What is Digg?72 Comments
- ironicsans, on 05/13/2008, -1/+19Tell you what. I'll give you one red paperclip for it.
- brokenex, on 05/13/2008, -5/+23what a scam
- Danby123, on 05/13/2008, -3/+182500 entries, with one hundred dollars each is 250K.
Scam? - inactive, on 05/12/2008, -0/+9Yeah, real estate is totally dying. I doubt you'll see anyone buying homes ever again in 10 years.
- brokenex, on 05/13/2008, -0/+9I am neither condoning or advocating what he said to you, but you should have realized you would receive negative comments when you decided to post this. It's the internet whether your idea is good or bad you are gonna get negative feedback.
- cdevroe, on 05/12/2008, -5/+14Excellent idea and I hope it works.
- jlariviere, on 05/12/2008, -1/+9of course, if it works, (and if it is truly legal), the guy will be getting 250K instead of his listed value of 180K - 190K
:-) - inactive, on 05/13/2008, -2/+7After you send him $100 and an essay, send me $100 and a poem and I might send you a Porche to go with your new house!
- Akaji, on 05/13/2008, -0/+4No, it's not. It's clearly a scam. I'm sure his best friend or non-immediate family member will just happen to have the best entry.
- inactive, on 05/13/2008, -1/+5um... maybe he does not really have a house, just keeps the money... but feel free to enter it if you want.
- Rikushix, on 05/12/2008, -1/+5I really doubt he'll get 2500 people...but maybe if this story makes it to mainstream media? Good for him if it does.
- diggstown, on 05/13/2008, -1/+6Right... and it's just a coincidence that jmathias happened to be on Digg too.. and happened to be responding to everyone's comments. Obviously this was done entirely without his consent or knowledge.
- inju, on 05/12/2008, -5/+10Clever, one man on a mission to go against a dying system ;)
- Danby123, on 05/13/2008, -0/+3jmathias, If it is not a scam, good luck explaining it to the many internet users who are used to banner ads and spam. Even if you are legitimate, it is not worth your time arguing it to the suspicious majority of the internet.
- stingthebee, on 05/13/2008, -1/+4James is a great guy. This is not a scam.
- andrew522, on 05/12/2008, -0/+3can you get high-speed internet? how fast?
honestly that's about all I care about. - cyclonesworld, on 05/12/2008, -2/+5Brilliant idea. Somehow I see this working out for him very well.
- diggstown, on 05/13/2008, -1/+6Sorry that you feel so offended. The information I found took a total of 3 minutes to find. Not quite sure how come you feel defamed though... I wrote absolutely nothing about your character. As for your work, well, perhaps this (Entitled "Self Found") speaks for itself: http://flickr.com/photos/jmathias/483321129/
I'm not a fan of your attempt to use Digg in this way, but at least everyone will get to have nightmares involving androgynous caricatures now. - HaroldHupmobile, on 05/13/2008, -1/+4Some folks in a near where I live did this a couple of years ago. And I think it was done in a movie. Maybe "Fried Green Tomatoes".
- paradox4190, on 05/13/2008, -0/+3That sucks for him. I would definitely NOT want to read 2500 - 500 word essays. Oh, and I guess it also sucks that he and his family are stuck in a crappy housing market.
- jmathias, on 05/13/2008, -2/+5It's not a scam, but you are welcome to your opinion.
- diggstown, on 05/13/2008, -4/+7Is it really becoming so hard to recognize SPAM? The guy is trying to profit off of this. He even admits the value of his house is less than 80% of what he would get if he got the 2500 entries. Don't fall for it.
- jmathias, on 05/13/2008, -4/+8It's not a scam, I owe more than the house is worth. I'm just trying to sell the house without taking a loss on it.
- jmiddleton, on 05/12/2008, -3/+5Wow, just wow! I really hope this works out for him and this may lead him to an even better job -- Writing books or better yet, writing contests.
- jmathias, on 05/12/2008, -4/+6The Fair Market value (180 to 190k) of the home is less than I owe, in order to pay off the home and give it away to the winner free and clear (no mortgage), I need to make at least 250k, which will give me a little money left over, but not much. I need to make sure I don't lose money on the sale of this home which is the reason behind this contest in the first place.
Any taxes incurred on the prize are the responsibility of the winner, just like any other contest in the world.
It is legal. I researched the idea before moving forward with it. - dontstaylong, on 05/13/2008, -0/+2James is an awesome dude. No scam here.
