New Omaze House (Devon)

[ShyMaryEllen]

https://omaze.co.uk/pages/devon-iii?utm_content=cta1&utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HO_DEV3H31_Launch_PaidSubs&utm_id=01J7P22WMG5CV1B8CJ86VHQW86&content=uk_test&term=house&_kx=5E_oZ0CxbPdqteKXGk0MCHyV2H5uhnOpCDFn4US1prSJuX_QwnRF7X4muKsKz-bn.NAdKub

What's the verdict, Omaze entrants?

It's another glass house, and looks very similar to previous ones - I'm not keen, so am still hanging my hopes on the Yorkshire one. Also, this maybe a daft question, but what happens to all that outside furniture when it rains? There is a lot of it, and if you have to rush out with covers for it all it would be a pain.

I'd happily accept it if I won, but am pretty sure I'd sell it immediately after a nice long holiday.

Think they have a costing in their blog section? I remember thinking it would be manageable with an income but post retirement? Would need something from the stables/land to keep you afloat without a really generous final salary pension. I’d find a way if I won it, though!

Where can you put your books?

Lol, that was my issue with the london property! A house is not a home without lots of books!

You'll struggle to sell an Omaze property, they are literally ones that the owners couldn't sell.

There was one near us, the owner had it on the market for at least 2 years before selling to Omaze, presumably at a lower rate. It's been won by someone and back on the market and they still can't get rid of it.

When they are that expensive, you can't just knock a bit off to get rid, it's still vastly beyond the budget (and size) most people are looking for.

It's great if these houses are local to you, or if you're willing to move there, otherwise no.

I'd much rather have the money than an asset I have to think about selling, and the complications that come with that.

The Yorkshire house is gorgeous but it wouldn't be practical for me to live there. I wonder if anyone makes a success letting their Omaze-win house out for weddings and things, or if they're always just a money drain?

I'm not signed up to Omaze because so many of the houses are hideous glass and metal boxes that I'd be embarrassed to be associated with! If only there were more like the Yorkshire one (only in the Westcounty please!)

one of the early ones went to a woman who rents it out - I think it’s called Post Knott Lodge or similar. In the Lakes. Everyone else seems to sell within a month.

They posted a reel about an hour ago and did an aerial shot of the presenter. The house is literally in someone else’s back garden. Lost some appeal with that one…

I subscribe monthly. I call it my middle aged retirement punt. I really don’t care where the house is tbf.

Why do they keep saying 'heated swimming pool' in the descriptions of these houses, as if that is its permanent state? It's only heated if someone turns the boiler on (and pays the running cost).

If memory serves they reckon £1500 a month for basics, and another £1500 for things like a cleaner, gardener etc. It's on the website, but I'm out now and can't find it - I'll have a look tomorrow if nobody else has posted.

The way I look at it, they give you £250k, which would last a long while for living expenses, you could sell your own house if you have one, which would last even longer and by the time you ran out of money you'd have found a job or another way to make money if you can't work from home doing what you do now (eg renting out the stables, or renting the house to TV or film people, letting it for holidays in the summer or something). I can't pretend to be very practical or realistic in fantasies though. I was just talking about this to George Clooney . . .

I've never entered either but have thought about winning the Yorkshire one. Friends live nearby so it would suit me really well 😁I wonder what the issue with that house is? Anyone know?

There’s a thread about the Yorkshire house. Someone said the issue would be the stables, as their position would make it difficult to sell them off because of accessibility - the owner would have to drive through your garden to get to them, as would riders to get out. Again I’m working from memory though.

I don’t care. When I move in I plan to convert them to a hostel-type place for people to use on the writing holidays that will pay for my family to live there free. If they come and go that’s fine, as they will all be fascinating types with whom I can chat in a learned fashion about poetry or plot development over coffee and cake.

You'll struggle to sell an Omaze property, they are literally ones that the owners couldn't sell.

The London ones never looked an issue to me to sell on and even with selling it for less you can be better off.

I'll come on the writing holiday and have the coffee and cake. But my writing would be grocery lists. I love to talk about books.

There is so much mythology surrounding Omaze. People don’t want to view it as a basic gamble - you buy a ticket, money is split between their profit and a good cause and there is a tiny chance that you might win a valuable prize - so they come up with all manner of objections to the whole concept.

The houses may not be worth as much as they say, but you get a large cash sum to live on until you settle in, they are fully furnished and include conveyancing fees. The company has to abide by the law, so if you have a dodgy financial background (eg money laundering, not being behind with a gas bill) they will check you out.

The cynicism is crazy. Even if you don’t win a house worth the headline £Xm you’ve got a huge return on your £10 ticket price, and £Xm minus a bit of exaggeration is still a good prize. How do people know that the houses are unsaleable? They tend to be unusual, often a bit remote (if not in London) so won’t sell as quickly as a standard semi on a bus route. So what? The winner didn’t pay for it anyway. I wonder if people think that doubting everything makes them seem less gullible and therefore more intelligent?

Oh, my first customer- excellent 😎. You can have a 50% discount if you tell all your friends and give us a great review on social media. In fact you can run the ‘talking about books’ sessions and stay free.

This is easier than I expected 🥳

Well I just spotted that there was a new Omaze house this morning and have spent an entertaining half hour working out exactly where it is. While it's not terribly exciting to me architecturally, I could commute to work from it so it's worth a punt on that basis!

It’s called a heated swimming pool because it has a heating facility, whether you choose to use it or not.
Many basic garden pools are unheated, i.e. have no way to heat at all.

I actually quite liked the house till someone pointed out that it’s in someone’s garden!

I have horses and am nearing retirement so the Yorkshire one would suit me - would need more land though

I live down the road from it.

It's built at the end of a very long garden off Douglas Avenue. You can see it on Google maps.

To be fair it's a nice location overlooking the maer nature reserve & about a 5 minute walk to the sea.

If i won it I wouldn't be too miffed! I don't see how it's worth 2.5 million though. There's not much garden to speak of and some of the houses along Foxholes are nicer and less expensive.

But then I'm not a huge fan of gardening so it would suit me!

Is it this half-built plot here?

Will someone who knows the location please link us up?

I liked the Yorkshire one more than nearly all other Omaze homes (I seem to recall one in Norfolk that I quite liked...)
But it was still a bit too Martha Stewart for me, and all the horse stables really stuff put me off 😂 I'd rather have lots of woodland, or a massive walled garden.