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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

About the Omaze house draw…

120 replies

BrokenToy · 30/07/2022 11:28

…that I’m constantly seeing adverts for.

I don’t get it. What does a family on min wage/benefits from Liverpool (for eg) do with a 4million quid Cornwall beach house? How do they run it? You can’t just sell it, houses of that value sit on the market for months/years (and I suspect are the reason they go up for these competitions).

Every time I catch the advert I think this. They also offer a £50k cash prize alongside but that would only see you through about a years worth of bills etc really. We’re on a decent income but every time I see it I think hmm ok we could sell/rent this house and live there, but even then we’d drown in energy bills, maintenance of the swimming pool/tennis courts, you’d need a gardener for the huge grounds, really I’d need a full time cleaner as the house would be too much alongside ft jobs.

Surely you need a millionaire income to fund a house like the ones they give away? Am I missing something?

OP posts:
girlfrien · 30/07/2022 11:29

You sell it if you don't want it.

bellac11 · 30/07/2022 11:30

You'd sell it of course. Im not on MW or benefits but I wouldnt be able to maintain a house like that either. So I'd sell it, not sure why you think a house like that sits on the market for years, and even if you cut the price in half you're still walking away with 2 million

DeusInAbsentia · 30/07/2022 11:31

im sure I recall reading that one of the homes they sold, possibly the Cotswolds one, was a bit of an unsellable millstone because it had been built on land that floods regularly.

junglejane66 · 30/07/2022 11:32

I agree OP, if I won a £2m house I'd be gutted

wonderstuff · 30/07/2022 11:32

I’m sure you could sell it quickly if you priced it keenly. You could probably quite easily cover bills by letting it out, granted it might be a bit of a hassle but I’m sure you could employ an agent to manage it?

Youshouldbesolucky · 30/07/2022 11:32

Id probably sell and air bnb until I found a seller

IneffableGenderFairy · 30/07/2022 11:33

You'd sell it cheap. Someone gets a bargain, you get money.

CathyorClaire · 30/07/2022 11:38

I'm sure I read somewhere that the houses offered have some sort of problem that has meant they've sat on the market for a while. I think the winners also get something like £20k to help with running costs but that wouldn't really scratch the surface after a year or so.

That said they'd sell to someone if marked down enough so I think you'd still come out of it with a pretty sturdy pot of cash if you went the selling route.

BirmaBrite · 30/07/2022 11:39

Are these houses Leasehold or Freehold ? I am sure with the Cotswold one , you had to commit to pay a certain amount for maintaining the gardens or something ?

ScattyHattie · 30/07/2022 11:41

I expect most people sell, but they look type that may appeal to rich to rent out which would cover bills or could go with
with holiday let so still able to use yourself which may help make the £50k last longer.

I thought I saw in news the newish stone built omaze house that was won flooded soon after? Thought perhaps why was up as a prize rather than sold.
I've seen local houses being done as a raffle prize which may look ok but is often something about the location which would make a normal sale less profitable. I'm not sure if they ever sold enough tickets in the alloted timeframe for it to be drawn

ValleyOfSomewhere · 30/07/2022 11:43

I don’t get it. What does a family on min wage/benefits from Liverpool (for eg) do with a 4million quid Cornwall beach house? How do they run it? You can’t just sell it, houses of that value sit on the market for months/years.

Well for a start it is probably not worth £4m. This is (i) a raffle and (ii) property valuations do not come with a warranty in this scenario. Leaving this aside, owners are not compelled under law to hold out to achieve a minimum price. Any property can sell within 5 minutes if priced to do so.

Mushroo · 30/07/2022 11:45

Just sell it cheaply. Even if it’s advertised as being ‘worth’ £4m just sell it for £1.5m or whatever. I’d certainly be happy with that!

Gymnopedie · 30/07/2022 11:45

Thank you for the thread. The adverts keep coming up on my feed, and I kept meaning to post about them to ask if they were even for real or were they a scam. This has been enlightening.

bellac11 · 30/07/2022 11:55

DeusInAbsentia · 30/07/2022 11:32

And on right move it doesnt come up as having sold, but the article says that they put it on for the original price!!

Should have cut it in half

MaudieTipstaff · 30/07/2022 12:10

I guess you'd sell it. I don't know how much the tickets are but you surely could sell it for a fraction of the value and be pleased with the outcome because it wouldn't really have cost you anything.

Similarly though I always think this on threads where people say what would you do with two million pounds or whatever and people post they'd buy a massive house with a swimming pool etc. I just think how could you afford to run it.

whynotwhatknot · 30/07/2022 12:12

its not a scam but i always thought how i could never afford the upkeep easer to get rid at a cheaper price

SwedishEdith · 30/07/2022 12:15

Lol at this "Julia Boardman, who has lived in the secluded hamlet since 1968, said: “This valley has been flooding for hundreds of years. It is just the natural way of things.

“Before, there was just a cottage at the side of the plot that never flooded and the water was able to flood down and drain slowly away in the stream. Then they built this horrendous house.”

Unbored · 30/07/2022 12:15

I would rent out as a holiday home - if that didn’t t work out then sell cheap.

HelpMeGetThrough · 30/07/2022 12:20

I don’t get it. What does a family on min wage/benefits from Liverpool (for eg) do with a 4million quid Cornwall beach house?

Sell the bugger and live comfortably.

Elderflower14 · 30/07/2022 12:22

The woman's voice on the advert drives me mad... So put on!!!

PancakesWithCheese · 30/07/2022 12:25

I object to the guilt tripping of raising money for Great Ormond street for these raffles (I used to work there so can say what I bloody well like ).

tanstaafl · 30/07/2022 12:25

When they ring me Monday to tell me I’ve won it, I’ll keep you posted OP.

Youshouldbesolucky · 30/07/2022 12:26

@Elderflower14 I’m sure she’s related to the ‘Jane Plan’ lady.. eurgh!

HangerLaneGyratorySystem · 30/07/2022 12:32

I've thought a lot about this as well because it just seemed bizarre; the ones I've seen I have thought well you could run a business from there or rent part of it out - if you've got that sort of mindset you could decide to make a go of it, if you wanted to using the £50k as capital, like that Lake District one that was beautiful - they often seen to have self contained parts on the side so you could have guests coming in their own entrance. The one in Wimbledon was won by a young family and I imagine they'd prefer to sell at any price really, surely one in Wimbledon would sell quickly - or even AirBNB it as it makes a fortune during Wimbledon tennis weeks.

But another I saw won by a couple already living in a fairly large house and they filmed the presenter going up to the door and saying you've won a house and the wife being like "oh that's nice". Bit like the big lottery wins I suppose you can't help thinking oo they don't need or deserve it - automatically brings out the judgey pants (haven't heard that saying on here for years ....)!