Omaze forced to scrap beautiful home from prize draw after discovering huge issue

Omaze, the company known for raffling multi-million pound mansions, has had to reject some potential houses due to a host of quirks. The company’s massive raffles have made headlines since it launched in the UK five years ago.

Before then Omaze had been operating in the United States, having been formed by Matt Pohlson and Ryan Cummins in 2012. Each year the company pledges to raffle off 12 mansions.

So far they have given away homes in Cornwall, Cheshire, Sussex and the Cotswolds to name a few. Omaze says part of the money raised in the raffle, over £100m so far, has then been donated to charity.

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Its team of property lawyers look through more than 1,000 homes before they settle on one to give away, reports The Daily Telegraph. Many of the homes are rejected instantly because of strange local by-laws.

One property, Matt says, would have needed the homeowner to allow a local carnival on their land every year. He explained: “When you're buying houses at this scale and this frequency - stuff comes up.

“There have been plenty of houses we've been close to buying and then there was too much wrong with them."

Matt, who grew up in Laguna Niguel in California, first came up with the idea of Omaze when he and Ryan attended a fundraiser together. They said the ultra-rich were bidding to win things, including a basketball game with Magic Johnson, in an auction.

They however found that other people wanted to win the same prizes. Initially they had success offering prizes such as a date with George Clooney, a mentoring session with Michelle Obama and a Lamborghini blessed by the Pope.

After Ryan left the business in 2018, Matt realised people would eventually lose their enthusiasm for celebrity events. He had previously run a successful house draw in the US, but found a smaller market, Britain, would suit his idea better.

Matt says it is a "fundamental human desire” to have a “better home”, something he believes Omaze taps into. He also believes Omaze is a “company with a purpose”.

Although it is a for-profit company, Matt says charities such as the British Heart Foundation and local foodbanks, have benefited from the donations. The raffle winners meanwhile get the house, £250,000 in cash, and all of their legal fees paid for.

Matt says each property comes fully furnished, right down to the cutlery in the drawers and even clothes in the wardrobes. He explains that legal searches, surveys, and searches are carried out before Omaze purchases a property.

He insists his team are “well equipped” to deal with any issues, including that of Vicky Curtis-Cresswell who won a £6m property in Norfolk, only to be unable to live there because it was built slightly differently to the approved plans.

Matt added: “These things are quite common with purchases of any property across the UK, and our team is very well equipped to deal with them.”