History of the Omaze curse as skilled says why winners look to promote mansions

The popular Omaze house draw has attracted several participants for years, but some say it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Willing betters can subscribe for £10, £25 or £50 a month to enter into the charity draw, which aims to raise money for several organisations, such as Teenage Cancer Trust and the RNLI. In return, donators have the chance to win luxurious mansions around the UK and abroad.

Currently, a £2.5million six bedroom detached house is up for grabs in Yorkshire. While the offer is attractive, many say it has a curse attached.

READ MORE: NHS nurse wins £4.5m Omaze house but instantly makes huge mistake

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Most Omaze house winners end up flogging their mega mansions less than a year after winning them. With all these expensive houses, an expert revealed why people might be ditching them as soon as possible.

According to David Adams, head of David Adams Luxury Property, this is because the bills that come with such homes are eye-watering and barely covered by the cash prize. He told MailOnline: “The running cost of many of these properties can be £100,000 per year and with the cost of living these bills are rising.

“If you are used to living in a normal home where you pay a couple of hundred pounds a month in electricity, maybe a few thousand a year in council tax it comes as a huge shock when they receive the first bill for £20,000 or £30,000. It is completely unsustainable and at that point a lot of people will decide it’s not for them.

“Maintaining luxury properties is a massive industry. If it’s not your main house then you cannot leave it alone. Most homes will employ monitored security, they will run underfloor heating in winter and air conditioning in summer and systems will need servicing every year.”

Around 25 winners have been drawn by Omaze, but very few hold onto their properties. Last year, only three of the then-15 winners decide to keep theirs. Some say this is because the houses aren’t as perfect as they seem.

Eliza Yahioglu, 57, has decided to break the pattern and keep her new place. The mum won a £2m Omaze home located neat Harrogate, Yorkshire.

The house draw raised £1,950,000 for Blood Cancer UK and Eliza is hanging onto the picturesque farmhouse. The reason why is touching.

She could have sold or rented out the property. However, she “instantly fell in love with it” and decided she was going to keep it, partly because she is planning to let victims of blood cancer stay in the house between treatments.

She added: “It was very special to see how much was raised for Blood Cancer UK – it was such an incredible amount of money.

“We’re planning on having people and families affected by blood cancer to come and stay at the house in-between treatments – they can have the place all to themselves and just get away from it all.”

She has now revealed how ‘surreal’ it feels every day – and how they have enjoyed a big family Christmas of 16 people since the win last August.

However, several other winners sold theirs as soon as they could. The Daily Mail previously reported Omaze winner Darren Wordon, an IT consultant from Bath, discovered the £2.5million Cotswolds mansion he won in June 2021 sat in a valley that floods.

The report stated Darren only realised after moving into the five-bedroom Willowbrook House with his wife Mandy and their two children. Neighbour Julia Boardman told the Mail the home has flooded twice before with water going “through the back door and out of the front door”.

After that, the family moved out just a few months after they got the house. Another winner, widowed grandmother-of-six June Smith reportedly visited the £4.5million waterside mansion she won in Cornwall just once before deciding to put it up for sale.

She paid £25 to enter the competition and got the home mortgage free with stamp duty and legal fees covered. Although she initially wanted to keep it in the family, Ms Smith eventually listed the home for £4.5m. She said the money would be used to help her children and grandchildren.

Uttam Parmar was another who decided to sell up. He entered by paying just £25 and ended up with a four-bedroom Cornish mansion with panoramic views, worth a staggering £3m. He said he and wife Raki, 53, couldn’t afford the upkeep.

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