Woman raffles home

ROXBORO (WTVD) -- A Person County, NC woman has been trying to sell her home for months, but the 3,900 square foot home on 11 acres hasn't had any takers.

So now Mary Peterson is getting creative in a bad real estate market.

"I put it on the market last year and I put it on the internet. I had it all over the place and no bites on the house, so I decided I was going to raffle it off," she explained.

Peterson had heard about other people raffling off their homes on the news and figures she has nothing to lose. So for $20 a ticket, anyone could win her 5 bedroom custom built home overlooking a pond.

"This was my dream house. This house was built around my wants. My mom designed it and my dad and mom and I built it," Peterson explained.

Her husband was laid off and found a new job in Montana. So, with their three kids, the Peterson's moved. But, the house never sold.

"I spent more time in North Carolina than I have in Montana since I moved up there because of this house and I'm just ready to be done with it and go home and live my life with my kids," Peterson said.

So, working with a charity - the Grizzly & Wolf and Discovery Center in Yellowstone, Montana - Peterson is raffling off her house.

"I've got one guy who comes out every month and buys five tickets cause he really wants to win the house," she said.

The goal is to sell 25,000 tickets at $20 each. That would be enough to pay everything off. What's left goes to the charity.

"There's $400,000 owed on the house, roughly give or take 10 thousand. I don't know the exact number, but the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center will get between 30 and 50 thousand depending on if we sell all the tickets or not," said Peterson.

And if all the tickets don't sell?

"Then I have to refund the money. They get 95 percent back," said Peterson.

It's a gamble Peterson is willing to take to be free of her house and free to make a new home in Montana with her kids. Tickets will be on sale through December 31, and then a winner will be chosen by Clearinghouse.

Click here to purchase a ticket

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