Earlier this month we told you about a handful of new additions to the Win A House competitions list here on Loquax. Entry to these competitions varies from £2 to £6 – which when compared to the 2008 range of raffles is quite reasonable. However there have been two new additions to the list this week and both have upped the ante in terms of entry fee. Win A Mansion For Christmas is selling tickets at £25 each whilst Win Barns Farm is hoping people will be willing to spend £50 on a ticket! Win A Mansion For Christmas offers entrants the chance to win Johnston Lodge in Laurencekirk. The property is described as a “Georgian Mansion set in 32 acres of land including a 9 hole golf course” – now that would be one hell of a prize to win wouldn’t it? It’s valued at an incredible £1.7million and the winner will also receive 12 months running costs. In addition there are 3 runners up prizes of £10,000, £5 of every entry goes to charity and the owner hopes to close the competition on or before the 1st December 2017. There are only 150,000 entries available.
£5500 A Month Running Costs
What’s interesting about this particular prize is the running costs element. The running costs are valued at £5500 per month and therefore would-be entrants need to consider what happens after 12 months! This is something, as far as we’re aware, no other house raffle has touched upon. The winner may well have a huge mansion on their hands but they will also eventually saddle themselves with some serious expenses that they may not be able to afford. In essence this is a raffle that needs some serious thought before deciding to part with £25. On a positive note the winner will at least have a year to figure out what to do with their prize should they not be able to afford to keep it. As mentioned, the owner of Johnston Lodge is hoping the property will be won before Christmas! However, the competition can run beyond that date until 150,000 tickets are sold (or £3.75million is raised).
£50 To Enter
We think £25 is expensive for this kind of competition, so Win Barns Farm’s £50 entry fee definitely raises eyebrows. The winner of this competition will get a beautiful 3 Bed Stone Farmhouse located in Saltburn and that includes 8 Stables, 18.6 Acres of Land and more. There are a couple of TVs for runners up too. Win Barns Farm is hoping to sell 28,000 paid tickets (raising £1.4million) and end the competition the 10th March 2018. We say “paid tickets” because the competition does give entrants the chance to enter for free via postcard. It’s one entry per household via the free method. Details are in the terms.
Will They Reach Conclusion?
If we had £50 to spend then we’d perhaps go for two Win A Mansion tickets over the Barns Farm competition. When you compare the two sites it’s evident that a lot more time and effort has gone into the former. The running costs element is also a factor – we wonder just how much it costs per month to manage a 18.6 acre estate! It’s not a problem for entrants who want to win the property to use, but it could be for anyone wanting to win to then sell on. Remember, these properties are generally being sold via this route because the owner’s are struggling to find buyers – anyone hoping to win and sell on needs to be able to afford to run their prize for a few months or even years! Either that or they’ll need to consider running their own competition. Both properties look pretty good, there’s no doubting that, but the high ticket cost will immediately put off some entrants and this most certainly will make it tough for either competition to reach conclusion.
As always, we’ll keep a close eye on these competitions and update you with developments.