A 77-year-old retired substitute teacher from Jacksonville is now the owner, at least on paper, of a $1.3 million smart home more than 130 miles away, after HGTV announced Karen Hiers as the winner of its 2026 Smart Home giveaway. Hiers was so skeptical of the winning email that she asked her son to confirm it was real before calling back the next day to make sure the news wasn't a mistake.
Hiers entered the sweepstakes up to twice a day for several years before her name was finally pulled from more than 75 million entries, according to HGTV. As WFTV reports, the sweepstakes ran from April 21 through June 19, and the prize package is valued at more than $1.3 million, including a separate $100,000 cash award on top of the home itself. Hiers has been married to her husband, Bill, for 55 years, and the couple have two children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
A Modern Florida Retreat Built in Apopka, Not Downtown Orlando
While the home is marketed broadly as an Orlando property, it actually sits in the Eden Crest subdivision in Apopka, a fast-growing suburb in northwest Orange County roughly 30 minutes from downtown Orlando, according to Hartizen Homes. Apopka has seen major residential expansion in recent years tied to infrastructure projects like the Wekiva Parkway. The newly constructed, fully furnished house spans more than 3,000 square feet with three bedrooms and three bathrooms, and HGTV has described the interior as a modern take on Florida style, built around light colors, breezy textures, rattan accents and open-concept living spaces.
The home was designed by husband-and-wife duo Brian and Mika Kleinschmidt, hosts of HGTV's Tampa-based show 100 Day Dream Home, who run the Central Florida development and design firm Dirt 2 Design, according to US Property Expo. The pair even recruited their 17-year-old daughter, Jade, to help design the teen guest bedroom, as reported by The MSU Exponent. Structural and architectural engineering was handled by Orlando firm Forefront working alongside builder Hartizen Homes on Lot 44 of the 300-lot master-planned Eden Crest development.
Swim-Up Bars, Skylights and a Shoe Carousel
The house is packed with the kind of amenities that made HGTV's Smart Home series famous: a swim-up bar, a gourmet grilling station, a putting green and an outdoor projector fill out the backyard, which HGTV says is one of Hiers' favorite parts of the property. Inside, a downstairs lounge offers multiple screens for sports and movie viewing along with a four-screen TV display wall, while an upstairs game room houses a multi-sport simulator, according to the MSU Exponent's reporting. The lounge also includes an electrostatic window that can be switched to opaque at the flip of a switch, and the primary closet features a revolving shoe carousel, with four skylights rounding out the home's high-tech touches.
Hiers said she believes the property would make a beautiful family home, but she and Bill currently live about two hours away, and it remains unclear whether the couple will actually move in. That distance sits at the center of a financial calculation facing nearly every HGTV giveaway winner: whether to take the keys or cash out.
Why Most Winners Never Move In
Official sweepstakes rules allow a winner who elects not to take title to the home to instead receive a cash alternative of $600,000, which combined with the separate $100,000 cash prize brings the total buyout option to $700,000. That option exists largely because of taxes: the IRS treats sweepstakes prizes as ordinary income at federal rates up to 37%, meaning a $1.3 million prize package can carry an estimated federal tax bill exceeding $350,000, according to KeepTheSweep. That tax exposure has historically pushed more than 90% of HGTV giveaway winners to take the cash option or sell the property soon after winning, per the same report.
Florida's lack of a personal income tax does soften the blow somewhat, potentially saving a winner an estimated $100,000 compared with what they'd owe in high-tax states like California or New York, KeepTheSweep notes. Still, property taxes, HOA fees and upkeep on a home valued at more than triple Apopka's typical price remain real costs. The median sold home price in Apopka ranged between $392,000 and $419,000 as of mid-2026, according to Zillow data cited by a local real estate report, putting the Smart Home's value at more than three times the going rate in its own neighborhood.
History suggests the odds favor a sale. Of the first 21 winners across HGTV's various home giveaways, only six ended up living in their prize property for longer than a year, largely due to the ongoing burden of property taxes, utilities and insurance, according to a Homes.com analysis of network history. Whether Karen and Bill Hiers become the exception or join the majority who cash out remains to be seen.
