Raffles Spark New Interest by Jim Woodard on Creators.com

Recently

Renting Vs. Buying a Home Home sales are on an upward swing in most areas of the country, but the growth is slow. A key reason for the continued sluggishness of the home-buying market is the mindset of many prospective buyers that prices have not yet reached bottom. They are …Read more. Removing Homeowner Benefits Is Counterproductive When candidates for public office support the elimination of modification of certain homeownership benefits as a cost-cutting means, that action could cost them the election. Several recent studies have shown that an overwhelming majority of …Read more. Negotiating Real Estate Commissions As home sales continue to rise, questions about real estate commissions become more frequent and important to buyers and sellers. The most common question: What is the standard rate of commission in today's market? There is no standard rate of …Read more. Demand for Jumbo Mortgages Rising Applications for large mortgages are exceeding the number for modest mortgages in today's market. Mortgage bankers funded $26.6 billion of jumbo loans during the third quarter of last year. That's a 30 percent gain from the same period during the …Read more.

Raffles Spark New Interest

More homes, particularly luxury houses and condos, are being offered as the key prize in raffle-drawing projects throughout the country. The dream of acquiring such a property free and clear for the price of a raffle ticket (typically $10 to $100) is a very strong motivator.

Reason for the growing trend: High-priced homes in many markets are still experiencing slow sales, often being on the market for six months or a year. Owners look for new, unconventional means of selling their properties. They see a raffle as being one possible option.

However, it's not just a matter of deciding to raffle your home and printing a batch of raffle tickets on your computer printer. Most state laws prohibit such sales unless the home is owned by, and raffle tickets are sold by, a nonprofit, charitable organization.

Even with this requirement in mind, more homeowners are turning to the raffling option. They make arrangements with a nonprofit group, transfer title to the group, and the raffling process begins. Like the homeowners, nonprofits are highly motivated to implement any project that promises to generate needed funds in these tight economic times.

"Home and condo raffle contests are popping up all over, many from nonprofit organizations scrambling to stay afloat when there are so few donors," said Tim Suereth, founder of Veterans Retreat, a nonprofit charity for wounded veterans.

"Home raffle drawings are more complex to set up and administer than other more traditional types of small stakes raffle drawing contests, but they can produce sustainable revenues for a charity.

Each contest could potentially fund programs and services for an entire year or longer," he said.

Suereth is now producing a raffle project as a fundraiser for his group. The winner will receive a Miami Beach waterfront condominium or $200,000 in cash. He has also written a book on home raffling.

"These contests can breathe new life into previously illiquid and distressed properties, and produce a windfall for the lucky raffle winner," Suereth said.

However, others point to the downside of raffling a home. One message posted on the Trulia.com website stated, "Do everything you can to avoid getting caught in a house raffle scam. And really, just forget the whole raffle idea and consider a house auction instead."

To find out more about Jim Woodard and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.