House up for grabs in Sudoku competition

Dave Mackie has devised an inventive way to fight the house price downturn – by raffling off his home in a Sudoku competition.

The 49 year old finance broker, from Hambleton near Blackpool, is looking to raise £700,000 by getting 14,000 people to enter the Sudoku raffle for £50 each.

The money collected in entry fees would subsequently cover the value of the three-bedroom property, which stands at £675,000, plus £25,000 worth of advertising and legal costs.

The winner, who will be picked from the entrants who complete the online Sudoku puzzle, will be announced in February 2010, or when 14,000 people have entered the competition.

He/she will then be awarded the prize of the detached red-brick property, which is situated in large grounds on the Lancashire coast. The home, located on the banks of the River Wyre, boasts landscaped gardens to the front and rear, two balconies, four bathrooms, a sauna and a steam room. The lucky winner will also be able to rent a river mooring if they wish to do so.

Mr. Mackie said: "There's no catch. I'm looking to retire abroad and the time has come to move on. I thought this was a fun way to get rid of the old house and beat the credit crunch."

Mr. Mackie admitted that he is a puzzle fanatic himself, before going on to explain that because he will be 50 later this year, he felt it was time to review his life.

"I have properties in Egypt and have considered living there for some time," he said.

"I don't believe anyone has ever set up a Sudoku competition to sell their home. This way everyone's a winner. The lucky person gets the house free from any mortgage and I get its market value."

Mr. Mackie bought the house back in the mid 1970s. In 2008, he installed new windows and built two balconies, a sauna and a steam room, at a cost of £200,000.

Anyone looking to enter the competition for a chance to win the property needs to visit www.win-free-home.com, solve the Sudoku puzzle, and pay the £50 entry fee. Entrants will then receive a unique entry number.

All entrance fees are being held in a bank account which has been opened specifically for the competition, and will be independently audited.

If 14,000 people have not entered the raffle by February next year, one of the entrants will be awarded the competition fund as a cash prize.

Source: Daily Mail | Last updated: 29th January 2009

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