About the Omaze house draw…

[BrokenToy]

…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?

If you’ve paid nothing for the house, you can afford to sell it for a quarter of what it’s worth and you’d still be quids in.

You’d also have the option to rent it as a luxury holiday home etc or as a short term let for wealthy people (for example, Hollywood stars and directors often stay in massively pricey rental properties like that when they’re spending a few months somewhere to make a film).

I know that some of the houses are available because they come with a risk like flooding or cliff erosion or whatever, but if you’ve paid nothing for the house in the first place, that’s less of a concern. You could spend your summers in it for the 20 years prior to it falling into the sea and just walk away from it, if you really wanted to.

Sell it?

If you were on benefits then you could run it as a guest house etc. We (me/close relatives) are on min wage/benefits and live in Liverpool. Contrary to popular beliefs we are allowed to leave and do get as far as Cornwall. I'd see if I could let it, part holiday in it for a year, then if it isn't feasible I'd sell it. I could buy my DD a three bed for £150'000, everyone else owns their own homes, so I'd take anything over £500k for it. I'd be more gutted to be based in London and the sale not even rehouse us. Up in Liverpool we have it easy in house buying terms.

Do people genuinely believe in this draw? Or like me, very sceptical about it and think the winner has already been decided and it will someone related to the competition organisers? So it can either be sold and money back to the company or a child of the ceo wins it ...🤔

I didn’t mean people in Liverpool aren’t allowed to leave, obviously, but like many people probably wouldn’t want to up sticks and move to the other side of the country.

They always seem a bit dodgy. It would be a millstone round the neck of most people.

I suppose it would be nice if you had a huge family and could all chip in to help running costs and use it as a holiday home between you.

|I know this won't be believed but I actually know someone who won one. They are an ordinary working couple.

They have stayed in it a few times and done some lucrative short term lets, but plan to sell it.

@bluebeck Which one ?

You just sell it really cheaply if you want to sell it fast. Anything sells at the right price and you’re still massively quids in.

I stayed on a caravan park right next to one in Combe Martin. I had never heard of the lottery before but started to take note. I can't quite believe it isn't a scam? How on earth do they have the funds for the house/the advertising/ the charity and make money from it. I don't know a single person that has entered.

The one I saw was a lovely house with amazing views of the sea but right next to a caravan park! It was apparently empty the entire weekend we were there.

I literally can't bear it - affected sing-song.

Live in it? Rent it?

From what I've seen of the winners so far, they are already comfortable. The last lot were on holiday in the south of France in their holiday home! And the reveal at their house looked like somewhere they could have done another raffle for. But the minimum to buy tickets is £10, and all the way up to a couple of hundred for more tickets, so I don't see it as a minimum wage person's lottery in the first place. Which is a real shame as I don't think it's truly life changing for the winners, just makes them extra stinking rich (yes I am jealous)

I cannot stand that fucking advert and that women's fucking voice. I've had to change radio stations today because she's on avery ten bloody minutes.

I'd be delighted to win it so I could burn it to the ground.

I've got it worked out 😀
Even though such a house would be far too big & expensive for me to live in permanently, if it was by the sea (they all seem to be) I'd want to live there for at least a year. I've always fantasised about living with a sea view & would want to experience all 4 seasons as I'd likely never get the opportunity again.

I'd fund this by renting out my house (no problem in London) and at the end of the year decide whether to sell, rent or stay longer.
Now I just have to win one.

You sell it but I’m pretty sure it qualifies as capital gains. If you already own a home then it’s a second home. If winner lived in rented I think they’d have to prove the won house was a main residence.
I always think you’d have to sell u dear value, they’re pretty u inquest houses, so limited buyers. Say sell for 1.5 million, less agents and legal fees, then capital gains, I think you’d clear a million but work for it.

** Under value

But people don't have to enter it if it wouldn't suit their circumstances or, as many have said, they could just sell up and have the cash.

In a similar vein, the homes on Extreme Makeover (TV show here where a family on hard times or with complex needs has a new home built for them) are frequently sold within a few years of being built for the family as they cannot afford the property taxes or the maintenance/upkeep of a 4000 square feet home.

I wanted to win the one in Wimbledon or Fulham, if I had I would totally have moved in.

Cornwall or Lake District I would have one long holiday there then sold asap.

I've entered (it's not a scam) and if I won my plan would be to use it a few weeks of the year and holiday rent it via an agency the rest of the time. If it could generate £30k+ after costs per annum that's great extra income (they allege the cornwall one could be rented for 10k per month high season). Use the 50k and rental income to cover running costs.

Holiday let’s are a massive pia though you have to pay roughly 20% to an agent, then pay house manager/cleaners/gardener/odd job man in addition to running costs and wear and tear.

It would pay for itself but the income wouldn’t be as much as you think.

I live quite near the Cornwall one and you'd easily be able to sell it on for £2 or £3 million. Property round here with sea views is ridiculously priced. If I won, I'd keep it and rent it out. I work in the holiday let industry it would easily realise £5k a week in high season.

Well I think a £4m Cornwall beach house will sell relatively quickly, and as it's a prize even if they sold it for £3m will hardly be complaining. I wanted the one in Wimbledon.

I have entered one time in the past but won't again for two reasons. Firstly, you can't be anonymous and have to take part in intrusive interviews and photos.

Secondly, and this is the main reason, if you read the terms and conditions they vet who can actually win; it's not a fair competition. If someone wins but doesn't pass their requirements they will choose another winner! 😮