Sell Your House as a Raffle - DTNS WEEKEND

0:00Chicago, 2011. A cop is murdered. Police and prosecutors swear they have the trigger man. He swears he didn't do it. How far will each side go to prove their right? Like it's just one bombshell after another, you know, where you're like, what? The story of a PlayStation, a brain-eating amoeba, and the relentless pursuit of justice. Off-duty, out now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is brought to you by Capital One. Capital One's tech team isn't just talking about multi-agentic AI. They already deployed one. It's called Chat Concierge and it's simplifying car shopping. Using self-reflection and layered reasoning with live API checks, it doesn't just help buyers find a car they love.

0:49It helps schedule a test drive, get pre-approved for financing, and estimate trade-in value. Advanced, intuitive, and deployed. That's how they stack. That's technology at Capital One. Security and compliance done wrong is a giant headache. Security and compliance done right, that's Vanta. Vanta helps you earn trust and speed up growth. No spreadsheets required. For startups low on time and resources, Vanta becomes your first security hire, using AI and automation to get you compliant fast and unblock big deals. For enterprises, Vanta is your AI-powered hub for compliance and risk, bringing together data from across your businesses and automating workflows so you can prove trust at any moment.

1:31Vanta scales with you at every stage. That's why top companies, from startups like Cursor to enterprises like Snowflake, choose Vanta. Do security and compliance right. Get started today at Vanta.com slash TED Audio.

2:09automating your business finances, and get a$250 gift card as a thank you. That's bill.com slash proven. Terms and conditions apply. See offer page for details.

2:26Hello and welcome to a weekend edition of Daily Tech News Show. Gratefully provided to you because we find some really interesting things to talk about. And I'm very excited today to be joined by Gina Sapstead at the Flat Raffle. Gina, thanks for joining me. Hi, Tom. Pleasure to be here with you. So we're going to talk to Gina about a really interesting way to sell a house. You're based in the UK, so this is through a site called Raffle. First of all, tell me a little bit about how this works. You're raffling off your house, your flat? Yeah, yeah, that's correct. So it's a process whereby I can sign up to this website called Raffle.

3:10I pay them an amount to kind of be part of their pro subscription. And then I can set up on their page a competition. People use their platform for competitions for everything. You know, you've got gold bars, camper vans, all kinds of stuff. But people do also use this platform in order to raffle off their properties. So I saw an article in The Guardian last summer talking about how people do this. And as soon as I saw it, I thought, you know what, this is worth a shot because I live in a flat in London. It's 500 metres from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. So there's lots of people coming here.

3:47You know, today we had a full house at the stadium, 60 ,000 people on my doorstep. And I really feel that my flat is the kind of flat that someone might want to win internationally. There's so many amazing things that happen right on my doorstep that I thought, you know what, the audience of interest for this might be great. If I lived on like a suburban side road somewhere in the sticks that wasn't in London, it might be a bit harder, but I really felt like I'm living in a place that people might want to really get involved and be part of. So yeah, I basically signed up for the platform and the way, I guess the main reason why I felt like I could do this confidently is because the way their platform works is they have like financial back security on the prizes.

4:28So as someone that sets up a competition, I can choose to set a minimum number of tickets. Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to be able to give away my flat. If only 1 ,000 people enter, maybe only the prize fund is£10 ,000 or something. So with this, it enables me to know that I can set a budget. I know that if this goes ahead, I'm going to be able to give my flat away and know that I've not come away from it, like financially bankrupt. And it's just a really exciting way of doing things. You know, the way a state agency works, it's really convoluted and slow. I'm not sure if in the US it's as bad as here, but the process would change.

5:10It takes far too long. And there's just at every point, there's a chance the whole thing could collapse right until like the final day. So in my head, that sounds more stressful than trying to go out there and tell people they can enter my competition to win my flat. So, yeah, so I tried it once last year and it finished in January. And I'm going to give it one more shot because when I did it last year, I really got some good momentum towards the end. By the end, we got halfway to my target. So what happened in that scenario is a really lucky guy called Charles, who's in his late 20s. He took away 158 ,000 pounds.

