House Raffle Alert: “$50 House” Raffle in Edgewater, Maryland
Maryland’s first house raffle drawing of 2009 is being held a week from today: Friday, January 23. Tickets will be sold only until Wednesday, January 21 so don’t delay if you are interested in benefiting We Care and Friends and winning this home in Edgewater, Maryland. [details...]
Some pleasant surprises about this particular house raffle are:
- The winner will not have to pay closing costs
- The tickets are only $50
- There is a second prize for $10,000
- You don’t have to wait months for the drawing…it’s in less than 1 week!
As of yesterday, they need to sell 1,003 more house raffle tickets to meet their goal, but with only 6-7 days left to sell tickets it’s too close to call whether or not the drawing will be held.
There is very little risk in buying tickets, though: Their rules state that if the raffle isn’t held they will refund 99% of the ticket price. The 50ยข per ticket they will keep is barely enough to mail the refund check, so don’t worry…it is much more to their benefit to hold the raffle on Friday!
The house is a unique expansion of an historic home from around 1840, with square cut timbers and other old-world details throughout the older section.
The modern addition, however, is definitely from this century: 4,400 square feet of Berber carpet, hardwood and tile floors, a gourmet kitchen with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, 2 dishwashers, radiant floor heat and a 3 zone HVAC system. [videos and details here...]
Remember, just like most any house raffle, if you win the prize you will need to pay income tax on the value of the home. But with this house raflle, the host pays the closing costs, including the property taxes to-date:
“Closing costs to be paid by the raffle sponsor include all County and State transfer taxes, tax stamps, recordation costs, title abstract, title search, flood certification, closing agent fee, owners title insurance, property taxes up until transfer of title, and a home warranty.”
Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.fiftydollarhouse.com. As always, I suggest you do your due diligence: read the rules thoroughly, and talk to your tax planner about the tax implications of winning.
Update 1/26/2009:
The We Care and Friends drawing was held on Jan 23 as scheduled, and the house and cash prize were awarded to two out-of-state ticket holders.
