Can’t sell your house? Raffle it off!

May 27th, 2008 11:29 am by Tim Shaw

there have been several attempts at this around the country, some legitimate some not so much. Some have been sued by attornies general.

I am director of a mid sized not for profit whose has been watching the raffle process to see if we could raise funds that way or if the local United Way could do so. This is the really only legititmate way to do it, that is have all but the basis in the property go to a 501 (c)(3) charity.

For about a year, I have the news alerts set for House Raffle and have several hits. Let me know if I need to send some.

Tim Shaw, Executive Director

June 1st, 2008 12:45 pm by Quincy Nix

I am very interested in trying this approach to selling my house. I just had triplets in March and found out in May that my husband wants a divorce.. My children are still in ICU in SLC and I cannot work, I have no money, and I have a mortgage payment in Wyoming that I cannot afford. The house is in the middle of construction and I don’t think I am going to be able to sell it by just listing it on the market. Any suggestions would be great.

October 9th, 2008 4:52 pm by B Lukens

I live in Florida and am seriously contemplating doing this with my home. I have been in R.E. for quite a while and if I am able to make it work on my own home, may be able to create a method to help others out as well. We got ourselves into this R.E. mess, maybe we can help eachother get out of it. Email me: blukens45@yahoo.com

October 20th, 2008 10:02 pm by Debbie

I am with Jennifer. I bought property in the thought I would be abole to build my dream home. What a joke. I have been thinking of raffling off the property. I also would like to know if this is legal.. Does anyone know?

November 9th, 2008 9:23 am by Denise

Very interested in this concept. We’re in the same situation as many above. Does anyone have info about this? Please email dsesyk22@yahoo.com

November 12th, 2008 12:29 pm by marie jardina

I’d like to know more about this and the legality of doing so in Virginia.

Marie

November 14th, 2008 12:06 am by Jacquie Davies

From what I’ve been told the essay contest is based on skill not chance so it’s suppossed to be legal, my site has one also. My concern is that if ‘they’ decide to get you, they’re going to get you on something, somehow. I’m thinking of petitioning our government, Congress, Senate to waive the restrictions on house raffles until this horrible time is over. If you think about it, the banks actually get paid instead of stuck with another foreclosure & they get paid in full, not short. The homeowners get to move on without the horrendous giant black mark that foreclosure leaves on your credit for 10 years, they are never homeless, their children are never afraid & confused & their poor helpless pets don’t get abandoned or left behind. Plus new people get the house free & clear & if the lending standards today being so ridiculously high that family may never have been able to qualify for a mortgage Plus a charity gets a much needed donation. They are hurting now, when people don’t have money for food you better believe their not donating to charities.
Sorry this is long, I’m not in foreclosure, but I am stunned by the number of people that are & wish to help anyone that wants the opportunity.

November 18th, 2008 10:20 pm by Larry D

Isn’t it ridiculous that all of us have come up with a temporary solution to our individual mortgage crisis and we have to ask permission from BIG BROTHER ? I would say that most potential investors would pay $500 for a chance to own a home
free and clear. It will work until it stops working. We need an address so we can send in a TAX to the right government agency.

November 24th, 2008 11:56 am by tracey

I am trying to find a charity in Oregon to partner with on this. Have even had some meetings with interested charities but they backed out because they didn’t think people would want to pay the taxes on their winnings?

December 9th, 2008 1:59 pm by Loriann Gaunt

My home is in Buckeye Arizona and I am working on raffling off my house. I found out in my state that I could not raffle the house myself but I needed to work with a non-profit organization. After some cold calling to organizations and no takers, I put an ad on Craigslist (which was eventually flagged for removal) and it was picked up by Tony Arranaga, a reporter for ABC Channel 15, who came out and did a segment for the news about raffle. I got many calls and I am now working with a non profit and I hope to announce who the non profit is as soon as we come to terms. Updates about the raffle are currently posted on my website: http://www.myhouse4raffle.com and I also have a blog: blog.myhouse4raffle.com

December 19th, 2008 3:13 pm by Crystal | House Raffle Secrets

The legality of a house raffle for a specific state is only part of the question. Some towns and cities don’t allow raffles even if the state does.

