In today’s market, you’ve probably seen an increased number of dream house raffles, where buying a ticket for a small price could potentially allow you the luxury owning a multimillion dollar home. Even Miami Beach real estate has been raffled off a few times in this manner. Winning a home for “free” isn’t exactly a trouble free way of becoming a homeowner.

It’s important to read the fine print if you plan on participating in such raffles. To win Miami Beach real estate and becoming its owner is often seen as winning a hefty sum of cash in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service. In other words, you could find yourself having to shell out a large figure now that you own a large and expensive new home. In such situations, many winners often choose to sell the properties and take the money soon after they win it.

Like any raffles that seem too good to be true, make sure you’re completely aware of what you’re getting yourself into when participating in them and what the property itself is like. The last thing you want is to have new Miami Beach real estate only to realize that the taxes are exorbitant or the property has liens that were not mentioned.