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Location: Temporarily in Niagara Falls, Ont. Canada
167 posts, read 856,595 times
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Anyone have experience buying and/or selling a house where a murder happened? My elderly mother and I are looking for a house to buy in a small town she's always wanted to live in. Our money won't go as far as it did in the city we moved from. Our budget of $250k-$275k will buy a newer townhouse or an older detached home. We both want something newer, and I've been following the listings for a while now. We've looked at several brand new and resale homes in person. The good ones sell very quickly, so you have to act fast.
Today I found out about a house that JUST came on the market. It's a newer semi-detached home which (I believe) is priced about $15k to $30k under market value. A murder might have occurred in this house. The body was found in a wooded area far away from this small town, and the murderer has been charged. It's not clear where the lady was murdered, but it might have been in the house. I think it's kind of creepy even considering buying this house, but we keep missing out on any decent, reasonably priced houses we like, so I made an appointment for tomorrow to go look at it.
When my mother passes on (whenever that may be, she's 80 now and her health is OK but not perfect), I wonder how hard it would be to resell the house? I've done a lot of reading online about people who buy a house where a murder took place. Aside from the creepiness factor, and possible bad omen and possible haunting by the murdered woman ghost, if you believe in that, is it worth buying for a bit below market value? Or would it have to be steeply discounted to make it worth while? Since the house just went on the market today, we won't have any leverage of using the excuse of the house being on the market for a long time as a way to get a lower price. The relatives of the murderer might not be that flexible. Maybe it will sell quickly due to the shortage of houses? Or maybe the stigma attached to the house will deter anyone from buying it?
Any ideas on how hard it would be to resell a house like this? I believe that by law, we need to disclose this information, just as it's been disclosed to us. Based on the real estate listing, the house itself looks really nice, but was taped off with yellow police tape and had a police trailer and police cars in the driveway and on the street for three weeks in the recent past. This is generally a quiet, low crime small town, so this really stood out. I'm also worried about curious people snooping, coming to look (even if just from the street), asking us questions, wanting to come in for a look, or even wanting to lay flowers for a memorial. Just wondering if it's worth buying for the small discount, or if we should try for a bigger discount, or just forget about it and keep looking for another house (which won't be as big or as nice, but won't have any murders attached to it). Thank you in advance for any tips, personal stories, etc!
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,551 posts, read 81,085,957 times
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Disclosure laws vary by where you are, check them first. Just because they disclosed it to you does not mean it's required by law. The law may list things that have to be disclosed or might say something like "anything that could affect the value or desirability of the home."
When you go to sell if you do have to disclose and get a lower price, that is offset by the fact that you paid a lower price. If it's many years later the "stigma" of the murder may even be lessened. I once looked at a house where there was not only a murder but the wife chopped up the husband and tried to burn his remains in the fireplace. With the soot still all over the wall and ceiling, I passed.
Location: Temporarily in Niagara Falls, Ont. Canada
167 posts, read 856,595 times
Reputation: 151
Yes, time helps heal many things. I can see if it was 20 or 30 years later, it may not be as fresh in people's minds, and there could be many new residents in the area who would not even be aware of it. But within the next 5 to 10 years, which would probably the length of time we would live there, might not be enough time. Even still, there will always be someone who remembers it or finds out. It's a small town, and crime is very low, so this may not be forgotten too quickly. I'll have to see if the law in our area requires disclosure. I wouldn't feel right hiding that fact, or worry about being sued later for not disclosing it, if it's a gray area.
Buying at a lower price this year is OK, but I'm worried about still over paying. Since we're looking to buy and move very soon, and if we decide to buy that house, we may pay what we feel is a fair price, maybe $275k maybe $250k. But let's say 5 or 10 years later, it's time to sell, and the house either won't sell because of the murder years earlier, or sells for half price of current market values, in which case, it would not be offset by the lower purchase price in 2012 and result in a huge loss. I guess there's really no way of knowing what it will sell for, if at all. The safest thing would be to pass on this house and just keep waiting for another nice house and be ready to put a good, solid offer in quickly. But if we do decide to go with this house, on the positive side, the police didn't find any evidence of a murder in the house. So either the murderer did a good job of cleaning up, putting in new flooring, etc, or the murder did not happen in the house.
I agree that you should check disclosure laws. In a lot of cases you would only have to disclose a material fact associated to the condition of home and its useability. A potential murder would not have to be disclosed. However, if the murder did in fact take place in the home (or possibly could have) a potential buyer could find this out later on down the road when you try to sell. That could effect sale ability. However, home buyers these days have become quite a bit more tolerant of "issues" with a home. With all the forecolusres that have flooded the market last year and years prior, there are all sorts of situations that buyers just don't care about since they are getting a great deal. In a recent study, homebuyers were more detracted by evidence/conjecture of drug manufacturing and sales in a home than a death in it. Of course, violent crime has a little bit more punch, but still was rated lower than drug manufacturing. So I guess I'm just saying there could be worse circumstances. And if you don't have to disclose the death (or rumor of death) in the house, you could make a tidy profit years later when no one even remembers. Hope that helps.
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