HGTV Sweepstakes: Unravel the Truth Behind

Over a million people aspire to win the HGTV Sweepstakes every year. And why not? Especially when there are amazing gifts that await such as a beautifully designed home, a lot of cash and at times, a boat! With these great surprises wouldn’t anyone love to participate and stand a chance to win? However, not everything is glamorous about the HGTV Sweepstakes. Those who have won prizes are a testimony to this. The prizes come with a hefty amount of property tax and costs for maintenance of the property which is indeed a lot. Here is all you need to know about the reality of the massive sweepstakes.

Hefty Taxes

So you might be really enthusiastic about participating in the HGTV Sweepstakes. With the hundreds of winning stories out there, it can be quite charming. However, the reality is otherwise. People often get drawn into the lucrative chance of living a luxury life but they hardly know about how much tax there is to be paid. For instance, after winning a cash prize or house, one has to pay heavy taxes according to the U.S government. This is not the only one as one has to pay the state as well as local taxes. This means that any regular person has a lot of burden on him/her. Needless to say, not everyone would have a hundred grand resting in one of their bank accounts.

Why You Should Take the Money

According to statistics, among all the previous winners of the HGTV Sweepstakes, very few have actually taken the accommodation. Instead, people prefer to opt for the money in most cases. The trick here is to always go for the money so that you don’t have to opt for hefty property taxes. Another alternative here is to sell the house which you got so that you can then use this money to build a paradise for yourself. The best part is that you can choose the location according to your wish. This will help you stay closer to your loved ones and still live a luxurious life. You might feel sad leaving this dream home of yours but to be honest it is in your best interest to always go for the cash option.

No Expectation of Keeping the House

Not everyone has $1 million lying in their bank account. Moreover, if they do possess this amount of money, they are really less likely to even participate. This is why the organizers of HGTV Sweepstakes don’t even expect people to stay in those houses. In fact, you are no way obliged to stay in the house. The managers of these sweepstakes have told how they want to change the lives of the recipient. The idea behind this is to only give people a chance to make their dreams come true. The highlight of their scheme is that the winners should actually experience a life-changing win.

Product Placement

The marketing and advertising endeavors behind HGTV sweepstakes are to endorse products in their shows. The entire program will give you a feeling that you can easily stay in a designer home without having to worry about furnishing it. It depicts things in such a way that people can’t help but get roped in. Moreover, while watching the show, the audiences are sure to get familiarized with the top brands and products. They would know exactly how they can decorate their houses with this information.

Chances of Winning are thin

Did you know that if you are associated with any of the brands shown in the sweepstakes, you are not eligible for the win or giveaways? You heard it right! This is actually one of the rules of the HGTV Sweepstakes. Even if you are the immediate family of any employee, you would not win. These rules could be really daunting and you might be clueless as to what to do. Moreover, since there are really a lot of people participating, your chances of winning surely thin down.

About the Winner’s Weekend

Apart from winning amazing prizes and a costly bungalow, the lucky homeowners also get to go for the winner’s weekend. It is when the winner gets to visit the property for the first time and explore the beautiful abode. You would eat the finest of foods, stay in great accommodation and get to see the best attractions. Some of the winners also claim as to how they got treated like a king/queen during the winner’s weekend. There have been instances when people have met famous celebrities during these weekends. Needless to say, it is indeed a great opportunity and makes you feel amazing.

Renting Out the Place

Renting out the designed house can be really tough for you, given the fact that so many HGTV viewers die to live in the house for just a couple of days. There are fans who would literally shell out money from their pockets to go for such extravagant experience. Moreover, let us not forget the location of these houses. Most of the HGTV Sweepstakes houses are in beautiful locations and are placed by the beaches or so. This can make it tricky for you to rent the place. Apparently, you cannot rent the place for less than 30 days and if you do so then it would be considered as an offence.

Why HGTV Goes Big With the Sweepstakes

You might think that the HGTV Sweepstakes is all about giving away a huge home and what not. However, this is not the truth. There are other strategic reasons behind this giveaway. HGTV keeps these sweepstakes to showcase their skills and to market the products at the same time. HGTV is always giving away useful tips and tricks to renovate a home and to make it better. This way the viewers feel motivated to make their own abode better. It is also a way of building viewership by giving away useful information. The mere fact that they have a dream home giveaway always works in their favour. The brand gets more followers and the created buzz pays off. It is indeed a business strategy while still making it possible to live a dream.

