Why Winning the HGTV Dream Home is a Financial Nightmare

What if you won the HGTV Dream Home? If you’ve heard of the sweepstakes before, you know what it feels like to watch the walkthroughs, read about the top-tier renovations, and imagine yourself soaking in the bliss of winning a mansion, tucked away in some of America’s most serene areas. But this dream may never come to fruition because the reality of winning the HGTV Dream Home is much different than most people think. To explain, we brought on CPA and tax expert Amanda Han.

Amanda admits that even though she threw her name in for the Dream Home drawing, she has some reservations about winning. While HGTV promises a multi-million dollar mansion in the mountains of Colorado, the reality is far from a turnkey option. With so many winners either choosing to sell the home or take the cash prize, one wonders, “what really happens when you win?” If you decide to keep the home, you better have mountains of cash available to pay for it because this prize is far from free.

But even if you don’t, you aren't entirely out of luck. Amanda highlights a few strategies that one lucky winner can use to keep the home, how to dodge an almost unbelievable tax burden, what to do if you opt for cash, and whether turning the Dream Home into a rental property makes more financial sense. We hope you win, and if you do, please send a housewarming party invitation to BiggerPockets at 3344 Walnut Street, Denver, CO 80205!

00:00 Intro
00:49 Money Moment
02:57 The HGTV Dream Home
05:19 Dream Home or Financial Nightmare?
11:47 Take the Cash Instead?
14:15 What To Do If You Win?
17:17 Planning to Pay Less Tax
22:10 How to Afford the Dream Home
25:37 The Ultimate Tax-Free Strategy
33:32 More Bad News!
36:17 Can You Donate Your Prize?
42:00 What Would You Choose?

Show Notes at:
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Enter the Sweepstakes for the 2023 HGTV Dream Home:
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Episode #382