We would like to help facilitate a better exchange of information between competition organisers and players. With this in mind, this blog post is intended as a platform for your thoughts, observations and feedback on anything related to house competitions or raffles.

1. House competitions and raffles: the good, the bad and the ugly

Until a few months ago, the main areas focus of attention in the UK were i) whether or not a house competition could be considered legal by the Gambling Commission and ii) how to process payments online. However, with lots of new competitions launched - or successfully closed - over the last few months, it seems things have moved on somewhat. Likewise, there have been lots of house raffles launched throughout Europe that appear to have encountered no similar issues with local regulators. At the same time, we have seen very different outcomes from one competition to the next.

Although the Devon Oldborough Retreat competition was considered by many to be an illegal lottery, it was ultimately given the green light to close as originally hoped. If we ignore the lengthy discussions they had with the Gambling Commission over the following months, this competition was one of the most successful we have come across from a number of perspectives: a total of 46,000 tickets were sold at £25 each a full two months ahead schedule. Was this success due to some sort of first mover's advantage; receiving lots of positive TV coverage (including the BBC), or because the British couple's story struck a chord with the public?

There are probably lots of different reasons, but so far few competition organisers have managed to emulate this success, despite offering similar entry prices, chances of winning, and highly desirable properties. In the UK at least, some organisers have commented that it has become more difficult to achieve the kind of TV coverage enjoyed by the Devon couple without having good media contacts, or a big budget. As you might expect, these days journalists need a fresh angle on house competitions - otherwise it has all been done before. It seems to us that in order to achieve the kind of visibility necessary to sell a large amount of tickets; that competitions need to quickly become visible across lots of different channels, both online and offline.

This is only part of the story, as once players land on a house competition or raffle site; the still have to be convinced to actually buy a ticket. We've come across websites that attract lots of visitors, but very few buyers, while others seem to enjoy lots of interest. While establishing trust is an essential ingredient, we would like your feedback as to what in your opinion; sets some competitions or raffles apart from others.

Some questions to get you thinking:

• What attracts you to certain house competitions more than others? Perhaps you're interested in the idea of taking part but have so far been reluctant to enter for some reason?
• In your opinion, what are the main reasons why the public trusts some competitions or raffles less than others?
• If you have a view on what they are doing wrong, please let us know: is it the price or number of tickets, a lack of transparency, unclear website, or a combination of other factors?
• If you prefer certain types of competition structures (such as Spot the Ball or raffles), or have a checklist of things you always look for in property competitions; would you like to see competition organisers adopt the same standards more consistently?
• Is there a combination of ticket price, number of tickets, duration, property value or country that would tempt in particular? Alternatively, we would like to know if your choice is driven by the desire to help support a particular non-profit organisation or charitable cause.

2. What can we do better?

As part of reviewing what we could do better on our site, please tell us what you would like to see on Win a House. For example, we were wondering whether you might find it useful to receive a regular newsletter from us, to update you on any interesting news on house competitions. For the time being, we don't have any newsletter per se; relying instead on Rss feeds, which you can have sent to you via Feedburner. If there is enough demand for it, we would be happy to start publishing one. If you have any other feedback to help us improve the site, we would very much like to hear from you.

Some questions to get you thinking:

• Would you like us to send out a regular newsletter and if so, how frequently would you like to receive it? What type of information would you like us to include?
• Would you like us to introduce more details about individual competitions in our directory?
• Do you think we should run more free ticket promotions and other special offers on the site?
• Are there any topics you would like us to discuss on our blog in the future?

This post will remain open for comments for the foreseeable future, so that you can come back anytime to contribute your views. If we can help homeowners better understand what people really want from house competitions, hopefully we'll start to see more success stories as well. If you're running your own competition, we would of course also welcome your views about any of these points. Thanks for taking the time to read this; we look forward to reading your feedback!

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Comments & Opinions

11 comments so far, what say you? Subscribe to this comment's feed

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my two cents

1. I always look for a ticket counter to figure out if I should enter. If it never moves, then I tend to wait to see if it will take off. If it's a charity raffle I don't mind.

I look for the property first of all - location. Then I look at the ticket price as there are some comps I just won't enter (if they're more than £30). I then look at the odds and try to get a feel for who's running the thing.

I check if they have proper contact details (a tel number is a bonus), where they are based and take a look at the T&Cs to figure out what happens if they don't sell enough tickets.

I've read a bit about the gambling commission so I'll avoid raffles in the UK, I'll stick to spot the ball or quizzes.

I'll also take a look at any media coverage. If it's listed on this site it helps to quickly get details about it in the blog, and I know I can reach the organisers one way or another.

I'd rather enter a comp with a medium value property (say £500k) with good odds of winning and a £25 ticket than try my luck at the £2 million+ comps, where I think it's more challenging to sell the tickets.

If the website isn't well done and misses important information, makes too many promises, has typos or errors; I'll probably not enter, even with nice photos and a nice prize. I see house raffles that seem to sell lots of tickets but I don't want to risk it if they're not presented properly.

The good: RSL and Mater raffles in Australia: very affordable and although you don't know the odds they always give away a house so it's guaranteed.

The bad: Pixahome.com: I just don't get the concept and it hasn't moved since it was launched. Also it's the 3rd comp with the same house so I've lost confidence it will ever happen.

The ugly: wouldn't like to say :)

2. Newsletter and more freebies please :)

Daniela , 17 Sep 2009

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UK properties please

I live in London and right now am only interested in UK competitions. Problem is most of the ones I come across don't tempt me as much as the ones in other countries (like property to win thailand, or the mallorca villa raffle), any really nice uk properties these days?

I wouldn't spend more than £25 or so in this type of thing and prefer to stick to spot the ball I've seen the ones in the airports and I think that's allowed. Less bothered about how many tickets are sold than by feeling confident they'll actually sell all those tickets in time...

