New Omaze Cornwall House

[ShyMaryEllen]

https://omaze.co.uk/pages/cornwall-iv

What do we think?

It has a faintly Poirot look about it. I think it's gorgeous, but it's another one that would need a live-in window cleaner. Omaze do like a house with a lot of glass😀.

I'd love to eat breakfast on the terrace with that view of the sea, though - even if most of the year I'd be wearing a duffle coat.

I doubt even my children will be here in 77 years though, and something might have been done to shore up the cliff by then 😂

If I had that sort of money I probably wouldn't buy something so near to the cliff, and I'd prefer a lot less glass, but if I won it for £25, I'd be very happy.

I think that things like this divide the 'glass half full' from the 'glass half empty'. My husband always looks for the downside, which is fine if you are spending your own money, but why look for problems with what would be a freebie? The way I see it, £250k buys plenty of time to sell it after living there for a year or so for the experience, and after that anything made on the sale (minus £25) is a profit. These days, a lot of people could work from there or anywhere, so would still have a salary coming in, plus you could sell your existing house and not pay mortgage/rent, so even if living costs are higher they'd be covered for a long time before you had to touch your £250k.

@Sandwichgen It's about a five minute walk to the beach (down the coastpath, steepish back up). We have relatives who live on the same road.
It's not a bit of the coast that seems to erode much - looks about the same as it did when I started coming here 35 years ago (which isn't the case around a lot of the Cornish coast!).

That obligation to get involved in publicity is interesting, I wonder how they would deal with someone who needs to remain under the radar for safety reasons (eg a domestic violence survivor).

I'd sell it for a knock-down price, like 25% of the so-called 'value' and then use the money to pay off my own mortgage. I'd use it for holidays first, mind.

I see the interior photo illustrating this house on the Omaze website prominently features a big bowl of lemons in the foreground.

...Are they trying to tell us something?

All of the houses they offer seem to be problematic, I often wonder if it's the only way the owners can get rid. I saw one relatively recently that was basically falling off the cliff it was on 🙈

Companies often give themselves the "right" to do things in their T&Cs, but that doesn't mean they actually do them.

Off topic, but I have considered sending a free postal entry, but I wonder if those just get dumped in the bin...

Just googled that one, what a waste! How did they not realise about the coastal erosion being just 5-10 years away?!

I love this one. I already live in Cornwall but would gladly trade up my 3 bed mid-terrace to that one for a year or so before selling it. Maenporth is a lovely beach too.

Most of the houses get sold because people are entering a lottery, they don’t want to live in them. I think unless there was one in this town, realistically I’d always sell. and I’d never expect to get the amount they say it’s worth. (This one they are claiming £4.5m, but if I got £3m I’d be very happy)

It's a fantastic house and would have been perfect for the COVID lockdowns.

Realistically, it's too far from London to be used as a weekend retreat.

I'd probably stay for a week with family before sending them packing so that I could host a weekend rave for friends and then put it on the market.

I’d be more than happy if I won an expensive house! If it didn’t sell for what they predicted it’s worth it would still sell for something and it would be more money than I had before!

I would love to spend some time inthis one though, those views!

I love the views from the kitchen - I wouldn't mind cooking if I had those views to look at whilst cooking a Sunday roast! I love the gorgeous bathroom too

It's the kind of house that I would expect film and TV location scouts might be interested in, though I don't know if that would be particularly lucrative.

I think it looks lovely, but Cornwall is a nightmare location for most people - too much hassle to visit regularly, too remote for people who are still working or have teen/young families. This one, like most of them, is not very dog friendly. I’d never let mine out with that cliff just over the hedge!

I happen to live within walking distance of the Farnham one that close a few weeks ago, and a local EA mentioned that it had had a buyer already but that they were gazumped by Omaze with a very much above market offer as Omaze doesn’t need to worry about ‘profit’ or resale value - they just need properties that look good on film to encourage us to buy it. Just mention that as people suppose they are problem properties that noone wants to buy - which they aren’t. They’re just huge/expensive to run and there are simply not enough millionaires around looking to buy! The Farnham one had been run for years as an holiday/celeb rental (we have a lot of film locations, with all the Marvel films and the Witcher etc being filmed here) and noisy renters had been an issue for the locals. I am guessing it’ll be back on the market again by the end of the summer.

I personally would love to win the London one as DH would love to have a place there for weeks he is based in London and both our kids are off to uni in a few years, so they could use it and save on student accommodation. That said, I suspect we’d sell and buy something more modest in an area we were more familiar with, near Battersea or something, as we’d need a small garden and/or access to parks for our spaniels!

I think it looks lovely, but Cornwall is a nightmare location for most people

I know where it is, it's about 2 miles down the road from where we are.

Getting to where that is, is a pain in the arse with pretty narrow roads.

I've never bought Omaze entries but as I live very close to this house I'm a tiny bit tempted It is a bit soulless and the vast expanse of glass plus as people say the prevailing winds in autumn and winter would be... bracing, to say the least. But I kinda like the tower and the amount of outside space. Maybe I'll give it a go. I'd probably use the winnings to divide it into 2 or 3 self-contained sections so I could rent some out and live in one.

I've never bought Omaze entries but as I live very close to this house I'm a tiny bit tempted

Same here, it's tempting. Trouble is we'd still get the bloody seagulls there!! Grrrrr.

This is the problem with winning this prize. You immediately become the owner of a property at the other end of the country that is too expensive to maintain on your income but can’t sell it.

Lovely house but a little too white for me. Also, it’s a long way to Cornwall from where I live.

Slightly regret not buying a ticket for the coastal house a few months back nearer where I live.

I think the two things are very different. Firstly, Omaze is run as a business and does not pretend to be a charity. If it raises £5 million and gives £2 million to charity (for example) then that's a whopping £2 million a charity wouldn't otherwise have. I work for a charity and we would be absolutely bloody over the moon to receive this lifeline. Secondly, the charities that Omaze donates to are all long established and accredited such as the RSPCA, the British Heart Foundation and the NSPCC. Thirdly, Omaze are creating employment for a variety of staff which can't be a bad thing and they are quite transparent about how much the charity will receive. Finally, someone wins a house.

The Captain Tom thing on the other hand was completely unregulated. People donated with no real clarity as to where their money would be going other than some vague promises about the NHS. The "Trustees" in charge were self appointed and consisted of his daughter and son in law who operated from their own home. There was no transparency at all and the whole set up was loaded with "grey areas". It was also quite exploitative, as it monopolised on people's goodwill during Covid. Omaze is not exploiting anyone's goodwill. It is essentially a raffle with a prize at the end and a chunk of money going to charity.

The houses always sell - they just don’t sell for what the organisers claim they are worth. Several have been sold by the winners.

generally the work done by Omaze has taken the unsellable house they got originally and made it sellable. (And it must help that there’s been a tonne of advertising claiming it’s a £4m house when you put it on the market for £3.5m, makes the new owners feel they’ve got a bargain)

I think it’s hideous and too big for the site, probably done by a property developer - however the views are gorgeous and I’d like to win it anyway.

I’ve checked out previous houses and Omaze did pay for them what they claimed to have done. Whether they’d sell for that is another matter but that’s true of any house.

What perplexes me is I that they tend to overpay for them rather than pick up a bargain on houses that have been sitting on the market for a while.

All the London houses would have been easy to sell. I don’t know about Cornwall.