The High-Stakes Game Of Raffling Off the House

Rather than try to sell their house, Tom and Dianne Walters paired with a charity to raffle off their Edgewood home, valued at $1 million. (By Marvin Joseph -- The Washington Post)
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James Howard, a retired physician, lives near the Walters and said neighbors have watched renovations on the home for more than a year. Then one day the sign appeared announcing the raffle.

But Howard won't be buying a ticket. He and his wife like their place just fine -- and frankly, the Walterses' home isn't quite their style.

"It's an interesting monstrosity," Howard said.

The Walters had big plans for the house when they bought it for $425,000 in 2006. It was in foreclosure. Tom Walters had grown up nearby, and he and his wife, Dianne, fell for the log cabin originally built in 1840. Sure, it needed a bit of work. No problem, they thought.

By the time they were done, they'd sunk about $750,000 into renovations (granite counters, hardwood floors) and additions (wrap-around porch and in-law suite complete with kitchen). That includes the $450,000 construction loan they took out.

In the meantime, the mortgage market imploded. The Walterses found they couldn't pull any of the equity out and their payments had grown.

"That's when it became necessary to sell," Walterses said. "Rather than stick it on market and take our chances, we wanted to be proactive."

That's where the raffle came in.

Walters read that someone had raffled off an old farm house near Hagerstown last spring. Karen Crawford and her husband sold tickets for $100 a pop. People bit. Someone won the house and the San Mar Children's Home in Boonsboro received $214,000 in charitable proceeds.

"We thought, we grew our own lemons, well how do you make lemonade?" Walters said.

Apparently, in Edgewater you sell tickets.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.