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Logically, that's the first question some people ask. Well, our lawyers - all three of them in three different countries - have all declared the project as absolutely legal. You're buying a hotel voucher, a perfectly straightforward and ordinary item, similar to the hundreds of thousands of hotel vouchers sold around the world every day. The only difference is that ten of our vouchers have a little pot of gold concealed inside, a key to a valuable house or studio. So, yes, it's legal, but you shouldn't register or buy a voucher if you have the least worry or doubt.
Is This a Raffle or a Lottery That Might be Restricted? In some countries raffles and lotteries are restricted. However the addition of the hotel voucher to the ticket means that the lawyers and the governments in those countries don't call it a raffle or a lottery in the usual sense, and that's the most important thing to us: being absolutely legal wherever we offer tickets for sale. If raffles are restricted where you live, we suggest you take advice regarding your participation, though your personal details are confidential should you choose to participate. That has to be your decision and I'm afraid we can't help you decide. So this is what it is and you may call it whatever you want - house raffle, property lottery or hotel promotion. We have done everything in our power to have it clean and above board because we just want to sell you a ticket and a hotel voucher and hope one day to hand you the keys to a lovely house or studio. Can You Tell Us More About the Properties? Yes - please click the link at the bottom of this page. On the island of Mallorca, in the mountains about 20/25 minutes from Palma, the capital. We are currently running the complex as a hotel (ranked on Trip Advisor hotel review site as the 3rd most popular of 1,035 places in its category).
From about 200,000 to 400,000 euros, as of May, 2009. We will be raffling them according to size, from the smallest to the largest. The whole complex has been valued at 4.5 million euros, including all the common land, gardens, facilities and amenities.
Each time 3,333 full vouchers are sold. The first draw has already taken place and Ken and Jenny Hitchen won the first studio. The project will take months to complete, but in the meantime voucherholders may visit our hotels, see the properties up close, and get value from their vouchers even before the draws take place. They cost 150 euros each, plus a fee for credit card processing of 6 euros per voucher. They are good for, may be applied to, a stay in either to our hotels prior to the drawing, and at Scott's Townhouse Hotel afterwards, subject to availability. Vouchers are good indefinitely. Of course. Ariadne Asesores in Palma de Majorca has been established for more than fifteen years. "Asesores fiscales" are Spain's equivalent of UK chartered accountants or United States CPAs, but with the added qualification of being tax advisors as well. Their role will be to ensure and certify that there will be only the equivalent of 33,333 vouchers issued for participation in the random process of choice. They will function as an independent entity to make sure the project is carried out in a fully neutral and unbiased way. We ourselves will have nothing to do with these procedures. Our job, as we see it, will be limited to smiling and having the delightful experience of notifying the winners.
Why Aren't You Just Selling the Properties in the Usual Way? It was a flat-faced guy with a heavy Slavic accent who put us on this path. He handed me an attaché case stuffed with 500-euro notes and told me I could take it with me. The rest I could pick up later. What was unspoken was that they would also own me. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you the back story. Some months ago my doctor told me to slow down. He wasn't happy with my state of health. Besides, I'm of an age when I should be slowing down anyway. "Retirement" was the word the doc threatened me with. Thinking it over, it just made sense to give up the little boutique place in the mountains, however reluctantly. So a few months ago I began to put out feelers for someone to take it over. What a fiasco! First came the impoverished wannabes with no hotel experience, no Spanish, but who had always had a dream to run a small gem of a hotel in the Mediterranean. Would we mind financing them privately? 100%, of course. Then there were the hotel chain agents, convinced that anyone who was even thinking of selling must be flirting with bankruptcy. For them, an offer of 50% of the fair market value was a logical start to any discussion. And we must not forget the property agents, willing to put a photo in their window in return for only 6% of the sale price. But finally there were the money launderers, with whom I started this text. They were willing to pay our price, our fair price, but only in filthy money from drugs or prostitution or whatever. Which is how I wound up in Paris, invited to sign on with people who had described themselves on the phone as "international investors". Ha! Apart from all that, there is also an element of self-interest. We own land directly next to the car park up the hill above the property. We've had thoughts about building a house there and it would be nice to be next door to our winners. (I'll bet they'd never turn us down if we ever wanted to borrow a pint of milk.) Frankly, when all was said and done we just thought this might be lots of fun to do. And just by the by, if anybody ever asks you the question in a trivia quiz, a million euros in 500 notes weighs about 15 pounds; I had it in my hand. What Could I Do With a House or Studio If I Won? Live in it - they are proper dwellings - use it for your holidays, rent it out, lend it to family or friends. Or simply sell it for the cash. They would be easy to sell. If I Win, Will I Have to Pay Any Taxes, Closure Fees or Other Costs? No - the property will be delivered into your possession at no expense to you whatsoever. Obviously, if you subsequently sell it, you will have all the usual taxes and expenses to pay. What Fraud Protection Is There? We are devising several layers of protection for all participants. 1) Only credit card or traceable bank instruments will be accepted in payment for the vouchers. That is, no cash. 2) All participants will be asked at the time of purchase to provide means of identification. No vouchers will be redeemed without full identification of the registered voucherholder. 3) The choice of the winners will be filmed and also broadcast online so that anyone with a broadband Internet connection may see the process. 4) The results will be publicly published for all voucherholders to check. What If You Don’t Sell Enough Vouchers? We could stop at any time, hold a raffle for the next property in the list or draw for the cash in the blocked account. We don't have the same risks as house raffles offering only one property.
What is the Random Way of Choosing the Winners? We hold a draw in a registered notary's office. That's what we did the first time, and the draw was officially witnessed by the notary and filmed and photographed and the result was officially registered with the Spanish government. If I Were to Win, What About My Costs? Think of it the other way around. Think how much money you could make renting the property out. Maintenance and other costs - water, taxes, electricity, would only make a small dent in those sums.
And If I Don't Feel I Can Afford a Voucher? Share with a friend. Or even two friends (maximum two). Surely you all won't want to take your holidays at the same time (though two of you could if you got really lucky and won the two BR, two bath house). And there would still be enough rental income for everyone to make the arrangement interesting all around. Sharing with someone else makes a voucher affordable for virtually everybody. They also make nifty gifts; you're just not allowed to get jealous if your giftee wins. Our friends, employees and family. What would you think if my sister won a nice studio or house?
Tell Me About the 10,000 Euro Extra Cash Raffle. It's very simple. Advertising is expensive. We want you to tell other people about what we're doing. Send five friends or colleagues to us and we will enter you in an extra cash draw for 5,000 euros. Send ten people and you qualify for a 10,000 euro draw. Send twenty and you get two chances to win the 10,000 euro cash drawing. We both come out ahead: you qualify for extra prizes and we save money on advertising. And these are independent drawings so winning will not affect your chances of success in the choice of the winners of the properties. Any Other Reasons Why I Should Buy a Voucher? The real question is "Why not?" The cost isn't prohibitive, the odds are reasonable, and the prizes are valuable and life enrichening. Imagine a bored angel sitting up there somewhere dangling her feet over the edge of a cloud and deciding, on a whim, that you, me, or that guy over there, should be treated to a sweet piece of good luck. She looks at us all, and then decides to point at you. Now all she needs is a mechanism to deliver her sumptuous gift. Your responsibility is to give her a way to reward you for all you've done that deserves rewarding. But if you don't make it simple for her, if you don't provide her with an easy way of dropping her bounty upon you, then she just might get fed up with the whole process and decide to point at somebody else. Give your angel a chance to make your day, your month, your next ten years. Buy a voucher.
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