People have died everywhere people have ever lived.
I would want to know how famous the murder/suicide was, which sounds super weird. But I wouldn’t want true crime junkies driving by my house to gawk at it if it was scene of a case that got a lot of publicity. Like the Amityville horror house, or something like that. But otherwise I don’t think it would bother me.
Just started house hunting and I really feel this question.
I feel like intellectually I can say that the housing stock in my area is older(for the US anyway) and as a result theres a strong chance somebody died in the house I buy. This whole country is built on native american land which was depopulated with either violence or disease, and gun violence is a plague in this country. Even in nicer “low crime” areas you have murders and shootings and you just have to live with it. Ive bought food at places where someone was shot in the head due to some personal grudge.
If it was a good enough deal in a good enough neighborhood and the ghost story was keeping buyers away then I’m a lucky duck and after a few years the murder will be forgotten and when I inevitably move I’ll sell it for a good profit when(and if) I need to move.
Of course thats my brain. My gut says I dunno. I dont really believe in ghosts, and even if I did I wouldn’t be bothered by like someone dying in their sleep or of old age etc. Still a murder suicide is dark. You know in the dead of the night when it’s still and everybody else is asleep or if I’m alone my mind can get superstitious and uneasy. Likewise it’s weird to live in a place where you can know exactly where something that horrible happened. To have my growing children playing with toys or running around on ground that someone was legit murdered in recently.
So I could be boisterous and say I’d jump on the deal, but I dunno. I might be able to push myself to go through with it(and regret it some nights) or I might decide I dont want a home with that kind of baggage.
In this market? Absolutely, I wouldn’t even hesitate.
Yes. But maybe have a priest bless the place and someone burn some sage. Like, just to be extra sure.
There was an article in the NYT about what happens to places where murders have happened, and as someone looking to buy a home someday, I realized I wouldn’t mind. Especially if it was well below market value.
Shoot, I’d buy one with the chalk outline still in the kitchen if the price is right.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but here in California you don’t have to report if someone died in your house after a certain period of time. The only exception, I’m told by my realtor, is if the deceased were a minor.
As long as it doesn’t affect my ability to resell, doesn’t bother me at all.
Do you have to report all deaths, or just violent deaths?
I think all deaths, but I’m not sure. I’m not a realtor! :)
I’ve found two links related to this:
Do You Have to Disclose a Death in a House?
This Website Can Tell You If Someone Died In Your House
According to that, in California the period is 3 years for any deaths, except from AIDS (edit: which don’t need to be reported ever), and no limit for violent deaths, but in some other states there is no obligation at all. The second website seems to keep records from 1980 and earlier.
Kind of weird, all of it.
So weird! And why AIDS? Seems a little bit alarmist.
I may have expressed that somewhat ambiguously. The AIDS is an exception to the 3 year rule of reporting all deaths:
AIDS Brings Another Twist to Disclosure Rules
If the death had taken place within three years, the law is not as clear. If the property had been the site of a sensational murder or something similar that affects the value of the property, it must be disclosed. Short of that, a lawyer may or may not advise disclosure.
However, if the cause of death was AIDS or an AIDS-related illness, the seller has no obligation to disclose the information at any time under the law.
Thank you for clarifying!
Thank you for clarifying!
