Sarah Perrybagged a stunning £500,000 property in the famous Omaze prize draw – but an alleged previous winner wasn’t as thrilled to win their prize after a little-known catch
A reported Omaze winner was left “in a tizz” after being the lucky receiver of a mansion in the house draw, due to a little-known drawback.
It comes as Sarah Parry declared “Christmas has come early” after she became the first person to win the brand’s Great Escape House draw. The 49-year-old received the keys to a contemporary three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Powys, Wales, not far from where her family lives.
Sarah, originally from Llanfair Caereinion, also received £50,000 in cash after purchasing a £30 ticket. She said: “I just couldn’t believe it when Omaze arrived on the driveway and told me I’d won the house – I was shocked – but my husband was utterly flabbergasted as he had no idea I’d even entered! He said it was the best surprise we’ve ever had.”
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However, not everyone has been left so thrilled to become the overnight owners of a mansion. Taking to a Reddit thread, one person described how the luxurious home became a burden to one winner, who ended up selling their property not long after they bought it.
“In a sub Reddit about personal finance, someone who had won had gotten themselves into quite a tizz,” they wrote. The user said the Omaze winner had won a £3million house, plus £100,000 in cash. However, keeping on top of the running of the house ended up proving too much.
“The bills/upkeep was looking [to] surpass their earnings,” they continued. “They really wanted to keep the house and draw down on their cash.
“The advice they resoundingly received was to sell the house and buy a cheaper (but still probably close to £1m) house where they pay bills from interest. It was interesting because it shone a light on how stressful the experience was for them (I know, world’s smallest violin but interesting to see none the less).”
Another user said someone they knew had won a car in a similar draw, which they also ended up selling. “I know someone who won a new mini,” they said. “She just sold it after a few weeks and continued taking the tram to work.
“It’s not like she didn’t know what a car was, she just couldn’t afford to run one or, if she could, it made no sense spending an hour sat in traffic and spending a fortune on fuel and parking to save a £3.50 journey on public transport.”
The winner of each Omaze draw can choose to live in their house, rent it out either as a holiday let or to permanent residents or sell it. Omaze, who runs the draw for charity, covers stamp duty, land tax and reasonable conveyancers fees. Winners also receive cash alongside their win to help them settle into their new property.
Great Escape winner Sarah found out she had won the draw on her way to see family. She then celebrated the victory with a steak dinner.
An Omaze spokesperson said: “Omaze cannot comment on unsubstantiated remarks from anyone claiming to be or to know an alleged Omaze Grand Prize winner. What we can say is that all Omaze winners are free to decide if they live in their new house, rent it out for a supplementary income or sell it whenever they wish, to become a cash multi-millionaire – the choice is entirely theirs.
“Omaze Grand Prize winners receive £250,000 in cash to maintain their new property and help them settle in. Estimated running costs for each house are available for entrants to view on the Omaze website.
“If they decide to keep the house, they could afford to comfortably stay for many years using just the £250,000 settling in money. As with all Omaze properties, there is no mortgage, stamp duty or legal fees to pay – and the properties come with all the furniture featured in the adverts.
“Omaze styles each property with well over a hundred thousand pounds worth of furnishings and essentials, so they are all ready for a winner to enjoy. As well as the £250,000 they receive, it’s worth bearing in mind that if a winner was already paying rent or a mortgage for their previous property, the money saved could also go towards the running costs of their new home.
“Alternatively, if they do already own a property, they could choose to keep it and rent it out as a supplementary income. Should winners wish to rent out their new property, they can achieve long-term rental values of thousands of pounds a month.
“Whatever their circumstances, all Omaze winners have several fantastic life-changing options available to them. Omaze is immensely proud to have created 31 millionaires whilst also raising more than £63 million for good causes in the UK since it launched here.”
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