OMAZE house

[walkinthewoodstoday]

So, I'm thinking of entering this competion. Clearly as much chance of winning as me getting an Olympic gold medal, but I keep reading that these 'amazing' houses have issues. Eg one has been massively flooded and another is so close to the cliff edge that it might be uninsurable and when it falls the owners will have a massive clear up bill. The current one is in Finsbury Park and I've even been sad enough to streetview it. Can't see any obvious issues, so why is it an OMAZE house? Please enlighten me!

How much privacy can you reasonably expect if you win a hugely publicised house?
You could possibly stop Omaze publishing your name and/or photo but I feel like that will only do so much. People on here have already said how any houses won on there are know locally as "The Omaze House" for years after - even if you immediaty sell it surely there's a fair bit of pubic information available?

If they've not phoned me today does that mean I'm not moving to the Lake District? 😥

So I drove down the road yesterday to see the Finsbury Park Omaze house. As you can see from the street view pictures on the Rightmove link posted earlier on the thread it is tucked away in a rather odd location - you go past quite a dingy street and the school before finding the row of houses that its one of. They are in variable states - the Omaze house is definitely the best in the street. I'm not sure it would be the nicest location coming back late at night via public transport - something I do a lot.

I have actually bought tickets (before I went to explore) which tells you something about my intelligence. I'm not sure what I'd do if I won it! Also, on that, do only couples seem to win? As a divorced single woman in my 50s I might not fit the bill for a winner! And as both my DC are student age or older I'm not sure I really need a big house. Still. I'm not going to win am I?

So I guess the “problem” with this house as suspected is that the original owners just wanted a lot more for it than it was worth. So even thought Omaze bought it for just over £3mil, it’s not really worth that on the open market, and Omaze just helped the owners artificially inflate the price as they knew they’d make it back in ticket sales anyway.

I’ve already said this - looking at property in the area, £/sq foot puts it around £2.9 million and that’s not taking into account the finish.

In my area it would be £4-5 million.

We get it - you live in an expensive area.

I do but I don’t live in an expensive property nor am I wealthy. The whole of London is expensive is the point - even Finsbury Park.

If I live in a £4 million house I wouldn’t be hanging around Omaze trying to win one. 😂

77 Turlewray Close, N4 3LR. Although it's close to Stroud Green Rd, it's at the end of a poorly lit street literally on the doorstep of Wray Crescent park, a known trouble spot in N4 for drugs and knife crime. Google 'Wray Crescent, Finsbury Park' and you'll get the general picture. I imagine that is why the house hasn't sold, as well as being over-priced. Obviously it looks great on the inside though.

At least no flooding or subsidence issues. Just an overpriced house in a slightly dodgy area.

It doesn't realy matter what Omaze paid for it if you win it for a few quid. If I won it, I would probably rent it out, or sell after a few months. Anything you get over the price of your tickets is pure profit.

The whole of London is dodgy if you believe some MNers.

It matters because you are paying £10 to enter a competition to win a £3mil house except it’s not worth £3mil probably closer to £2m. Still a lot of money, but they are exaggerating the prize fund by about 33%.

Hmm, forgot to mention that bit. It sits right on top of the source of the underground river called Hackney Brook. Many of the houses there - it used to be a crescent with lots more properties - were pulled down for that reason post-war. The image below is the government flood risk map for the area. Wray Crescent Open Space, which the house sits on the edge of, is right in the middle here 😂

according to Facebook they are calling and visiting the winner tomorrow so your lucks
still in!

London's Lost Rivers Wow, thank you. A bit off topic but there's some fascinating history about the Hackney Brook and other rivers. The linked article was a good read. Loved this bit:

"While following the course of the Hackney Brook, Sinclair’s dowser shares a feeling of foreboding regarding London’s buried rivers. The dowser tells him: “There is a disease pattern in certain districts of London, malfunction, malfate. I have researched these patterns, like the ripples from a stone dropped in a pond. Houses built above lost rivers, the inhabitants have no knowledge of that history, carry a dark aura. Ill fortune is always associated with this.” (Sinclair, 2013, 32-33)"

This is what £2 million buys in the area:

https://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/61932333/

https://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/63034974/

https://www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/63510171/

What I think are much nicer houses!

In fairness I think the Crouch End house is a better areas than the Omaze house and I don’t mean that in a snobby way.

I lived in the area around Stroud Green Road before it got trendy and it was so much fun: African cafes, groceries and veg shops, brilliant butchers, buses lined up to take everyone to Notting Hill for Carnival.. I haven’t been back in a long time so I am guessing it has all changed now! It’s probably all wine bars and book stores! Maybe I’ll go for a wander around one day.

They all have potential but they’re around 1000 sq foot smaller and the first 2 are terraced. The last one needs a shit ton of money spending on it.

I would argue they are nicer, the Omaze house is a particular style that is not worth the extra money to me and the houses you selected are in a nicer area as a PP has mentioned and location is everything. But it doesn’t matter what I think, they tried for a long period of time to sell it for £3mil and didn’t get it until Omaze came along. Ergo market forces say it’s not worth £3mil and the market has dropped further since Omaze bought it.

We don’t know what they were offered - they may have turned down offers under 3.1 which is what it eventually went for. It should still go for 2.9+

I don’t like the style of the Omaze house - but the others are tatty and cheaply done and need a lot of money spending on them.

A bit harsh to say they are tatty and cheaply done. They are lived in and seem homely and welcoming. The Omaze house has some tatty finishing to the grouting and some badly thought through layout. The garden is majorly overlooked too....

Area looks totally fine to me - I was a student in Holloway down the road and have had friends live in the area.

With the money saved on rent, we could take Ubers everywhere at night!

True nonetheless though.

I agree the Omaze house is badly designed, I also think the kitchen is cheap for the size and value of the house, and some of the design is tacky. By tatty I meant shabby and worn and the Omaze house is newly done even if the finishes are imperfect.