OCEAN PINES–Lanny and Kay Hickman, winners of last year’s house raffle by the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department, don’t want to seem ungrateful, but there have been a few problems with their prize.
“I love the house,” Kay Hickman said last week. “But we’ve had to do a number of things.”
The Hickmans held the winning ticket for the three-bedroom, two-bath house at 82 Windjammer Road. Kay Hickman said the house was appraised for $240,000, but it is assessed for $166,500, including $52,000 for the 9,000-square-foot lot and $114,500 for the 1,290-square-foot house.
Even though they won the home, they had to pay $59,000 for the state gaming tax plus federal tax, state tax, county tax, Ocean Pines Association dues. All in all, she said, they had to pay $79,000 and it was all due at closing.
“Not many people have $70,000 laying around,” Lanny Hickman said Monday.
Kay Hickman figures that two-thirds of the free house was free, but she is not sorry she and her husband purchased the ticket.
“No, no,” she said. “We’re not sorry we bought the ticket. The house is perfect for us, but there are things we’re not happy with.
“Still, the cause is great. We’ve bought tickets for years and years,” she said.
Hickman gave the builder, Brunori Homes, high marks for the placement of the house and saving trees.
“That’s a plus,” she said.
Before moving in, they wanted the bar to have less width, but the builder balked even though they offered to pay for the work, she said.
“So we found a contractor to do that,” Kay Hickman said. “It took all of 20 minutes to do it.”
The Hickmans have also want a maintenance agreement. Kay Hickman said Dan Healy, the fire department president, told her she would have that agreement at the Oct. 15 closing, but there simply is no maintenance agreement, she said.
Healty, however, told Ocean City Today, “We do not do maintenance agreements.” He also said the house has a standard one-year contractor’s warranty.
The tankless hot water heater is another issue. It did not work properly, she said, so they paid $500 for a new water heater.
The original heater was, she said, too small for the house and was put in the wrong place. She said it should have been placed below the level of most of the appliances, but it was above them.
Also, according to Hickman, it did not have a mixing ball to mix the hold and cold water together.
“That’s why we just had cold or hot water, but not together,” she said.
Usually, she said, people turn faucets to hot water and then to cold to get the temperature they want. Healy, however, told then to turn it to cold and then to hot.
“We tried it every way possible,” she said. “Then we called another plumbing company and they said it wouldn’t work.”
She said she and her husband went to a motel to take a shower.
“We now have a 50-gallon old-fashioned electric hot water heater and it’s working splendidly,” she said.
“We learned tankless water heaters don’t work well in electric homes. {The builder] should have known that,” she said.
Healy said the problem was that the Hickmans did not understand how to adjust the tankless hot water heater.
“They had difficulties adjusting it,” Healy said. “I went out one time myself.”
The tankless hot waters heaters can be difficult to adjust, particularly for older people who do not understand the technology, he said. For that reason, “we opted this year to go back to a regular hot water heater.”
The Hickmans disputed Healy’s claim that it was somehow their fault that the tankless water heater did not work.
Dominick Brunori, however, agreed with Healy and said the Hickmans just did not understand how to work it. Other people who have tankless water heaters love them and he has installed some in commercial duplexes.
Another issue with the free house is the low ampage. Every electrical outlet is 15 amps, “so if you put something on one wall and another thing on the same wall, it blows,” she said.
They must also replace the electrical panel box for more amperage, they said.
Brunori said the outlets have the correct ampage and the house was built to code and was properly inspected.
Kay Hickman was also displeased about a kitchen island she wanted built after they won the house. Brunori, she said, would not build it, but he said he was quite willing to build it and drew up plans for it. In fact, he drew up plans for it three times because of changes she wanted. When she sent him four pages of information about what she wanted, he then told her he could no longer do it.
Lanny Hickman said he was disappointed that he and his wife did not get follow-up or support for the issues they encountered with the house.
“We got no help,” he said. “And the builder would not communicate with us.” Brunori, however, said he did communicate with them.
All in all, the Hickmans are glad they supported the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department and they are glad they won the house.
“It’s been a godsend, really, but there are things people should realize [when buying a raffle ticket],” Kay Hickman said.
“I’d do it again, but we wouldn’t keep it,” she said. “We’d sell it.”
“We like the house and we’ll work through these things, but it’s been expensive for us,” Lanny Hickman said. “It was a life changing experience because we had decided never to own another house.”
Before retiring in 1997 and moving from Silver Spring to an Ocean City condominium, Lanny Hickman was the executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America. Kay was the association’s meeting manager and planner.
After 15 years in Ocean Pines, the Hickmans moved to The Parke, the adult community within Ocean Pines. They lived there until moving to the house they won last year.
Kay Hickman said she believes she and her husband are the first raffle winners to actually reside in the house they won.
Healy, however, said, “Ninety-nine percent have moved in.”
The Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department is selling raffle tickets now for a new 1,546-square-foot, three-bedroom two-bath house built at 1146 Ocean Parkway by Brunori Homes, which has been building custom homes for more than 31 years.
Favorable reviews may be read on its Web site, www.brunori-homes.com. This year, the winner will have the option of taking the house or $100,000 cash. The drawing will be held Sept. 21.
“This is our major fundraiser,” Healy said.
Members of the fire department are selling up to 3,500 raffle tickets at $100 each. People may enter by printing the raffle entry form at www.opvfd.com and sending it with payment to the fire department at 911 Ocean Parkway, Ocean Pines, Md. 21811, by calling the fire department at 410-641-8272 or by going to the South Fire Station.
Raffle tickets may be purchased by cash, check or credit card.
