Free House Giveaway or $100,000 Cash
Would you like to own a new house in the lovely countryside of Oregon or $100,000 cash?
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House Tour
Registration Closed
On Friday Dec 5th, we received formal notice from the Department of Justice that we are not in compliance with State statues and they are requiring that we shut this contest down.
We intend to fully comply with the authorities. This contest was always for the people and above board. We mean no harm or disrespect. This was just a creative way for us to sell our house and make it affordable for those interested.
We will be refunding everyone’s money within the next week.
We would like to thank everyone for their support and participation.
Sincerely
George
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Our Story
My name is George Tran. My wife and I bought this investment house in 2005 for $250,000 (this is not the home my wife and I are living in). We rented it out to a terrible tenant who absolutely trashed the place, causing $40,000 in damages. We then lost about $12,000 or so in lost rent. Last year, we found a great tenant who was going to buy the place. Unfortunately, with the state of the economy where it is today, he had to move out and now we are left with trying to sell the house in this bummed economy.
About the House
It’s an immaculate 3 bed/2 bath 1413 sq feet house in the countryside surrounded by trees located in Veneta, Oregon. It’s about 20 minutes to get into Eugene. We’ve done about $40,000 of improvements and renovations on the house. We owe about $200,000 on the house and are paying about $1600 per month on the mortgage.
It’s even got a hot tub…less than 24 months old.
About the Deal
As an internet marketer, I wanted to try a social network experiment to see if we can have some fun and give away our house to someone who is most worthy of it…and who would cherish the house.
What I want to do is to give away the house to someone who is worthy and, at the same time, see if I can help some non-profit organizations. The family that is voted most worthy by December 23rd, 2008 will receive the house from us (or $100,000 in a cashiers’ cheque) as soon as the money clears from PayPal.
Here’s the idea. We ask for a $19.95 registration fee. If we receive $300,000, enough to cover our basic expenses so we can pay off the mortgage, any additional money will be divided equally between Habitat for Humanity, Best Friends Animal Shelter and Citizens for Health.
What’s the Catch?
Does it sound like a scam? It’s not. I’m an honest guy trying to do something creative about this property. I make my living online. My reputation depends on my honesty and integrity. I’m using my real name, my real address, and all facts supplied on this can be verified upon request.
The catch is…if we don’t meet our $300,000 price, then we will donate the money to the three charities named above equally. Frankly, if we don’t reach our target but we get a price close to what we paid out, we’ll probably let it go anyway or extend the entry time if we’re close.
The other catch is…you have to write a story. Come on. You’re getting a house FREE AND CLEAR for a $19.95 registration fee. Tell us a story of why you are the most worthy recipient. We’re not going to be the judge, we’re letting the Internet decide. There’s a website called Digg.com. It’s a site where people vote for the most newsworthy or coolest stories. All you have to do is submit your story on Digg (I will show you how, it’s really easy), and then get your friends to vote for you.
I WANT THE HOUSE! How do I get Started?
To receive the house, just write us your story. Tell us why you are the best candidate for the house.
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Breaking News!
We received an email response from the Dept. of Justice. Ms. Jan Margosian helpfully provided us a specific ruling about what qualifies as a game of chance, and what a game of skill. This document can be found at freehouse.wordpress.com/updates. According to this document, this competition fits squarely into the game of skill category.
After conferring with my attorney, we both agreed that we are 100% in compliance with this ruling.
For the latest update, click on our blog below:
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Let others know about this story. Digg it! For every digg we receive, we will donate $1 (up to $1000) to Citizens for Health.
>> Digg it Now! <<
November 3, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Amazing George! I hope this tremendous act of kindness returns many blessings to you and yours.
Best regards,
David
November 3, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Thanks David
This is an investment house we bought in 2005. We’re upside down on it, and wanted to use social media as a creative way to raise the money needed to pay off the mortgage by having contestants pay a $49.95 registration fee.
November 3, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Hi. You clean jewelry? That’s a cool job, making things shiny.
I work at a home recording studio here in Eugene, Oregon. I’m also a recording/performing multi-intrumentalist. I just moved into an awesome orange camper with my girl for a new adventure. Then i stumbled on this “Free House Giveaway”. Now i want you house. How do i pay the registration fee? When will you get the winning results?
peace,
Eric
November 3, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Thanks Eric
All you have to do is click on the CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE link. It will take you to the next page for more detailed info.
