Boys and Girls Clubs raffling off $1.55M beach house | tallahassee.com | Tallahassee Democrat
Interesting article about a couple who is raffling their Seaside home to help the Boys and Girls Club of the Big Bend..."The owners of the house invested in a Seaside property in 2000 hoping to cash out within a few years.

"We've tried to sell our house through traditional venues for the past two years," said homeowner Amber Woodward. "When we were approached, we thought, 'Hey, this is a creative, innovative way that we can sell our home and still make some money for the Boys and Girls Clubs.' "

# To learn more and purchase tickets visit Boys & Girls Club of the Big Bend

..wish the Nature Walk bank would do something like this to turn the Sales Office into a Community Center - might be a good place for SoWal teens to "hang out"; have a competitive sized pool for a swim team, etc.

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"If people cannot write well, they cannot think well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them."
George Orwell

"Entry:
Raffle tickets are available online at www.BeachRaffle.org for a suggested minimum donation of $50.00."

Winner has 10 calendar days to contact the raffle's sponsor, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and accept the prize"

"The value of prize will be reported to the taxing authorities and any taxes due will be the responsibility of the winner. "

"Boys & Girls Clubs of the Big Bend of 306 Laura Lee Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32301 is in full compliance of the provisions of section 849.0935, Florida Statute and 26 U.S.C Section 501(c) (3). A minimum of 20% of the gross income will be used to benefit Boys & Girls Clubs of the Big Bend and their programs/services."

so, 125,000 (hopeful) tickets at $50 each = $6,250,000
20% (minimum) must be donated to boys and girls club ($1,250,000)
Hopeful sale price of house - $5,000,000 (for what they are billing as a $1,550,000 house.

Interesting. I wonder what happens if they don't sell more than 31,000 tickets (estimated value of house, not including the 20% donation). This "raffle" started in June 2009, and this is the first I've heard of it, which says a lot about the lack of marketing.

A little more information:
"No purchase or donation is necessary. While a minimum $50.00 donation is suggested, eligible individuals are entitled to one raffle entry per family at no cost. Requests for an entry without a donation must be submitted by mail to Raffle Entry, 306 Laura Lee Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida 32301 and include a handwritten, 3 X 5 postcard stating the name, address, phone number and e-mail address of the individual requesting the entry. The request must include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a copy of the individual's state-issued photo identification."

I hope for the owner's sake, that not everyone who enters, enters without a donation. If that happens, I guess the owners are in the hole by $1,550,000, plus 20% to Boys and Girls Club. (I hope they thought of this.)

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Sounds like buyer's remorse, in spades.

Is this the property Amber investulated in in 2000?

Walton County Record Search

According to public records Amber is telling a little fib...the house was actually purchased in January 2008; Amber hasn't even owned the property for 2 years.

And then there's this: http://www.webeffectmarketing.com/Wh...achRaffle.aspx

To me, this stinks out loud. Just a group of folks trying to make money using the Boys & Girls Club as a front. Why don't they just hold a bake sale or walk-a-thon like people who really care about the cause?

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Option C: The raffle sells less than $5 million of raffle tickets

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Big Bend: 20 percent

Winner: 35 percent

Homeowners: 20 percent

Internet Partners/Affiliates: 10 percent

Technology: 5 percent

Marketing: 4 percent

Broker Incentives: 3 percent

Payment Processing: 3 percent

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If PT Barnum's theory is correct...they should be selling one of those $50 tickets every minute.

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But hey...Top Ramen tastes a whole lot better when you eat it off of a Granite Countertop. (Mr & Mrs Too Much Homebuyer)

Florida State Flower

No, all bases are covered:

"If at least 100,000 tickets are sold, the winner will be able to choose between the three-bedroom home or $1.5 million in cash.If at least 100,000 tickets are sold and the winner chooses the house, the Boys and Girls Clubs will purchase the $1.55 million home for the winner at that price. The Boys and Girls Clubs would receive $1.6 million, and the homeowners would receive $600,000 in addition to the purchase price of the home.
If the winner chooses the cash prize and at least 100,000 tickets are sold, the winner receives $1.5 million cash. The homeowners receive about $1.25 million as compensation for taking their house off the market, and they keep their home. The Boys and Girls Clubs would keep about $1.25 million.
If fewer tickets are sold, the winner will receive 35 percent of ticket proceeds, the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Big Bend will receive 20 percent, and the homeowners will receive 20 percent and keep their home."

So, if they don't get the $$, they still ain't selling the house.

I don't know, SHEL. I think yer being a bit harsh. Amber wasn't quoted as saying she bought the house in 2000. So perhaps this was an error on the part of the person who did the write up rather than a fib on Amber's part.

Using the Boys and Girls Club as a front?

"We've tried to sell our house through traditional venues for the past two years," said homeowner Amber Woodward. "When we were approached, we thought, 'Hey, this is a creative, innovative way that we can sell our home and still make some money for the Boys and Girls Clubs.' "

Doesn't sound like anyone is doing anything underhanded to me.