The Hickmans do not plan on buying a raffle ticket.
“I love the house,” Kay Hickman said last week. “But we’ve had to do a number of things.”
The Hickmans held the winning ticket for the three-bedroom, two-bath house at 82 Windjammer Road. Kay Hickman said the house was appraised for $240,000, but it is assessed for $166,500, including $52,000 for the 9,000-square-foot lot and $114,500 for the 1,290-square-foot house.
Even though they won the home, they had to pay $59,000 for the state gaming tax plus federal tax, state tax, county tax, Ocean Pines Association dues. All in all, she said, they had to pay $79,000 and it was all due at closing.
“Not many people have $70,000 laying around,” Lanny Hickman said Monday.
Kay Hickman figures that two-thirds of the free house was free, but she is not sorry she and her husband purchased the ticket.
“No, no,” she said. “We’re not sorry we bought the ticket. The house is perfect for us, but there are things we’re not happy with.
“Still, the cause is great. We’ve bought tickets for years and years,” she said.
Hickman gave the builder, Brunori Homes, high marks for the placement of the house and saving trees.
“That’s a plus,” she said.
Before moving in, they wanted the bar to have less width, but the builder balked even though they offered to pay for the work, she said.
“So we found a contractor to do that,” Kay Hickman said. “It took all of 20 minutes to do it.”
The Hickmans have also want a maintenance agreement. Kay Hickman said Dan Healy, the fire department president, told her she would have that agreement at the Oct. 15 closing, but there simply is no maintenance agreement, she said.
Healty, however, told Ocean City Today, “We do not do maintenance agreements.” He also said the house has a standard one-year contractor’s warranty.
The tankless hot water heater is another issue. It did not work properly, she said, so they paid $500 for a new water heater.
The original heater was, she said, too small for the house and was put in the wrong place. She said it should have been placed below the level of most of the appliances, but it was above them.
Also, according to Hickman, it did not have a mixing ball to mix the hold and cold water together.
“That’s why we just had cold or hot water, but not together,” she said.
Usually, she said, people turn faucets to hot water and then to cold to get the temperature they want. Healy, however, told then to turn it to cold and then to hot.
“We tried it every way possible,” she said. “Then we called another plumbing company and they said it wouldn’t work.”
She said she and her husband went to a motel to take a shower.
“We now have a 50-gallon old-fashioned electric hot water heater and it’s working splendidly,” she said.
“We learned tankless water heaters don’t work well in electric homes. {The builder] should have known that,” she said.
Healy said the problem was that the Hickmans did not understand how to adjust the tankless hot water heater.
“They had difficulties adjusting it,” Healy said. “I went out one time myself.”
The tankless hot waters heaters can be difficult to adjust, particularly for older people who do not understand the technology, he said. For that reason, “we opted this year to go back to a regular hot water heater.”
The Hickmans disputed Healy’s claim that it was somehow their fault that the tankless water heater did not work.
Dominick Brunori, however, agreed with Healy and said the Hickmans just did not understand how to work it. Other people who have tankless water heaters love them and he has installed some in commercial duplexes.
Another issue with the free house is the low ampage. Every electrical outlet is 15 amps, “so if you put something on one wall and another thing on the same wall, it blows,” she said.
They must also replace the electrical panel box for more amperage, they said.
Brunori said the outlets have the correct ampage and the house was built to code and was properly inspected.
Kay Hickman was also displeased about a kitchen island she wanted built after they won the house. Brunori, she said, would not build it, but he said he was quite willing to build it and drew up plans for it. In fact, he drew up plans for it three times because of changes she wanted. When she sent him four pages of information about what she wanted, he then told her he could no longer do it.
Lanny Hickman said he was disappointed that he and his wife did not get follow-up or support for the issues they encountered with the house.
“We got no help,” he said. “And the builder would not communicate with us.” Brunori, however, said he did communicate with them.
All in all, the Hickmans are glad they supported the Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department and they are glad they won the house.
“It’s been a godsend, really, but there are things people should realize [when buying a raffle ticket],” Kay Hickman said.
“I’d do it again, but we wouldn’t keep it,” she said. “We’d sell it.”
“We like the house and we’ll work through these things, but it’s been expensive for us,” Lanny Hickman said. “It was a life changing experience because we had decided never to own another house.”
Before retiring in 1997 and moving from Silver Spring to an Ocean City condominium, Lanny Hickman was the executive director of the Solid Waste Association of North America. Kay was the association’s meeting manager and planner.
After 15 years in Ocean Pines, the Hickmans moved to The Parke, the adult community within Ocean Pines. They lived there until moving to the house they won last year.
Kay Hickman said she believes she and her husband are the first raffle winners to actually reside in the house they won.
Healy, however, said, “Ninety-nine percent have moved in.”
The Ocean Pines Volunteer Fire Department is selling raffle tickets now for a new 1,546-square-foot, three-bedroom two-bath house built at 1146 Ocean Parkway by Brunori Homes, which has been building custom homes for more than 31 years.
Favorable reviews may be read on its Web site, www.brunori-homes.com. This year, the winner will have the option of taking the house or $100,000 cash. The drawing will be held Sept. 21.
“This is our major fundraiser,” Healy said.
Members of the fire department are selling up to 3,500 raffle tickets at $100 each. People may enter by printing the raffle entry form at www.opvfd.com and sending it with payment to the fire department at 911 Ocean Parkway, Ocean Pines, Md. 21811, by calling the fire department at 410-641-8272 or by going to the South Fire Station.
Raffle tickets may be purchased by cash, check or credit card.
The Hickmans do not plan on buying a raffle ticket.