Omaze winner who bagged £3m mansion 'forced to sell for heart-breaking reason'

An Omaze winner who scooped a £3million mansion in the draw found themselves forced to sell for an unexpected reason.

The revelation comes after the brand's latest victor, Sarah Parry, said "Christmas has come early" upon winning a modern three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Powys, Wales. This victory made her the inaugural Omaze Great Escape House draw champion and also netted her an additional £50,000 in cash on top of the £500,000 property.

The 49-year-old, 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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But not all recipients of such grand prizes have been equally overjoyed. A Reddit user recounted how one winner found their new luxurious home more of a liability than a luxury, leading them to put it on the market shortly after they got the keys.

Taking to Reddit, they wrote: "In a sub reddit about personal finance someone who had won had gotten themselves into quite a tizz." They said the person not only received a £3million house, but also £100,000 in cash.

Nonetheless, the cost of maintaining the property soon began to mount. "The bills / upkeep was looking [to] surpass their earnings," the user explained, adding that the winner had hoped to keep the house but quickly found themselves unable to.

"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)."

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Another user said they knew someone who similarly won a prize that they quickly sold. "I know someone who won a new mini," they revealed. "She just sold it after a few weeks and continued taking the tram to work."

They continued: "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."

After winning the Omaze draw, winners can choose to either move into their new home, rent it out as a holiday let or to long-term tenants, or simply sell it. Omaze takes care of the stamp duty land tax and conveyancers' fees.

Moreover, winners are handed a cash sum to aid them as they settle into their new home.

The opportunity to participate in the Omaze Million Pound House Draw, the Wirral, by online submission closed on Sunday (November 24), hopefuls can still send in postal entries until Tuesday (November 26).