AmazingJewelry is another product I am marketing. http://www.amazingjewelrycleaner.com. It’s a non-toxic, quick and easy way to clean jewelry.
Sincerely
George
November 4, 2008 at 2:08 am
Wow an amazing way to sell a house. I thought I was on to every trick but this one is the best I have seen so far.
My brother lives in Oregon I am going to tell him about the contest so maybe he can win.
November 4, 2008 at 4:15 am
I’m not surprised that George would explore new ways to bring others a little prosperity from his loss. I worked with George as a graphic designer for his non-profit web portal. He truly wants to leave a legacy of good will to this world. I wish him the best…….
Cheers George
November 4, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Great idea, proactive, instead of reactive!
Peace & Blessings,
Kerrie
November 10, 2008 at 7:21 am
Can we pay by check? I don’t feel comfortable using a credit car online.
November 10, 2008 at 8:09 am
Dear Mr. Tran,
My friend and I are deeply considering registering for your house, however, we have a couple of questions:
1) Is it a $20.00 fee or a $50.00 fee? There seems to be conflicting information presented on this website as well as on Digg.com
2)When do people start voting and when can people start accessing the stories?
and, lastly:
3) Would you be willing to post the average monthly expenses for the house (water, sewer, garbage, recycling, electricity, etc.) and how much one should expect to pay for property tax?
This is a very gracious act, and we thank you for the opportunity and your time.
-The Roomies
November 10, 2008 at 8:19 am
Susan. We are using Paypal…so we will not see your credit card information.
Thank you for your wonderful questions.
Roomies;
1) It is only $19.95. We changed it from $49.95 to $19.95 based on user feedback.
2) People may vote immediately after you submit your story.
3) I have never lived on the property. On average, I would say about $100 for property taxes and depending on season, $100 to $200 for utilities.
Thank you for your kind support. I am grateful for this opportunity to be of service to my community.
Sincerely
George
November 11, 2008 at 6:29 am
KEZI – News report with Attorney General.
Well, apparently, according to the news report, the Attorney General was going to investigate this case for fraud. Wow.
I have checked with my attorney at Kibble and Howell in Portland before posting this offer. They said it was definitely not a lottery as only the State can run a lottery. Also, a lottery is a game of chance. Our competition has the winning condition clearly spelled out…it is the first of its kind because the winner is selected by the public…over the internet. Previous competitions of its kind has been selected by the operator.
It is not a raffle because the rules for a raffle does not apply for this case also.
The closest thing this falls under is a competition – a test of skill, because it is up to the individual’s ability to drum up support for their case.
Since we have cleared it with our lawyer, and it is clearly documented….I will contact the Attorney General’s office tomorrow morning….and will report back. Should we be in violation of any kind, we will refund everyone’s money. This is an honest and creative way to do good.
Neither the attorney general’s office nor KEZI have ACTUALLY made any attempt to contact us and falsely stated that they did on TV. This is very unfortunate.
I will attempt to contact Jan Margosian tomorrow and keep every one posted.
Sincerely
George
November 11, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I have written to both the editor of KEZI and Ms. Jan Margosian from the Dept of Justice. I will await their response and will keep you posted. Please see the copy of my letter enclosed:
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To: jan.margosian@doj.state.or.us
Dear Ms Margosian;
I am the legal title owner of the property you spoke about on KEZI and
would like to open a dialog with you to see how we can resolve this.
I spoke to my attorney at Kibble and Howell in Portland before
launching this event. It was cleared by them as they said that this
event is clearly not a lottery. A lottery by definition (according to
my attorney) is a pure game of chance, with the selection criteria
made at random. In our case, the selection criteria is stated
openly…it is determined by the public. My attorney also said that
the closest thing this falls under is a contest, a game of skill, as
it requires the contestant to garner support for their cause through
their friends. A contest is not required to be registered with the
State of Oregon.
I am an honest person just trying to be creative. I would be happy to
arrange for you to discuss this matter with my attorney to see if this
matter violates any statuette/code. As a well intentional member of
society, I am only as good as my legal advice. Since I have consulted
my attorney, I feel that I have done everything within my power to
verify my legal standing before moving forward with this.