5:52which is a crazy amount of money for someone in their late 20s to have in their bank account in like, you know, three days. Yeah. And yeah, I just felt like, you know what, let's try this one more time. So that's why I'm doing it. And we're going to, you know, we're going to find out at the end of May, fingers crossed, I'm going to sell enough tickets on this one that we get a winner. That's the aim. So the idea is that you're avoiding the hassle and pain and agony of meeting clients and showing the flat and dealing with the state agents and all of that for something that sounds way more fun. And there's sort of no risk.

6:29Well, I guess the risk is if you don't raise the amount on the raffle that you need to sell the house, then you don't sell the flat. It's not like you have to sell it for less at that point. And everybody wins. You still get a cut of the proceeds. Raffle Paul still gets a cut of the proceeds. And like you said, the person who wins the raffle, even though they don't get the flat, they get the money. What's the downside to this? It sounds pretty great. Honestly, there really isn't. And in my particular space, I'm also raising money for the local area. So on the previous competition, I was supporting the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, which do loads of charity work, like really locally to where my flat is.

7:10So I gave them 31 000 pounds and i just think to myself like if i'd run a marathon i probably would have got if i was lucky a tenth of that um wow okay yeah it's a it's a crazy way to fundraise and you know these days so yeah this time i'm supporting a slightly different charity in the local area but you know supporting really similar types of people this is specifically around homelessness um really locally to me so it just feels like a no-brainer way to reach out make fun content online engage with the world and let everyone know about my building and about where I live and and how great it is now people do people get to see the flat beforehand or it's just you enter the raffle and if you get it you get it yeah they they don't get to it's a good question so this time I'm giving a cash alternative prize and so previously with the previous one there was no cash alternative it was like you win my flat and that that would be the deal but I've realized in the previous one well hang on like there are people entering from all over the world and my ideal ambition with this competition was to make the housing crisis better you know someone that can't afford to buy a property in London has a chance with my competition and so many people in the comments on social media have just said you know even though their odds are slim it the hope that it gives them is worth you know five pounds so so yeah this time i realized oh maybe someone might win that's nowhere near you know the guy that won 158 grand in january he's based up in liverpool um which i don't know if you know your geography for the uk but it's a little bit farther it's far enough that you don't want to be commuting from London for sure.

9:20trade and value. Advanced, intuitive, and deployed. That's how they sack. That's technology at Capital One. Chicago, 2011. A cop is murdered. Police and prosecutors swear they have the trigger man. He swears he didn't do it. How far will each side go to prove they're right? Like it's just one bombshell after another. You know, you're like, what? What? The story of a PlayStation, a brain-eating amoeba, and the relentless pursuit of justice. Off-duty, out now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

10:17pco slash shift today.

10:28Every idea starts with a problem. Warby Parker's was simple. Glasses are too expensive. So they set out to change that. By designing glasses in-house and selling directly to customers, they're able to offer prescription eyewear that's expertly crafted and unexpectedly affordable. Warby Parker glasses are made from premium materials like impact resistant polycarbonate and custom acetate. And they start at just$95, including prescription lenses. Get glasses made from the good stuff. Stop by a Warby Parker store near you. Okay, I have to tell you, I was just looking on eBay where I go for all kinds of things I love and there it was.

11:04That hologram trading card. One of the rarest, the last one I needed for my set. Shiny like the designer handbag of my dreams. One of a kind. eBay had it. And now everyone's asking, ooh, where'd you get your windshield wipers? eBay has all the parts that fit my car. No more annoying. Just beautiful. Millions of finds, each with a story. eBay. Things people love.

11:32So in other words, you're saying to people, go ahead and sign up. Even if you don't think you want to live in a flat in Tottenham, you still have a chance to come away with a big prize. Yeah, exactly. And then my ambition is obviously, you know, 300k is worth less than what my flat is. So the ambition in that scenario is someone takes that cash prize that I'm going to try and take some of the money from the tickets to help a first time buyer buy my flat. It's surprisingly difficult to do a lot of mortgage like a lot of banks won't let a vendor fund the deposit for for a buyer but i'm speaking to a mortgage advisor at the moment we're gonna we're investigating what what i can possibly do there because that would be the best scenario you know yeah someone that really wants my flat wins it or someone takes 300k and they know they're supporting a first-time buyer and buying their first property here so yeah it's although that sends you back into the hassle of having to sell it i guess but yes but hopefully because it's such an enticing thing i might not have to deal with estate agents i can self-list yeah yeah yeah that so that would make it much simpler but it's really fun i mean it's one of those things you know you could not do this without the internet you could not do it without social media um raffle as a platform again i don't think i would have even considered doing this without something like that being there as the baseline because it is you know it is complicated the legal regulations around running competition prizes um they do all the stuff around making sure that the free entry method is available you know they they take those letters and they'll count them up and stuff so it's um it just lifts the load on me from a practical perspective and i can just focus on making fun content doing a bit of marketing.

