Once the contestants and tradies go home, filming has wrapped and the cameras and production crews move onto the next gig, what happens to the homes that feature in reality TV shows such as The Block, Grand Designs and House Rules?
In Australia, news.com.au interviewed one family that made the winning bid for a home that featured in the 2017 season of The Block Australia.
They loved the house on first inspection, and were wowed by the kitchen and its huge island benchtop, the main bathroom with freestanding bath and taps, and the California bungalow facade.
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Host of The Block Australia Scott Cam. Photo / Channel Nine
“When we were watching the show, we had no idea we were ever going to buy a Block house,” Gill told news.com.au.
“But the hammer came down and we heard ‘sold’. It was a pretty amazing experience and we bought it for less than we thought it would sell for.”
The time then came time for Gill, his wife and their daughter to move in. One of the realities of buying a Block house is that they are ready to be moved straight into. You are also able to keep all the decor inside – this includes beds, sofas, tables, even the cushions.
“We had this issue where we had a garage full of spare pillows and cushions, there were about a hundred of them,” Gill says.
Gill says the family looked to put their own stamp on the house not long after moving in. Originally, there were two corridors in the home which the couple thought made the space feel dark and closed in. They knocked down one of the dividing walls and added in three skylights to open it back up.
There was also a partition wall with a double-sided fireplace that they decided to knock down to make the living area more open-plan and family friendly.
However, as much as the house has been tweaked by the couple, the overall design is still very recognisable as having being featured on The Block.
“About 50-50 of people we have come round recognise the house from the show,” says Gill. “Some guess it straight away, others you can see they kind of recognise it, but can’t quite put their finger on why.”
Other buyers of reality TV houses view them as cash cows, not dream homes. In 2017, Australian news site New Daily reviewed the status of several Block homes and found that many were bought to make money as rental investments.
A house that featured in season four of The Block Australia and made a healthy A$115,000 profit was being rented out at $990 a week by a “professional woman who operates a real estate business”.
Another Block house that sold for $860,000 after auction in 2011 sold in 2016 for A$1.32 million. The owner had been claiming about A$45,000 a year in depreciation.
Buyers’ agent Frank Valentic told the site: “The Block comes with furniture and accessories worth $100,000 so the tax depreciation schedule is impressive.”
- news.com.au and OneRoof
