I had one mega number so I think I won $2.00. It was worth it. mwheel, one thing I really like about GW is that there seems to be "real" people, with the same issues posting on the boards, so I can identify with them. Don, I have an e-mail friend and his wife(80+ yo) that took an Amtrac trip, visited RL friends and kept in touch with cyber friends at the same time. One of the favorite pics he sent, was when he jumped off the train, straddled two state lines at the same time and said " I'm on my way".

I got one number too CR.(#4)Someone here bought $600. worth of tickets! That's just stupid in my opinion! DH had bought tickets for Monday's Power Ball and Hot Lotto and one for last night's Mega Million.I checked the numbers Monday and threw them all in the trash by my bed.Didn't think we had a MM for last night and thought maybe I should check the tickets in the trash.Sure enough I had thrown the ticket away for last night! Plus I had thrown a cotton ball soaked in polish remover in the trash on top of it so it was a little smelly.Numbers were all still legible though.LOL I did win $23. on a $3. scratch off the day before Christmas!

One of the things that I'd be looking at is the value of the house. If we're talking about a $100,000 house I wouldn't spend a grand on a ticket. If it's a million dollar house I'd be in. For a $250,000....maybe a $500 ticket? I'd try to scale your price to your market. I wouldn't sell a thousand dollar ticket if your house isn't a half million dollar home (appraised or tax assessed value). think of scaling your ticket price to your house value somewhat...ie a lot of tickets at 100 if it's a 200,000 or below price is likely to be more successful than trying to market a thousand dollar ticket for a house of that value. People are going to do a little homework on a grand price ticket so be prepared to have an appraisal that makes sense next to your tax assessed value. You throw me off when you say that the homeowners are going to get their full price no matter what....you mean they're not taking a bit of a loss here as a tax deduction? That seems....well like an easy way to sell a house. I'd come back a bit hardball on them. It's only a donation when you give something up. Getting full price and "offering" the difference to the HS seems a bit greedy..and a bit inappropriate. I certainly wouldn't expect you'd be paying all of the advertising costs etc. What on earth would their agent fee be? I think your HS might be getting snowed here. I've been involved with a lot of fund raisers....and this has a bit of a smell to it. Not on your part or the HS. I've seen charities take a hit when trying to take advantage of something that sounds too good to be true. People on the board don't think it through...the possible numbers make their eyes glaze over and they forget the downside. I think if you go forward as is with the homeowner expecting a full return, you're going to take a hit, not make money. You won't embaress yourself...the lottery winner will win something, but it could cost your society more than you might think. I'd go back with a reasonable return idea to the homeowner and the offer to split the costs of marketing, no matter the outcome. They can still take this as a deduction if it's a reimbursement to the HS. So it's still a decent deal for them.

You know, in general, people still respect your privacy when you live in an exposed home. We've never had people leave the sidewalk and peek in the windows or anything of that sort. We did get lots of people coming up on the porch to the doors before we took the sign down (it was a B&B) but now that's rare as well. I guess you find your own privacy whereever you live :) For me, the views posted here would be my escape. Believe it or not you do look past the heads and into the sunset! The only area I was having trouble with privacy in was the yard because it's so exposed. People stand in front of it to take pics of the house so while pausing they'll often chat. We don't mind, but the dumb dog goes bonkers and DS is too friendly (offers tours of his room LOL) so we put in a fence that suits the house but sort of blocks the tourists heads from our relaxation area (we're outside a lot). It's heaven and we still see the view because the yard is on a slope. To me, looking up at a farm or out at land is actually not relaxing. I love the water and can mentally escape the world while enjoying a view of it from lake, stream or ocean. I've lived in remote areas, and I'd never trade them for this location. Besides that...our walls are a foot thick LOL So if I want to ignore the world, it's not hard to do so. Ohhh and Lynn, I have SO MUCH difficulty with that door problem. I have 9 outside enterances....that's probably 7 too many LOL. I get Fedex out of one, UPS out of the other, the post office likes another, and the tourists another. Only one of which is the actual front door LOL