The economy is in an ugly downward spiral, people are losing jobs all over and stuck in their houses, or in some cases facing foreclosure. In fact, my sister told me the other day that she has a friend in Utah who lives on a street where people are keeping their lights off all the time so the banks think they aren't home. I find this shocking. And everyone has some sort of crazy or sad story right now.
So in the midst of all this mess, I saw a post on a real estate blog yesterday that was a truly innovative approach to dealing with the market. Leslie Pandey wrote the article I'm pulling this story from and it's called...bum, bum, bum.."Michigan Woman to Raffle off Condo."
Apparently Angela Schaab in Grand Rapids, MI is raffling off her 750-square-foot Condo. She plans to sell 2,500 tickets at $100 each. She'll pick a lucky winner in a live raffle and the winner gets the home "free and clear." On top of that she is donating 10 percent of the proceeds to Habitat for Humanity.
This is pretty brilliant, is it not? She gets $250,000 bucks for her condo and the owner pays $100.00. Those who lost took a calculated risk and only lost 100 bucks.
There is a catch. Apparently this could be illegal since some states consider a raffle to be gambling. I scrolled down to the comments on this blog and discovered that not only is this woman not the first person to think of this option, but other people have come up with creative ways around the legality.
One came up with a contest that he touts as, "fair, fun and quick." And presumably legal. It is found on The PerfectPlaceContest.com. It turns a game of chance into a loosely termed game of skill. It's a word jumble type game and the highest score wins.
Here's how it works:
To enter, players visit http://www.PerfectPlaceContest.com, choose the property they want to win and pay the corresponding entrée fee which ranges from $50 to $200, depending on the property. Players will have the opportunity to try a few practice games before playing. The goal is to unscramble the letters as quickly as possible to form a specific word. Immediately following play, the home-seekers’ scores and the highest score will be displayed, allowing contestants to keep track of their placement. At the end of 30 days, the player who unscrambled the word correctly the fastest will be declared the winner of the property. Players may enter as often as they wish but must pay separate entrees fees for each game, and players must be 18 years old or older.
Intrigued? You can contact Donna Kalman at (954)255-6987 or www.perfectplacecontest.com.
I have no idea if this is really legal or not, but it is truly innovative, amusing, and a way to beat the slump! If only our nation's leaders could think as creatively to come up with better bailout plans and solutions to the crisis.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Beating the Economy Odds
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5 comments:
A friend suggested to me that I should start writing a blog. I asked him why I should do that, and why anyone would read a blog that I wrote. I'm still waiting for his insightful reply.
I thought about how I almost never read other people's blogs. There are probably several reasons why, but I won't get into that. I think of any blog that I've ever read, yours is my favorite. I admire how honest and open you are. Reading what you write is worthwhile to me. Hearing about how fabulous and perfect everyone else's lives are isn't interesting or helpful to me. But I can ALWAYS depend on you to not have a fabulous, perfect life and that makes me feel better about my own lackluster and imperfect life.
I think it's a long shot that I'll start a blog. It would be hard for me to be as open as you are. I admire you for your honesty and your willingness to make yourself vulnerable to the world of lurking blog readers (like me).
Says your prez...
The first paragraph of the original post talks about the negatives of the economy and the situations that many Americans now face dealing with their homes.
We have seen recently that many Americans are turning to home raffles as a way to get out of their bad situations. However, knowledge of home raffles and how to conduct them successfully is not widely known.
We at USA Home Raffle think raffles of real estate can help America recover from this economic slump. The most successful home raffle situations involve non profit organizations. (In most states, home raffles aren't even legal unless the home is raffled by a non profit organization.) Our site helps connect Homeowners (who are looking to raffle their home) with Non Profit Organizations looking to conduct a raffle.
With the same principle of selling $100 tickets, non profits can raise money (that they aren't getting from usual donors because of the economy), get someone out of a bad situation with their home, and give away the homes to lucky winners at the same time.
We encourage you to do more research on the legalities of such raffles before you dive in. You can start at USA Home Raffle.com, Since July, 2008 our site has been the most popular place online for information on how to get started with home raffles and how to buy tickets for raffles currently in progress.
If you don't get it, I do. Your friend suggested it because you are witty, wise and honest--I concur--you should start your own blog!
Thanks for the kind words--I do my best to ensure my life is not perfect and so far so good. :)
I know what your first post should be and it's called "Raising Cougar Bait." I can't wait!
OK-- so to all you people seriously considering raffling your home based on my post, C. Tyree seems to be an interested advisor with light speed google skill-z.
Please keep in mind that I personally have no knowledge about what is legal and illegal, and do not condone raffling your home or the injury of animals while filming.
Maybe you should buy a raffle ticket and try to get a house of your own. Sounds like a great way- win win. Well, unless you loose.
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