- Magaroni, on 05/13/2008, -1/+4I think this idea is brilliant! Instead of getting caught up in the negative or worse just walking away from his house like so many other people have done this last year, James has decided to be proactive and find a new solution to a lame problem. Many KUDO'S to you James. It shows your creativity and artistic ingenuity. How cool would it be if EVERYONE was forward thinking like James. I am sure that the lack of creativity is what makes people nay say on this idea. "WAAA I didn't think of that, I could never think of something like this, so instead I am going to just poo poo on new idea's. Maybe it will make me look cool." Guess what, jerk posters, it just makes you look BORING. I KNOW how hard it is to sell a house. We just took ours off the market after 1 year of dropping the price every 3 months. It got to the point that we would have to pay someone to take it. The economy is a mess. So many houses are mortgaged for way more than they are worth. This approach is win win for James and whomever wins the house. So what if there is any money left over- GOOD FOR JAMES. But I doubt that he is going to be racking in a huge profit. He has expressed several times that the value does not equal his debt. I wish you the absolute BEST James.
- michaeljsmalley, on 05/13/2008, -0/+2This is just a really expensive to enter sweepstakes merged with the annoyance of having to pander in essay form. As if giving the dude $100 bucks isn't enough. :)
- blitzkriegpunk, on 05/13/2008, -1/+3To everyone thinking this is a scam, it isn't. I've known James for close to 7 years now and have had the pleasure of working with him on a few projects. He is of impeccable character and his situation is real.
Yes, he's spoken with his attorney and, yes, the house is real and he owns it.
This is NOT a scam. - talonstriker, on 05/13/2008, -0/+2I'm sorry, what would you possibly write on the essay and wtf are they expecting?
On a side note, this isn't the first time this has been done. I've read such things in the newspaper atleast 3 similar instances up to date. - Lane, on 05/13/2008, -0/+22499 losers out $100 sounds like a scam to me....
- LomasLou, on 05/13/2008, -1/+3"a. Essay participants must be 18 years of age or older. Essay judges, current owners of the property, or immediate family members of any of the above mentioned are disqualified and may not participate as entrants in the contest. Multiple entries (with multiple entry fees and essays) are accepted. U.S. citizenship is not required.
h. The homeowners will read all essays and choose the top thirteen. Then a impartial judge will determine the Grand Prize winner from those thirteen entries. "
There is nothing in the rules of the contest that prohibits entries from friends of the homeowners or even non-immediate family members. The fact that the homeowners choose the 13 finalists should raise serious concerns for potential entrants. - mrgeekguy, on 05/13/2008, -0/+1I've seen this several times, and have yet to see it work. I hope he did checked this out with an attorney, and the state gaming board.
- Noelix, on 05/14/2008, -0/+1Great idea man!
- fajalar, on 05/13/2008, -2/+3This is an attempt to pay off the mortgage, not to pay for the current fair market value of the house.
- jmathias, on 05/14/2008, -0/+1It still is not a scam. Thanks though.
I had to take the site down and cancel the contest, because it turns out that in Idaho, you cannot sell you home in that way. I have not received any entries, but if I do in the coming days, I have the post office returning them to sender, unopened.
So again, not a scam, just a guy trying to solve a problem and failing. - dunderballer, on 05/13/2008, -1/+2Just buy $200 worth of lottery tickets and save yourself the (1) risk of a scam and (2) the time on an essay while while still being equally foolish for blowing $100 on gambling.
- blitzkriegpunk, on 05/13/2008, -0/+1I must concur.
- unpolloloco, on 05/13/2008, -1/+2SPAM
- ChristophyBrown, on 05/13/2008, -1/+2*Prepares for a new breed of scams by Nigerian princes.
- jmathias, on 05/13/2008, -5/+8I'm not really sure why you feel it necessary to publicly defame both my character and my work. I don't think we've ever met. So I'm having a difficult time figuring out why someone would be so cruel without provocation. I hope you find out why you're such an angry person.
- myficklemind, on 05/12/2008, -3/+3I hope this works, for the sake of my brother and his family. Good luck, James, I'm rooting for you.
- Komodork, on 05/12/2008, -1/+1I would of entered but Canadian stamps does not equal American stamps
- jruckman, on 05/12/2008, -4/+4heck yeah i'll dig it.
and not just because you moving to Nashville means you'll be closer to all of us in NC. :) - blitzkriegpunk, on 05/12/2008, -2/+2Good luck, Jim!
- BeeArePro, on 05/13/2008, -1/+1At least it's better than those Nigerian emails you get...
- cdharrison, on 05/14/2008, -1/+1what's your problem, sir? if someone were to post something you created online, and there were serious questions that needed answering, would you not address them as well?
- seangates, on 05/13/2008, -0/+0If it were me, I would just sell the house. A nice stuffed bank account with $150k would be ... how do you say ... nice?
- joelodom, on 05/13/2008, -1/+1So will he owe gift tax for giving the house away, or will the receiver owe income tax? You gotta love the IRS...
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