If someone died in a house you wanted to buy, is that a deal breaker? (living room, lights)
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Our house is 150 years old. There is a distinct possibility that someone had died here-in fact, we took out a door that was called "the coffin door"-which was off of the parlor-where funerals were probably held for family members.
As for ghosts, we were told the house was haunted but after 2 years, we haven't seen/heard anything to suggest it is.
Cat
That's the first time I've ever heard of a "coffin door." I have a "piano window" in my house but not a coffin door.
I purchased my first house from the second owners. I found out months after the purchase that the original owner committed suicide by hanging from the back yard tree. Of course it was not on the disclosure and I didn't ask. A neighbor told me.
For a while I freaked myself out with lights being on in other parts of the house when I was sure I had turned them off and minor creaks and noises. My mother was nice enough to stay with me for a few nights until I got my wits about me again. I stayed there 10 years and was fine after the initial spookiness wore off.
I don't think it's a big deal unless you make it one. I was much younger then.
We bought a house where the previous owner shot herself in the bathtub. She had two labs- black. She was a trust fund kid who never worked and had some issues. No one touched it, but it did not bother us for the area and we knew the family appreciated a family with kids taking care of it..she had done some remodeling.
There were some oddities...toilet would flush (not often, but it did), or I'd see what seemed like a black lab out of the corner of my eye at times while sitting and watching TV. We'd say, "Hi," to the owner. Never anything scary.
We bought it for 745 and sold for 1.3 million 11 years later (we did remodel). It was a great house and the new owner loves it and has 2 kids.
Some people would freak out! Do you believe in ghosts or do you think it was your mind playing tricks on you?
I expect that someone has died if the house is very old. Like others have said, it does not bother me unless it was murder or suicide. A natural death is ok. Freak accidents may indicate that something is wrong with the house.
You should definitely disclose just out of respect for the buyers. OP, your wife did the right thing.
If it were a natural death I see no big deal. I would not mention it to possibly discourage a friend..Big I might use it as a bargaining chip if I were interested in the house.
Ifit were aviolent death or suicide yes I would tell a friend and I personally would pass on it no matter how good the deal was.
My dad passed away a few years ago in his sleep. He died peacefully without any struggle. Not a bad way to go, I'd say. At the time of his death he was in a lot of financial struggle. He was way underwater on his house, so there was no way to pay it off and sell it. It went into foreclosure and I stopped really thinking about it.
A year or so after he died, a friend of my wife was telling her all about the house they found, and how they had seen it twice and were waiting on an inspection. It turns out it was my dad's old house. My wife was thinking she owed it to her friend to tell them that my dad had died in the house. To me it wasn't a huge deal, since it was natural and not a suicide or a murder. I do know a realtor is required to tell you if anyone has died in the house. That is assuming the realtor knows about it, and assuming you ask. They never asked.
They decided to pass on the house right before the inspection process.
What do you guys think? I believe if you're in an older house, there's a decent chance someone has died in the house. In the old days, people wanted to die at home and not in hospitals or nursing homes.
If you were in my shoes, would you tell a friend that someone had died in the house they were interested in, even if it wasn't a family member but you still knew about it?
There is absolutely no reason to disclose this to this friend. Death is a natural part of life. Sometimes people die at home. Sometimes in the hospital. One thing for sure - everyone dies. And they do it someplace. It could be a hotel room. I have a house that was built in the 1920s. It's almost 100 years old. Odds are some one died here at some point.
The house that I grew up in was built in 1967. There were two deaths there. My mother and grandmother. When my father and his wife sold I have and moved south, this was never mentioned.
I am originally from a state that has a "stigmatized property law". By law, a seller or agent acting on behalf of the seller, must disclose the following -
1. If a murder took place in the house
2. If a suicide to place in the house and
3. If the house has a reputation for being haunted, because it could affect the resale value of the house, and attract gawkeres.
A natural death need not be disclosed in most states, legally. Morally? I think it's ridiculous.
Your wife is over reacting a wee bit.
The only thing that would deter me would be a home where a murder or suicide had taken place.
I wouldn't buy a house where a murder or suicide took place. I am not superstitious, but I know people talk and gawk. Life's tough enough without making it worse.
Maybe it's just where I'm from, but I remember an aquaintance of my parents hung himself and 15 years later people still talked about the house where Mr. Smith hung himself....three new owners out. People remember.
My husband and I had been looking for houses online and found what seemed to be the perfect one. We were going to set up an appointment to look at it but then I found out that a man had killed his wife, two small children and himself in what was supposed to be their dream home. I could never live in a house where young children were murdered.
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