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Not Even for a Car?
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The first did not sell, so they moved back into it because it was paid off and because they figured the farmhouse would be easier to offload. But it languished on the market for nearly two years.
"We were at our wits' end," Crawford said. "I felt like screaming. We had lowered our price several times. Nothing worked."
After reading a newspaper story about an Ohio couple's experience with a house raffle, Crawford decided to do the same with help from her agent, Cynthia Moler of Coldwell Banker. They contacted the San Mar Children's Home in nearby Boonsboro.
Because only charities can raffle a house in Maryland, the home was sold to San Mar for its appraised value, $380,000. The charity then sold raffle tickets at $100 a pop to cover the cost.
The effort captured national media attention, which generated enough publicity to help raise the money needed plus an additional $214,000 for the charity.
Since March, the state has received another four applications for home raffles, plus plenty of inquiries, said Michael Schlein, an investigator at the Office of the Maryland Secretary of State.
"It's been crazy," he said.
Moler, the agent who helped orchestrate the event, donated her commission to San Mar.
"I find myself doing all sorts of crazy things these days because homes are not moving like they used to," Moler said.
The next crazy thing? The winner of the farmhouse, Dennis Weaver, got hit with a hefty income tax for his prize, she said. Now he wants her to put the house up for auction.
