Back Home

Open Designs

Community. Driven.

Work / Freelance: Interesting Job: Would you buy a $10 house?

Bottom of Page

1 to 14 of 14

  1.  
    • CommentAuthorMike Weiss
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2007
     
    I got a call today from a person that was refered to me. She will be returning to our state in a few months time and needs to get rid of her house quick. She is working with a law firm and an accounting firm to handle a home raffle. She would like us to build a website that will allow the sale of raffle tickets. She's banking on the fact that a lot of people would buy a chance to win a house for $10.

    Here are my current thoughts and I am wondering if you are thinkning the same thing.

    The system:
    You could simply have a person fill out their information, send them to the payment gateway (haven't priced them out yet, but I'm debating Google Checkout, Paypal, and working with a transaction gateway). Then on a set date, have the code randomly pick a winner and email them a pdf ticket that says that they have won. Then the lawyers, realtors, and accountants would take charge. Of course, I'll have to work very closely with the lawyer, to make sure that the system is not biased (and probably have to sign a anti-rigging agreement).

    Anyone have any suggestions? Would you buy a house for $10?
  2.  
    This has just been done in the UK actually - www.winthishome.org.uk - and there has been a huge amount of interest in this over here.
    •  
      CommentAuthorJeremyD
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2007
     
    *transfers $10 to paypal*
    I would.
    • CommentAuthorainslie
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2007
     
    I would say that the risk for you is that something screws up and you are left holding the blame - facing the wrath of the person offering the house (along with her lawyers and accountants) and those taking part in the raffle. It could be an enlightening experience!

    I remember a similar idea some years ago that went horribly wrong (possibly by design) where enough tickets weren't sold, so even though a lot of money was raised it was short of the amount the house was worth. The lawyers had cleverly written in a clause to cover this event so the prize was never awarded but the money was kept. There was quite a fuss made about it and the story featured on national TV and the daily papers.

    I'm not saying that this will happen in this case but it illustrates the bad press that could be waiting and the need to be careful.
    • CommentAuthorniemion
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2007
     
    I would take a shot. Despite the fact that Denmark isn't exactly bordering US.
    • CommentAuthorMike Weiss
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2007
     
    Posted By: ainslieI would say that the risk for you is that something screws up and you are left holding the blame - facing the wrath of the person offering the house (along with her lawyers and accountants) and those taking part in the raffle. It could be an enlightening experience!


    I would definatly charge enough to make sure that I have the best security. If everything were to go well, there would be 100,000 visiters in a very short amount of time. Having that much traffic is sure to attract the dark side of the internet.
    •  
      CommentAuthorJeremyD
    • CommentTimeApr 26th 2007 edited by JeremyD on the 26th April 2007 at 21:48:01 EDT
     
    i would sneak "not liable for anything bad at all. just good stuff." into a contract :P

    and oh its in denmark? guess i could resell it to an eager Denmarkian
    •  
      CommentAuthorbradm81
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2007
     
    Interesting thought. My sister-in-law just ran a golf tournament with one of those "Win a car with a hole-in-one" deals. I always thought that the car dealership was taking the risk, and could lose big. Turns out they just take out a small insurance policy for like $100, which they lose either way, and then if someone does get a hole in one, they would owe nothing and the insurance company would pay for the car.

    I'm wondering if something similar would work here. The risk here is that you could get a very few number of people chipping in. So instead of buying the house, you might take out a policy with an insurance company for slightly less than the value of the house, they buy the house, and then you split the profits if there are any somehow, and if there aren't, the insurance company eats the loss.
    • CommentAuthorMike Weiss
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2007
     
    The woman already owns the house, and it's in a Southern US State. I don't care how many people buy tickets, because I'll still get paid, but of course I would love to see her make a killing off of her house. Who know's, maybe I can convince her to let me have the domain and code and I'll keep doing it for others.
    •  
      CommentAuthorarwen54
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2007
     
    very interesting idea...
    Mike, let us know when the site launches and whether non-US citizens can buy tickets because I would buy several and if I won it would be a great investment. I would then fix the house up and put it back on the real estate market for a quick profit.wink
    •  
      CommentAuthorgnome
    • CommentTimeApr 27th 2007
     
    Karen: house flipping is fun, if you have the skills to repair them. I'm helping my dad with all the repair work to flip a house.
    • CommentAuthorMike Weiss
    • CommentTimeApr 28th 2007
     
    I will let everybody know when/if we get the website done. I think it'll be up to the lawyers and the payment method to determine who can participate.
    •  
      CommentAuthorkirby145
    • CommentTimeApr 29th 2007 edited by kirby145 on the 29th April 2007 at 13:15:53 EDT
     
    Maybe if i won i could live there

    ---------
    Oh and, if you ar esaying you might not get enough money just say "The drawing will be held once the amount of money reaches $350,000 (or whatever price you want)
    •  
      CommentAuthorgnome
    • CommentTimeApr 29th 2007
     
    kirby145: good idea.

1 to 14 of 14

  1.