Should you find that there is any wrong doing, I would be happy to
comply with any requests you have. We have not touched any of the
funds received from the 6 registrants received ($120), and would be
happy to refund the money should you find that there is anything not
in compliance.
Before making the assumption of any wrong doing, I respectfully
request that you do a little further investigation on me. Please
Google my name “George Tran”, and see this recent interview about me
at: http://www.keanandgeorge.com. I am a law abiding member of society, who
want to do good for my community.
Please call me at your earliest convenience so I can get this resolved
to everyone’s satisfaction.
Sincerely, humbly and respectfully,
George Tran
November 12, 2008 at 5:51 pm
I called Ms Margosian on Tuesday the 11th, but it was Veteran’s day.
This morning at 9.30am PST, I called again but had to leave a message.
I conferred with my attorney this morning, and he will be faxing me the specific definition of the Oregon Statute on the definition of a lottery. The specific point of definition in question is that a lottery by definition is a game of chance. Ours is a game of skill, in which contestants have to rely on the worthiness of their story and the amount of support they can garner from the readers and the Internet in general.
So the question is…if the State intends to force the issue (ie. they have the legal man power and resources, whereas I have to hire a lawyer – costing me tens of thousands, to defend my position), whether I should give in to their tactics. Your thoughts?
In either case, it’s certainly a very interesting case for future contests of this type.
I will keep everyone posted as news develops.
Sincerely
George
November 12, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Cynthia
Just go to the Digg link….and vote for the most touching/deserving story with a “thumbs up” digg.
http://digg.com/arts_culture/Can_t_Sell_house_I_m_giving_it_away_on_Digg#
November 12, 2008 at 11:42 pm
I just received a polite response back from Ms. Jan Margosian from the Dept. of Justice.
She was very helpful in providing us the specific legal essay found below:
http://freehouse.wordpress.com/updates/
Thank you very much Ms. Margosian.
If you would read the interpretation enclosed, you will find that we fall completely under a contest: a game of skill, not a game of chance.
Let me reiterate: I am not the judge of the competition. YOU are. I am leaving up to the internet to decide who is the most worthy.
With Ms. Margosian’s response, we are moving forward with the competition until advised otherwise by counsel or the Dept. of Justice.
November 15, 2008 at 3:41 am
Tough times for all but this is a great reliever – giving hopes to the hopeless.
Making dreams come true for the most deserved winner. Where can I vote? It’s like American Idol, sounds like fun! At the same time, making a difference and building someone’s dream.
November 15, 2008 at 3:55 am
oh, I found “How to Vote” on this webpage on the right… Easy, just go to the “Dig Link” and start reading and voting. There were a few families which I thought were deserving, I will revisit again to read more new touching stories, where hopefully I can make a difference to a families life…
November 15, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Hello there! What a great idea! I hope this works for you. I would like to take part, but the neither of the register now buttons on this page work. Nothing happens when I click them. Is there another another link that can give me access to the rules?
I appreciate your input.
>Please come to this link directly:
https://www.mcssl.com/SecureCart/Checkout.aspx?sctoken=bc76928c3743416d987df919223161b5&bhcp=1
November 15, 2008 at 11:12 pm
I was interested in submitting an essay, I was wondering how the voting process worked. I have visited the digg.com site. It appears that you need to set up an account on that site, and then you may vote thumbs up/down. Also, I was wondering if multiple votes could be entered by the same person for the same essay. Thank you in advance, this is a tremendous opportunity!
> Thanks Melissa
Digg is designed specifically so that people can’t “game the system”. You can only vote for one story once…but you can vote for as many stories as you like.
November 17, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Hi George! I have another question.
I posted our story this morning, yay! I am wondering why we can see how many diggs the various comments at the beginning get, but we can’t see the votes for the stories. Are they kept secret until the end? I have a friend who said she voted for ours already, yet it says “0 diggs” unless I am logged in, when it says “1 digg”, which I assume is what I get for posting. I’m just trying to figure out how digg.com works.
Thanks!
>Toni
The number of votes are for public viewing. If a story has zero diggs…it could be that someone systematically un-dugg everyone else’s story. (bad form) but we have no control over this.
