New Home Star's Keith McKinney, David Rice, Tom Weir and Kyle Rush

Last night was the big VIP event down in Charlotte, North Carolina. And from the looks of it, we think it was a huge success!

There was existing and perspective clients all in attendance. We also had top executives from local mortgage companies stop over as well. Everyone seemed to been enjoying what was happening to this deserving family

Kyle Rush, the Division President of Charlotte, gave VIP tours to some of the guests who attended last night’s event. He took small groups of clients through the almost finished home so they could get a firsthand look at the work that has been done.

David Rice, our CEO, said that last night gave him a sense of hope and a little bit of optimism about the future of the Real Estate industry.

The night was filled with laughter, music, food, drinks, and all around Christmas cheer.

Ty Pennington and David Rice

This particular group of middle schooler’s selected their hero to be Ty Pennington, the host of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. These kids admire how kind and giving Ty is to each and every family he helps.

David Rice noted on his own Facebook page that “Ty is the real deal. So glad to witness their sincere enthusiasm and generosity first-hand.”

Watch this video to see the kids talk with New Home Star’s very own Keith McKinney!

Bellamy Homes, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a group of talented individuals. Their teams of construction workers and contractors have worked exceptionally hard these past couple months getting everything set for this week’s build.

Bellamy Homes were looking to expand their market, but did not have the proper resources to make this happen. That is why we chose to team up with them to help give the Friday’s a house they truly deserve!

On behalf of David Rice and the rest of us here at New Home Star, we want to say a big THANK YOU to all of the members of the Bellamy Homes team in helping making this week possible!

For more information about Bellamy Homes call (704) 910-7173 or visit their website http://www.bellamyhomes.com

CEO David Rice and wife Cathy

Yesterday we really got a good idea of what the house will look like! The workers, designers, and volunteers have done so much to make this, in our opinion, one of the best houses ever on Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

We are already able to tell that this 7 bedroom, 4,200 square foot, brick home will be absolutely beautiful! At about 4:00 Tuesday the first floor was complete. Yesterday we got to see the second floor coming together.

There is a stunning black stair case that winds up to the second floor that the parents can use, but we think the eight Friday children will have more fun using the stair case with a slide attached to it!

The built in slide isn’t the only thing that will appeal to the Friday kids. There is also going to be a half-court basketball area located in the backyard for the kids to hone their skills. Then after a long day of playing hoops the family can gather together and watch a movie in their very own movie theater!

We think the Friday’s are going to love this place!

Coming Together ~ Day 2 ~ WOW!!

A neat thing that we wouldn’t have known about the show before this experience is just how many donations are really necessary to pull this off. For example, great food is served all day to the volunteers and is provided by local and national grocers.

The foundation was the first thing done on site. You could see about forty workers in bright red hard hats running around the site where the Friday’s home used to stand. It took all morning to get the foundation set.

The next task accomplished in the building process was the pouring of the concrete. We had skilled professionals on site ensuring this was done properly. The concrete was poured at around 7 a.m. and the team members were able to begin building around 11 a.m. The construction team went to work on the house and the garage simultaneously.

After the concrete base was cured, the workers and volunteers started putting up the walls to the new home. We couldn’t believe how well the house was coming together after only a few short hours.

Check out this awesome picture of the before and after of the Friday home taken on Tuesday.

Before and After Demolition

The Extreme Makeover team took footage of the house before the demolition, detailing every inch of the Fridayís original home.  After they were done getting the video material they needed the fun began!

A bulldozer and a wrecking crane were used to bring down the house. After the process was started it only took about 15 minutes before the home, that the Friday’s once knew, was no more. The volunteers and workers cheered as the house came falling down.

It isn’t just all work and no play for our New Home Star team; you could hear music and laughter floating in the air while the destruction happened. “It’s not often that starting over comes with such joy”, says CEO David Rice.

It seems like everyone is in the Christmas spirit!

David Rice and the rest of us here at New Home Star are could not be more excited about the progress we have made so far.

It was certainly a high-energy event! Hundreds people dressed in bright blue shirts march down the street yelling and shouting in excitement.

"The Braveheart" ~ Charlotte NC Style!

David Rice said “It was such a moving event to see the family’s neighbors lined up and down the street, applauding what was about to happen for this deserving family.”

This was the first time Extreme Makeover had a nighttime walk. The walk was filled with festive details like a horse-drawn carriage and volunteers holding Christmas candles. It was a truly beautiful scene!

This event is inspired by a scene in the popular movie, “Braveheart” where Mel Gibson’s character leads his people over a hill to defeat the English.

The Joy in Everybody's Faces Says it All

CEO David Rice and Division President Kyle Rush, with 7 of the Friday children

On the morning of Sunday December 11, New Home Star CEO, David Rice, and Division President, Kyle Rush, were part of a small group that went out to a local Christmas tree farm to ‘ambush’ the family with the exciting news of being selected. The Friday family went to pick out a Christmas tree and when they had finally chosen the perfect one, Ty Pennington and the designers jumped out and surprised them. You could hear shouts and screams of happiness from blocks away after we told the Friday family that they have been selected to be part of our mash up with Extreme Makeover.

Neighbors of James and Devonda Friday and their eight children have said that they could not think of a more deserving family to receive this opportunity. While this week long transformation happens, the Friday family will be vacationing in beautiful Jamaica as a gift from Sandals Resort.

In an interview with CEO, Dave Rice he said, “I spent time with all of the kids’ right after they found out and it was awesome. These kids have such humility and grace. Not a mention of wanting big screen T.Vs or elaborates design details – just a desire to “have enough space for our family to be together”. It was awesome!”

Ty Pennington and Kyle Rush

Kyle Rush, DP of our Charlotte Division, met a producer from ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition several years ago. Since then he has been in contact with the Extreme Makeover team trying to get them to come out and tour Charlotte and consider teaming with New Home Star in serving a local needy family.

In February, he met with representatives from “Extreme Makeover – Home Edition” at the International Builder Show in Orlando.

After this meeting the dream began to take shape. We at New Home Star chose to team up with Bellamy Homes, a small local property developer, whose marketing resources are limited, but whose enthusiasm for the project was evident. Their team would not only love to help a local family but also get on the map with the surrounding area and introduce themselves to the market. Over the past several months, Kyle and Bellamy Homes have worked together to prepare for this week’s big event. They had multiple face to face meetings and conference calls in the months leading up to this endeavor.

With the assistance of the local media in Charlotte, we started receiving hundreds of applications for participation in the Extreme Makeover Home Edition show. It was a difficult choice to make because we were presented with so many deserving candidates. It wasn’t until last month that we finally chose a family.

James and Devonda Friday are exceptionally deserving people. They have taken in over 30 foster children in the past few years out of the generosity of their hearts. We at New Home Star decided it was time they got something in return!