Would you buy this house?

[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.

 

[arebelspy]

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.

 

[W2R]

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.

 

[Webzter]

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.

 

[bbbamI]

I'd inspect the house with a black light...

 

[plex]

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.

 

[GregLee]

No way. I don't like the look of it at all, those small windows facing blankly out, like empty eye sockets. Brrrrr!

 

[Calgary_Girl]

Nope, not me.

 

[Calgary_Girl]

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!

 

[Meadbh]

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.

 

[W2R]

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.

 

[powerplay]

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.

 

[73ss454]

I wouldn't buy that house under any circumstances, it's ugly.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

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.

 

[Tadpole]

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:

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.

 

[Nords]

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.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

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.

 

[Walt34]

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.

 

[BTravlin]

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.

 

[Glo]

I don't like the house or the area so it wouldn't be for me

 

[Silver]

I'm not fearful of ghosts or spirits, but my grandmother's house was haunted and I know that for certain.

I grew up in Chicago, and my father's mother lived in Kentucky where my sister and I spent our summers for many years. Most of my experience related to having strange dreams that only happened when I was in that house. My sister felt a presence that she described as being a young woman who was friendly but shy.

About 20 years after my grandmother died my sister and her family were traveling through the area, and she wanted to just drive by the house to reminisce. They were sitting in their car outside the house when a young lady came out and walked to their car. She was very nice....just curious.

When my sister explained that she had spent summers in the house growing up, the girl immediately asked if my sister was ever aware of any "presence" in the house.
My sister said yes.....but that she was never frightened of it. The young lady agreed, and said that she had grown up in the house feeling as if she had an older sister that she had never really gotten to know.

There was never any history of any deaths in the house that anyone was aware of.

 

[Zoocat]

I would never buy or live in a residence where people had been murdered or where someone had committed suicide. My experience having lived in a haunted house informs my feelings on the matter. The "spirits" in my haunted house were not malevolent but some very very strange things happened there that I would not want to re-experience.

Apart from that, the house is not very attractive to me and I suspect in this RE environment that it will lose a good portion of its value in the next 5-10 years.

 

[Fireup2020]

No. But as other have stated, not keen on the appearance of the house. Also, no desire at all to live in Silver Spring, MD. The murders are neither a selling point or deterrent.

 

[kcowan]

We bought a haunted house in 1981. There were creaking stairs at night, doors that would slam and the TV would come on randomly. (I even removed the remote on the off chance that it had a short!) My father met the ghost in the finished basement once and had a chat with him. It was the old Italian father of the man who built the house, and who died in the house.

After 18 months, he left and we stayed there peacefully for another 12 years.

(I know this sounds crazy and I would not have believed it if we had not experienced ourselves!)

 

[W2R]

We bought a haunted house in 1981. There were creaking stairs at night, doors that would slam and the TV would come on randomly. (I even removed the remote on the off chance that it had a short!) My father met the ghost in the finished basement once and had a chat with him. It was the old Italian father of the man who built the house, and who died in the house.

After 18 months, he left and we stayed there peacefully for another 12 years.

(I know this sounds crazy and I would not have believed it if we had not experienced ourselves!)

Same with my house, Keith, only Marie just stayed for about a year. I didn't mind, and I don't think your post sounds crazy at all.