Your job is to get as many of your friends to digg your story so that the one bad un-digg will not affect your position.
Good luck. Thanks for your support.
November 19, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Wow! I’m impressed with your idea. I just moved east from Colorado about 6 wks ago. I’m not sure I want to go allthe way to the other side of the country now. But, I am a single mother with four growing kids to house, and we DO need a permanent home. Home ownership is my biggest dream! What if we choose not to reside in this particular house?
I was wondering: do you also have a website for gifting? I think I saw some videos a few months ago about that. I was very intrigued by the concept, having been sold on network marketing for years. I have three unused commercial websites which I need to develop, but I have to find a product to sell there first.
Great job, BTW, doing your homework and making sure all is well with the authorities. I will consider entering, but being unemployed right now, I would have to beg or earn the entry fee somehow first!
Have a great day!
Ruth
> Ruth, we put in the $100,000 cash prize specifically for this reason.
Thank you for your support.
November 21, 2008 at 1:32 am
The next time I have the fee– I plan to register –
This is an awesome idea!
November 21, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Hi George,
I have had a few friends try to vote but it is requiring them to join or log in. Do they need to do that? Some people do not want to do that & it is not in your instructions for voting. Just want to make sure the website is working as it should. Thanks alot!
November 21, 2008 at 7:25 pm
George….
You got mad play on the Playhouse this morning…. great idea my man!
>Thanks Phillip!
November 22, 2008 at 3:23 am
George,
How many words in our story?
Thank you for everything you do.
Namaste
Valerie
> Valerie
As many as you like. There is no limit
November 22, 2008 at 8:19 pm
A problem I can see with this is people taking advantage of others by lying and making a story up just to get the house. Making people feel bad and voting for them. Ruining it for people who really do need it!!!
So what would happen if some one wins and there story isn’t legit?
I know there are a lot of people who say they deserve things like a house and stuff but they can’t afford it because they got really bad “habits” and aren’t exactly that good of people and only bring there own misery upon them selves and expect a pity party. So you really don’t know if your voting on a legit story or not. And hopefully who ever wins has to prove there story is legit for this to truly be a good happy ending of this contest.
> Jeff
You bring up a valid point. Unfortunately, there’s no way for us to tell and we have to base our criteria on an honor system.
November 23, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Something strange with voting on the entries are happening. I took a chance and paid the entry fee and posted our story (found under CindyPDX). A few of my friends and family signed up with Digg just so they could vote for our family. However, not all the votes are showing up, if at all. Also, what is really strange is when I look at my entry with Firefox, I see one Digg however, when I view my entry with Internet Explorer it shows 0 Diggs.
And sadly, some have commented in the BOX rather than clicking on REPLY to my entry, therefore their comments are all over the place and not showing up referencing to my submitted family story.
oh well, I guess better “luck” (if any) next time.
> Cindy
I agree with you. These are less than optimal conditions. Alas, it was the best decision I could make at the time.
November 24, 2008 at 3:23 pm
If you are unable to keep doing this “raffle” because of legal issues, have you ever thought of doing a lease option to buy?
Thanks
>Paula
We are 100% in compliance and have not heard from the Dept. of Justice since.
December 4, 2008 at 8:27 pm
As a person who enters sweepstakes regularly, I am writing to warn you of the vast number of scam with voting contests. I will not enter your contest because of it. You need to allow only one vote per household or ip address, you need to use flash entries requiring alot of information, you need a capaku (not sure thats how you spell it.) And you need to monitor closely. But of course you really don’t care because you will already have your money. But watch the end of the contest and see how just a few people will accumulate hundreds of entries in a short time. I would have entered if you judged or had a panel of judges or a random draw. But have experienced to many of the cheaters(not you) in contest like this.
>Judith
Digg.com has been around for years. We’re using them specifically because they are good at trapping against fraudulent votes so we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
December 28, 2008 at 4:37 pm
George, do you have anything posted about what the DOJ finally said is what makes your contest “non compliant”? I’ve read through your info and it sounds like you were doing everything right.
Did you get a specific reason from them about what was “non compliant”, or just vague government babble?
The more I read, the more sad I am for you that you could not continue the contest – it looks like you thought of everything to keep it legal, honest and fair.