ELIZABETH HOLMES is #2,000 nearer to buying a new home -- thanks to

Scotland's Homes. Along with all of last week's other advertisers, her

name was put into the draw for our weekly #2,000 prize -- and her number

came up.

She says: ''The advert in Scotland's Homes said that winning the

#2,000 could help you to furnish your new house. I fancied that idea.

Buying a new house is an expensive busines and you never seem to have

enough cash to cover everything -- so I entered.

''I was thrilled to be the first winner of the #2,000 prize, the only

other thing I've ever won was a five-pound turkey!''

News of the win came home to roost when Mrs Holmes was in bed,

suffering from a dose of the flu.

''I was so thrilled, I was back on my feet right away,'' she says.

With four children under the age of six, she and her husband John are in

the market for a roomier house. ''As you can imagine, four kids at that

age are a bit of a handful, so we thought we'd like to get something

larger -- maybe a bungalow,'' she says.

It was as a result of advertising her own home in The Herald's new

property section, Scotland's Homes, that she became the first winner of

our weekly #2,000 prize for advertisers.

Elizabeth Holmes intends to spend some of the cash on a family holiday

for husband John; twins Rachel and Elizabeth, five; Miriam, three; and

Clare, two. She says: ''Money is always tight when you are buying a

house, so we had decided not to have a holiday this year -- but now we

can afford to take the kids somewhere really sunny this summer.''

Mrs Holmes says that, even before hearing about her #2,000 win, she

was already a fan of Scotland's Homes. ''The new pull-out is very good.

It's a great way to buy and sell houses. You can hold onto it all week

-- and it's got the feel of a lifestyle magazine to it.''

And many others were impressed by the new section. Readers in their

thousands posted entries for the offers on our It's A Gift page, while

hundreds and hundreds telephoned to our special line to try to win the

On The House full-page advert prize.

Scotland's Homes -- don't miss an issue. Don't miss a prize.