MASON COUNTY, Texas — Picture this: a sprawling 76-acre ranch in the Texas Hill Country, complete with trees, a creek, and enough room to lose your car keys for a decade. Now imagine owning it for less than the cost of a steak dinner—or, let’s be real, a couple of those fancy artisanal coffees that taste like regret. That’s the wild scheme cooked up by Jason and Katy Ballard, two attorneys who clearly spent too much time binge-watching The Price Is Right during the pandemic.
See, the Ballards, who apparently have day jobs that don’t involve wrangling cattle or dodging rattlesnakes, bought this 76.06-acre slice of paradise in Mason County a few years back. Their big plan? Turn it into a homestead wonderland where they’d raise grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork, and eggs so free-range they probably have their own passports. They dreamed of camping, recreating, and eventually living out there, far from the hustle and bustle of Dallas, which is a solid four-hour drive away—five if you stop for kolaches. But then life happened. They had an 18-month-old kid named Remington (because of course his name is Remington), and suddenly, commuting to a ranch farther away than most people’s summer vacations didn’t seem so practical.
So, what do you do when you’ve got a massive chunk of land you can’t use? You don’t call a realtor—that’s too boring, and realtors want you to fill out forms. No, you hold a raffle. That’s right, folks, for the low, low price of $6.75—less than a movie ticket or a single IPA at a hipster bar—you can enter to win this entire ranch. Or, if you’re not into dirt and cows, you can take a cool $300,000 cash instead. It’s like a game show, but instead of Bob Barker, you’ve got two lawyers and a website called Raffall.com, which sounds like something you’d find in the spam folder of your email.
Now, here’s the catch: they’ve got to sell 190,000 tickets for this deal to go through. If they don’t hit that number, the winner gets half the ticket money, minus a 10% cut for Raffall, because apparently even raffle websites need to eat. Jason, who probably spent his law school years perfecting his PowerPoint skills, says this is better than the traditional real estate market because it reaches more people. Sure, Jason, and I bet it’s also a great way to get 190,000 strangers asking you why their ticket didn’t win.
The link to the raffle is here.
The ranch itself sounds like something out of a John Wayne fever dream: rolling pastures, a seasonal creek that shows up when it feels like it, a hand-dug well, and enough fencing to keep out an army of armadillos. It’s got electricity and fiber internet at the property line, so you can livestream your new life as a cowboy while binge-watching Yellowstone. Plus, it’s only 45 minutes from Fredericksburg, where you can buy overpriced antiques and pretend you’re in a Hallmark movie.
Katy, who’s clearly the dreamer of the duo, says it’s all about “buying into a dream.” And you know what? She’s not wrong. For $6.40 (or $6.75, depending on which article you read—inflation’s a beast), you could be the proud owner of a ranch where you can raise cows, hunt deer, or just sit in a lawn chair yelling at clouds. The drawing’s set for December 23, 2025, just in time to ruin your Christmas by making you decide between a pile of cash or a pile of dirt.
Oh, and because this is Texas, they’ve thrown in a heartwarming twist: use the promo code TEXASFUND, and 10% of your ticket money goes to Hill Country flood relief. So, you’re not just gambling on a ranch; you’re also helping out folks in need. It’s like charity, but with a chance to win a lifestyle you’re probably not qualified to live.
The Ballards admit it’s bittersweet to let go of their ranch, but they’re hoping some lucky soul will take it off their hands and give it the love it deserves. Or at least someone who knows how to drive a tractor without running over their own foot. So, if you’ve got $6.75 burning a hole in your pocket and a secret desire to trade your cubicle for a cowboy hat, head over to Raffall.com. Just don’t blame me when you’re out there trying to figure out what a “seasonal creek” actually does.