There’s a list of links for learning if raffles are legal for your state at:

http://houserafflesecrets.com/house-raffles-are-they-legal-in-your-state/

But even if a raffle is legal, a house raffle may not be. Or you may not want to because of the policies. For example, Hawaii doesn’t allow a fixed ticket price, only optional donations!

December 31st, 2008 9:01 am by linda

We want to raffle our land in Palm Beach county,fla. Near the
ocean and would like to sell it without losing our shirt. Is it legal and how do you go about doing this? We are ready.
Also have a small condo which we are upside down in. Would like to do both.

January 15th, 2009 12:46 pm by Jacquie Davies

I’ve posted before, so I’m adding a progress report if anyone is tracking my modified house raffle. Things are going along pretty well. I wish I could entice TV/Radio to pick up on the story because that would do the trick.

I’m working on a Petition for Congress which asks them to remove all restrictions on house raffles until after the housing situation stabilizes. I’ve been receiving alot of positive support for that effort & hope it produces a good result. If we could advertise & promote house raffles without the ‘essay’ portion & other creative concepts designed to keep us from getting nabbed for ‘gambling’ we could make these happen much quicker & help many more people. I believe that people are very open to spending $100 for a 1 in 4,000-5,000 opportunity to win a mortgage free home. With the impossibly high lending standards being imposed by banks today, winning a home may be the only chance some young families have at home ownership! It’s a sad state of affairs when the American dream is not going to be acheivable for 90% of Americans!

I believe house raffles may be the ONLY viable option for some of the properties ready to go into foreclosure, especially those that are worth less than what is owed on them. A house raffle doesn’t expect one person (the buyer) to assume the burden of paying more for the house then it’s currently worth, it spreads it around in $100 increments among all the participants! It’s the only way I can think of for banks to get paid in full on properties that are upside down in loan to value. Plus, we’ll be keeping countless folks from the ravages of foreclosure. I keep blogging about this, but we’re creating a new generation which I’m calling GENERATION F, it’s all the left over people that won’t be able to live normal lives after foreclosure. The big F follows you for a minimum of 10 years, you can’t own a home or buy so much as a pack of crakers on credit during that time unless you want to pay 30%+. What will these people drive, where will they live, how will they get auto insurance, jobs, etc. when everything is based on credit score! That’s not even mentioining the animal problem we’re creating since all of these homeowners are abandoning or giving up the pets now too. That breaks my heart to see once beloved pets let loose in parks or worse yet being left in abandoned houses!!

We need to stop this or we’re going to end up with a problem that will take 100 years to work it’s way out.

As a side note, since I launced the website for my house I’ve been beseiged by homeowners from all over the country asking me to help them, so I’m in the process of setting other modified house raffles up too.

I’ll keep you updated.

January 26th, 2009 3:21 pm by katy donovan

I am trying to figure out what all i have to do to raffle off our house. I am getting out of the military and need to sell our house within 8 months. How can I raffle off my house?

January 31st, 2009 9:34 pm by Dominique Rosario

I’m in the process of studying the “raffle the house” theory and so far I have found no cons to the idea. While the outcome seems to be a win win for everyone involved I don’t think that people really get that this idea on a mass scale can not only bring the housing foreclosures down, but can also bring the economy up.
The value of houses has no doubt gone down, but if raffles are essentially buying the houses for what the lender bought them for then this will keep the value of the houses around them, thereby protecting the future home owners that wish to sell. I am willing to bet(no pun intended) that the first state government to grasp the complexity of this idea and incorporate it into their state in a mass scale will be the envy of all state legislatures across the US. I know by blogging this site that I am only preaching to the choir, but when I herd about this idea I thought that it was ingenious. I only hope that people like Jacquie Davies and others like her get their voices herd on this no-brainer idea.

February 9th, 2009 12:40 pm by Donna Smith

Hi:

I join in the forum. Does anyone have any answers for me? I have a huge house in Virginia (4200 sq. ft on 5.2 acres) that I want to raffle off.

I have one question, though: What happens if you don’t get enough tickets sold in your timeframe. I am not unscrupulous. I will, of course, return funds. But, how do you handle the raffle?

