Housey, housey! Solve sudoku puzzle - and win £675k Lancashire home (From Blackpool Citizen)

Housey, housey! Solve sudoku puzzle - and win £675k Lancashire home

11:43am Thursday 29th January 2009

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A WATERFOOT finance broker believes he has solved the puzzle of the property slump - by offering his £675,000 luxury home as a prize in a massive online sudoku competition.

Once entrants solve the number puzzle they pay a £50 entry fee to receive a place in the prize competition to win the stylish detached home, complete with sauna and steamroom, on Lancashire’s picturesque Fylde coast.

Dave Mackie, 49, who is a director at CBG Insurance Brokers Ltd on Bacup Road, said: “There is no catch.

”I’m looking to retire abroad and the time has come to move on.

”I thought this was a fun way to get rid of the old house and beat the credit crunch.

"It’s going to be good financial news for someone - where else would you get a dream house for just £50?

”I’m a bit of a puzzle fanatic myself and just love my daily sudoku tester.

”As I’m 50 later this year, I felt it was time to review my life situation.

"I have properties in Egypt and have considered living there for some time.

”I don’t believe anyone has ever set up a sudoku competition to sell their home.

”This way everyone’s a winner. The lucky person gets the house free from any mortgage and I get its market value.

”If I haven’t got the sufficient number of successful entrants by February 2010, then someone wins the competition fund as a cash prize... and I start ringing around estate agents again.”

Mr Mackie said the maximum odds of winning his home are 14,000/1.

He has lived in the property for 10 years and has spent £200,000 on improvements in the last few years.

”All people have to do is click on the website, use their skill, knowledge and judgment to solve the sudoku puzzle, and pay the entry fee,” he said.

”Everyone gets a unique entry number and all the entrance fees are held in a separate bank account opened specifically for the competition.

”It will only be used to collect entrants’ cash and will be independently audited.”

The unusual move comes as Mr Mackie plans a new life abroad after selling his business two years ago.

Overlooking the River Wyre in the pretty village of Hambleton, near Blackpool, it has three large bedrooms, four bathrooms, a sauna and steamroom, two balconies and sculptured gardens with water features.

The new owner will also have the chance to rent a river mooring.

The house offers “unique views from the Fylde coastline” and has been “designed to maximise the exquisite panorama, with the living accommodation situated over the bedrooms”.

* Advice from the Gambling Commission says that if you are running a competition in which the prize is your private home, it must involve sufficient skill, judgment or knowledge to qualify to be legal.

win-free-home.com

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