Find Out Who Died in a House Before Buying, Selling, Renting

If you are starting your home search to buy, rent, or even sell, perhaps you should first find out if anyone has ever died in the home first.

I wonder how many people buy or rent a home that didn’t know in advance that someone died in the home?

Or how many people buy or rent and don’t find out until AFTER it was obvious the home was haunted that someone died?

What is a stigmatized property?

How to Find Out if Someone Died in a House

Ron Condry, the founder of diedinhouse.com says in the Houston Chronicle, ” It’s harder to find things like this out than you would think.”  Apparently, few states have any laws regarding the disclosure of this info by sellers or Real Estate Agents.

Diedinhouse.com offers a background check, much like a Carfax, to help determine if anyone has died in a house.

‘Buyer Beware‘ is one more reason you should be working with an experienced Realtor® who can guide you through the home buying/selling process and to protect your financial interests.

An experienced Agent or Broker will guide you through the discovery stage to determine if the seller is not disclosing a stigmatized property, uncover any material facts, and learn about California’s duty to disclose for both buyer/seller.

Would you Buy a Stigmatized Haunted House?

First let me state that not all homes where someone was killed by an axe murderer or died in it means it will become haunted (that’s obvious, right?) nor does it mean a home isn’t haunted if someone hasn’t died in it.

It appears that selling a home that is known for being haunted is not impossible. Realtor.com’s Haunted Housing Report found that 26% of home buyers claim they would consider buying a haunted house.

Surprisingly, the survey found that 35% claim to have lived in a home they suspect to have been haunted!  Have you?

With our society’s growing interest and acceptance of what I considered to be on the ‘dark’ side in terms of spiritual matters, I wouldn’t be surprised if searching for haunted real Estate for sale becomes more common.

Do Haunted Homes Affect Home Prices?

Realtor.com’s survey does find that people do expect a discount when buying a  haunted home.

• 12 percent reported that they would pay full market value or over for a haunted house for sale;
• 34 percent shared that they would purchase a haunted home if it was discounted 1 to 30 percent;
• 22 percent indicated that they would purchase a haunted home if it was discounted 31 to 50 percent;
• 19 percent revealed that they would purchase a haunted home if it was discounted 51 percent or more.

I can see how this would definitely impact the ability to draw buyers and impact value negativly.

How much do you think homes in Ariel Castro’s neighborhood will be impacted even after they demolish it.  I imagine that whole block will be stigmatized after finding out his neighbor is being charged as well.