Would you like an Oregon house for $49.95?

[miladycarol]

Our Vaughn Road house is vacant.  We bought it a few years ago at the top of the market as a lease to own with a specific person in mind.  He never paid his rent and he trashed the place before he skipped the state.  We spent many tens of thousands of dollars renovating it and found a young man to lease it.  He told us he can no longer afford to stay there.  Since our mortgage is way more than a rental could pay and the average time on the market in that area is 3-11 months, we decided to take the marketing into our own hands.

The economy is what it is and many people are losing their homes.  We have this lovely home in the countryside of Oregon that really deserves a wonderful family to love it, so we are putting it out there to the world.  We invite everyone who would like to own this home to submit a story about why they should have it to the world, then invite their friends to support them by going to Digg.com and voting their story up.  On the 23^rd of December, 2008, the story with the most Diggs will receive the house.  All we ask is a $49.95 entry fee to submit your story.  If we receive 6000 entrants, we will pay off the mortgage and the renovation costs so we’re even and some deserving person will receive a house on a gorgeous piece of property for less than $50.  Anything above our target goal will be split between three charities: Habitat for Humanity, Best Friends Animal Shelter, and Citizens for Health.

Believe me, this property is beautiful.  It’s surrounded by trees, it has a seasonal stream, it’s quiet, the air is clean and there are two different apple trees there.  I would live there in a heartbeat if it were a bit closer to town and if we hadn’t paid so much for it.    Now, I’d love to see the perfect person have it and give that land some love.   Even if the winner doesn't want the property for themselves, they won't have a mortgage over their heads so they can rent it for additional income, put it on the market and wait until it's sold, or donate it to someone of their choice.  It's a winning situation.  

If we don’t get enough entries by 23 December, then we’ll refund everyone’s money and the house remains on the market.  If you would like to be a part of bringing this offer to the world, please consider voting this link up.  It is an earnest offer that helps us, helps some deserving person to own a house with no mortgage payments and helps three great non-profit organizations.  

Thank you.

Comments

[tibicina.livejournal.com]

One of my friends pointed out that you may want to consult with a lawyer about state lottery laws. (Making it a contest with a clear method of winning /may/ get around that, but you should still probably make sure.)

The other aspect of what she'd said related to what happened if you didn't make enough money, but since you've written in that you'll be returning the money in that case, that should work.

[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Everything has been checked by our Oregon lawyer and has been given the green light. We have made every attempt to be transparent. Should you see anything that isn't clear, please let me know. Thanks for taking the time to read it. I hope you feel it's appropriate to Digg it up the charts.

[rainbow.livejournal.com]

What a neat idea!

[leld.livejournal.com]

I am interested in entering this for my brother, but I have some concerns. The wordpress website says that the entry fee is $19.95, and you're looking to raise $300,000; so you would need over 15,000 entrants. This seems rather unlikely (6000 entrants at 49.95 is only a little more likely). This seems not so much a realistic contest that someone can actually win, but a way to raise money for charity. Raising money for charity is great, and this a very interesting idea, so I hope it works out. However I'm wary, and others will be too.

[miladycarol.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your concerns. We've completely revamped the offer based upon your comments and others. Please revisit the site to see the new offer.