Do you ask for a stamped, self-addressed envelope and give a deadline and tell participants to postdate their checks to the due date?

And then, what happens? You just mail the checks back, I guess?

Does anyone have answers on what happens if you don’t sell enough tickets?

Grateful for any response(s) offered.
Thanks.

February 18th, 2009 8:56 am by Frank P

I currently own land in Cape Coral, Florida which I purchased a few years ago and still owe about $88,000 and the realtor told me it’s probably worth around $14,000 now. Will I be able to create a raffle to pay off what I owe? Is this legit? If so, how would I go about doing this?

February 21st, 2009 4:00 pm by shelly young

I am very interested in raffling off my home. I have thought about this many times. It is a beautiful home on the water with a boat dock.Is this legal? I know of a man who did this about two years ago. He advertised an open house for several weeks in a row People came to view his home also to buy a chance at winning it. What are the legalities with this.

February 27th, 2009 9:22 am by Angie

This is a really interesting discussion, thank you! I also came across this article of an Air Force veteran in Arizona raffling her home. What she did is donate her house to her designated charity, so they could legally raffle it for her. Then the charity is committing to pay her mortgage in full, as she just lost her job:
http://win-house.co.uk/blog/competitions-in-the-news/35-charity-helps-us-homeowner-raffle-property-on-her-behalf.html

This strikes me as a great way to handle this crisis and of managing your mortage to avoid repossession. The other way could be to run a skill competition, but the laws vary from state to state..

April 6th, 2009 3:06 pm by jacque

I am also wanting to raffle my home..I live in East Tx on beautiful caddo lake,right on top of the water..My husband was laid off and we are about to go into foreclosure. We really need to pay it off plus get back what we have put into this house so we can find some cheaper place to live. Anyone with any advice on how to get this started right away please give it to me….Thank you, Jacque

April 19th, 2009 1:40 am by Rachel

I live in Goodyear AZ, and twards the end of this article you had mentioned that you would “give it a TON of coverage…” I live in AZ and you can raffle off your house as long as you “Partner” with a non-profit… What I would like to do is raffle off the house and provide funding to pay the 25% value and state tax of my house that I want to raffle… so it would basically say “Win this house plus $43,000.00 dollars (to cover the cost of taxes and more)would you please let me know if you would as you say give it a TON of coverage… and I will provide more information.

June 22nd, 2009 6:36 am by Citizen Activist

Each state has laws concerning raffles. Illinois limits raffles to non-profit organizations that have operated continuously for five years. The non-profit must obtain a raffle license, which authorizes sales only within the boundaries of the licensing authority, either the municipality or county. Federal law prohibits games of chance (including raffles) on the internet. The US Postal Service prohibits conducting raffles through the mail.

Many of those commenting here ask why shouldn’t they be allowed to raffle their house. The laws are strict because there is so much potential for fraud. A St. Louis CHARITY was ordered by the court to refund $2 million because the “winner” of the house seemingly didn’t exist. Several years ago, a central Illinois police chief sold tickets for a motorcycle raffle. When a reporter interviewed him about his non-existent winner, she had a fatal heart attack in his house.

The winner usually has to sell the house anyway just to pay the taxes on their winnings and the property taxes. If YOU can’t sell it, how will they? Even charities with established raffles are having a hard time selling enough tickets this year. And, if you get caught doing it illegally, it’s prison for you! Is it worth the chance?