13:24And yeah, just kind of engaging with people around the idea. Now, in the UK, it's governed by what, like a prize competition law or something like that? It's kind of interesting, actually. So this doesn't sit under the gambling commission, because there was a free entry option. It's not regulated formally. Earlier this year, or at the end of last year, the government have provided prize competition guidelines. they haven't gone as strong as putting in a specific law um but a lot of the companies i think raffle is also signing up to this if they're not currently on the list then they will be but um they're basically signing up to these guidelines around responsible competitions so it's things like not being able to spend more than a certain amount on a credit card and making sure that everything is transparent in the way things are marketed and communicated on the platform so So, yeah, it's definitely a space that is far more Wild West than some of the stricter formal raffle competitions out there.

14:29But five pounds a ticket. So you're not, in your case anyway, you're not asking for a huge risk. Oh, yeah, completely. I mean, that's always the point. And I think a lot of people in the comments said to me last time, like, increase your prices. Yeah. And maybe you might do it this time. But I want to keep it at that accessible price point. yeah yeah and then people buy more than one ticket yeah yeah they can so they can choose to buy more you know there are some bundles that mean that if you buy more you can get slightly better on some things but um i want to make sure at the end of the day the guy that won the last one he only bought three tickets so when people found out he bought three um they couldn't believe it because yeah some people were buying a lot more than that yeah yeah just to increase but it best odds change is from none to one at the end of the day.

15:19After that, it makes slightly death difference. But having none, you're definitely not going to win. The old classic, you can't win if you don't play. Now, outside the UK, you said you thought people around the world might be interested in this because of the location. I know in the US, things vary state by state. Rafal does operate in the US under sweepstakes laws. But there are some states where you're prohibited. There are some states where the amount of the prize, in this case being above$5 ,000, like New York and Florida would be prohibited. So you just kind of have to check from where you are.

15:52Do you have a sense how often internationally this is something that's allowed? And I know RAFL polices that. So basically, they won't let you enter if you're honest about where you are. Yeah, I think that RAFL are really good at keeping an eye on things. Like I know there are other markets, like at the moment, Spain is one that currently is on lockdown on their platform. And they're always having conversations with regulators to make sure that they're staying as compliant as as possible but it is diff you know it is difficult to keep on on top of every single regulation globally um but no that they are good at making sure that it can't be accessed by people that that shouldn't and also i mean they they also do say in their terms that people should check you know their local you should be yeah you should be aware of your your local it is worth it is worth bearing in mind um i guess the other u.s i mean some of the things that have happened in the US.

16:43Like there was some one thing called Yurtopia in Texas, I think last year, where someone was selling off their yurt ranch as a raffle. So yeah, lots of people give it a try, but it is the pace that you have to go at in order to get the marketing to get to the target is definitely something. You do need a bit of luck alongside, I would say. Yeah. And then the other risk, I think, if you're someone who's like, ooh, maybe I'd like to try this. I want to win a Porsche or something because there's all kinds of crazy stuff on there, is how could I make sure that the prize is real, right? And Rafal is sort of your broker there where they hold the money until they're sure.

17:26Like, how does that work to make sure like, okay, we're not going to give Gina the money until she's actually handed over the flat. Should that be how it all works out? Yeah, yeah, exactly. So Raffle hold all the funds completely. Only at the end of a competition do they inform you who the winner is, give them the contact details. And only when that prize has kind of been accepted does the money get passed through to the competition host. Obviously, with properties, it's a bit more complicated. I think they give like a 60-day time limit for the legal processes to take place. So with that, it's a little bit more complicated.

