For $100 and an Essay, Win a Home
Alexandria Woman Sponsoring Online Competition for 5 Properties By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 27, 2003; Page B01 Claudia Johnsen was watching Oprah Winfrey on television some time back when she came upon an idea for how to dispose of some valuable real estate she had accumulated in Northern Virginia and suburban Maryland. A guest on the show who had been trying to sell an inn in New England said he finally received his asking price by essentially raffling it off. But it wasn't technically a raffle -- and thus did not run afoul of local gambling laws -- because the deciding factor was not chance but an essay contest. Johnsen tracked the man down and bought the contest rules and regulations for $750, then adapted them to create a similar competition for her own holdings. Now the 79-year-old Alexandria resident is offering five properties -- two condominiums in Alexandria, a waterfront tract in Stafford County, a vacation house near Hot Springs, Va., and one-third interest in an apartment complex in Temple Hills -- to winners of an online essay contest. After paying $100 to enter, contestants must explain, in no more than 75 words, why they want to own one of the properties and submit the essay to USDreamProperties.com. Multiple entries are allowed, but each requires the $100 entry fee. "To me, this contest . . . is a way to open the door to everyone" by offering valuable real estate to people who might otherwise not be able to afford it, Johnsen said. Moreover, she said, "I want to settle my estate before I die." She acknowledged that, contrary to a recent press release, she is not "giving away" the property. If Johnsen receives the maximum number of entries allowed by state law, she stands to reap about $24.8 million for property that has been appraised at $3.7 million, including jewelry that she is prepared to throw in as bonuses. She said she plans to live on the proceeds and "hopefully leave something for my trust . . . and something for charity." She said the trust is for her four grandchildren, and the charity would benefit children in Virginia. Johnsen said she has no idea how much money she might make from the contest after taxes and expenses, which include advertising and payments of about $9,000 a month to DCpages.com, the District-based Internet company running the contest. "You make a large profit, but let me tell you, the overhead for doing these things is terrific," she said. "To me, this contest was an option for disposing of my property rather than going through real estate agents and selling it myself." Although the maximum number of entries is determined by law, "the minimum is up to me," Johnsen said. If she decides that there are not enough entries for any of the properties, she can cancel that competition and refund the entry fees, less $20 each for processing, according to the rules. For the most expensive property, a 124-acre tract along the Potomac River appraised at $1.69 million, the maximum number of entries is 118,300, which would yield $11.83 million. If that number of entries is reached, Johnsen said, she will throw in a nine-carat diamond ring worth $100,000 as a bonus. The four other properties being offered are a one-third share in the Oxon Park Apartments in Temple Hills, worth $660,000; a two-story home on 1.8 acres near Hot Springs, appraised at $575,000; a townhouse condominium in the Watergate in Old Town Alexandria, valued at $430,000; and a one-bedroom condominium in Alexandria's Port Royal high-rise, worth $190,000. Johnsen said an inheritance from her father, a wealthy real estate developer, allowed her to become "a long-term speculator for investment purposes" for more than 40 years. The interest in the Temple Hills apartment, for example, was a wedding gift from her father in the late 1940s, according to its Web write-up. The essays can say anything, "as long as it's positive," Johnsen said. According to the rules, the "contents of the essay, not the writing skills, spelling or punctuation, are the most important." Deadline for the contests is June 26, 2004, and winners are to be chosen by Nov. 8, 2004. Students from Washington and Lee University will pare the list of entries for final judging by three anonymous Virginia lawyers, Johnsen said. According to a 1996 opinion by James S. Gilmore III, then Virginia's attorney general and later its governor, this type of contest "does not constitute illegal gambling" -- as a raffle or lottery for private gain would -- because "the element of skill, rather than chance, is the predominant factor" in determining a winner. The idea is similar to the plot of the 1996 movie "The Spitfire Grill," in which a small-town cafe in Maine is offered to the winner of an essay contest for $100. "The essay is what makes it a contest of skill, not of chance," Johnsen said. "That's why it's not a lottery."
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