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Enter Le Raffle in France - 10 November 2008

In the latest of the increasingly-popular property ‘raffles’ to be organised by owners looking to maximize their potential to make a profit, a 19th Century manor house in rural southern France is being offered to the winner of a prize draw costing just £25 per ticket.

The four-bedroom property in a village just a few miles from the vibrant and bustling city of Montpellier has been renovated by the current owners who are keen to pass the property on to other people who are equally passionate about living in this authentic setting. The French couple who currently own the property have devised a special ‘spot the ball’ competition to decide the winner after the 30th June 2009 closing date.

Julien and Florence Salanave, founders of the concept of ‘selling’ their property in this way, have come up with an extensive set of rules and regulations for this competition – partly to make sure they are covered under the strict rules of the gaming and gambling laws, and partly to make sure they are financially not at risk should the maximum 20,000 tickets not be sold. They have formed a UK limited company to promote and run the competition, bringing them under the auspices of the UK Gambling Commission. Spot the ball competitions are one of the approved games of skill to be authorized by the Commission.

Should the full 20,000 competition entries not be reached before the closing date, the winner will receive all monies collected from ticket sales, less a retainer fee to cover admin expenses and VAT payments.

Those with a gift for mental arithmetic will have worked out that ticket sales will come to a total of £500,000 – not a bad sale price in the current economic climate, though this figure does not take into account VAT payments to be made.

This is the latest in an increasing list of property owners overseas to use this method of disposing of their property. On the face of things, it looks almost foolproof – after all, who wouldn’t want to get their hands on an expensive property for as little as £25? The issue is in maintaining interest and driving ticket sales across the lifetime of the offer, and also making sure the maximum number of tickets is sold. Most examples of owners following this route are yet to reach the deadline for competition entries, so it is difficult to know how profitable this will be as a sales strategy – at least M. and Mme Salanave seem to have covered themselves to make sure they will not be giving their property away to one of a handful of entrants.

Visit www.winpropertyinfrance.com for details of how to enter.

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