Latest news with #ImeldaCollins
Extra.ie
41 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
American woman wins dream cottage in Ireland
For one 29-year-old Irish-American woman, it was definitely the luck of the Irish when she won a traditional stone cottage for the price of a $12 raffle ticket. Marine Corps officer Kathleen Spangler bought three tickets for the draw and then promptly forgot about them, so she was amazed to get a message out of the blue asking, 'By chance did you win a cottage in Ireland?' The picture postcard house, surrounded by wildflowers, was raffled by owner Imelda Collins who was moving to Italy and Kathleen bought the tickets on a whim last December after seeing a post announcing the chance to win the cottage and 1.75 acres of land in County Leitrim. Imelda Collins outside the cottage in Co Leitrim. Pic: Raffall It was a busy year for the mom of three as just two months earlier she had applied for Irish citizenship through lineage on her father's side. Then in February she and husband Michael, also a Marine officer, transferred stations from North Carolina to Dayton Ohio and were preparing for graduate studies, so she never thought of the tickets. 'I completely forgot about it' Kathleen told the New York Times. 'Nobody enters these things really thinking that they're going to win. But there's always a chance, and that's the fun part.' Carrick-on-Shannon – Pic: Getty Images Then last month she got a text from a friend asking if she had won a cottage in Leitrim. His friend had just read an article about the cottage and noticed that the organisers had announced the winner as a Kathleen Spangler. And I said: 'I don't think so but let me check.' Kathleen was flabbergasted when she realised she had won and immediately called her husband who was in a math's class, telling him the amazing news that she had just won a house in Ireland. She told him more about the raffle, but he thought it was a scam, until Kathleen received an email from Imelda Collins, and then they realised it was true. 'It was a great experience to be able to speak directly to her and helped to make it real.' Winning a cottage in Ireland represents something of a homecoming for Kathleen as her grandmother had emigrated from Mayo to the United States, while her great grandfather's family hailed from Sligo, about 12 miles from the cottage. Beautiful summer day at long and sandy Strandhill beach, Sligo bay. With a newborn and two toddlers the Spanglers are now sorting out the legal paperwork. 'My husband and I have talked about someday, where we are out of the military, getting priority overseas and splitting time between there and the United States', she told the New York Times. 'But that was obviously a future goal.'
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Surprise way woman scored cottage for $19
A US woman who entered a raffle to win a cottage in Ireland has become a homeowner — and it cost her only $US12.67 ($A19.52). Kathleen Spangler, from Ohio, bought three raffle tickets in December 2024 for a chance to win a cottage in Ireland, Realtor reports. A few months earlier, the US Marine Corps officer had applied for Irish citizenship — her dad's family is from Ireland. Her request was fast-tracked because she was pregnant. When she got her dual citizenship approved, the 29-year-old started looking at real estate in Ireland and came across the raffle for Butterfly Cottage — and decided to enter. Then she forgot about it. 'By chance, did you win a cottage in Ireland?' a friend texted her on May 22, according to the New York Times. Her friend was going to enter the contest, but when she went to the site, the raffle was closed — and the winner was announced: Kathleen Spangler. Ms Spangler's husband said his wife doesn't gamble, so when he received a text from her saying she thought she won a house, naturally, he was surprised and initially believed it was a scam. Ms Spangler eventually received an email from the raffle organisers and the cottage owner, Imelda Collins. 'Imelda's first email mentioned how I must be in shock, but she's excited for me,' Ms Spangler told the Times. She was able to speak with Ms Collins on WhatsApp. 'It was a great experience to be able to speak directly to her, and helped to make things real.' Ms Collins was happy to learn that Ms Spangler has ties to the community. Ms Spangler's great-grandfather was from Sligo, one of the nearest towns to the cottage. 'I truly feel my home was meant to be hers,' Ms Collins told the publication. Second home Ms Spangler's future cottage is located along Wild Atlantic Way — 1.75 acres in the countryside. The two-bedroom, one-bath home went through a renovation and redecoration in 2022. It comes with a kitchen and living and dining areas. The home has insulated floors, a vaulted ceiling with a skylight in the living and dining rooms, updated wiring and new plumbing with radiators, an energy-efficient oil boiler, a bathroom with a walk-in electric shower, new light fixtures, and a kitchen and appliances. The outside is a simple, white-painted structure with bright red trim, with gardens in the front and back and a large patio area to enjoy the rolling countryside views. The home has a private well and septic tank. High-speed broadband is available, and Spangler is getting the home fully furnished. Even though the home is in the countryside, it's not completely secluded. It's an 11-minute walk to the bus, 77 miles (123 km) to the closest airport (offering direct flights to the U.S., U.K., and other European cities), and 111 miles (178 km) to Belfast International Airport. The city of Sligo also offers a train to Dublin. Future abroad Both Ms Spangler and her husband said they've spoken about one day splitting their time between America and Ireland. In the meantime, transferring the property will take some time. Stelios Kounou, CEO of Raffall (the British company that hosted the raffle), told the Times that property transfers in Ireland can take about three months. Raffall will be supplying the legal team to oversee the due diligence for the company and Ms Collins. Ms Collins will pay for Ms Spangler's lawyer and the Irish stamp duty on the transaction (which was part of the agreement in the raffle). 'The contracts are handled by the lawyers much like a traditional property sale,' Mr Kounou said. 'The key difference is that, since the property was won rather than purchased, the winner doesn't have the same rights as a buyer — similar to how it works at auction. 'Once both parties are happy with the terms, the transfer of ownership and release of funds take place simultaneously, all managed by the lawyers.' Ms Collins told the Times that 206,815 tickets were sold, bringing in about $1.4 million ($A2.1 million). She'll need to pay 10 per cent to Raffall, about 2,600 euros ($A4,600) in affiliate fees, plus a 33 per cent capital gains tax, 1 per cent of the value of the house for stamp duty, and fees for her lawyers and the Spanglers' lawyers.
