An Austrian businessman is raffling off his luxury home and will use the proceeds to help fund microcredits in the Third World
An Austrian businessman is raffling off his luxury home and will use the proceeds to help fund microcredits in the Third World.
Karl Rabeder (47) is selling his luxury 3,455 sq ft villa with swimming pool, sauna and spectacular mountain views in Tyrol, valued at $2.2 million (Rs 10.4 crore), via a lottery.
Some 21,999 lottery tickets priced at just u00a499 (Rs 6,402) apiece are on sale.
Rabeder will then invest the proceeds in his own non-profit organisation, MyMicroCredit, which he set up a few months ago.
The businessman, who made his fortune from interior furnishings and accessories, already sold his business in 2004.
"For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness. Now it's time to sell my house, so I can be free for my new life," he said.
From now on, he would live and work from a modest rented apartment in Innsbruck, he said.
A number of Austrians have raffled off their homes recently, as they see it as a way of securing their desired asking price if they fail to find a buyer by more traditional methods.
