Just in time for Halloween: Who died in your house?
Oct 23, 2013, 7:14 AM | Updated: Mar 4, 2016, 5:51 am
In the 2013 Haunted House Report from realtor.com, more than half of 1,400 homebuyers surveyed say they'd be OK with buying a "haunted" house. (AP)
(AP)
In most states, there is no law requiring home sellers or real estate professionals to disclose to a buyer that there was a death in a home but a new website aims to give buyers the power to find out for themselves.
DiedInHouse.com is a sort of database of death records, pulling from multiple sources that document deaths in or on residential properties. For $11.99, users can search the site to see if any death notices connected to their address exists.
“It’s harder to find things like this out than you think,” said Roy Condrey, who launched the site after his tenants told him they believed his rental property was haunted. Condrey said he has found that a death in a home can reduce the home’s value by 15 percent to 25 percent.
However, buyers may not be scared off by a home’s spooky past. In the newly released 2013 Haunted House Report from realtor.com, more than half of 1,400 homebuyers surveyed say they’d be OK with buying a “haunted” house. Thirty-five percent even say they’ve lived in a haunted house before. But they do expect a discount.
Thirty-four percent of respondents say that if they were to buy a “haunted” house, they’d expect a discount of 1 percent to 30 percent off the home’s market value; 22 percent say they’d expect a discount of 31 percent to 50 percent.
