Includes video report
One lucky Australian family has won an oceanfront house worth nearly $4 million after spending $200 on lottery raffle tickets.
James Burry, 40, was announced the winner of the biggest beach house lottery ever held in Sydney.
The North Manly fire protection worker's prize is a four-bedroom house in Freshwater with uninterrupted ocean views stretching from Manly to Curl Curl.
The newly built home is laced with luxury fittings and sits atop a coastal cliff about five minutes' walk from both Freshwater and Curl Curl beaches.
Mr Burry said winning the house was a shock and he was still adjusting to the sudden change in his family's living arrangements.
"I've got a lot of mates who like pulling pranks, so I thought someone was taking the piss when I first got the call saying I'd won," he said.
"It's a lot to take in. It will probably still take another couple of weeks for it all to settle in."
Mr Burry purchased tickets for the house lottery through RSL Art Union, which holds regular house draws to raise money for veterans.
Ticket prices were $5 and Mr Burry purchased about $200 worth, which went to charity. He beat out other ticket holders who had spent more than $1000.
"I'd actually forgotten I'd entered," he said. "I heard about the draw on the radio and thought I'd buy a couple of tickets because it was going to a good cause."
RSL Art Union general manager Tracy Bishop said the draw was one the group's most successful lotteries.
"Tickets sold out early," she said. "I think the home captured a lot of people's imagination. It's a beautiful home that ticks all the boxes for Sydneysiders and not many properties sell in the area, so it's a difficult location to get into."
Mr Burry said his family had been considering moving to Gosford to help stretch their money further, but will probably stay in the area for good now.
"We know this part of Freshwater well. We used to go to a nearby park to eat fish and chips and soak in the view. It's strange to think we'll be waking up to the same view every morning."
The raffle proved to be particularly popular with peninsula residents living nearby with the majority of ticket holders from Dee Why, Freshwater, Allambie Heights, Manly and Balgowlah.
"More Australians than ever before are turning to prize home lotteries to have a chance at entering the housing market," Ms Bishop said.
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The real question is if they can really afford to live in this house. Maybe sell it and use the money for something they really need. Congrats.
James Burry, 40, was announced the winner of the biggest beach house lottery ever held in Sydney.
I was under the impression that Australian lotteries had allowed for anonymous claiming after the Thorne kidnapping and murder 50+ yrs. ago. "Was announced" makes me think that their identity WAS revealed by the lottery, but maybe he just announced it on his own.
"I thought someone was taking the piss...."
Made me smile but puzzled me the first time I heard a family friend say that years ago. I remember thinking he must have some sort of reverse flow catheter. (I was about ten yrs. old, so...) He used to get drunk w/ my pop and sing "Waltzing Matilda". My British friends say "Taking the mickey (or mick)" which means the same thing.
He didn't win it in the official lottery, some private citizens decided to unload their house through a raffle. They got a lot of attention out of it and probably turned a pretty profit.
Congratulations to the Burry family!!
Yes, but I figured the law would also apply. I guess transparency WOULD be needed in this case, just to make sure the owners of the house actually awarded the prize.
Not true. This prize draw was official, most definitely a government regulated draw.
Congratulations! Send me a private message and I'll give you information on winning a BMW, $10K in cash and a $400K house in a raffle Louisville KY. I don't want Todd banning me, but this is legit.
My comment was aimed at Maximum Millions who doubted whether this draw was legit.
Been a long time between posts, had forgotten how these forums work
Congratulations Mr & Mrs James Burry
I would take the Car and the Cash, but They can keep the house.
I did not, as it were.
I said I didn't think it was a government lottery.
I meant this post for everyone about the raffle that supports the building foundation for the pediatric hospital I work in. I don't want to get deleted by Todd by disclosing details, that is why I didn't post it.
I may or may not buy a ticket myself.
Congrats to the winners
I actually enter every draw ea month thru a subscription, to this and another one for million $ houses. its not gov ran but a charity raffle. so gov rules apply.
you can view their webpage here https://www.rslartunion.com.au/ i dont spend any $200, but only $5 a draw. a total of $10 a month on house raffles.
I use my family fund for buying tickets. so would have to sell the place and divide the money up. but im sure everyone would like to spend holiday in it with their family before we sold. It's nice to see it made international news
How do taxes play into this? Can they afford this beautiful house?
i would be concerned about insurance. council rates are not as bad as in america. a lot of services ran locally there are state ran here, police and schools. so property taxes would at a guess be about 1/4 of what you would expect in usa. but yes would certainly tax their income maintaining the life style
i used the states land tax calculator, and put in $2 mill, said $24k property tax
Hey savage just wondering. What do you think about our candidates for President? What does your press say about it?
im not sure my opinion would be welcome. but as fars i can tell you would be better off with neither of them. clinton is corrupt and trump is despicable. if i had any influence ot would be to get as many people to enroll to vote, and go 3rd party. and vote johnson. apathy is a vote for `1 of those 2 clowns.
as to what our media is saying. the media is almost totally clinton biased. I hope america can do a brexit style event, and say good bye to the 2 corrupted parties running the show for too long
just my 2c worth
P.S. If i had to choose out of the 2, i would choose trump, because you know what you're getting with clinton. funnily if sanders was running, i would have said take bernie. But the big lie is you have 2 choices, i think there is a dozen. can the real america get together and agree on who else to choose in 1 month?
I'll take despicable over corrupt any day. Thanks for your input savage. You guys down under are one of our best allies. Good luck with the lotto buddy!
yeah thats what id do vote for the devil i dont know.
when i called their order line, the lady on the call said when I only ordered 1 ticket a month ; " what 1 ticket, you'll never win with that! "
so i replied, " ok i guess i wont buy any ticket then "
she soon changed her tune, and took my card details. Im a firm believer in the 1st chance you buy is your best increase in odds you'll ever get. from zero to something.