Omaze winner 'forced to sell £3million house thanks to little-known catch'

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An Omaze winner who bagged a £3million mansion in the draw was forced to sell thanks to one drawback people may not think of.

It comes after the brand's most recent winner, Sarah Parry, said "Christmas has come early" when she won a contemporary three-bedroom, two bathroom home in Powys, Wales. It made her the first Omaze Great Escape House draw winner and saw her bag £50,000 in cash in addition to the £500,000 retreat.

Sarah, originally from Llanfair Caereinion, said: "I just couldn't believe it when Omaze arrived on the driveway and told me I'd won the house – I was shocked – but my husband was utterly flabbergasted as he had no idea I'd even entered! He said it was the best surprise we've ever had."

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However, not everyone has been left so thrilled to become the overnight owners of a mansion. Taking to a Reddit thread, one person described how the luxurious home became a burden to one winner, who ended up selling their property not long after they bought it.

"In a sub reddit about personal finance someone who had won had gotten themselves into quite a tizz," they wrote. The user said the Omaze winner had won a £3million house, plus £100k in cash. However, keeping on top of the running of the house ended up proving too much.

"The bills / upkeep was looking [to] surpass their earnings," they continued. "They really wanted to keep the house and draw down on their cash.

"The advice they resoundingly received was to sell the house and buy a cheaper (but still probably close to 1m) house where they pay bills from interest. It was interesting because it shone a light on how stressful the experience was for them (I know, world's smallest violin but interesting to see none the less)."

Another user said someone they knew had won a car in a similar draw, which they also ended up selling. "I know someone who won a new mini," they said. "She just sold it after a few weeks and continued taking the tram to work

"It's not like she didn't know what a car was, she just couldn't afford to run one or, if she could, it made no sense spending an hour sat in traffic and spending a fortune on fuel and parking to save a £3.50 journey on public transport."

The winner of each Omaze draw can choose to live in their house, rent it out either as a holiday let or to permanent residents, or sell it. Omaze, who runs the draw for charity, covers stamp duty land tax and reasonable conveyancers fees. Winners also receive cash alongside their win to help them settle into their new property.

Great Escape winner Sarah found out she had won the draw on her way to see family. She then celebrated the victory with a steak dinner.

Draw entries for the Omaze Million Pound House Draw, the Wirral, closed online on Sunday (November 24) but are still open for postal entries until Tuesday (November 26).

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