Status: FORECLOSED
The Hebert family Extreme Makeover story has gotten complicated with all the foreclosure debates flying around. As someone who’s tracked every Extreme Makeover: Home Edition family for years, I learned everything there is to know about what happened in Sandpoint, Idaho. Today, I will share it all with you.
I’ll warn you upfront – this is one of the sadder stories from the show. It starts with incredible sacrifice and ends with a foreclosure notice.
How It All Began
Eric Hebert was a bachelor living in Sandpoint, Idaho when his sister passed away, leaving her two children orphaned. Here’s what gets me about Eric’s story: he didn’t hesitate. Rather than let those kids get thrown into foster care and potentially separated, he stepped up immediately and took them both in. A single guy, suddenly a parent of two kids who just lost their mom. That takes a kind of courage most people only talk about.
The show recognized Eric’s sacrifice and built him a beautiful new home to help him raise his niece and nephew. It was one of those episodes that made you cry into your popcorn. Millions of viewers watched and thought, “Good. He deserves that.”
Then the Money Got Complicated
Probably should have led with this section, honestly. Public records paint a really troubling picture of what happened next. Eric’s original mortgage was $110,000 in September 2004. That’s manageable. Then in January 2006, right before the show aired, he refinanced for $250,000. A year later came another refinance with Wells Fargo – this time for $382,500.
The pattern is painfully clear when you see the numbers laid out like that. The new home’s dramatically higher appraised value unlocked more borrowing power, and Eric used it. I’m not here to judge the guy – he was a single man raising two kids he’d taken on out of pure love, and I’m sure the financial pressures were immense. But going from $110K to $382K in mortgage debt in three years is a recipe for disaster.
By October 2009, the home was foreclosed. It was actually the first known foreclosure in Extreme Makeover history. That’s a distinction nobody wants.
Where Are They Now
Eric is believed to be living somewhere in Montana now. The children he sacrificed so much for have grown up. That’s what makes Eric’s story endearing to us Extreme Makeover fans, even though it ends badly – his initial act of love was genuine and selfless. The dream home is now just a memory and a cautionary tale about the unintended consequences of sudden wealth.
The show meant well. Eric meant well. But nobody prepared him for what a bigger house would do to his financial situation, and that’s a failure that goes beyond any one person.
Last verified: January 2026
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