I've seen some competition sites that are really badly done and I wouldn't consider entering those if I don't get the impression the organisers are taking the thing seriously enough. I only enter if I have an idea of how many tickets are sold

2. newsletter would be nice, keep up the good work guys

Sean Paul , 18 Sep 2009

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Raffled houses need a USP

I think the success of Oldborough was down to its being an unusual property - it would probably have meant a change of lifestyle for the new owner. A run of the mill house in, say, Surbiton doesn't hold the same interest. If you're interested in an ordinary family home then features such as a decent sized garage or perhaps a granny annex are the deciding factor; and desired location may be confined to quite a small area.

Another factor for me is the choice of questions. For example, one of the competitions I looked at (in Poole, I think) asked how much a property's value would have increased over 5 years at a certain percentage rate of increase. Without knowing whether they meant compound or simple rate, I wasn't prepared to pay £25 or £30 to enter. That kind of ambiguous question, in my view, makes it more of a lottery and less of a competition - it relies on the contestant's view of the world coinciding with that of the competition organiser.

Frances , 18 Sep 2009

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Competition suggestions

1. In addition to the obvious value & style of property & location & ticket price / number of tickets to be sold I'm attracted by faith in the competition. - If the website could vouch that the competiton is genuine would be helpful. Also knowledge that tickets are selling - & extentions to the closing date will not be indefinite. If ticket counters show little movement it's off putting - but having no counter relies on blind faith!

2. May trust some more if have press coverage to 'prove' its genuine & likely to sell more tickets due to publicity. Also if linked to a known charity - adds to its credentials.

3. Having a good chance to win - e.g. spot the ball for me seems almost impossible!

Newsletter not so important - rather see info on the webpage.

Michael Loughrey , 19 Sep 2009

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Review house competitions

I do believe if you didn't have to pay anything there would be hundreds of entries these days people are desperate for a nice house and they can't afford £25.00 to enter I certainly can't and if I had a little money I might pay £10 but it just sounds outrageous paying for a competition please give a little thought for other not so well off people after all it is the credit crunch and I've noticed these houses are not in my area of town I live in Hartlepool I certainly wouldn't want a house in London or the west side of the country and I think that you should send out more newsletters so everybody gets a chance to see what competitions are going.

gina33333 , 21 Sep 2009

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No more than £25

I look for competitions that are less than £25, otherwise too much for me right now. I agree with what others are saying about ticket counters and more information explaining why it is genuine, contact details. A charity involvement is definitely a big plus for me.

When thinking about my chance to win, I actually prefer Spot the Ball because for me at least it relies on my judgement and in the end if I know there is a fixed number of tickets for sale that's going to cap my odds.

I prefer to play for holiday homes personally, or something I can rent or sell easily so if in UK prefer London.

Newsletter please

talia , 21 Sep 2009

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Tell us how many tickets are selling

Unless it's a charity, I stay away from competitions that aren't transparent about how many tickets they are selling.

I like competitions anywhere but also prefer somewhere that's likely to appeal to more people as that means the competition will be more popular as well and likely to finish earlier.

I tend to stay away from complicated raffles where there are too many options and ways to enter, such as having to buy a book first or something.

More competitions in exotic locations please :)

Julie , 21 Sep 2009

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Win a house competitions and raffles what next?

Thank you for these helpful comments. The involvement of a charity is clearly considered to be a factor most of you take into account. The feedback so far about ticket prices and the benefits of showing a sales counter is interesting and echoes what we have been told in the past. We look forward reading more of your comments about all these points. For those of you interested in a newsletter, what kind of information would you like us to include?

Team Win House , 24 Sep 2009

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Re: Win a house competitions and raffles what next?

Winalondon pad seems to be very transparent. The ticket numbers sold are displayed and a % donated is to pay for a 4 bed ward at a day cardiac centre at Great Ormond St. In the early days not enough tickets were sold so the organisers actually donated a flat & the winner was advertised in the Evening Standard.

In comparison, win a property in Sandbanks blames lack of sales due to adverse publicity of other house competitions. The competition closed 29.7.09 & ticket sales no where near reached the target. It was announced on their site a money prize would be awarded & announced early September. This has not yet happened. Also if you look at their latest news, the last news entered was Oct 2008. It also seems according to local press, they have either been very slow or not responded at all to email enquiries.

When I first heard about people unable to sell their homes deciding to run such comps, often with a % going to charity, I thought how innovative. However they just don't seem to have taken off. With the exception of the trout farm.

There is also an interesting auction type win a house run by Humraz, worth looking at.

A news letter keeping up to date with the latest developments of housing comps would be good & their final outcome.

judy bolognesi , 26 Sep 2009

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Re: Humraz

@ jbolo

I'm not convinced by the humraz concept - there seems to be nothing happening on the site. They've had the same house comps 'pre-booking' for as long as I can remember, I just don't think they'll ever start an auction at this rate! I like the idea but I think people are put off by how complicated it looks...

I can't see any house comps doing well unless it is really intuitive most people won't spend hours trying to figure something out

I think they're a great idea but most ones aren't done properly, that's the problem - that shows and people just don't want to risk any money.

Charities seem to get it right because there isn't any trust issue and they're often big enough to sell enough tickets - plus it's for a good cause...

rkinley , 26 Sep 2009

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Ticket price and honesty

I wouldn't consider entering a house competition if it costs more than £25. Anywhere under that is OK as long as the number of tickets is good, and I can see how many they are selling.

I always look for t&cs, prvacy policy and contact details. If I get the impression they are not transparent and easily accessible, I'll move on. I'm a fan of charity raffles like RSL

Newsletter please with special offers (preferably free :) )

Tish Frasier , 29 Sep 2009

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