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
House raffles are a big, beautiful, awful sign of the times
'There are days I am still in disbelief that it happened and it actually happened to me. I don't want to say I believe in miracles, but I always try and give it a go to see what happens. I'm over the moon,' delighted homeowner Imelda Collins told The New York Times this week. The miracle she had experienced was not, although you might be forgiven for making the assumption in this broken housing market of ours, managing to buy a house , but succeeding in selling one. Collins's joy becomes a bit easier to understand when you see the figures involved. A two-bedroom cottage on 1.75 acres in Leitrim which she bought three years ago for €133,000 and spent €147,000 restoring has just grossed her €1.2 million. She did this by selling it in an online raffle hosted by a UK-based company, shifting 206,815 tickets priced at €5.92 a pop. The €1.2 million doesn't go straight into her pocket – there were marketing costs of €25,000 along the way, €2,600 in affiliate fees, and she has agreed to pay the winner's stamp duty and legal fees as part of the prize. Raffall, the lottery agent she chose (there are several based in the UK, where the raffles are classed as 'prize competitions'), takes 10 per cent. Then there's 33 per cent capital gains tax. READ MORE She had hoped to net €400,000 after costs on a house she reckons is worth €300,000. Instead, she'll walk away with over half a million – more than enough to fund her planned move to Italy. Collins is so thrilled by her success, she's considering abandoning plans to teach English and become a full-time internet marketer. The winner, Kathleen Spangler, a 29-year-old US marine corps officer, is ecstatic too. Coincidentally, as she told The New York Times, she applied for her Irish citizenship through lineage on her father's side last year. Raffall must also be chuffed with its 10 per cent. And even the losers are only out by €6 each. This can be read two ways: as the a heart-warming tale of a clever woman using her entrepreneurial flair and marketing skills to shift a house in Leitrim for four times its value and simultaneously making a young family's dreams come true. And no one really loses out; at least, not by very much. Or – miserable killjoy that I am, the way I can't help reading it – as a bleak statement about the housing dystopia we are experiencing. House raffles are a big, beautiful, awful idea. Their popularity is a grim reflection on a property market in which your best prospect of owning a house may well be to win one in a lottery. In 1984, George Orwell wrote about the lottery run by the Ministry of Plenty as a way of preventing 'the proles' from dwelling on the misery of their existence. 'It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant.' [ How to give yourself the best chance of buying a home amid Ireland's housing crisis Opens in new window ] If the odds of today's house lotteries are not as small as in Orwell's world, where the largest prizes do not exist at all, they're still less than spectacular. The majority of houses put up for raffle do not meet the minimum threshold of ticket sales. Raffall's founder and chief executive Stelios Kounou told The New York Times that 18 houses have been sold so far on the platform, while 50 others did not make their target. House lotteries may feel like a contemporary antidote to a modern affliction, but they are not a new idea – though the last time they got this level of attention might also have been the last time decent housing was this difficult to access in Ireland. In 1948, a giant house raffle was held in Dublin by the government of the day, when families on the social housing list were offered a chance to win one of between 220 and 250 brand new houses in Ballyfermot, according to historian Cathy Scuffil, who says there were lines of prams up and down Dawson Street. 'Every time somebody's name was called out, a big cheer would go up,' she said. Occasional 'newly wed draws' were held up to the 1970s for recently married couples on the housing list in Dublin. As a means of getting on the housing ladder, it probably beats bidding against wealthy Americans on a cottage in Leitrim. Today's house lotteries often inspire scepticism online, though, unlike in Orwell's dark vision, the prizes are real – a house if enough tickets are sold, a pile of cash if they're not. That is a fairly big qualifier. If the minimum number of tickets are not sold, the owner can cancel the raffle and keep 40 per cent of the funds and the house, giving 50 per cent of the cash to the winning ticket holder. Or they can give the house away anyway and keep more of the money. In Collins's case, if she had not met her goal of 150,000 tickets, she planned to give 40 per cent to the winner. [ Dolores McNamara: Whatever happened to the €115m lotto winner? Opens in new window ] On Raffall right now, you can buy a ticket for a semi-d in Yorkshire, apparently being raffled for the second time ('after the previous winner received the alternative huge cash prize option'), a villa with a pool in the Algarve or a beachfront villa on the island of Samui. Presumably most sellers are well-meaning people who want to try to pay off their mortgage, but it is not terribly difficult to imagine someone unscrupulous setting a wildly unrealistic ticket sales target – and pocketing 40 per cent of the cash when they don't make it. Still, browsing the listings, it's hard for even this sceptical prole to resist the temptation to splurge €6 on a ticket or two.