You can see various appliances, paint, bathroom fittings and whatnot in their show. If need be, you would know exactly where you have to get the things and this itself is the target of HGTV. Since building any regular home doesn’t help, HGTV has to build an extravagant home that will actually look amazing. This, in turn, gives business to everyone else.

There is still Some Hope

Have you been following the HGTV sweepstakes for a while now? You would perhaps be disheartened to read the realities of it. However, the good news is that you still have a chance to win a house which is affordable for you. These days, HGTV is holding a smart home sweepstakes which is now less costly than the previous ones. Moreover, people are allowed to also opt for the cash option. Whether you decide to keep the prize or not, entering these giveaways will help you get your dream house. In recent years, HGTV has realized that the winners have to undergo dire tax consequences which might not be helpful for them. Therefore, they have now offered cash as a part of the package. Moreover, people can also avail cash instead of home.

So according to this new provision, those who wish to avail the house would still get the furnishings, artwork as well as the car. The only difference is that instead of taking the entire house, they would now take a cash payout for the same. A good way of saving money on taxes is to give away the furnishings to charity. A lot of people are trying this method. It helps them save some money while also doing a good deed. So you simply don’t have to worry about the repercussions of that dream house. Just go for the cash payout option and you would surely be saved from the hefty amount of property tax.

Choose What You Wish

Now, you can choose to do whatever you wish with the extra cash that you have. This means that you can now build a home from scratch with the money. The best part is that you don’t have to compromise at all since everything will be as per your wish. The location of this new house will also be according to your wish. So you would simply not have to stay away from your loved ones. Better yet, if you already have good enough places to stay then you can use the money to refurbish it.

So the workaround here for HGTV Sweepstakes is to wait for giveaways that have cheaper houses. Remember that you would have to bear the maintenance costs and endless taxes which would certainly take away the thunder from your dream home experience.

Stories to Learn from

While you navigate your way to the bittersweet sweepstakes experience, here are some stories that you might find helpful. For instance, how Belinda Brown won the amazing sweepstakes and moved in the property. She tried to rent her property in order to cover the taxes. However, this didn’t go as planned since she ended up paying an IRS of three lakh dollars. Fed up with the situation, she decided to sell it out after two years. It might seem very logical in the beginning to simply give away the place for rent. However, there are a lot of rules and regulations that you must adhere to. If you fail to do so then it can cause you a serious penalty. This is also why a lot of people do their research and read stories to stay abreast with the updates.

How it Works

After knowing the pros and cons of this amazing sweepstakes, you might want to know exactly what happens in the backend. So once the winner is chosen, the entire team of HGTV sweepstakes starts to plan a great surprise along with the family and friends of the winner. A camera also accompanies them to their office or a restaurant where they are told about the win. It is often too overwhelming for people to hear about this amazing car, cash and house that they get.

After the winner gets the news, they are invited to see their new place wherein all the expenses are sponsored by HGTV. It is indeed a surreal experience. The celebration is also joined by the sponsors who tell the winners about this special place in person. The whole winning process has also been life-changing for a few people. There are instances where people simply hated their jobs and the sweepstakes came in right at the perfect time. A lot of lives have been deeply influenced. People certainly don’t get to keep the lavish house but then when they sell it out they do have enough money to live a comfortable life.

Conclusion

However, more often than not, winners tend to stay in the house just to experience the luxury. The whole idea of staying in a dream home with a perfect view is very lucrative. But the winners need to know that all this is temporary and it is actually really wise to just take the money and go. Of course, if you have $1 million to pay a tax then you are good to go. However, the chances of this are also really thin. You can make the most out of your win by first taking the cash and the car. Then you can deny the offer of the house and instead go for cash in lieu of it. This will save you from the immense property tax. Lastly, even when you get the money, it is a good idea to always do some charity so that the taxes are reduced. It is also a way of sharing your happiness with others. Lastly, you can take all the money and build an amazing house for yourself as you have always wanted!