12017 House competitions

Hi I am new to the Italy forum I used to subscribe to the magazine when my husband and I were looking for a property and found it a great help. We have since found our property / renovated it and are currently renting it out during the summer months.

Our circumstances have now changed and we need a bigger property. In view of the current global property market and the length of time it is taking for property to sell, I wondered if anyone had any advice/knowlegdge of property competitions. I know if I was offered the chance to win a 2 bedroom villa (worth approx £450k) with a private pool, 5 acres of woodland in the mountains near Anghiari for the price of a £30.00 ticket I would jump at the chance! Perhaps you could let me know your thoughts if any?

Many thanks for your time. Michelle

Category
General chat about Italy

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 15:56

My reaction would be it's a scam...

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 16:02

Some of these are illegal. Be very careful.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 16:02

Hi Michelle
There was someone on the radio yesterday lunchtime (Jeremy Vine show radio 2) and they tried that in England. I think the house was worth £200,000+ but in about 6 months they have only sold £80,000+ worth + 10% that is going to charity and the costs. They are now doing a draw to see who gets the money and putting the house on the market in the usual way. I think there have been a few of these over the years but I don't know if any actually raised enough money. I think tickets were £20. each.
I'm sure if you google it you will get some answers. Also don't know about the regulations of doing this in Italy. Even here it is not straight forward.
Good luck anyway. :smile:

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 16:54

I think it is a great idea, but (as has already been pointed out) you do have to watch what "The Law" says you can do, and "The Law" is different in different countries. Maybe (although it doesn't seem to have taken off as a property marketplace in Europe) you might have a look at e-bay - I'm sure if you spend a bit of time exploring the non-commercial (user help) parts of their site you will find some solid information about lotteryising houses.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 16:57

Have a look at this site, it may be the one referred to on the radio show borrini mentioned : [url=http://www.winthecheltenhamhouse.com/Default.aspx]Win The Cheltenham House[/url]

I think they reckoned the house was worth about £1,000,000 but sold nowhere near the required number of tickets (needed to sell 49,000 tickets but sold only 5706!) and came unstuck with the ??gambling laws so had to completely revamp the competition. It seems that the house is no longer the prize, there is a cash prize of £80,000+. It does give a contact if you want to do something similar, not sure re the legal implications in Italy, you would have to check it out carefully as I think the gambling laws here are very different.

But yes, I have to agree with previous comments, I think many would think it a scam and ignore it.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 17:10

Actually, the prize house was in Majorca (Spain). It was reported by the Spanish TV and they stated that it was illegal under Spanish law to conduct raffles without the proper permits. The owners were a British couple who had been trying to sell the house with little success. The reporters said that this was a dangerous practice as buyers of the raffle tickets were totally unprotected.
The idea is not new. In Australia there were a few of those raffles, all properly authorised, where the main prize was a house. The Catholic Church used to have those to raise funds for their schools. A bit like the old Parish Bingo..... But everything was legal and under the control of notaries, etc.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 17:29

I think Gala is right about a private lottery in Spain being deemed illegal - it is a bit like Italy, the Spanish also run a state lottery and don't want competition.

However, Gala's reference to the reporters saying that the buyers of the raffle tickets were 'totally unprotected'. Hey - where are we coming from here? Do we want government protection for the stake we punt on a horse? Crazy stuff - here is a quote (cannot remember who wrote it..)

"Horse sense is what horses have which prevents them from betting on people"

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 17:42

I think that everyone needs some basic protection. If you back the wrong horse, that's a different matter; however, anyone would like to know that your bet is protected and will be properly dealt with.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 18:23

[quote=Gala Placidia;114759]I think that everyone needs some basic protection. If you back the wrong horse, that's a different matter; however, anyone would like to know that your bet is protected and will be properly dealt with.[/quote]

I'm sorry - where are you coming from? (Wall Street perhaps?) Betting, gambling, whatever you want to call it, is a game of chance, where the potential winnings greatly exceed the outlay, if you consider yourself lucky.
What is it that you think somebody knowingly making a bet should be protected?
That is madness. Taking a gamble is a human right - the chances of losing are higher than the chance of winning - this is known to every gambler. To 'protect' gamblers means we have completely lost the important concept of moral hazard. Politicians have clearly denied this theory - but that doesn't mean that anybody who includes the word 'moral' in their vocabulary needs to debase themself to the political level.
Gambling is an option, not an obligation. Those who wish to gamble should be free to do so - (though nobody should be encouraged to do so - which they are by national lotteries, but that's okay then because it saves the taxpayer money). Your argument that gamblers should be 'protected' means you'd like to refund every person who's bought a £1 or €1 ticket (and didn't win) - or doesn't it?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 18:36

Yes Anne that sounds like the right one in Cheltenham. I know they were giving a % to a childrens cancer charity. Obviously I didn't hear it all as I hadn't realised how much the house was worth.
I think maybe people feel that it could be easily 'fiddled' as to who actually wins. I seem to remember that the Daily Mail had a competition to win a house somewhere and one of the bosses wives won it.
Also of course not everyone wants to own a property maybe miles from where they live as it costs money just to own it even if you are not living in it.
There has also been another one which had publicity lately, that was an older couple with their daughter - they had a lot of legal problems with theirs and I don't think that sold enough tickets either.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 03/28/2009 - 18:44

I think maybe Gala is meaning that the protection is that if you win you will get your reward and its not just a scam where the person selling the tickets vanishes with your money.
Mind you it doesn't stop fraudsters but generally they get money out of people who are often stupid or greedy! :wideeyed: