In the depths of the coronavirus pandemic last year Jon Nurse and his wife, Annmarie, used the spare time to raffle a Tuscan villa they owned as a rental investment. “We thought it might be a fun project during lockdown — it would give people something to dream about in such a dark time, and also raise money for charity,” says Jon, 46, who lives in Poole, Dorset.
It was also inspired by the comments left in the guestbook in the four-bedroom property — which is for many the quintessential Italian holiday home — within a stone’s throw of the beautiful Renaissance walled city of Lucca. “People said how much they wished they could afford to own such a villa themselves,” says Jon, who had been working in telecomms in Dubai for ten years, but is now renovating properties in Yorkshire and Surrey.
But knowing the number of dubious-sounding prize draws promoted online, he knew they would have to do it the right way to ensure its success. “The key was to make it transparent and legally sound,” Jon says. “Be upfront about the number of number of tickets you need to sell, and exactly where the money will go. We priced tickets at £25 each — relatively high — to make it aspirational and to ensure entrants might have the finances needed for home ownership.”
The local agent that sold them the property, Houses in Tuscany, had valued it at €400,000 (£341,000). The couple needed to generate £500,000 through the sale of the tickets, which would include a donation of £50,000 to the charity, The Children’s Society, and cover the costs of organising the draw, including legal fees, transfer taxes and social media coverage to generate interest.
After launching on August 24, 2020, the tickets were sold by early January 2021. Entries came from 90 countries and the draw was picked up by local media in Saudi Arabia, Germany and Argentina, Jon says. “If we didn’t sell enough tickets, 65 per cent of the revenue achieved would be given as a cash prize.”
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The draw was filmed and streamed live on YouTube — at the office of LSL Solicitors — the winner was Georgia-born Brigid Day, 44, who had spent £325 on 16 tickets (the average purchase was 1.9 tickets per entrant), at the time she was living in Gramercy Park, New York. Included in her win were all the taxes for the transfer of the property.
“I was suffocating in my tiny rental apartment during the pandemic. I had been living and working in NYC for 15 years and wanted to escape the corporate rat race,” Day says from her temporary home in Wilmington, Delaware. “I gave up my job and stayed with family as I was homeless — I have never owned a home. Semi-jokingly, a friend sent me a link to the villa raffle with a text: ‘here’s your next home!’.
“I had spent most of my life fantasising about Italy: the art, architecture, the food, wine, the people, the language, the history, so I visualised myself at the property.”
She is planning to fly out in September and start a new life there, using the rental income from the villa for her long-stay visa application (the villa lets for $2,000 per week in summer). “I plan to rent out the villa during the warm months while I explore Italy,” she says.
Meanwhile word had spread across Italy about the draw, and Jon was approached by a family from Padua, in the Veneto region, to help raise money for the charity Braccio Di Ferro — Ricky For Ever (bracciodiferro.org) founded by a family member who lost a child. The wanted to raffle the two-bedroom property in the seaside resort of Pizzo Calabro in Calabria, southern Italy, that they’d been left by their grandparents, valued by a local agent at €200,000.
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The 10,000 tickets at £25 each sold within just three weeks in May, and the winners were Karen and Claude Belanger from Ottawa, Canada, who bought three tickets. “For 25 years we have bought tickets for a local raffle — every year there is a large draw for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario where a local builder donates a new home, and the proceeds benefit the hospital,” explains Karen, 59.
“This draw had the same purpose, so we thought why not?” The couple, who have only ever been to Rome once, are due to complete the handover in September. “We are going to visit as soon as we can, but not sure of our plans after that. Claude is retired and looking for new things to do.”
Meanwhile, Jon and Annmarie are organising one more draw: for their four-bedroom, four-bathroom villa in Tuscany, worth about €450,000. It’s located in Cascianella, in the province of Lucca, just under two hours from Pisa airport and within easy reach of the Italian Riviera.
The couple have spent ten years renovating the 180 sq m property, which has a swimming pool and original features including terracotta and marble floors and handmade chestnut windows and shutters. It sits within three acres of chestnut woodlands — with views towards the Garfagnana hills — and comes fully furnished. All local taxes and legal fees will be paid, plus the cost of flights.
The ticket draw will be filmed live again (without showing the winning number to ratchet up the tension), and Jon will travel to the home of the winner to tell them, Covid restrictions permitting; the target is 20,000 ticket sales, at £25 each and £25,000 will be split between the UK and Italian charities. “We were never out for the fast buck, but wanted to make a difference to people’s lives,” Jon says. “For Brigid it’s been a life-changing event and for the Belangers it means a new adventure.”
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How to win the villa: register on winhousesinitaly.com from August 21. If you enter you will receive updates or Instagram (@winhousesinitaly) or Facebook (facebook.com)
Buyer beware
Thinking of entering a property prize draw? Jon Payne, a lawyer at LSL Solicitors, provides some tips
● Is the draw legal? All competitions of this type must either be licensed by the Gambling Commission, have a clearly advertised free entry route or pose a true question of skill. If a competition website looks badly written and poorly set out, then the competition itself is likely to be suspect.
● Is an independent law firm overseeing the competition and the actual draw? If you have any concerns about legitimacy, they should be available to advise. A good indicator of the honesty and integrity of an organiser is to see that they hold entry fees in a dedicated competition account.
● What happens if not enough tickets are sold? The common scenario is an alternative prize offered, but details of this must be very clearly set out next to the prize that is intended.
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● Is the property legal? Verification of title deeds abroad can be difficult, and it is best to ensure that a lawyer in that jurisdiction has carried out checks. For UK properties, we run a Land Registry search.
Five for sale
San Gimignano, €320,000
This two-bedroom apartment in the heart of Tuscany is set over two storeys and comes with a garden, terrace and access to a communal swimming pool. chestertons.com
Lucca, €590,000
A completely restored three-bedroom property, with a large and bright living room, high ceilings and a terrace for outside dining. Knight Frank, primelocation.com
Cortona, €380,000
This two-bedroom house features an open-plan kitchen/dining/living area and sits within a private estate. It includes access to a large, shared swimming pool. savills.com
Forcoli, €595,000
Just 30 minutes from Florence airport, this three-bedroom property has a terrace and its own swimming pool. casaandcountry.com
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Civitella, €625,000
Set in five acres of olive groves, this four-bedroom house is completely secluded and has a sitting room with an open stone fireplace and a large terrace. savills.com
