A WOMAN who claims she was bombarded with death threats from trolls after raffling off her £400k home and Ferrari is now doing it again.
Jennifer Matthews made the difficult decision to downsize from her five-bedroom detached home in December 2020 after being diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition.
Jennifer Matthews and her husband David raffled off their £400k home[/caption]
They are now doing the same with another property[/caption]
Their prized Ferrari 360 Spider was also sold[/caption]
Jennifer had built the home in Adlington, Lancs, with her husband, David.
But the Covid pandemic meant the normal selling process was more complicated than usual, and when viewing requests began to flood in she she found herself exhausted.
The couple decided to take the unorthodox approach of raffling off the home, along with her prized Ferrari 360 Spider.
Jennifer, who was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia in 2016, had put the first home on Raffall, an online forum used to host competitions.
Strict rules and regulations meant that the couple meant that only limited information could be disclosed.
And it led to them being inundated with conspiracy theories and scam accusations.
The vitriol hurled at the couple was so bad that a “hate group” was even set up.
Recalling the harassment they faced, Jennifer, now 51, told LancsLive: “What happened with this bonkers journey was that we got an awful lot of flak.
“We got death threats and people who had entered and didn’t win became obsessed and said it was a scam.
“It brought out every kind of individual in society and there was even a hate group set up. But we have learned from it.”
A whopping 452,000 tickets were sold the raffle, each costing just £2, though legal fees alone cost the couple £110,000.
The raffle was won by a man from Birmingham who sold the house but kept the Ferrari, and used the money to pay for his two daughters’ weddings.
Jennifer owns several rented properties, and has now started selling them off when they become vacant.
Her and David are also currently in the process of their own move to a newly-built home elsewhere in Lancashire.
And despite the abuse they faced in the past, the couple are now going back to the raffle market.
She’s now doing it again with a different house, and says it will help people who are struggling to get on the property ladder.
This time, entrants could win a three-bedroom mews house in Skelmersdale, which Jennifer personally renovated.
Jennifer said: “I put it up for sale but two people whose bids were accepted failed to get a mortgage.
“I felt so sorry for one of the buyers and it made me think ‘if I was 30 like him I wouldn’t have been able to get on the property ladder either’ so I started to think ‘what can I do?’.”
Since Jennifer launched her latest raffle just a few days ago she has already sold almost 10,000 tickets, which are priced at just £1 each.
Raffall’s terms and conditions state that a minimum of 145,000 tickets need to be sold for the main prize to be given.
If fewer than 145,000 tickets are sold, the winner will receive a cash payment amounting to 50 per cent of the total ticket revenue generated for this competition.
The Pros and Cons of a House Raffle
In an ideal world, the pros are perhaps obvious.
You open up bidding and perhaps bring in more than the property is worth and the lucky winner is certainly quids in, if tickets cost, say £5.
It’s a win-win situation.
In 2017, Dunstan Low raised almost £1million raffling his six-bedroom Lancashire manor house worth £845,000.
Low walked away with the asking price and gave the remaining £153,000 to charity after covering his legal costs.
But issues can arise through tough gaming laws, confusing small print and scams.
Experts warn those entering competitions to be cautious, as a high proportion of the prized pads never change hands.
In January 2019, a Dorset woman who “won” a £3million mega-house received only £110,000 after the millionaire couple behind the raffle decided to keep their home and pocket £500,000.
In 2021, National Trading Standards received 15 complaints ranging from homes being re-raffled over and over with no winner to draws being extended and winning prizes being changed.
A draw which sparked an investigation by National Trading Standards had raffled the same home four times over. Each time, the host offered a smaller prize instead of the house keeping around 40% of the money from every draw.
“Consumers entering house raffles must go into it with their eyes open,” said Alison Farrar for the National Trading Standards Estate and Letting Agency Team.
“Make sure you are aware of the terms of the raffle before entering.”
The advert should explain what happens if not all tickets are sold. It should spell out if a lesser cash prize is offered, when the raffle closes and when the draw will take place.
If the date of the draw keeps changing the organiser is struggling to sell tickets.
Check the odds of winning. Competitions that specify the number of tickets they need to sell give you a chance of working out the odds.
Look for hidden bills. Lots of adverts state that stamp duty and legal fees will be paid for. If they don’t you need to foot the bill.
Check you can afford the maintenance and council tax for the house too.
Before handing over your cash, read past reviews of the organiser’s raffles, look at how long they’ve been established and whether there have been previous winners.
If it’s a homeowner hosting their first raffle, then it’s a case of buyer beware.
“If the house raffle isn’t for charity and it isn’t free entry or a proper competition then be wary,” said consumer expert Martyn James of Resolver.
“There are numerous reports of these raffles collapsing and dodgy, questionable practices around who wins. Always check with the Gambling Commission before entering.”
To report a misleading advert call the Advertising Standards Agency on 020 7492 2222.
If you’ve paid for a ticket with no chance of winning or the prize keeps changing report the draw to Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.
But if the host achieves their minimum ticket target and fails to provide the prize, the winner will receive a share of the compensation amounting to 75 per cent of the ticket revenue.
All compensation payments are guaranteed, and paid directly by Raffall.
Regulations restrict Jennifer to only publishing internal pictures of the house, as well as its specific location.
While the first raffle did mean Jennifer faced some bother from strangers, it also brought her something far greater than simply selling a property.
Through the process Jennifer a person who recommended a cardiologist, which helped lead to her condition becoming stable.
She added: “I just hope we can use this to help someone else.
“Things are tough at the moment and it would be nice to think that we can get someone on the property ladder.”
The couple are now raffling off another home[/caption]
They are doing it in a bid to help those struggling to get on the property ladder[/caption]
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