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Deadline extended for win-a-home contest

The deadline has been extended for a letter-writing contest for a $1 million-plus Millarville home. Homeowner Alla Wagner initiated the Write a Letter, Win a Home contest Jan.
Alla Wagner
Homeowner Alla Wagner has extended the deadline for her Write a Letter, Win a Home contest from April 5 to May 5, no later than 11:59 p.m.

The deadline has been extended for a letter-writing contest for a $1 million-plus Millarville home.

Homeowner Alla Wagner initiated the Write a Letter, Win a Home contest Jan. 5, inviting people to write creatively about what owning her custom-built 4,000 square foot, two-storey 2011 Millarville home would mean to them.

She extended the April 5 deadline to May 5, no later than 11:59 p.m., to allow more time to organize the tens of thousands of letters and payments in her possession and to accept more applications.

“I won’t be extending it any longer than that,” she told the Western Wheel this morning. “It’s too difficult for me. I read so much my eyes are hurting. It’s just so hard reading and organizing and trying to fit in my business.”

The cost to enter Wagner’s contest is $25.

If she receives less than 68,000 entries, an amount that would cover the house’s $1.7 million asking price, Wagner will refund the money.

In the meantime, she’s busy matching letters to payments with help from her business assistant.

“I have a whole pile of letters with no payments, payments with no letters,” she said. “I can’t count them as contestants. The ones we can’t find payments for and there is no money we have to get in touch with those people. That’s why the one month would be perfect.”

Another problem Wagner faces is international payments. She can’t collect money through Western Union, due to her physical limitations that prevent her from leaving her home, and she can’t accept payments through international apps.

Despite these hiccups, Wagner said she’s remaining positive.

“At this moment I think the chances are really good once we get everything matched and organized,” she said. “If there’s not enough entries I will start refunding the money. I’ll decide what I’m going to do at that point. I need to take care of myself and need to move on.”

Wagner put her house on the market last summer following a back injury, which confined her to an office chair in the upper level of her home, with plans to move into a bungalow to better suit her limited abilities.

After receiving no offers, Wagner took the house off the market in late January so as to not impact the contestants’ hope, but put it back on early last month in case the contest isn’t successful.

“In my opinion there’s no chance we’re going to get an offer while the house is in the contest,” she said. “The market is really bad right now. We’re not going to accept an offer that’s lower (than $1.7 million) until the contest is over. My realtors are putting ads all over the place for the contest.”

While the contest carries on, Wagner is getting support from friends and family to keep her going.

Her son cooks for her and ensures she takes breaks to prevent her health from deteriorating further, and her daughter helps her organize the letters.

“I spend about three hours on my business and the rest of my time all on the contest,” Wagner said. “It’s a temporary thing. It’s going to make my life a lot easier.”

The Millarville community is also supporting Wagner throughout the process.

“I have so much support,” she said. “People bring me goodies, flowers, send text messages - anything to make me feel cheerful. I have all kinds of support from family and neighbours and people around me.”

Wagner’s custom-built house boasts three bedrooms, three full and two half bathrooms, a partially finished walkout basement with a wine cellar, three-vehicle garage and a mountain view.

When the contest ends, Wagner plans to narrow the entries down to 500 by mid-May. A panel of judges consisting of realtors and her neighbours will select the winner, which Wagner said would be announced in June.

Wagner said five per cent of the proceeds will go to the Calgary Women’s Shelter, which helped her get on her feet after moving to Canada from Armenia in 1984.

For more information go to www.writealetterwinahome.ca and Write a letter, win a house on Facebook.

Subscribe to Wagner’s YouTube channel through Facebook for an opportunity to ask Wagner questions during live video sessions this weekend.

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