When this $1.8M waterfront home sells, a charity will benefit. It’s an Omaze sweepstakes
Enter this sweepstakes, and a $1.8 million waterfront Miami home could be yours.
The five-bedroom, four-bathroom single-family home in Gables by the Sea is being offered by the for-profit, Los Angeles-based company Omaze as part of its latest fundraising campaign, according to Omaze co-founder and chief executive officer Matt Pohlson. The winner can either select the house or a cash prize of $1 million.
The 4,300-square-foot home, valued at $1.8 million, is set on a canal and includes a private dock and wine cellar.
Omaze is partnering with the Dolphins Cancer Challenge on the promotion. A portion of the proceeds will go to Sylvester Cancer Center. Since its founding in 2012, the company has partnered with about 350 charitable fundraising efforts, said Pohlson.
The winner will be randomly selected from a pool of entrees. The public is not required to donate. But thanks to the promotion’s formula, the larger the donation, the greater the chances of winning. The maximum donation is $2,000. Pohlson said he hopes to receive donations from at least 30,000 donors.
“When we think about our dream life, the first thing people think of is where they are going to live,” Pohlson said. “When you have a home that is this beautiful and this attractive neighborhood which is unattainable by the vast amount of people, it is a dream come true.”
The promotion runs through through mid-May. Pohlson said he expects the online fundraising platform to raise between $5 million to $20 million. After subtracting the purchase of the home or $1 million cash prize for the winner, the Sylvester Cancer Challenge will receive 80% of the remaining donations. The other 20% will go to Omaze.
Pohlson’s team toured several homes that were listed on the market in Miami before selected the one in the gated Gables by the Sea community. It liked the home’s finishes, neighborhood and “proximity to good schools,” Pohlson said.
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Should the winner take the cash prize, the sellers of the home will return the house to the market.
The option to giveaway a home is a first for the company. It has awarded exclusive experiences in the past, including a dinner with George and Amal Clooney in Lake Como and a James Bond meet-up (including an on-set introduction to actor Daniel Craig and an Aston Martin Vantage GT Roadster to take home.) Pohlson said Omaze expects to include more homes, including at least another this year in Miami, as part of its giveaways.
The former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino is collaborating with Omaze to promote the home. Marino is a long-time supporter of the Dolphins Cancer Challenge, an organization that has raised $32 million for the Sylvester Cancer Center since launching in 2010.
The Omaze promotion is the latest in a series of unconventional real estate marketing methods. Later this month, Miami tech billionaire Manny Medina will auction without reserve his home.
But don’t expect this to become a trend, said Douglas Elliman’s Florida Brokerage Jay Phillip Parker.
“The luxury market is showing signs of a decrease in inventory,” Parker said. “If [sellers] want to be competitive, they drop their price.”
According to the Miami Association of Realtors December 2019 report, condo sales in the luxury market grew in Miami-Dade County by 47.% and single-family home sales increased by 35.9%.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