Extra.ie
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
American woman wins Leitrim home worth over €300k for just €6
A woman has won a house in Leitrim worth over €300,000 — for just over a fiver. It's the way that most young people can only dream of getting a house/the only way we'll actually be able to get a house in this day and age — with Imelda Collins raffling off her picturesque Leitrim home, sitting on 1.75acres of land, for just £5 (€6) per ticket. Speaking about the decision to sell the house, Imelda reckoned that she would've fetched a price tag of around €300,000 for the home, which underwent extensive renovations and includes sensational views, a large open plan living and dining area, and two bedrooms. A woman has won a house in Ireland worth over €300,000 — for just over a fiver. Pic: Win A House Near Sligo/Facebook To sweeten the deal, Imelda will be paying the legal and stamp duty fees before handing over the keys — with American woman Kathleen Spangler winning the incredible home. Imelda Collins outside the cottage in Co Leitrim. Pic: Raffall Imelda said that both she and Kathleen are 'over the moon' with the raffle, with her adding to Galway Beo that it was a 'win win situation.' Pic: Win A House Near Sligo/Facebook The home has a south facing aspect meaning it gets sun from sunrise to sunset (or cloud, Irish weather eh?) and underwent extensive renovations including new insulated floors, a vaulted ceiling with a skylight, and an energy efficient new oil boiler among many others. Pic: Raffall The home is also just 15 minutes from Sligo town, with a beautiful white and red facade. Pic: Raffall More photos from the home can be found below Pic: Raffall Pic: Raffall Pic: Raffall Pic: Raffall Pic: Raffall
The Journal
23-05-2025
- Business
- The Journal
American woman wins Leitrim home in online raffle
IN THE MIDST of a housing crisis, a unique opportunity presented itself for those searching for a home – a simple raffle. The home up for grabs was a two-bedroom bungalow in Co Leitrim. Advertised as sitting on a 1.75 acre site with a large living and dining area, a bathroom, and a kitchen, the property also has large gardens at the front and back. The house underwent a complete renovation in 2022 and the competition said it would go to the winner fully furnished. 'The current housing crisis in Ireland makes it extremely difficult to buy or rent, so this is an incredible opportunity,' the organiser said. The raffle, called 'Win a House Near Sligo', was hosted on UK-based raffle site Raffall. One ticket to be in with the chance to win the home cost €5.92. The winner will also have stamp duties and legal fees covered. The stipulation was that there must be a minimum of 150,000 tickets sold for the raffle to go ahead, which would amount to €888,000. Yesterday, with the minimum number of tickets met, the raffle went ahead. The winner posted a short message on the site: 'If this is indeed real, I absolutely accept.' The raffle's organiser Imelda Collins confirmed to The Journal that she was 'delighted' that the raffle was a success and that the winner of her home was 'thrilled'. Advertisement Imelda Collins / Raffall Imelda Collins / Raffall / Raffall The winner of the home is a woman from Chicago, Illinois in the US. Imelda said that the winner 'is absolutely delighted to have won my beautiful home Butterfly Cottage.' The raffle has previously been covered by The New York Times . Collins told the American newspaper that she hopes to use the proceeds from the raffle to move to Italy, where she met her husband who still resides there. Raffall's founder and CEO Stelios Kounou told the NYT that to date, 18 houses have been successfully sold on the platform, meaning that they had hit sales targets and legally transferred the properties to the winners. Roughly 50 others attempted to do the same but didn't reach their targets. Collins's plan if she didn't reach the minimum of 150,000 tickets sold was to award the winner of the raffle with half of the ticket revenue. Kounou said that gross ticket sales on Raffall for those raffling properties have varied between roughly €475,000 and €1.14m. Collins said that she had purchased the house for the cost of €133,000 in 2022 and estimates that it is now worth around €300,000 due to the extensive renovations and further market demand. The raffle is legally classed as a 'prize competition' rather than gambling, as entrants must correctly answer a question when purchasing a ticket to be entered into the draw: 'Which colour is associated with Ireland?' Of the total ticket revenue, 10% is to go to the raffle site, while additional funds gleaned from the raffle are subject to tax and covering the winner's costs in legally acquiring the house. Imelda said that she spent a considerable amount promoting and marketing the raffle. Imelda previously said that she would make a donation to the ISPCA from the ticket revenue, a charity that is 'very close to [her] heart.' Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
