Lottery prize homes sell for less than billed
If you’re looking to buy a luxury house in Oakville, you might want to check out the prize homes awarded by the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre Home Lottery.
When they go on the market, they’re virtually guaranteed to be a steal.
Last year’s grand prize, valued at $4.3 million when it was awarded in May, is now on the market for $2.9 million.
The 7,000-square-foot open-concept house features doubleheight cathedral ceilings, a yoga room in the basement and a NanaWall that can pulled back in the summer to open the house to the garden.
It’s not alone in selling for less.
A real estate broker says the prize houses in Oakville over the past four years have always sold for much less than their advertised worth — at least $500,000 to $1 million less, and sometimes more. Last year, Century 21 broker Brad Miller said he sold the 2011grand prize house valued by the lottery at $3.9 million for $2.15 million. “They do fluff up the prices for the lottery,” he said. “I don’t think anyone cares, because the prizes are still worth lots of money.” Several brokers who spoke to the Star said the price put on the interior design and furnishings was particularly high and these things can’t be sold for the same price when the house is put on the open market. “Furniture is a lot like a car,” Miller said. “As soon as you take it out of the showroom, it loses a lot of its value.” An $8,000 couch, for example, might be offered for sale with the house because it fits in with the overall decor, he said. But it would only add $2,000 to the price of the house. Miller doesn’t blame the lottery for calculat- ing the value using the full retail value. “I don’t think it’s a shady practice,” he said. “It’s a charity and it’s fair.”
Christine Lasky, vice-president of the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, said the price of the houses reflects every cost that’s gone into them, from demolition of the old house to architectural design, construction and landscaping. All of these costs are reported to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, she said.
The lottery can’t control what the winner sells their house for, she said. “People who’ve won these homes with a $100 ticket — they price them to sell,” she said.
Ruth Anne Winter, the broker who listed last year’s dream home, says there’s been no discount and the price differential derives from the fact the high-end furniture that came with the house isn’t included in the new sale price. Should a buyer want to take the furniture, he or she can do so for an extra negotiated fee, she said.
Ernie and Miriam Lewis of Grand Bend, Ont., who won the house last year, couldn’t be reached for comment.