Still time to try for $11 house in Canada

EDMONTON, Alberta, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- It's still not too late to take an $11 chance to own a debt-free home in Canada, says the Edmonton lawyer running the contest.

CTV News reported Tuesday David Stockburger told Canada AM his unusual method of trying to flip the home he renovated is "sort of an experiment."

To get in the contest, all you need to do is pay $11 and provide one good reason why you deserve to live in a mortgage-free home. Once Stockburger gets at least 25,000 entrants, Stockburger and his wife will narrow down the best entries. Then an online group on Facebook will pick the winner of the four-bedroom house -- no strings attached.

Stockburger, who says he needs at least 25,000 entries to cover his roughly $300,000 in investment costs, is hoping to have a winner by the end of March 2009.

Originally, he wanted to cut off entries by Dec. 31. But so far, he hasn't lured many contestants -- just 290 entries have been received since August. So he says he's willing to extend the deadline to February if interest picks up by the end of the month. If he has to call it all off, people get their $11 back, he says.