Eugene man sets up contest to give away home
By Laura Rillos KVAL NewsVENETA, Ore. -- Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a hot tub and a beautiful view - this Veneta area home is ready for someone to move in. The owner, George Tran, would like to see someone else make the house a home. Tran, a Eugene resident, bought the $250,000 house as an investment in 2005. He says he later spent around $50,000 to renovate most of the house, after a tenant wrecked the place. "Brand new appliances, we replaced them all because of the bad tenants," he said during a short tour. Now out $300,000 for the place, Tran just wants out. Selling, he says, isn't an option because of market conditions. So Tran, a Web site developer and Internet entrepreneur, has set up a contest. For a $19.95 entry fee, people who want the house can post an entry on the Web site, Digg.com, explaining why they deserve the home. People can read the entry and if they "digg it," or like it, "they can vote for it. The person with the most votes by midnight on December 22 gets the house. "What I thought was, let's make it completely transparent," said Tran. "Let's make it a social networking experience. Give it away and let the Internet decide." Of course, Tran won't exactly be giving it away. The contest requires 15,000 entries. At nearly twenty bucks a pop, that comes out to $300,000. As of Nov. 20, 35 stories have come in -- including families trying to dig out of debt and a woman who wants to give the house to her sister. "These people have suffered a lot and gone through adversity and are making the best of it," he said. "It's really touched my heart." Tran isn't the first to try a house giveaway. Last summer, an Oregon couple tried to give away their Yachats area beach house. They came up hundreds of entries short of their goal and are now in the process of refunding people. Thousands of entries away from his requirement, Tran is trying to sweeten the deal to get more people to enter. The winner will get the house or a cashier's check for $100,000. "Moving from another part of the country to Eugene might be a very big disruption. They might just want the cash prize," said Tran. Asked if the contest is legal, Tran says yes. He's consulted with an attorney and contacted the state Department of Justice. Oregon law prevents giveaways that are games of chance. Contests that are won by skill are allowed and Tran says his fits the bill. "It's a skill of inspiring people people and getting votes from friends and family," he said. "There's no chance involved at all." If not enough people enter the contest, Tran says he will divide the money between three charities: Habitat for Humanity, Best Friends Animal Shelter and Citizens for Health. However, he would like to see someone win the house. "It can absolutely be someone else's dream home," he said. |
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