Here’s how hauntings and negative stigmas affect home values.
As we head deeper into October, I thought it would be fitting to discuss a spooky real estate topic: Does a haunted reputation affect a home’s value?
The short answer is absolutely! Think about it, would you want to live in a house you know someone was murdered in? Unnatural passings create stigmas around homes, and the severity of the stigma depends on how gruesome the details are. For example, if someone passed away peacefully in their sleep, that won’t create a stigma at all. On the other hand, a murder in cold blood will have a big negative impact.
Stigmas aren’t always a death sentence for a house. For example, the famous home from “The Conjuring” was listed recently for $1.2 million! For those who don’t know, the movie is based on a supposedly true story of a family moving into the home and experiencing a severe haunting. However, homes tend to sell for a lot in that area, and I guess inventory is low enough for some buyers to ignore the hype.
“If you price correctly, even a haunted home will sell. ”
A lot of properties around the U.S. have stigmas, including one of mine. I was renting the property to a tenant when they, unfortunately, decided to end their own life in the home. When we decided to sell the property, a lot of buyers were turned off by what happened there. However, when we lowered the price, fewer people seemed to care. In fact, a bidding war started, and we were able to sell the home for close to what we originally asked.
No matter what, you should disclose if something stigmatizing has occurred in your home. It’s important to a lot of cultures and religions, so it’s the right thing to do. It may make your home more difficult to sell in the short term, but there’s always someone willing to pay a good price for a quality home.
If you have any spooky stories you want to share, or if you have questions, please call or email me. I am always willing to talk!
