…Smeghead’s actual claims were that workmanship on the houses tended to be shoddy, and that thousands of dollars had to be sunk into the houses to make them liveable. Your citations do not prove his allegations, and apart from some bathroom cracks and a car wash shower that doesn’t work, do not show a pattern of shoddy workmanship at all. As for the tax problem, the series has been running for nearly four years now, has it been a problem?
Are they obligated to stay there, and do they own the house? Could they turn around and sell it to buy a modest nice place?
I’m sure they could technically sell it, but usually the houses are tailor-made to reflect the interests of the family and would prove to be a pretty tough sell. “Well, it’s got three bedrooms - one is nice, but the other two are themed like a jungle and an inner-city basketball court. Wanna see the huge hockey rink in the back yard?”
My sister-in-law works in an upscale furniture store and ended up serving one of the show’s creators. He asked her if she’d seen the store and what she thought. She answered “It’s not bad, but for chrissakes, stop with the waterworks!” He pretty much just said “duly noted.”
I dunno, I could imagine that there’d be some buyers who’d pay good money for one of those homes just because it was featured on TV.