Santa has flown in early for a Congo couple – and as a result Joe and Karen Vitale may themselves be flying somewhere fun.
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They have won a $10,000 holiday package to visit one of nine Australian destinations in 2019 in a LJ Hooker national campaign.
It's the second time in three years a client of Moruya sales agent Karen Herrick has won the randomly selected prize.
The statistical quirk has LJ Hooker dubbing Ms Herrick the South Coast’s “Lady Luck” of property.
In 2016, Ms Herrick conducted a market appraisal which put homeowner Gabby Blake in the draw for a state-based cash prize. She won.
This year, the Vitale’s engaged Ms Herrick to appraise their property during the peak selling season, making them eligible for the competition prize.
With LJ Hooker’s national network of 6000 staff conducting tens of thousands of market appraisals every year, statisticians have been scratching their heads trying to figure out the odds of Ms Herrick’s customers being selected randomly on two separate occasions.
“I was extremely surprised when I got the phone call back in 2016 to say the Blake’s had won, so you can only imagine how taken aback I was, this time around,” Ms Kerrick said.
Mr and Mrs. Vitale are yet to decide where they will holiday.
Ms Herrick said she was optimistic about Moruya real estate market heading into the holiday season.
“We don’t have the big influx of visitors like Batemans Bay (over the holidays), but we do see an uptick in foot traffic as holidaymakers decide to explore the wider region," she said.
“In the past, we’ve found that holidaymakers return home, spend a couple of months getting their finances in order, and then return to buy in the area, either as an investment or retirement plan.
Their holiday leaves such a strong impression on them.
“The back-end of February, heading into March, is always our busiest time of year as holidaymakers return to purchase.”