This company is dedicated to raffling off homes for £2 — their first is this 3-bedroom £700,000 flat in London

pulse

October 19, 2017 9:17 AM

Fancy your own hipster pad mortgage and hassle-free?

WinAbode.com claims to be the UK's first online "property competition platform"
Site will auction off properties with raffle tickets priced from £1 to £10.
Flat in Dalston is the first property auction, with tickets at £2.

With the rising cost of getting hold of your own home and selling a property — once estate agent and legal fees are factored in — people are increasingly doing it their own way.

There are more and more reports of sellers opting to auction off their homes for raffle tickets rather than finding a single buyer.

And now WinAbode.com, a company that claims to be the UK's first online property competition platform, hopes to cash in on this trend.

In its first competition, it is selling £2 tickets to win a £700,000 three-bedroom home in Dalston, a hipster area of east London that's home to models, singers, actors and bloggers.

Interested buyers can choose to purchase up to 150 tickets each, provided they can correctly answer one skills-based question.

The competition closes on 14 February 2018, but may end sooner if tickets sell out. The draw will take place 7 days after the sale closes.

The 1,000 sq ft flat is on the ground floor of a modern Dalston development — take a look inside:

There's a living room, a bathroom, separate toilet, and an open-plan dining area.

There's a bright kitchen with four hobs and a lot of storage space.

The bathroom is pretty modern.

There are a total of three bedrooms (the other two look much like this one).

There's also outside space for barbecues and summer hosting.

The property is just 15 minutes from both King's Cross and Liverpool Street station by public transport.

How the business model works

WinAbode say that sellers are invited to advertise their homes on the website, with the aim of selling enough tickets to cover the market value of the home.

Should the minimum not be met, the competition can be extended, and if it still does not, the winner gets the cash raised instead.

The company will charge a fee of 5% to the seller if the agreed sale price is achieved, 10% of which (0.5% of the total price) will be donated to Centre Point, a charity for young homeless people.

Founders Richard Blaiberg and Sam Park said: "We see WinAbode as a really positive new outlet set against the backdrop of the UK's housing crisis. We want to offer everyone the chance of owning their own home, without the need for the bank of mum and dad.

So, if you're selling and want to avoid property chains and indecisive buyers, or simply want to get on the ladder for £2, WinAbode is the site for you."

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