The Casa Cayuco resort in Panama could be yours for under $14.
The Casa Cayuco resort in Panama could be yours for under $14.
Fancy a sea change? Well, you could become the new owner of a Caribbean resort for less than the price of a six pack.
American couple Suzanne and Dave Smith are selling off their incredible eco lodge, in Panama, Central America — but it's not your typical sale.
The couple is raffling off the villa which currently runs as a functioning adventure eco lodge for guests.
The winner of the raffle will become the owner of four stand-alone cabins, a main lodge, two lodge suites, and an air-conditioned luxury owner's suite designed by the couple.
The British company behind the raffle is also offering a $US50,000 ($68,500) cash injection to welcome the new owners.
Their not the first ones to try this unique sales technique.
A couple years ago an Aussie from Wollongong became the lucky new owner of a multimillion-dollar tropical resort on the Micronesian island of Kosrae after an Australian family successfully adopted the unique sales method.
A British company is now taking a leaf out of their book and is hoping to entice people to buy tickets to enter the property raffle for just US$10 ($13.70).
But with a month left to go, it's unclear how successful the unorthodox campaign has been. A Facebook video of the couple giving a walk through of the home only has 1300 views since being posted about four weeks ago. The terms and conditions of the raffle indicate that the couple are wanting US$2.65m from the promotion.
The current owner Dave, 35, and Suzanne, 33, first arrived on the island in 2013 with just seven suitcases having decided to sell up from their home and corporate lives in Michigan, US.
The Casa Cayuco resort in Panama as seen from the air.
"We started looking all over for something else and eventually we started looking at Panama, which we found has really friendly foreign investment laws and immigration laws," Mr Smith said.
"We loved the idea of island life, and after some research we found the villa for sale and I contacted the owner, who lived remotely.
"He was coming down for his one week of the year at the resort and so I came down on my own for three days and we hit it off and when I got back we bought it. I guess it was an impulse buy, but it's turned out to be amazing."
But the couple says it's time to move on and are giving anyone in the world with some spare pocket money a chance to experience the Caribbean life.
Instead of listing their multi-million-pound island getaway for sale the Smiths are offering the chance for anyone who buys a ticket to win their extraordinary lifestyle and profitable business.
"We're ready for a new adventure and want to build something from the ground up.
"We could hire managers to run Casa Cayuco while we took on the next project, but we think our next adventure will require all of our energy," Mr Smith said.
Art Jenkins, from competition organisers WinThisLife, said any prospective winner would not be left to sink or swim once they took over the business.
"It's very important to Dave and Suzanne that the local community are still involved in the resort and they have plenty of advice and tips to give any potential winner," he said.
"As organisers, we have made sure all the proper contingencies are in place, and there are a wealth of resort managers in the area who can help run things should they be needed."
The last time such a public housing raffle like this took place an Aussie named Joshua took out the prize, winning himself the resort on Kosrae after an Australian family took it upon themselves to raffle off their family home.
In that instance, a whopping 75,485 tickets were sold to people in about 150 countries.
The winner of the 24-bed resort will become owner of four stand-alone cabins, a main lodge, two lodge suites, and an air-conditioned luxury owner's suite.
The American couple who currently own the eco lodge are wanting to move on for more opportunities.
Joshua, the eventual winner, had bought just three tickets.
Following his big win in 2016, Joshua told news.com.au he took a punt in the raffle after reading about it on news.com.au during his lunch break.
"What started as a simple click of a news article during my lunch break that piqued my interest has resulted in a life-changing experience that I could only dream of," he said.
Tickets in that raffle were sold for $US49 ($67) each, with a discount applied for multiple sales. The previous owners of the Micronesian property, Australian couple Doug and Sally Beitz, indicated they walked away with about A$4.1 million ($4.4m).
