to “figure” things out when the time came. i understand this is a fantasy but wow, what an irresponsible comment to make.
Lighten up, for realz! 😉
Wow! What a ridiculous comment to make about a joke!
In lieu of taking title to the HGTV Dream Home (and the contents of the HGTV Dream Home), Grand Prize Winner will have the option of receiving $800,000 in cash in addition to the $500,000 cash prize and automobile mentioned above for a total ARV of $1,338,755.
Who needs a house in Utah when you can walk away with a boatload of cash?!!
You have the option of taking the prizes as shown or taking a lump sum of cash in the approximate amount of 1,338,755 in lieu of the home and vehicle
Wow this is about an hour away from EVERYONE in both my family and my husband’s family. Guess where were are to have next years Christmas party! I guess that is IF I win =)
That thing appears to only have a 2 car garage. Are you kidding me? That ain’t no dream house… (kidding…)
But seriously, if you already have 2 cars, where are you supposed to park the behemouth SUV that comes with the house?
Or maybe I give my crappy geo to junior and he has to park it outside in the snow.
I’m from Utah and my husband and I spent our honeymoon in Midway! It’s so beautiful. Great place to live. Good luck to everyone!
It would make more sense to me if HGTV would build about 4 nice, less expensive homes, and give more people a chance to win. JMO!
That sounds totally reasonable! You should write that on their blog.
i hope a hipster wins! Tell you what if anyone wins it here that is not liking the idea of the upkeep and all that money and new car I will gladly take it off of your hands 😉
I can be packed and ready to move in one day 🙂 lol
Ok, ok, ok! If you really don’t want to pay the taxes on this house you can give it to me if you win.
Then you would have an incredible high gift tax to pay 😉
So my hubby and I watched a program on the HGTV dream houses and in all of its years only one family was able to afford the taxes and move in. What a beautiful house though…and it comes with a Bissel! Hahaha.
totally going for the cash option! That would pay off our house with cash leftover for the improvements we thought we’d never have been able to afford.
This is just as foolish as the lower-income folks that flitter away what little funds they have on a weekly(daily) basis, playing the lottery…so middle income kids can go to college on the grants LOL!
Wow could you be more condescending? Get a life!
Wow, it must be nice to not be a low income family, huh!?! Is this how you would honestly talk about people if you didn’t have a computer to hide behind?
C’mon people. I usually don’t reply to comments unless it’s to give useful information but these kinds of conversations are unsettling. Let’s try to be nice and stick to the original topic of this post. I know we have freedom of speech, but there must be more constructive ways of expressing ourselves, eh?
I’ve been trying to convince my hubby to move to Midway after grad school. This could actually convince him if I win! Midway is beautiful and not any more harsh than the frigid OH winter we are having right now. (Just more snow)
Not to rain on the parade, lol, I love HGTV, but I really wish they would build a house that an average income American could afford the taxes on, the home they built in NC was beautiful, but I don’t want to be ‘house poor’….but they again, most people couldn’t afford the taxes on a 200,000 home…good luck to whomever wins!
^then again (oops typo)
me and my sister found this house the other day, it’s amazing. and for all of you utah haters, i’d just like to add my own opinion that midway is one of the prettiest places on earth, you’ll have to see it to believe it. but if you don’t want to be convinced then yay more changes for the rest of us!
*chances that is!
All my family is entering. we will split the cost of the taxes and have a nice dream vaction home!
I showed it to my husband today he’s like it’s so nice maybe you would have to consider moving all the way to utah (we live in FL) but realisticly, since all my family is in the eastern time zone, also i’m planning on moving & buying a car this year… I’d go for the cash and keep the car. I’d just buy nice cheap couple acres in the state i plan to move to then build a house for a few hundred K. Probably save the rest since I’d be mortage free & live comfortable on my new RN income while my husbands gets schooled.
Beautiful home–ready to win!
usually the high income people win this bc of the taxes last year a doctor won… But like mentioned before due to taxes etc its a good thing they do, i couldn’t afford it lol
I would actually take the 800K in lieu of the home, which is an option for the winner. You can opt for the 500+800K and the GMC. Less taxes deducted and wouldn’t have to worry about maintenance on that home, which would be a lot. I wouldn’t want to clean it each day, it would require a maid service unless the person inhabiting doesn’t have little ones and has all day to clean floors and crevices. Good luck to all.
Pull together funds from family and friends for a vacation dream home.
Hmm? Not sure I like that one of the bedrooms is downstairs… with two little boys that would be hard. I wish all the bedrooms were in the same area and on the top floor. Still a nice home though. I would take the cash and just remodel and upgrade my own home!! 🙂
I agree, It is very much like a vacation home for 3 adult couples. 3 Bedrooms & bathrooms in 3 completely separate areas of the house. Not built for a family with young children, although I do LOVE the outdoor living areas!!!!!! If I won I would definitely take the cash option and build my own dream home to suit the needs of my family. Good Luck all!! 🙂
Best of luck to everyone!
If you can’t afford the home you are in, you will certainly not be able to afford this house or the taxes.
ill opt for the cash payout!!!! ///////keeping my finger crossed for myself and all my fellow hipsters!
Millicent January 8, 2012 7:23pm I watch hgtv all day. before i go to work and when i am not working. I would love to be the winner. Good luck to all.
Dear HGTV,
Please include the prize (gift) tax and the property tax as part of this prize! It is really sad to hear that out of all of the homes you have given away, none of the winners have been able to afford to keep the home.
Dear HGTV, Here’s an idea: Build 4 dream homes (definition of “dream” being beautiful, affordable to live in for the average American and without heavy tax burderns). Sincerely, A lot of us who would love to win this years house but wouldn’t be able to afford to live in it.
River Meadows Ranch, located in Heber Valley, is about 45 minutes from downtown Salt Lake City, and 20 minutes from Park City, Utah. The Provo River runs through the development and the Wasatch Mountains are nearby.
You can find the covenants here, it can’t be rented.
Haha you all are funny. I do agree with taking the cash option. That’s enough money to still build/buy a dream home that fits your needs in the location of your choice and still have enough left to build a tree house and build Princess Castle for my little ones. Oh and put the rest in the retirement/vacation accounts. Its is nice to let your imagination run wild till someone wins. LOL
AWESOME HOME!