Would you buy a house that a family was murdered in?
 

At dinner tonight some friends of mine and I were discussing a part of a book I have recently written. In this part of the book a house has stood for sale for three years, even after large price reductions, because the previous owners of the house had been killed by a serial killer who is still on the loose.

So the question was asked. Would you buy and live in a house where the previous owners were murdered?

I don't think I would no matter how good a deal it is.

If the price is right.

I think the real question is, would you live in the house.

Flipping it would be just fine for most people I am sure.

I wouldn't want to live in the house, no.

No :2 cents:

well I sure as hell wouldn't want to live there with my family, especially if the serial killer was on the loose. This is probably something you would have no idea about, but knowing it and moving in there would be pretty weird.

Definitely not because i don`t want to be in the place where is a lot of negative energy. Killing of people mean that there is some bad vibes and i would not like to feel that

I bet many people do without knowing it.

What is the latest on the publishing date?

Actually I am talking to the publisher next week. Based on what my editor has told me it looks like they are either going to plan for this spring (probably sometime in May) or wait until fall (Octoberish). They say they want to avoid summer because all the big names put something out for summer vacation reading and they don't want me to get lost in the shuffle. I have a feeling it will probably be the fall just because it sounds like they haven't even started any plans for marketing it yet.

that was how I answered it initially. If it were a great deal I could buy it and flip it, but there is no way I could live in it.

I would imagine you are 100% correct. When you go see a house and it is empty because the previous owners have moved out already you really have no idea what happened there or why the house is empty before being sold.

I would not.

no thanks

Why not?

Ii dont believe in ghosts/spirits/the afterlife/"energy" or other shit.

No way I could live in the house.

As far as buying it to flip it, wouldn't that be extremely risky because you would either have to find an unsuspecting buyer which would be unlikely due to the notoriety of the murder or you would have to find another person that would want to take the risk of flipping it again. The whole purpose of flipping is to get a quick turnaround on your investment because the longer you hold on to it the more your profit disappears. There's lots of potential to get stuck with the house.

A few years ago there was a highly publicized horrendous murder in a town near me. A few young adults were renting a modest house and some guys got upset over an xbox or something and went to the house and beat everyone to death, including the dog with baseball bats. It was reported that the ring leader ( Troy Victorino, or something like that ) even had sex with one of the females after he beat her to death. The house was completely covered with blood as they chased each victim around beating them. It was the type of crime scene that shocked even the most hardened criminal investigators.

I always wondered if anyone would every buy that house after that.

if i was getting a good deal on it sure why not?

I'm with you, but the ONLY problem to the equation is the serial killer was never caught. So with that said! I don't want to be the person in his way just in case he starts feeling a little nostalgic.

I would love to do that. what are the chances or it happening twice in the same house? That house is now tragedy proof.

True Story.....

While we were house shopping a few yrs ago, we went into an open house and at the front entrance there was an entire display (professionally printed and blown up on a display) talking about how the house belonged to the first woman ever sentenced to death in California and how 2 of her husband’s had been buried in the yard in the 1950s / 1960s. I asked the realtor why they would put it up, figuring it would scare people off. She told me that they had had 3 buyers who dropped out of the sale when they found out during the disclosures. So the realtor just decided to make it part of the sales pitch, kinda like a haunted house thing.

There were about 10 people looking at the house (none of which wanted to buy after they saw that) and ALL us us were standing around the back yard asking each other...."so do you think there are more bodies down there"

It was pretty creepy

:1orglaugh i would for cheap price

what if you killed them, then I believe it would be ok

you said he's "still on the loose" hell no!

About flipping, I recall we did a logo for someone that collects data about such realty and checks for a fee if what you are about to buy is "risky"

Good idea

in front of my house there was a house and the owner was killed. many people refused to buy it but one guy purchased for cheap rate and opened hotel in it. What a great sale he gets now he will not sell it if anybody pays him 10 time more. yes he knew that owner was killed in the house. now its hotel not house.

I dont see the problem, its just a house.

It's called "stigmatized real estate." In some states you have to disclose, in others you do not.

