David Bromstad Reveals What Lottery Winners Really Want in a Home

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David Bromstad has news for the gazillions of people out there who fantasize about winning the lottery and then using their newfound cash to buy their dream home: The reality is way different from what you might expect.

Bromstad, a designer who got his start as a TV personality as the winner of the debut season of “HGTV Design Star” in 2006, is now host of “My Lottery Dream Home” (the fourth season premieres on Friday). 

The premise of the show is fantasy-fueled reality TV at its best: Recent lottery winners who want some guidance spending their spoils on a new and much-improved home apply to appear on the show. Bromstad takes them on a house hunt, explaining the pros and cons of purchasing beachfront mansions to mountaintop villas.

Yet in an exclusive chat with realtor.com®, Bromstad reveals that these lucky house hunters may not act quite as wild and crazy as you might expect. Here are some shockers about how lottery winners go about finding a home. 

Most lottery winners don’t go on a giddy spending spree

Contrary to what you might think, most lottery winners that Bromstad helps don’t go nuts when selecting their new home.

“Because the people on my show are mostly $1 million to $4 million winners and fairly young, they understand that this is a life-changer—but not completely a game changer,” he says. He estimates that the average house expenditure on his show is around $400,000 to $500,000—a nice home for sure, but depending on the market, not necessarily palatial.

“The money elevates and accelerates the plan they had for the future,” Bromstad says. “A lot of them have gotten financial advisers or friends who know how to deal with a windfall. They’re being very smart.”

David Bromstad discusses options with lottery winners in the kitchen of a prospective home.

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But some lottery winners do go hog-wild

There are some outliers, however. Bromstad was baptized by fire when, for the show’s very first episode, he was paired with a California man who really had won a fortune: $180 million, to be exact.

“Well, he walked away with $90 million [after taxes], but boohoo,” Bromstad says with a laugh. “He ended up buying a mountain! I was blown away by how extravagant he was being. That was definitely the most unique situation I’ve ever come across.”

Not all lottery winners pay cash for their homes

Paying cash, if you have it, is a lot less complicated. Yet “it’s not bad to take out a mortgage,” Bromstad says. “For a lot of these winners, it’s their first time having money and their first time owning a home, so building up their credit is really important. The house is a great place to build up your credit.”

Lottery winners are willing to buy fixer-uppers

You’d think lottery winners would want their dream homes to be turnkey and carefree, but not so.

“If they feel like they can’t really afford the perfect move-in ready house, they’re willing to buy a home that needs a few updates,” says Bromstad. “They’re really open to fixing things up, much more than in the past, and I think that’s due to the fabulous [home makeover] shows [on TV]. It’s really given people the power and knowledge to do that.”

Luxury features may not seem all that lavish

Not everyone wants a golden toilet or a Champagne bar in their closet. What’s considered luxury is totally relative.

“Wild and crazy luxuries to some of them, because this is their first time with any sort of money, is to have a private master bathroom, a walk-in closet, a pool,” he explains. “It’s maybe not extravagant to a lot of people, but to someone who is living paycheck to paycheck, but can now afford to buy a $400,000 house, that’s extravagant.”

Bromstad talks to lottery winners by the pool of one possible house.

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Bromstad is looking for his dream house, too

For all the dream homes he’s seen, Bromstad lives a surprisingly humble life.

“Right now I’m living in an apartment,” he explains. “I just moved to Orlando to buy my dream house. So I’m waiting for something to come up in a very competitive area of downtown Orlando. And I have to tell you, the realtor.com app is the app I check literally every morning. I roll over and turn my phone on and turn on the app to see if something new has come up.”

What Bromstad would do if he won the lottery

“If I won the lottery, I would buy a house that I would live in for the rest of my life,” he says. But the surprise comes when he describes the luxury level.

“Something very modest, three-four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a fixer-upper because I would love to put my own stamp on it and do my own thing,” he elaborates. “I would want to do a lot of renovations and additions, put a studio on it, and make it close to all my friends and family.”

The post David Bromstad Reveals What Lottery Winners Really Want in a Home appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

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