Real estate raffle at www.winaranch.com

To thousands of people it seems like a dream. Write a 500-word essay, and possibly win a $600,000 ranch outside of Sisters, Oregon.

Others are a little concerned. The entry fee is $150. They want to know that the contest is legitimate.

Ranch owner Tom Flenniken vows that it is.

A semi-retired Realtor, Flenniken says that he wants his contest to be so "clean it squeaks." Flenniken hired a Portland, Oregon, lawyer who had done this once before to design the contest. He hired an English professor to assemble a team of instructors who will judge the essays.

Flenniken started his contest in January. He began advertising in horse publications, local newspapers, even the Reader's Digest.

Eventually, the Associated Press picked up the story. But Flenniken says the AP story failed to include his phone number or the website address (http://www.winaranch.com/) so someone reading that story could contact him.

"I didn't get 25 phone calls from my AP article," Flenniken said. Another, similar effort generated nearly 20,000 entries when their story went national through the AP, said Flenniken.

He also said AP got the ending date of the contest wrong.

"I will probably have to extend the deadline (from June 30) to July 31, since that is what they had in the AP story," Flenniken said.

Flenniken bought the 63-acre ranch in 1995. He and his wife Susie sell roping and cutting horses. They refinanced the ranch two years ago and it was appraised at over $600,000, Flenniken said.

Flenniken said the home was remodeled just before they bought the ranch. It was formerly an Arabian horse facility. Flenniken said it was a little "overdeveloped," with many barns and outbuildings.

In January, they started the "win-a-ranch" effort. Susie, who left a government job recently to devote more time to designing websites, set up the Internet location. The Flennikens began to advertise in Western Horseman and other publications.

While responses started out slow, Tom Flenniken said the number of essays their contest is bringing in has recently increased to about 50 per day. He expects it to continue to increase. They have received about 1,500 so far, he said.

When an application comes in, Flenniken numbers the essay (which should have no way of identifying the writer) and the application. After entering information into the computer, he staples the application and the essay and the check together and puts them in a safe.

If he receives more than the minimum 4,000 applications, Flenniken will send the essays to his judges who will pick the winner.

"I just hope this works and the right person will win," said Flenniken.

The contest, is not based on writing or grammar skills. "I didn't want the cowboy with an eighth grade education to be intimidated from entering," Flenniken said.

If they do not received 4,000 entries, Flenniken will send $140 out of the $150 entry fee back to everyone who entered, he said.

The $10 will be kept to help Flenniken recover the cost of sponsoring the essay contest.

He said he has spent more than $15,000 in advertising, has phone bills of up to $500 per month just returning phone calls, in addition to legal and other expenses.

"The $10 will possibly cover about half the money I have spent," Flenniken said.

If the contest is successful, Flenniken said he may try the same thing with a hunting ranch on which he has an option. He plans to move his horse operation to the warmer climate of Arizona.

"I'm 60, and a team roper. There is a lot of team roping in Arizona for older guys, and Susie likes to show horses."