Like many news outlets, The Washington Post sought and found anecdotal evidence about the struggles of the housing economy.
In a story headlined “How [various factors] triggered soaring costs at this dream home,” The Post spotlighted an Orlando couple who, after watching HGTV in 2018, wanted to build their dream home in the Dallas area.
Today, the luxury-laden home is far from finished.
In summary to this long-form article, the summary paragraph stated: This is the story of how the unusual forces shaping the covid economy collide under one (very expensive) Texas roof.
Then, the story goes on to explain the struggles of the LaChances. The couple bought a lakefront lot for $260,000 starting their plans in 2020 and giving themselves an initial budget of around $3 million.
But a perfect storm of forces — labor shortages, price run-ups, supply-chain snarls, manufacturing, and inflation — has caused numerous headaches for the LaChances.
“It was like a chain reaction,” said Joshua Correa, a Dallas native and the LaChance’s home builder, told The Post. “Everybody started charging more — for everything.”
It’s like a nightmarish update of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948), in which Cary Grant and Myrna Loy start to build a home in New England only to find it a complete nightmare with cost runups and material delays.
While that movie was a comedy, the LaChances aren’t laughing at their dilemma.
The article spells out the increased costs of building homes in North Texas. Reporter Rachel Leah Siegel, a Dallas native who covers economics for The Post, spent a year following the builders, owners, and suppliers facing soaring prices and massive delays.
As of Tuesday, the article was the most read in The Post’s Economy section. It’s also gotten lots of engagement with nearly 2,000 comments — most not sympathizing with the LaChances — before the comments were closed. On The Post‘s Facebook page, the couple isn’t getting much support either with most of the 250-plus comments on the posted article negative.
