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Usually when I go visit open house, I would raise this question to the realtor who represents the seller. Most of the time he/she is muted.
In some cities in Asia, this is a big issue. If the realtor does not disclose it, the buyer can sue on such ground. The reason is simple. There is no way the buyer can get mortgage. Every bank, including U.S. banks like Citi and Chase, have a database of these "spooky" units. And the spookiness depends on the degree of violence of the cause of unnatural death.
For example, if someone "just" committed suicide in the unit, the buyer can still get financing from the bank but the appraised value is usually lower which means the buyer would have trouble in getting enough loans to cover the transaction.
But if there was a homicide in the unit that 5 family members were brutally murdered, no banks or mortgage companies would ever provide any loan.
Sometimes even the adjoining units or even the unit on the upper or lower floors will be affected. For example, if someone committed suicide by jumping off the balcony on the floor above yours, definitely the new buyer would have a nightmare staring out of the balcony during night time. So this unit's value diminished to some degrees.
I am curious that so many potential buyers in U.S. are interested in many properties which are 50, 70, 100 or 120 years old. Aren't they ever worried that someone had died unnaturally in the premises?
My wife is really scared about this aspect though.
This is a personal issue a person has with a house or unit. There is no database of "spookiness" or anything of that manner that affects the value of a home. It could affect your personal value of it, but an appraiser is going to do their job just the same as always.
I am curious that so many potential buyers in U.S. are interested in many properties which are 50, 70, 100 or 120 years old. Aren't they ever worried that someone had died unnaturally in the premises?
Wouldn't bother me. The only thing I would be concerned about is if someone had been murdered there recently and the killer hadn't been caught. If I really liked the house, this probably wouldn't stop me though.
Many seniors passed away in the nursing homes. But those are considered "natural death".
Nobody really checks them all. If you get ghosts from an unnatural death, why wouldn't you get a ghost if somebody got too much morphine to hurry them along?
Usually when I go visit open house, I would raise this question to the realtor who represents the seller. Most of the time he/she is muted.
In some cities in Asia, this is a big issue. If the realtor does not disclose it, the buyer can sue on such ground. The reason is simple. There is no way the buyer can get mortgage. Every bank, including U.S. banks like Citi and Chase, have a database of these "spooky" units. And the spookiness depends on the degree of violence of the cause of unnatural death.
For example, if someone "just" committed suicide in the unit, the buyer can still get financing from the bank but the assessment value is usually lower which means the buyer would have trouble in getting enough loans to cover the transaction.
But if there was a homicide in the unit that 5 family members were brutally murdered, no banks or mortgage companies would ever provide any loan.
Sometimes even the adjoining units or even the unit on the upper or lower floors will be affected. For example, if someone committed suicide by jumping off the balcony on the floor above yours, definitely the new buyer would have a nightmare staring out of the balcony during night time. So this unit's value diminished to some degrees.
I am curious that so many potential buyers in U.S. are interested in many properties which are 50, 70, 100 or 120 years old. Aren't they ever worried that someone had died unnaturally in the premises?
My wife is really scared about this aspect though.
I think the SELLER has to disclose an UNnatural death. The realtor would know only if the seller discloses it to her/him.
It should be on a form....the disclosure has a general category for disclosures, I think.
In the US there is no database of spooky houses. Only a few homes, like Jeffrey Dahmer's home, will have a stigma attached to them making them difficult to sell.
People buy old homes here because it isn't an issue in the American culture for the most part. If it is for you, I would just buy new construction homes and not worry about it. In Oregon, there is no spooky death disclosure requirement.
Legally, it varies by state. In Texas, we are not required to disclose a death in a property unless it was caused by the property - that is to say, a dangerous condition of the property that caused the death (oddly built stairs, say, or something wrong with the gas or electric systems, something of that nature). We are not allowed to disclose death by AIDS.
However, I do advise if there's been a death in the house that they disclose it, because the neighbors are certainly going to!
This subject has been discussed here ad nauseum. To sum up, most people in the US don't care about a death in the house unless the unnatural death was a murder or somehow caused by the house. There's no such thing in the US as a "spooky house" adjustment on an appraisal. As far as disclosure, each state has its own rules about what types of deaths need to be disclosed or if they need to be disclosed at all. Many times, in states that do require disclosure it is only required for a couple of years after the death or it is only required for certain causes of death. In many states, no death disclosure is required at all. You can't sue if your state doesn't require disclosure. If this issue is that important to you, check the rules for the state in which you are purchasing.
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