If you have a way with words and $285 you might win a house in the Celebration community. The man who owns it said he's underwater on the mortgage and is using an essay contest to sell it.
Channel 9's Field Sutton took a look at the house giveaway and asked if it's legal and he asked the owner where the money is going.
From the outside the house you'd never know it's for sale. There's no sign in the yard. The only way you would know it's on the market is if you come across a website, which is starting to take off online.
The online sign for the Arbor Circle house says you can you can have it for $285 and 300 words.
"This just seemed like a unique way to sell the property," homeowner Mark Rutecki said.
Rutecki said when heard about a Maine business selling in a similar fashion in he thought, "Why not get creative?"
"Right now the value is lower than the mortgage, so it couldn't be sold by a traditional method," Rutecki said.
The website makes it clear; if you don't win you lose the money you paid to enter.
The money's not held in escrow.
Rutecki said if he doesn't get enough entry fees to cover the mortgage, those who paid the $285 won't get a full refund, but will get 80 percent.
"Do you worry that it's going to come across as trying to profit off people?" Channel 9 reporter Field Sutton asked Rutecki.
"Well, there's really no intention to do that, other than to just essentially get to the point where there's enough essays in that we end up recouping what we paid for it," Rutecki said.
Attorney Joseph Lenti, with the Law Offices of Barry Miller, had some concerns.
"So, if there's a thousand people that sign up for it, that's $285,000. He's keeping 20 percent of that for administrative costs? That seems a little fishy," Lenti said.
Lenti said his concern is that the contest was never registered with the state and that it leaves too many financial questions unanswered.
"I'd say buyer beware. You know? If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is," Lenti said.
But Rutecki said the contest doesn't have to be registered because the winner will be based on skill instead of chance.
"I am looking for creativity. I mean obviously we're going to look for an essay that's unusual out of the bunch," Rutecki said."