This thing worked on me. I am going to donate for a ticket. I originally had my charitable contributions allocated elsewhere.

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Who's complaining, really? You can enter for free, for chance to win...???.... maybe $$$ (I'm curious to know how many tickets have been sold.)

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Dunno, there is just something setting off my BS sensors.

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The enemy is ignorance.

In that case, enter for free.

I guess it is interesting to note that this kind of raffle isn't permitted in many states, unless it has a minimum of 20% going to charity.

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Interesting. Very interesting. So, if I wanted to create a "legal" raffle, I could do the same thing, and essentially, score 20% of the ticket sales for running it, give the winner 35% of the sales and give a charity 20%. Interesting. Very interesting.

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Yep, that was one of the things that made me go "eh?"

Other question is what value you are paying taxes on if you win - do you end up footing the bill for people who can't sell a house because they have placed too high a value on it?

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The enemy is ignorance.

There is a lot of money to be made in fundraising (by individuals and organizations other than the one advertised as being benefited).

I have a friend who owns such a business and he has nice contracts with some small police departments across the country. The way he operates is pretty eye opening. He meets with the police organization and gets them to commit to a fundraising goal. Then his folks hit the phones and meet that goal but once they meet it he doesn't stop. He keeps fundraising because all those dollars above are his. The cops don't care cuz they met their goal and did none of the work. And he makes a killing by continuing to ask for money for the police even though it is going into his pockets...

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Somewhere I recently read that the biggest scam is the fundraisers for the FL Highway Patrol, because the FL Highway Patrol receives only about 8% of the funds raised.

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And the people fundraising for them are SO rude and dishonest I have actually called and complained to the Po-po!

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The enemy is ignorance.

Want to Raffle Your House? Mostly, You Can't


Written by Ilyce Glink, Agent in Chicago
August 10, 2009 12:22 PM Home Selling
No comments

188 views


Thinking of conducting a house raffle to unload your house instead of selling it? It's illegal for homeowners to raffle off their own house. Instead, you have to work with a nonprofit organization and transfer ownership of the house to them. The nonprofit can then raffle off your house, and you'll get a tax deduction[COLOR=blue ! important][/color] - not cash.



If you haven't been able to sell your home, you might be thinking that if you raffle your house, you'll have solved all your home selling problems.
But before you print out house raffle tickets on your printer, beware: Most house raffles are illegal unless the house is owned by a non-profit organization BEFORE you start the raffle.
Here's how it should work:

1. You'll transfer title to the house to a nonprofit.
2. The nonprofit will then pull the required permits from the local county sheriff's office, as well as the mounds of paperwork that are required when conducting a raffle.
3. The raffle will have to have rules written (preferably by an attorney) and scrupulous attention to detail is required.
4. You'll want to set up a website, figure out a way to accept PayPal or credit cards[COLOR=blue ! important][/color], and how you're going to keep the books for the house raffle.
5. Then, and only then, can you actually start selling tickets to raffle off your house.

Remember: A nonprofit has to own the property before the house raffle starts, do everything you can to avoid getting caught in a house raffle scam, and really, just forget the whole raffle idea and consider a house auction instead.
Here's a link to the charitable gaming laws in each state.


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Chillpills personal opinion: Sadly, the lack of specific details available on this "Beach Raffle" leads me to believe this is perhaps a large 'fund raiser' of personal bank accounts (not the homeowner, I believe its the 3rd party).

I have not been able to locate where this property has been legally transferred to the non-profit Boys & Girls Club of America. I can find several "Press Releases" that all track back to the original "Affiliate/for-profit company" who owns several LLC's all for multi-level marketing programs. No phone numbers are available, only contact can be made via internet...(because scammers dont want to talk to you when you find out you've been scammed, they just shut the site down).

I am awaiting a response from the Boys & Girls Club Headquarters, hopefully they will provide additional information soon.

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Harsh???....Moi????

(1) How can Amber be "selling a home for the past 2 years" when she only bought it in January 2008? Did she put the house on the market before she bought it?? I don't think even Bobby J is that good.

(2) They have to sell all 100,000 tickets in order for someone to "win" the house. That will let Mayo and Amber off the hook and walk away with a cool $600,000...not my idea of philanthropic.

(3) Amber claims this as a "second home," yet it's rented out under the Seaside Rental Program...is that a problem?

(4) If you want to donate to the Boys' and Girls' Club, instead of throwing all your money away on this scheme and the Boys & Girls only ending up with $10 (With Amber & Mayo getting $10; Internet Partners/Affiliates getting $5; Technology(?) getting $2.50; Marketing getting $2; Brokers getting $1.50; and Payment Processing getting $1.50) why not write a check for $15 to the B&G Club and write in to get a free entry in the house raffle?

(5) Geo, haven't we discussed money making schemes before? It's not good to be throwing your hard-earned money into the toilet...not here...not now...not ever.

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But hey...Top Ramen tastes a whole lot better when you eat it off of a Granite Countertop. (Mr & Mrs Too Much Homebuyer)

Florida State Flower