Wiltz

$5 and a way with words will get you this house
ASSOCIATED PRESS



July 9, 2007
2 Comments



BLENCOE, IA. — A western Iowa couple seeks someone with the "write" stuff to win their home in this Monona County community of 231.

Nichole and Cory Thoman offered their house at 116 N. Monona St. for sale in March by placing a sign in their yard. When the approach garnered little attention, they looked to the Internet.

The Thomans have an essay contest online at www.blencoeessaycontest.com. People write an essay about why they want their home. Participants pay $5 to enter and, by the end of July, someone might be a new homeowner.

The two-story, three-bedroom home is assessed at $27,358, according to Monona County Assessor Larry Keitges.

"I've been assessor since 1995, and I've never heard of a contest like this," Keitges said.

Blencoe is a dot on the map east of Interstate 29, halfway between Sioux City and Omaha. The quiet community has a new fire hall, a grain elevator and the Venture Inn, a popular bar/restaurant. A sign outside St. Michael's Catholic Church reads, "Pray for Peace."

There are at least three other homes for sale in town, but none sporting a giant sign directing would-be homeowners to an essay contest.

"I've seen people drive by and slow down to look at the sign," said Lucille Madsen, who lives across the street. "I hope they give the home to a family with kids. The town is kind of dead without kids."

The Thomans lived in Maine for five years until deciding to move closer to Cory's parents two years ago. They found this property on the Internet and liked the fact it was at the midpoint between Sioux City and Omaha. And the fact it was listed for $5,000 in a foreclosure sale.

"It was such a great deal, we had to take it," Nichole Thoman said.

Their plan called for her husband to work construction in Omaha while she found work in Sioux City. Instead, she found a job in Omaha as well, working with Union Pacific Railroad.

They each drove 50 minutes to work daily throughout 2005. When Nichole Thoman was five months pregnant in the middle of 2006, she asked her husband if they could consider selling the home and finding one in or near Omaha.

"I told him I didn't want to spend all of our time with our baby driving back and forth to Omaha," she said. "I wanted more time than that."

The couple bought a house in Council Bluffs and began fixing it up. At that time, they put up their for-sale sign in Blencoe. Unfortunately, it didn't attract much interest, even though the Thomans had replaced part of the roof, painted the exterior and done some tiling, plumbing and renovation inside.

"I was driving down the road one day and it popped into my head to try an essay contest," she said. "I looked up through the Internet and found out what it would involve. I've found sites who have homes for sale this way. They were all asking for a $100 entry fee."

The Thomans kept their fee at $5 while limiting essays to 200 words.

"I thought $100 was high," she said. "I saw the house as a huge gift and blessing to us when we bought it for $5,000. I want to pass it on to someone who will see it that way as well."

She doesn't care if two people enter, or 200, or 2,000.

"I really just want to attract someone who will be grateful for it," she said.

Thus far, the couple has received a few entries. Nichole will read each one and assign a score of 1 to 10. Any entry with a score of 8 will be read by a panel consisting of herself and two friends. The deadline is July 28.

"The house is going," she promised. "Someone is going to get it."

One entrant is a single mother raising four children. Another works with troubled teens and seeks to use the property as a source of rental income, directing the funds to her teen mission.

"Everyone who has written in has an attitude of gratitude," Nichole Thoman said.

"Someone with kids would be good," said Madsen, looking at the giant black sign. "We have a park down the street which would be a great place for them to play."