Mansion in the Lake District, England

[Sarzy]

An NHS nurse has won an incredible Lake District mansion worth £3 million in a prize draw – after buying a ticket for £20.

Catherine Carwardine, 59, originally from Wolverhampton, has worked as a nurse for 40 years, and now works in an IT role for the NHS.

She and husband Chris, 59, have been living in a five-bedroom home in Telford with their daughter Charlotte, 19, and 18-year-old Mya – where they have been fostering children for the past five years. The couple also share Gareth, 35, Jessica, 31 and 21-year-old Joshua.

Catherine purchased the winning ticket in the Omaze Million Pound House Draw on Valentine’s Day for £20, using a promotional code to score 120 entries.

The incredible home comes fully-furnished and boasts a terrace with breath-taking views of the lake itself, cosy log fires, a cinema room, sauna, steam room, state-of-the-art gym, staggered gardens and a workshop.

























www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-10696953/NHS-nurse-wins-incredible-3million-mansion-includes-cinema-room-sauna-prize-draw.html

[beeyotch]

Wow, I'm impressed. All those windows(God bless them for including curtains) and that view!

I love the sauna and steam room, be still my heart. I went to the Canyon Ranch Spa in Vegas once, and it reminds me of that. I'd like to see more of the baths/kitchen situation.

Lucky nurse!

[sputnik]

that's a great house. especially if it only cost her £20!
i always wonder though, people who win these houses, are they on the hook for the taxes or does the organization that give away the house, cover that cost? or is it tax exempt like a regular lottery?

i'm also obsessed with the sauna and steam room/spa area. that's amazing. my only nitpick would be the messy ceiling lines in the bedroom but that's a weird pet peeve of mine.

[trixie]

Yeah, it looks like a great house but I wonder that too. Even if it's fully paid for, there are yearly expenses like taxes, insurance, upkeep, utilities etc., that could run into big bucks. My mortgage is paid off but it's still not free to live here.

[Sarzy]

Apr 8, 2022 16:06:50 GMT sputnik said:

that's a great house. especially if it only cost her £20!
i always wonder though, people who win these houses, are they on the hook for the taxes or does the organization that give away the house, cover that cost? or is it tax exempt like a regular lottery?

i'm also obsessed with the sauna and steam room/spa area. that's amazing. my only nitpick would be the messy ceiling lines in the bedroom but that's a weird pet peeve of mine.

I don't know the answer to that but I wondered the same. I think I'd have to end up selling it if I won this, the upkeep would be too much. 

[MsDark]

I'd never leave the house. If you wanted to see me you'd have to come to me.

[Cartermrc]

The taxes and upkeep costs of that has to be enormous. We now set aside 3 times as much money every month for house insurance, property taxes, etc, than we paid for monthly rent 50 years ago. And we live in a >1400 square foot ranch style house. 

[o0amber0o]

Yes, this is my kind of house.

[albatross]

Apr 8, 2022 16:06:50 GMT sputnik said:

that's a great house. especially if it only cost her £20!
i always wonder though, people who win these houses, are they on the hook for the taxes or does the organization that give away the house, cover that cost? or is it tax exempt like a regular lottery?

i'm also obsessed with the sauna and steam room/spa area. that's amazing. my only nitpick would be the messy ceiling lines in the bedroom but that's a weird pet peeve of mine.

I know in the US, for things like the HGTV Dream Home (and their other house sweepstakes), the winner is on the hook for all of the taxes, which includes not just the property taxes, but also income taxes on the value of the home. If the winner opts to take the house, they usually end up selling it pretty soon after because they are just too expensive to keep. A lot of the people on the makeover shows end up in similar situations - they owe income tax on the value of the improvements, plus their property taxes go up, and they end up having to sell their home.

I usually enter the Dream Home sweepstakes, but in the highly unlikely event that I actually win, I'd just take the cash option (probably sell whatever vehicle is included since it seems to usually be some huge SUV), pay the tax bill, and enjoy what's left...it's still a nice chunk of change. Enough to do all of the projects I'd like to do on my house and still have enough left for an early retirement.

[loftybike]

I mean, it's a dream, but hubby and me live in a 87 square meter rented flat and the costs for water, heat, garbage and especially for electricity are killing us. And who'd clean that mammoth of a home while I work three jobs 24/7 to pay for it all?

[trixie]

I didn't even think about the gift tax, albatross is right. I believe a 3 million dollar home would be treated as 3 million dollars in income, just like if you won the lottery. With the lottery, at least you actually have the lottery money to deduct the taxes from, just like they take taxes out of a paycheck. But with a house, you'd have to come up with the funds. Per google, the IRS automatically takes 25% of winnings, which for 3 mil would be $750k. Then you have State and local taxes too.

Remember when Oprah did that "free" car giveaway and then it turned out it would cost the people $6000-$7000 in gift taxes. Still a great deal on a brand new car, if you have the money that is.