18:05But yeah, they make sure that it's all done properly. And if someone wins a prize, but the person that's hosting it decides they don't want to give it, then they actually will give 75 % of the cash that's been raised to the winner. So there's always a backup prize there for that scenario. That's just built in. Well, this is fascinating. We've talked a lot about the process here. So let's finish up talking a little bit about your flat itself. Should someone be curious about it? You've got a whole gallery up at theflatraffle.com if people want to take a little tour. And like you said earlier, it's steps away from Tottenham Stadium.

18:48Yeah, genuinely. I mean, I've timed myself. I've been at a gig there, I think Imagine Dragons. And I timed myself, like put the stopwatch on and timed myself from the seats on the very top level to my flat. And I think it took me 11 minutes. and that threw crowds as well you know yeah i was going to say with security and everything huh yeah exactly so it's it's so close um and obviously the views as well it's as you can see this is a high-rise building and it's got views across i mean right now i'm looking out my window i can see i don't know if you know london skyline very well but i can see the shard just about i can just about see the london eye i've got canary wharf i've got you know everything and it's it's such a great place to live like lots of um parks um and great kind of green spaces in the local area as well and obviously my kitchen is behind me um and i always let people know that i handmade the tiles in the kitchen so yep it was a lady of love getting those made in the ceramic studio um and i basically built the kitchen around the tiles the tiles were too good for my old kitchen tiles went up first well yeah i had to rip it all out and make it make it good so yeah oh that's fantastic uh gina thanks for explaining all this i'm fascinated by the whole raffle thing it's like a reverse not a reverse kickstarter but it's it's sort of like kickstarter ish it is isn't it it's kind of like crowd it's like crowdfunded and that's how i think a lot of people that are entering particularly my property competition is seeing it.

20:20It's like it's crowdfunded hope for someone to win a property because, yeah, it's so difficult for young people to get on the housing ladder in the UK right now. Well, this is wonderful. I hope it works out for you. And remind people once again, if they're interested in learning more and maybe getting a ticket or two, where should they go? Yeah, definitely head to theflatraffle.com. I'm also making content on Instagram and TikTok. I often have bonus codes available. So go and have a look at that. If you're looking right now, I've got my launch promo code of Let's Go, which gives you two extra tickets at the moment.

20:56So yeah, go and have a look at that until the end of this month. And yeah, that's the place to go. Any updates, you'll find them through my socials. Fantastic. Gina, thank you so much for hanging out with us. Appreciate it. Pleasure, Tom. Thank you. And thank you folks for supporting the show. patreon.com slash DTNS. Thanks for being with us. Hey, it's Tom again. Real quickly, after I finished recording the episode with Gina, she was nice enough to send us a discount code. So if you're interested in signing up for the Flat Raffle, you can use the promo code DTNS, and that'll get you two bonus tickets all the way until the competition finishes.

21:36So no deadline except the end of the actual thing. But yeah, if you're interested, you would go to theflatraffle.com and you'd use that promo code DTNS. So if you buy one ticket, then you get two bonus tickets. Thank you, Gina. We're back with regular shows on Monday. Talk to you then.

22:10The DTNS family of podcasts. helping each other understand. Diamond Club hopes you have enjoyed this program.

22:22This episode is brought to you by Capital One. Capital One's tech team isn't just talking about multi-agentic AI. They already deployed one. It's called Chat Concierge and it's simplifying car shopping. Using self-reflection and layered reasoning with live API checks, it doesn't just help buyers find a car they love. It helps schedule a test drive, get pre-approved for financing, and estimate trade-in value. Advanced, intuitive, and deployed. That's how they stack. That's technology at Capital One. Security and compliance done wrong is a giant headache. Security and compliance done right, that's Vanta.

22:58Vanta helps you earn trust and speed up growth. No spreadsheets required. For startups low on time and resources, Vanta becomes your first security hire, using AI and automation to get you compliant fast and unblock big deals. For enterprises, Vanta is your AI-powered hub for compliance and risk, bringing together data from across your businesses and automating workflows so you can prove trust at any moment. Vanta scales with you at every stage. That's why top companies from startups like Cursor to enterprises like Snowflake choose Vanta. Do security and compliance right. Get started today at vanta.com slash TED Audio.

23:37Thank you.