The Villa Raffle
The Rosemary Sauter / REMAX fiasco has brought light to another issue that has long been a thorn not only in my side, but in that of many other realtors on the island. I am referring the article in the Daily News from Tuesday, Feb 16, regarding the illegal villa raffle.http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17643852
I became aware of this raffle upon its inception via www.stthomasblog.com. It was early one morning when I saw the email release about selling $100 tickets for the chance to win a home "valued at $2 Million".
My skepticism was immediately on high alert. There were multiple problems with this entire offer. I have not been able to find a link to this, as it was taken down by Scott White, the marketer for the raffle. But I do remember some of the original specifics (to the best of my recollection):
1. The winner had to honor rentals on the books already made by Rosemary Sauter
2. The winner was to sign a contract guaranteeing her the right to rent the property for a period of at least two years after they won the home
3. There appeared to be no oversight of who gave funds other than Rosemary Sauter and REMAX
4. There was no display of information or permits showing this was legal in any fashion
5. The title of the marketing by St. Thomas Blog was "Win this $2 Million Dollar Villa for $100"
It took no time whatsoever for me to determine this was extremely shady. Calls to Scott White and St. Thomas Blog indicated he was hired to advertise this raffle, but had nothing to do with anything else involved. Well, the immediate impression I had when I saw the Villa Raffle was that this was not going to turn out even close to how it was advertised.
Problem one: The villa is not anywhere near a $2M villa. Not even close. No offense to the owners, but let's be serious here. It reeked of desperation to sell because no buyers were willing to purchase it. I considered this false advertising. Let's look at it in hindsight: The home is now listed for $1.399 Million. It first came on the market in 2005. Advertising it as a $2M villa was simply wrong. If it was a $2M villa, it would have sold for at least somewhere close to that price. Far from the truth.
Problem two: Was it illegal? This was of course a huge issue. Funny thing is, even after many people approached St. Thomas Blog, Rosemary Sauter, and the Board of Realtors, nothing was done about it. The BOR did its best to attempt to shut it down and get clarification on this, but they were met with resistance within the government. Nobody in Government wanted to do anything, even though there were no permits. There is no doubt that the owners and the marketing were told of these worries, but it kept going on until it was clear they were not going to sell enough tickets. Even the owner stated that questions from the BOR led to cancellation of the raffle (at least that is what the Daily News said, so assuming they are accurate).
Problem three: The many rules and regulations Rosemary Sauter had to benefit herself. I wish I still had a list. And after repeated complaints, she did change the rules (yes, rules were changed after the raffle started). But it was extremely sketchy and highly illegal from the beginning.
Look, I am not trying to rip the house or the owner or the blog. I have never met the owners. I have been in the house many times over the years, and maybe this blog will even help sell the house. It is now priced reasonably and will be a good buy for the right person. As for Scott White and St. Thomas Blog, I am sure he looks back in hindsight and is bummed he took on this client. He certainly meant no harm, and he absolutely did not have anything to do with disappearing money. Actually, I know that he tried to help identify those that deserved money coming back to them, letting them know the contest had been cancelled. He stepped up and tried to make a bad situation good, so kudos to that.
But the one thing we need to remember from this raffle is that advertising can cause damage. It certainly did in this case. Luckily there were only 50 or 60 tickets sold, so the damage was minimal. But consumers and web surfers need to know what they are looking at in advertising. If the advertiser stands to gain by what they post, then all needs to be taken with a grain of salt and outside research needs to be done.
NOTE: I make no money on advertising any businesses on this website other than through REAL SOLUTIONS selling or renting properties. So I do not accept payment from businesses mentioned in blogs, links, activities, etc...