Posted 6:06 pm Saturday, January 05, 2008
Dream Home To Be Auctioned Off
By CINDY MALLETTE
Staff Writer
Unable to hang onto their dream any longer, Don and Shelly Cruz will auction off their $2.2 million prize home on Jan. 12.
The Cruz’s famously won Home and Garden Television’s 2005 Dream Home sweepstakes, which included a 5,500 square foot mansion on Lake Tyler, $250,000 cash and a 2005 GMC Envoy Denali. The couple left their Chicago home and moved to the house, where they were able to live their dream for only two years.
The couple couldn’t afford the roughly $600,000 yearly property taxes and utilities for the home, and found themselves facing foreclosure. Instead of having their home doled out at bargain basement prices on the Smith County Courthouse steps, the Cruz’s contacted Jacksonville auctioneer Wesley Beard to help them sell their house piece-by-piece in hopes of paying off their debts.
“The Cruz's are at the point that they are delinquent in the payments and that this is an effort to sell the home and for them to be in control of the sale before it would go into foreclosure,” Beard said.
Click on the link below to see the Dream Home photo gallery!
http://spotted.tylerpaper.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=303772
Staff Writer
Unable to hang onto their dream any longer, Don and Shelly Cruz will auction off their $2.2 million prize home on Jan. 12.
The Cruz’s famously won Home and Garden Television’s 2005 Dream Home sweepstakes, which included a 5,500 square foot mansion on Lake Tyler, $250,000 cash and a 2005 GMC Envoy Denali. The couple left their Chicago home and moved to the house, where they were able to live their dream for only two years.
The couple couldn’t afford the roughly $600,000 yearly property taxes and utilities for the home, and found themselves facing foreclosure. Instead of having their home doled out at bargain basement prices on the Smith County Courthouse steps, the Cruz’s contacted Jacksonville auctioneer Wesley Beard to help them sell their house piece-by-piece in hopes of paying off their debts.
“The Cruz's are at the point that they are delinquent in the payments and that this is an effort to sell the home and for them to be in control of the sale before it would go into foreclosure,” Beard said.
Click on the link below to see the Dream Home photo gallery!
http://spotted.tylerpaper.com/pages/gallery.php?gallery=303772
Fireplace and dining room in 2005 HGTV Dream Home on Lake Tyler. The house and contents will be auctioned 10 A.M. Saturday, January, 12, 2007.
The mansion, located at 15920 East Side Road, will open for public viewing at 8 a.m.
"It will be one last chance for people to see the HGTV Dream Home,” he said.
The auction will begin at 10 a.m., and Beard said the first item on the block is the estate itself. The property includes roughly two acres of land, the home with attached master suite and three-car garage, and the boathouse with accompanying dock.
"People have a chance literally to buy up the HGTV home," Beard said.
The house will be stripped of all furniture, appliances and decorations. Each item will be auctioned off individually, and Beard said there are no reserves on anything.
"If you can't afford the dream home, you can at least afford a piece of it," he said.
Beard listed a few of the luxurious items that will be on the block: Wolf brand stoves and grills, Sub-Zero refrigerators and freezers, leather couches and chairs, antique dressers and shelves, a European tower clock face, and hand-made designer decorations.
Only the light fixtures and window blinds will remain with the house, but Beard said the person who makes the winning bid on the home will have a chance to bid on the furniture, too.
"These things were selected to fit the décor of the house," he said. "They really put a lot of work and effort into the uniqueness of the design for the HGTV home."
So far, seven out of nine HGTV Dream Home winners have had to sell their properties because of the heavy tax burden.
Beard said the auction is open to the public. He said the house retails for about $4.5 million, but the appraised value is $1.9 million. He predicts the winning bid on the home will be a steal.
"Someone stands the chance of getting a real bargain on the real estate,” he said.
"It will be one last chance for people to see the HGTV Dream Home,” he said.
The auction will begin at 10 a.m., and Beard said the first item on the block is the estate itself. The property includes roughly two acres of land, the home with attached master suite and three-car garage, and the boathouse with accompanying dock.
"People have a chance literally to buy up the HGTV home," Beard said.
The house will be stripped of all furniture, appliances and decorations. Each item will be auctioned off individually, and Beard said there are no reserves on anything.
"If you can't afford the dream home, you can at least afford a piece of it," he said.
Beard listed a few of the luxurious items that will be on the block: Wolf brand stoves and grills, Sub-Zero refrigerators and freezers, leather couches and chairs, antique dressers and shelves, a European tower clock face, and hand-made designer decorations.
Only the light fixtures and window blinds will remain with the house, but Beard said the person who makes the winning bid on the home will have a chance to bid on the furniture, too.
"These things were selected to fit the décor of the house," he said. "They really put a lot of work and effort into the uniqueness of the design for the HGTV home."
So far, seven out of nine HGTV Dream Home winners have had to sell their properties because of the heavy tax burden.
Beard said the auction is open to the public. He said the house retails for about $4.5 million, but the appraised value is $1.9 million. He predicts the winning bid on the home will be a steal.
"Someone stands the chance of getting a real bargain on the real estate,” he said.
