Lincolnite Susan Haase is the thrilled new owner of a $300,000 home — at least for the time being.

Haase, 38, a business associate at Lincoln Benefit Life, drew the winning key in Saturday morning’s Ultimate Home Delivery contest sponsored by the Lincoln Journal Star.

She was the fourth of 10 finalists to try her key in a door during the Journal Star’s “Ultimate Tailgate Event” preceding the Husker football team’s opening game.

As a cheering crowd watched, three finalists tested their keys before Haase, to no avail. Then Haase slipped her key into the lock.

As it began to turn, her hands started shaking — so badly, in fact, that Journal Star publisher John Maher had to help finish the job.

When the door opened, she said breathlessly: “I don’t know what to say!”

Haase chose a home at 8940 S. 30th St. in the Wilderness Hills subdivision, one of five new homes to pick from.

Along with an appealing first-floor master bedroom and den, Haase said the Aspen Builders home was her No. 1 choice because it’s near the homes of her older sister, Karen, and younger brother, Jeff. Haase currently lives with her parents, Jerry and LouAnn, on Southwest 24th Street.

Still, Haase isn’t 100 percent sure she’ll move in: Worried about the taxes that come with such a home, she said she’s thinking of selling it instead and putting the part of the profits toward a master’s degree, adding to her earlier studies at Southeast Community College and Doane College.

But the thought of moving into a brand-new home will be tempting, she admitted immediately after winning.

“The debate will begin now,” the Crete native said as she prepared for pictures and a tour of the home with some 25 family members.

The tour only boosted the home’s allure, Haase reported later: Family members fell in love with the home and proposed spending Christmas there, and nieces and nephews even picked out which bedrooms they’d sleep in during extended visits.

But, Haase said, “The reality is Uncle Sam’s calling. I have to run some figures this week.”

The remaining four homes built for the Ultimate Home Delivery contest — by Integrity Builders in the Fallbrook subdivision; Goings Homes in Waterford Estates; Heritage Builders in Heritage Lakes; and Manzitto Bros. in Village Gardens — will go on the market. All are appraised at $300,000.

The Journal Star launched Ultimate Home Delivery in January, partnering with the five builders. Newspaper subscribers were automatically entered into the contest, and some nonsubscribers entered via postcard.

The 10 finalists, all subscribers, were chosen at random from January to August. They included a retired business instructor, a grandmother from Bennet, a cancer survivor and more.

None left the contest empty-handed. The other finalists received $500 gift cards from Schaefer’s TV and Appliance Center and other assorted gifts.

When Haase got the call at work that she’d been selected as a finalist, her co-workers were in shock, she said.

Now she suspects they’ll be even more surprised to hear she won: “They’re going to freak.”

Haase herself struggled to digest the news right away.

As media interviewed Haase and family and well-wishers crowded around offering hugs and congratulations, her right hand, clutching her winning key, was still shaking.

“I just can’t believe it,” she said.

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.