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Would you buy this house?
Old 05-28-2011, 03:14 PM   #1
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Would you buy this house?

I've often wondered about the happy and sad events that took place in my house before I lived there. What if something really bad took place, e.g. domestic violence or murder? Could you sleep at night in a bedroom where someone was killed?

The price of this house seems a little excessive, considering everything:

Three people were killed in this house. Would you buy it? - The Globe and Mail

Yes Al, I used tinyurl.com. The above is the result.
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Old 05-28-2011, 03:22 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meadbh
I've often wondered about the happy and sad events that took place in my house before I lived there. What if something really bad took place, e.g. domestic violence or murder? Could you sleep at night in a bedroom where someone was killed?

The price of this house seems a little excessive, considering everything:

Three people were killed in this house. Would you buy it? - The Globe and Mail

Yes Al, I used tinyurl.com. The above is the result.
I'd be fine with it.

60% of the people in their poll said no way.

Tough to choose an option in their pill though. They have yes, it'd have to be a good deal, and no. But I wouldn't buy ANY house that wasn't a good deal.

I wouldn't require any extra compensation for that. If it was the best deal I could find, it wouldn't affect my decision.
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Old 05-28-2011, 04:02 PM   #3
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The fact that three people were murdered there would not be a problem for me at all. My present house was owned by a widow my age that was killed in a car accident six months earlier (not in the house, but still some people had second thoughts apparently). She had lived in the house for 30 years, since it was built.

That said, the fact that the house in the article is two stories combined with the fact that I am not getting any younger means that I would not touch it with a 10-foot pole.
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Old 05-28-2011, 04:10 PM   #4
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as long as the murderer isn't like living in the crawlspace (and I'd have the inspector check for that), then... oh, and as long as the blood stains / smell / etc is out.

still, it might give one the willies now and then.
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Old 05-28-2011, 04:16 PM   #5
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I'd inspect the house with a black light...
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Old 05-28-2011, 04:18 PM   #6
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Not a problem, as long as crime in general is low in the area, and there aren't unrepaired bullet holes...etc. Personally, it is way more expensive than anything I would want to pay for, most of the benefits of the high priced zipcode would be lost on me.
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Old 05-28-2011, 04:20 PM   #7
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No way. I don't like the look of it at all, those small windows facing blankly out, like empty eye sockets. Brrrrr!
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Old 05-28-2011, 04:24 PM   #8
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Nope, not me.
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Old 05-28-2011, 04:28 PM   #9
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No way. I don't like the look of it at all, those small windows facing blankly out, like empty eye sockets. Brrrrr!
I totally agree!
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Old 05-28-2011, 04:33 PM   #10
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FWIW, I wouldn't buy it even if it were otherwise a bargain.

The rented home of Paul Barnardo and Karla Homolka, a couple who committed serial murders and sexual assaults in the house in St. Catherine's, Ontario, was razed to the ground after their conviction in the 1990s. I believe the lot was turned into a park.
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Old 05-28-2011, 04:38 PM   #11
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No way. I don't like the look of it at all, those small windows facing blankly out, like empty eye sockets. Brrrrr!
I agree. It doesn't have much curb appeal, although that could be improved - - maybe a little paint, a little more eye-catching trim around the entry, new roof matching the trim, some landscaping.

What's worse is its price. If that is the going price, I just wouldn't live in that neighborhood because I don't have to! (I love being retired!)

But overall, I'd much rather have a one story house.
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Old 05-28-2011, 05:02 PM   #12
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The house is not at all attractive to me nor is it's price and the murders are a third strike against it. I would not like living in a house where people had been murdered.
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Old 05-28-2011, 07:35 PM   #13
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I wouldn't buy that house under any circumstances, it's ugly.
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Old 05-28-2011, 07:52 PM   #14
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It doesn't spook me, but I wouldn't buy it because it spooks other people and I would have trouble selling it--just like the last guy killed there.
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The price
Old 05-28-2011, 09:21 PM   #15
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The price

It turns out the land is worth more than the house. Betts purchased it in 2003 for $324,000. This is the tax assessment from the public records.

As Of 01/01/2010
Land 305,740
Improvements: 201,610
Total: 507,350

It appears to be a foreclosure (not surprising). From zillow:

Quote:
Description

THIS IS FANNIE MAE HOMEPATH PROPERTY ... PURCHASE THIS PROPERTY FOR AS LITTLE 3% ... THIS PROPERTY IS APPROVED FOR HOMEPATH MORTGAGE FINANCING AND HOMEPATH RENOVATION MORTGAGE FINANCING... AS IS CONDITION. Close by June 30, 2011 and request up to 3.5% of the final sales price for closing cost assistance!
This house was worth about $550,000 at the top of the bubble. The houses in this zip code have lost a lot less value than most places and this house's price has fluctated at a value near the top throughout the years of the housing collaspe. It will probably sell quicker than we think. Looking at the zillow comparisons to the overall zip code, I must conclude that houses with multiple murders and possible ghosts hold their value best.
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Old 05-28-2011, 11:54 PM   #16
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We bought our "dream house" from the estate of a deceased couple. He'd apparently died of cocaine a heart attack and she'd died of diabetes complications. I couldn't verify whether they actually died in the house, although his death was purported to have occurred in Las Vegas.

I did the research to make sure that there wasn't something in the house or on the property that might have contributed to their deaths.

Frankly the house's remaining living occupants caused far more damage & trouble than the deceased.
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Old 05-29-2011, 04:57 AM   #17
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No, I would not buy a house where a murder or murders took place. It would creep me out. That would be enough for me, not even considering possible diminished re-sale value.
It would not bother me to live in a house where someone had died of natural causes.
I presently live in a house as the first occupant. My previous house was built in the late 1970s by a retired minister who lived there with his family until he and his wife decided to move closer to the children, all of whom had settled elsewhere.
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Old 05-29-2011, 05:43 AM   #18
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60% of the people in their poll said no way.
That just eliminates 60% of the potential competition.

I'd be fine with it but it would probably creep DW out.

Think of the opportunities on Halloween!

But I'm familiar with that area, it's just inside the DC Beltway and one has to plan one's life around traffic. On weekdays between 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM forget about trying to do anything outside the immediate neighborhood.
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Old 05-29-2011, 07:30 AM   #19
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I don't believe in ghosts so it wouldn't bother me in the least. Agree though that the house just doesn't look very appealing.
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Old 05-29-2011, 09:32 AM   #20
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I don't like the house or the area so it wouldn't be for me
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