Saugus woman scores $10G for new house

SAUGUS – When it came time to buy her first home, Saugus resident Michelle Campanella found herself wrestling with the idea, trying to decide if it was truly the right move for her and her son.”I was fairly close, just a little undecided,” she said.While guiding Campanella through the home-buying process, Buyer Specialist Michelle Therault and Real Estate Agent Mike Quail, founder of The Quail Group at RE/MAX Advantage, suggested that she also enter The Great Home Giveaway.Sponsored by Quail as well as Georgia-based companies Commissions, Inc. and First Option Mortgage, the contest would at least give Campanella, a 32-year-old single mother, a chance at winning $10,000 toward her prospective house in Peabody.Although she was initially skeptical, Campanella said she entered the contest in mid-June because, “Why not, it’s a free 10 grand.”A month and a half later, her life changed.Campanella received a call from Quail to come in to review some “critical mortgage documents” at the company’s Beverly office.”She was very nervous,” he said. “We had to create a ruse to get her to come to the office.”After she arrived, 20 people rushed into the office’s conference room with flowers, champagne and a three-foot, novelty-style check for $10,000 carried in by Quail.”I was just in shock,” said Campanella. “I was in pure shock.”With her newfound cash, she said the final steps for purchasing her new home were instantly within reach.”There was no more, ?Let’s hold off,'” said Campanella.She explained that beforehand, buying furniture would have been impossible as “every cent” she had saved for the past year was spent on buying the house.”I would’ve been living on an air mattress,” she said.Quail was just happy to see the money go to someone who could truly use it.”We were so happy to have the opportunity to find the ideal home for Michelle and the $10,000 prize was such a bonus for her,” he said in a press release. “This contest opens up opportunities for prospective homeowners that were not there before.”Commissions President Jason Hoback explained that the Giveaway gives prospective buyers a chance to “get even closer to that home-buying decision.”Campanella was the Giveaway’s first winner. Drawing from a purse of $260,000, one applicant will be selected every two weeks until the end of the year with a total of 16 applicants being chosen. Hoback said that the remaining $100,000 will be given to the grand prize winner in February 2015. However, he added that prior $10,000 winners will not be eligible to re-enter for the grand prize. The Giveaway entry form is available at www.thegreathomegiveaway.com.