Ocean Institute’s Million Dollar Home raffle sales down due to economy

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With less than a week to go before the Ocean Institute closes its 5th annual fundraising raffle, in which the winner receives either a Laguna Beach home or $1 million in cash, the nonprofit is falling a bit short on ticket sales.

So far, 15,000 tickets out of 22,000 total have been sold – enough to put the house into play, but falling behind the successful sellouts from the two previous raffles.

“This year, with the slow economy, we’re down a little bit,” said spokesman Jim Graves. “We’re still hoping to sell out, but that’s a little ambitious.”
The deadline to buy tickets, priced at $150 each, is Wednesday. The grand prize winner, announced on Nov. 7, has a choice of either a downtown Laguna Beach home with panoramic views two blocks from the surf, or cash. The current homeowners, who are unaffiliated with the institute, have agreed to sell the house to the institute if the winner chooses to take the property.

Runners-up who buy two or more tickets will have a shot at a pot that includes twice as many prizes as last year’s raffle, including a new Toyota Prius, computers, vacation packages, spa days and more.

If fewer than 15,000 tickets had been sold, the grand prize winner would have been awarded a cash prize worth half of the net proceeds from the raffle.

But Graves said that the advertised prizes were given out for each of the past events. Though one of the first winners accepted the San Clemente house that had been offered, most winners opt for the cash prize to avoid hefty taxes, he said.

The fundraiser, the institute’s largest, netted more than $1 million last year.

The raffle is registered with the California attorney general’s office, according to the institute, which is dedicated to preserving the oceans. For more information, call (949) 542-3600 or visit www.ocean-institute.org.

-- Tiffany Hsu