'Winner of Keys Dream Home will likely sell it'

For you HGTV viewers. Miami Herald article here.

This [HGTV] dream home, a jaw-dropping 3,500-square-footer complete with media room, gourmet kitchen and even a ''fishing room'' stocked with 18 rods, is built on a picture-perfect site on Florida Bay. . . .

In order for the Dee family to move into the spectacular $2.2 million three-story beach home -- if they ever do -- they'll have to come up with about $700,000 in sales taxes [see reader comment, below], about $20,000 annually in property taxes, and thousands more in wind insurance. This is the Keys, after all.

The couple has lived all their lives in Iowa, where Stephanie, 32, is a physician's assistant and Tommy is a former golf pro turned contractor. They're the parents of 9-month-old Sydney and 3-year-old Taylor, who love their grandparents who also live in Iowa.

History isn't on their side. Only one of the 11 previous winners lived in their fully-furnished Dream Home as a primary residence: an Illinois man who moved his family to Tyler, Texas.

A California woman used her South Carolina Dream Home for eight years as a summer retreat and two other winners used the home for the summer before selling it.

But HGTV spokesperson Emily Yarborough said the winners have used the profits after selling the homes to finance other dreams. One man bought a 50th anniversary edition Corvette and one woman took early retirement.

As the Dees toured their new home for the very first time on Friday, a crew from HGTV filmed their reaction. The footage can be seen on HGTV.com and HGTVpro.com beginning April 16. . . .

The address is 139E Gimpy Gulch Road. It's the first of eight homes that will be built in a horseshoe on a two-acre site called The Shore. Plans include a pool in front of 275 feet of private beach front with an eight-slip dock. Houses will start at $2.5 million. . . .

One reader's comment.

The writer was wrong. It isn't a 'sales tax' the winner owes, it is the IRS Federal Income Tax; and the amount will be around $772,000. One time payment due April 15th 2009 (next year). HGTV does this for advertising and HGTV doesn't intend for the winner to live in the house. HGTV knows the income taxes are too high for most of their viewers. They have said that for years. So the Dee's will sell the house, pay the taxes and walk away with approximately $1,500,000 (if they sell it for the APV of $2,26M). Sounds like a very nice prize to me.