Been there, done that. 4 murders on the property. Lived there for 10 years. Sold it and made a killing 2 years ago. :thumbsup

Nope.

:2 cents:

LOL! Best answer evah.

I was listening to the radio the other day and the host on the afternoon show was talking to her co-host who told a similar story. He and his wife had gone to see a house for sale and as part of the literature there was information about the previous owners. A guy came home and caught his wife in bed with another guy and shot them both. The guy was now doing life in prison. I guess it was a big story in that area so they just wanted to be honest and up front with the new buyers.

Why not?

That was kind of the basis for the idea of that part of the story. I wondered if something horrific and highly publicized happened in a house you would think it would be hard to sell that house. I wonder how a person would feel if they bought a house the a few months after they bought it they were told about what happened in it.

uh the killer is still free :Oh crap

no way in hell

Its law ( at least in CA ) that you have to disclose to buyers if there was a killing in the home (or mabey even any death at all....not sure)

I will buy the house and live in it

i'm not superstitious so i might
(not because of the price reduction but if i seriously licked the house - design, location etc)

As long as the blood and body parts are all cleared away why the hell not ?

the killer is still free :helpme what if he comes back to travel down memory lane and finds you there and he eats people dinner is served.

To live in it? No way...

To rent? If the house has no sues, debts or anything yes.

That depends. Does it have a hot tub and jacuzzi?

i'd get prepared and kill him first :1orglaugh
why not think of it as an interesting and dangerous experience :1orglaugh

When growing up, a neighbour axed his wife to death in their house a few numbers down from my parents house. He went to jail and they has tremendous problems selling the house, no locals wanted it. After being empty for 4-5 years it was practically given away for free to a couple from out of town.

Most of us live in a city with murderers... So to me if I'd like the house and price was good, Why not.

Doubt you would need to disclose a basic death, probably more suspicious deaths...

The house I grew up in was built in the late 1800s, it's never occurred to me until now that someone may have actually DIED [peacefully] in the room I slept in each night! :Oh crap LOL

From the time I was about 9 until I was 13 we lived in an old farmhouse that was build int 1890. It was a very cool house, but I never really thought of what all must have gone on inside that house during all the time it stood.

As long as they cleaned up and changed the carpets I don't think it's a big deal

I remember that! So fucked up he did it over an Xbox.. :disgust


To Kane, I actually looked at a murder house with some friends, so maybe some of these deets might be interesting-

I was helping some friends of mine do a little house hunting last year, one house in our area was being offered at an amazing deal. I sent the listing to my friends who called and set an appointment to look at it. They told me the address the next day and it sounded familliar so I googled it-

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...icle439792.ece

Not only did this guy kill his two children in the house, but a freind of ours actually knew the family before all this went down. Their children had been playmates.

We went to look at the house anyway and it was really eerie. It has been almost 2 years since the murders and for the most part the house was untouched. The killer's mother had inherited the property and naturally had issues going inside it. The furniture and most of the personal belongings had been moved, but the house hadn't been professionally cleaned- there was no blood that I could see but there was still fingerprint dust on the walls in the room where the children were killed, and most disturbing in my opinion- there were still personal belongings (photos, notes, kids drawings) and magnets on the fridge. :Oh crap

In Florida it is not manditory to disclose the history of the home. The real estate agent we went with was my friend's agent and not the listing agent, and he had no idea (or so he claimed). He said the only instruction the listing agent gave him was if the mother was there not to bother her with any questions about the home. He may have been truthful since when I showed him a few articles I had printed up about the murders he seemed to get the heebie jeebies worse than us. He also asked me if he could take the print outs home.

Sorry it;s not a more grandious story. Nothing gruesome. My friends decided to pass on the house- even though it was a great deal they had concerns about flipping it (it did eventually sell but for only at just over half of tax appraised value), and our friend who had been friends with them had also said she would never step foot in it. The house itself didn't feel creepy, even the actual murder room, the only thing that really bothered me was seeing the stuff on the fridge- kind of a mix of discomfort and remorse.