Kiwi couple’s novel approach
A Palmerston North woman and her husband are selling an ecolodge in Ecuador in a $41-a-ticket raffle.
Rebecca Greenshields, who lived in Palmerston North until she was 21, built the home with her husband Doug a decade ago.
The pair are now living in Doubtless Bay, Northland, having left Ecuador last year and decided to part with their ‘‘third child’’ after a decade.
They say they came up with the unusual idea of selling raffle tickets as they wanted to give someone who may not otherwise be able to afford property a chance.
The 11-bedroom guest house in Banos was a ‘‘family adventure’’, the couple say, and Rebecca fondly remembers mixing concrete during its construction, while firstborn son John, now 9, sat in a bassinet watching.
The lodge and land would be 100 per cent owned by the winner, who would also receive about $14,000 cash to help cover travel and visa expenses.
Raffle tickets were a steal, at $41.
‘‘We are selling the lifestyle,’’ Rebecca said. ‘‘It almost does sound too good to be true. People will think there’s a catch but there really is no catch.’’
The couple need to sell 35,000 tickets to break even. If they don’t reach that mark the raffle winner will receive half the competition’s proceeds, while the rest will cover expenses and go to charity.
Husband Doug said the couple stumbled upon Banos on a world trip and fell in love with it. ‘‘We went travelling in 2005 together around South America. It was supposed to be an around-the-world trip, but we didn’t get much further. We went travelling to get away and do something different – to get away from the daily grind.’’
During their travels, they noticed it was difficult to find suitable accommodation that catered to their desire to be eco-friendly.
Before stepping into tourism Doug worked as a farmer and Rebecca was a statistician - neither of them had tourism experience.
They are moving to Australia to eventually start a new venture in tourism and to be closer to family in New Zealand.
The raffle was also capped at 250,000 tickets.
The winner would be drawn on April 30 New Zealand time.