A real estate ghost story
This happened to me.
There once was a house for sale. It was below market rate, by about 10 percent. There was a note on the listing sheet that said something like “ask listing agent about details of the notorious status.” This happened during the period when agents were legally compelled to disclose such things.
I didn’t think much about the notorious status. I went to preview the house, looking for something wrong with it. It was clean; it had modern windows, kitchen and bathroom. The floors were even and newly refinished. The heating system and electrical system was modern. The roof was new enough. It was sunny and pleasant…
But, from the second I stepped into the place, my stomach hurt. A lot! I thought I must have eaten something bad. I don’t usually get indigestion. Despite that, I was excited. I had two current clients who could benefit from a deal like this.
I didn’t look into the notorious status beyond a quick call to the listing agent after I previewed the house. The answer: there was a domestic murder in that house.
Every time I went into this house, my stomach clenched. It was the worst the first time. It got better during subsequent visits, so it was easy enough to ignore it while I was with my clients. I didn’t say anything about the “notorious status” until after the showings. I wanted the house to stand on its own merits. If they liked it, they could then decide if the status would have a detrimental effect on re-sale price.
The first couple liked the place. Well, he did. She liked it, but she also got a stomach ache. Something was bothering her about it, but she couldn't put her finger on it. The second couple saw it. He didn’t like it because the rooms were too small. She thought there was something creepy about it; it made her uncomfortable. Neither couple wanted the property.
I didn’t think much about this beyond idle curiosity. Time passed. The property was purchased by someone.
The clincher for me came about five years later. I had a client who was a bargain hunter. I told him about the notorious house and how it sold about 10 percent below comparable homes. That client said he lived near a domestic murder some years back. He named this house. He had met the couple involved. He told me the woman was stabbed in the stomach.
That poor woman. There are scary things in this world.
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Cool story. Love hearing this stuff around Halloween. It's strange how some homes just give off a certain vibe.
Sometimes the cause is obvious. The house may be sunny, or really dark. It might feel dirty or low-life, or maybe it's meticulously clean and full of charming pink "Gramma" coffee cups.
I think it's more interesting when you can't figure out why a house feels unhappy. We just saw a house like that. Extremely cute on the outside, but a big letdown as soon as you opened the door. The house was neat, clean and reasonably updated. Layout was pretty good. Sure, some issues with storage, but hey; it's Massachusetts. But the house just hung with an air of disappointment and unhappiness. I still can't make heads or tails of it, although someone who snooped in the medicine cabinets (not me!) later told me there was an awful lot of medication for one of the owners. Maybe that has nothing to do with it, but the house did feel sad.
I think houses have energy (good and bad). It's the energy of the people who lived there before. The older the house is, the more energy it has. I own an 1890 Victorian and before I bought it I could feel the energy as I viewed it for the first time. It was good energy compared to some of the other houses that I looked at. It was interesting to go to the local Historic Society, library and Probate Court to view the documents (bibliographies, wills, etc.) of the people who had lived there originally. I often call out the original occupants name (Kimball Bates) to see if he answers me in some spooky way.
how about haunted banks? ONLY nine failed on Friday, we'll soon have a double-digit day...
I was looking online for houses and came across one that was nice - but there was something odd about the front set up (turned the garage into a room, some windows were off center, etc) it was distinctive, but just didn't 'fit' together. There was something odd about it that you could sense - even from the pictures. Flash forward 6 months and I'm watching the show Haunted and boom... there's the house!! The show was about how the house was haunted and they had to a cleansing w/ some Indian spiritual Leader (twice). It's amazing how you can get a feeling for a home and how the spirits live on.
It seems that the latest fad of ghost hunting has made haunted properties even more popular and in high demand. Some people actually want a haunted house with an infamous history, the more macabre, the better. Although I get a lot of unexplained anomalies and ghostly images in photos, I sure as heck don't want the ghosts to move in with me, but prefer they stay outside where they're often captured on my motion-activated outdoor cam. Don't know why they're here, perhaps something to do with the history of this land. In any case, they're welcome...just stay outside, please.
Why is it that you never hear of a haunted condo? Or a haunted office?
I don't believe in ghosts or an afterlife, but if I were going to haunt someone, I think I'd pick an old boss or co-worker, or possibly my weasel-faced Social Psych professor from college; but not the hapless folks who happened to wind up with my old house. That doesn't seem right to me.
You people watch too much television. What century are you living in, anyway? Do we need to burn a witch to get rid of the evil eye on the house?
If you believe that you can detect a "haunted" property with a gut feeling, then you should apply for the JREF prize: one million in cash for proof of any paranormal phenomenon:
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html
If you want to feel "energy" from homes, spend a few days house hunting in Salem
I had a haunted condo - it was in one of the old mill buildings up in Lowell. It was a great condo. The building definitely had a lot of history and you could feel it when you walked in the doors.
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