From the Department of Obscure News

'Extreme Makeover' house faces foreclosure
Mon Jul 28, 11:32 AM PDT | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, http://www.ajc.com
LAKE CITY, Ga. More than 1,800 people showed up to help ABC's "Extreme Makeover" team demolish a family's decrepit home and replace it with a sparkling, four-bedroom mini-mansion in 2005.
Three years later, the reality TV show's most ambitious project at the time has become the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis.

After the Harper family used the two-story home as collateral for a $450,000 loan, it's set to go to auction on the steps of the Clayton County Courthouse Aug. 5. The couple did not return phone calls Monday, but told WSB-TV they received the loan for a construction business that failed.

The house was built in January 2005, after Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA and ABC's "Extreme Makeover" demolished their old home and its faulty septic system. Within six days, construction crews and hoards of volunteers had completed work on the largest home that the television program had yet built.

The finished product was a four-bedroom house with decorative rock walls and a three-car garage that towered over ranch and split-level homes in their Clayton County neighborhood. The home's door opened into a lobby that featured four fireplaces, a solarium, a music room and a plush new office.

Materials and labor were donated for the home, which would have cost about $450,000 to build. Beazer Homes' employees and company partners also raised $250,000 in contributions for the family, including scholarships for the couple's three children and a home maintenance fund.

ABC said in a statement that it advises each family to consult a financial planner after they get their new home. "Ultimately, financial matters are personal, and we work to respect the privacy of the families," the network said.

Some of the volunteers who helped build the home were less than thrilled about the family's financial decisions.

"It's aggravating. It just makes you mad. You do that much work, and they just squander it," Lake City Mayor Willie Oswalt, who helped vault a massive beam into place in the Harper's living room, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In the News

There is plenty of news from different areas about teardowns.

Fallonia is swooning from the heat, so she will defer to you to click the little links in your air conditioned comfort.

Vinings home sales hot in frigid market
Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA
With acreage so valuable, tear-downs are occurring all over Vinings. The pace of development is "a huge, big deal in Vinings," Bolt said. ...
http://www.ajc.com/homefinder/content/homefinder/stories/2008/06/06/vinings_home_sales.html

West U property values near $4 billion
Deer Park Progress - Houston,TX,USA
In the last decade, only a few small bungalows — known in real estate parlance as “tear-downs” — remain. New homes being built in West U are in the $1 ...
http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19752871&BRD=1574&PAG=461&dept_id=635498&rfi=6

Home for sale in Lawn Meadow - 479K - Totally redone
By Naperville Real Estate - Ann deVane - CNC,...(Naperville Real Estate - Ann deVane - CNC,...)
This beauty sits nestled between to completed teardowns so you don't have to worry about construction next door. Wonderful open floor plan. Real hardwood floors, new stainless steel appliances, granite, maple soft close cabinetry, ...
http://activerain.com/blogsview/540374/Home-for-sale-in

The Density God Reappears
Nuther clip-n-save quote from QC officialdom on our land-use goals. The topic is tear-downs and “McMansion” infill development in close-in neighborhoods like Plaza Midwood and...
http://www.yourstreet.com/3469821/the-density-god-reappears

Tear Down Watch at 6666 Drexel Avenue
By B+S
It is on a block of Drexel that has not yet had any tear downs. This house is one block east of these two listings:. http://www.redfin.com/CA/LOS-ANGELES/6706-DREXEL-Ave-90048/home/12477637. and previously discussed much liked and still ...
http://blackburnandsweetzer.com/2008/06/06/tear-down-watch-at-6666-drexel-avenue