July 11th, 2009 8:53 pm by Ron

The one and only roadblock I can see with house raffles is the lost opportunity for banks and lenders to continue mortgaging these homes. Remember, after foreclosure, someone usually buys the nice ones, usually through a participating brokerage, and with borrowed money. They don’t care so much about the cheap dilapidated homes. But if this raffle idea were to take off, lenders would be looking at losing out for at least 10 years before a good percentage of them either begin borrowing against its near-total value (whatever the max will be for HELOCS) or putting the homes back on the market (to be purchased via a mortgage through the next buyer). My time estimate is only a guess. Face it though, banks rather have YOU suffering for 10 years than them. Besides, that 30% car loan sounds pretty good when a lot of folks are paying it.
Don’t ever underestimate the logic of bankers, especially since some of them graduate from Wall Street to the Fed. I am curious to see whether this comment gets posted.
There’s no freaking way that Congressmen and bankers haven’t seen this house raffle idea. I doubt they passed it up because it wasn’t logical. Hell, the government could be pulling in some hefty chips on it themselves.
No people… that’s not how it works. It’s too “complicated” for them. It isn’t complicated to write and pass 1,000 page legislation, though, is it? Not when the money flows away from your pockets.
Sorry for the pessimism. I actually am interested in pulling a petition together or getting with anyone who has credibility in the RE market, since we would need to enlist a major industry concern that has lobby power in Congress. That would be the National Association of Realtors. Question is have they thought of this and nixed it as useless - why? Again, because when values hit sh@t-bottom, the investment cycle begins all over again. Owning a home outright is not the goal of these industries.
I am open to debating this here or outside this website with logical people.
Ron

July 21st, 2009 9:28 pm by jeff

I think most contributers to this post are only considering their distress. Real estate is a tough market because it serves both investment and use. I sympathize with those who are suffering financial loss for any reason. However, think of the consequences of saving yourself. Where should it end… if I own a 10k block of Ford stock purchaseed at $40 a share now worth about $5 a share = $50,000. Should I be able to raffle my stock rather than trade on the stock exchange? Unfortunately at times we have to take losses and in turn someone will pick up a gain. The Circle of financial Life if you will. Considering revamping the real estate industry because of the foreclosure crisis is not well thought out. Foreclosures represent a very high 12% of the market. changing to formats such as raffling would skewer housing prices leaving the other 88% on a roller coaster. I wish all who have losses through this recession the best of luck… I am among you.

August 18th, 2009 3:45 pm by Julie

I agree with many comments here but overall I think it is a good thing that charities should be involved, it also helps build trust more easily I guess. If you look at some of the money charities are able to raise through house raffles, you start to wonder why we don’t see more of this type of thing:
http://winahouseraffles.com/blog/organizing-house-raffles/30-house-raffle-brings-charity-back-into-profit.html

Is it because it’s tricky to set up? Surely once you’ve identified a non-profit that has experience it can be relatively simple? It’s getting the marketing right that seems a real challenge

August 26th, 2009 10:54 am by George Scott

Many interesting posts here, raising valid considerations. A constant theme running through them seems to be “How can I do it?” Well, as one who has been raffling properties at http://www.scottsraffle.com, I’m pleased to say that within a few weeks I’ll have a book out, a handbook guide, called “How To Raffle Your House”, and it touches on all of the issues raised here, and a few more besides. So watch this space — I’m packing all the information I’ve put together over several years into a handy e-book which will sell for $29.95, or free to anyone who joins our raffle, which offers winning odds of 1 in 3,333, glorious prizes looking at the Mediterranean, no taxes for winners, rental income in euros for ten people, and even the chance to take part free if you stay in one of our hotels. Come on along!

October 4th, 2009 4:01 pm by John Dietrich

My home is currently being raffled in connection with FVFAC - Fallston Volunteer Fire & Ambulance Company, Inc. a local non-profit in my areaa of Fallston, Maryland. http://www.raffle777.com is our site. The first step anyone attempting the process must endure is approval from their State, and Local governments. This process is intense, and you most likely will need a lawyer involved. Once you have approval, in my case this took approximately 7 months, you are ready to begin selling tickets. This is where the real work starts. You’ll need a website to display the home being raffled. Most states require the approval letter, and filing information be available on the site, as well as the rules governing the raffle. Then you will need access to the media. So, this should be a very important consideration when talking to Charities you are considering to be the host. We were luchy to have a local news station pick up our auction, and do a fantastic story on the evening news. Remember, that approval is the easy part; then there are months of intensive marketing activities that must be completed to ultimately reach your ticket sales goals. Feel free to contact me through our sites contact menu button, and I’ll be glad to help answer your questions @ http://www.raffle777.com , but rember that you State will ultimately have the final say regarding policy for this type of fund raising activity. Happy Raffling!