You may be someone who enters the occasional competition on a whim or when they have time. Or you may classify yourself as a ‘comper’ – someone who considers entering competitions as a regular hobby. Regardless, it goes without saying that the reason people enter competitions is to win and, generally, the bigger the prize the better. And can you think of a much bigger prize than to win a house?
Whether you currently own your own home or think that the possibility of actually owning a house is just a distant dream, who wouldn’t love to win a house? An area of competitions which is growing, here we take a look at house competitions in more detail.
Online competitions to win a house
You may have seen reports of house competitions in the newspapers, but have you actually come across or even entered online competitions to win a house yourself? You may be wondering if the competitions are real and how they work.
Of course with any competition it makes sense to check terms and do a little due diligence but you should also be aware that UK property raffles have to comply with the UK Gambling Commission regulations or they can be shut down.
Competitions can range from the opportunity to win a 3-bed terrace to a chance to win a luxury apartment in London or even a villa complete with its own pool in Tuscany.
How competitions to win a house work
The first thing to realise is that competitions to win a house are unlikely to be free to enter easily. Instead they work on the basis of a raffle. It started with one entrepreneurial homeowner who decided it would be a great way to sell their house. They sold raffle tickets and one lucky winner got the house. Others have continued on the same principle. If you dig deep enough in the terms and conditions, there should always be a free route of entry, often by post.
Sometimes a house isn’t won but there is always a prize. If a house isn’t won this will be because there weren’t enough raffle tickets sold. In that case, it is usual that there will be a significant cash prize instead. This will all be noted in the competition rules and terms.
Could you be the next person to win a house?
As much as winning a house sounds too good to be true, it really does happen. Earlier this year a woman won a farmhouse in Shropshire worth over half a million pounds with an investment of just £2 for the raffle ticket.
As the saying goes, you have to be in it to win it, but bear in mind that even if you win the prize of a house may be replaced by a cash prize. This can happen if the requisite number of tickets haven’t been sold by the time the competition closes. However, as the cash prizes tend to be quite significant this can still represent an extremely good return on the cost of your raffle ticket.
As with any competitions where you have to pay to enter, you should take care not to get carried away with buying too many tickets. Your odds of winning the house are unlikely to increase significantly if you buy five tickets, rather than one. It is best to look upon it as a bit of fun that may bring with it the possibility of a wonderful prize.
Our Favourite House Competitions
WIN a Million Pound House Competition by: Omaze
Win a House – 62 ALEXANDER STREET Competition by: Drawahouse
Painter’s Keep WIN A £1.15m HOME IN WEST SUSSEX Competition by: DreamHome Prize Draw
Win a A £750,000 home Competition by: Raffle House
