New to Real Estate · Catskill, NY · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 24 votes
I have a feeling this may be the first time something like this has been asked on BP.
I am finally about to put a bid on my very first property and it’s a foreclosure. When people say ‘if it’s too good to be true it usually is’, they are not kidding!
I did the numbers on the property and before placing a bid had my son reach out to a friend who lived in the house a few years back. She confirmed some things we had already known and gave of some new info as well. It was sounding like a win when she said ‘The only thing is it’s seriously haunted! The woman never was violent but I thought you should know.’ What???
At first we laughed, until she described in detail many instances during the time she lived there.
I could try to ignore what she said and go through with the bid but I started to think....if this is really what’s going on in the house and I decide to sell, rent or Airbnb a few years from now who is going to want to buy it or stay there?!
This is FAR from the first time something like this has been posted here.
I WOULD BUY THAT PLACE IN A HEARTBEAT.
Then I would get as much "documentation" and "witness accounts" on it being haunted as possible. Then I would cash in. For a piddling sum, I know a Greek Orthodox priest will come to your house in a robe and bless it with holy water and prayers, get that on video. Don't know what the Catholics do, but figure it out with them and if you can get some backwoods charismatic preacher in there handling snakes...oh, the potential.
Get the weirdest-looking psychic readers you can find in there, again, get in on video. These people will do this this kind of thing for just the exposure. Call the ghost shows, see if you can schedule a visit for an episode, that's pure pay dirt.
Make up the wildest backstory you can and mock up some documentation. Focus your efforts on demonic possession, orgiastic Satanic cult rituals, black magic, murder-suicide storylines. Fill the house with haunted mirrors, creepy dolls, vintage music boxes, china figurines, photograph them in place, and you can rotate new furnishings in an out every few weeks as you sell the old ones on eBay.
But the bulk of your revenue is going to come from Airbnb, where you will loudly and proudly advertise your haunted house experience.
Rental Property Investor · St Joseph, MI · Member since 2015 · 302 posts · 106 votes
7y
I have tried to buy a haunted house in the past without much success. My recent purchase of 9 units included a 4 unit that is haunted by a woman that over dosed a few years ago. This is according to the tenants that have lived there a few months. The death occurred over 5 years ago. I haven't spent enough time in the house to experience anything out of the ordinary, but I will say, the tenants in this house are some of the strangest people I have ever met. Don't know if it is related to the Aura of the house.
Rental Property Investor · Kalamazoo, MI · Member since 2018 · 117 posts · 235 votes
7y
@Michelle Bulich
You just unwittingly created a mashup HGTV/Scyfy channel spinoff where Real Estate Investors intentional develop in haunted houses. They bring priests and teams of people with special equipment into rich neighborhoods so they can get better deals by making people believe their property is in bad spiritual shape haha
@Jim K. Do they teach that business plan at the McRib investment seminar? I feel like all I need to do now is find a haunted house and start cashing checks! Can't believe your giving this info away for free.
Just a teaser. If you sign up now for our signature Mystery Meat and Houses investment seminar packages for $9,995 we'll do a deep dive into incredible next-level investment strategies for poltergeist lairs and coven meetinghouses in addition to haunted houses as add-on revenue streams. I personally do a session on the practical points of turning pet cemeteries into stunning new mobile home parks.
Now Jim, I know your a regular but shouldn't this be in the marketplace?
Btw, when are you having one in Texas? I'm interested in the vampire venue.
I'm developing a vampire bootcamp with optional werewolf add-on.
LOL. Man you are a riot. Now I know why you want Simplisafe in your places - it's not for guarding tools but for ensnaring otherworldly bodies :D
@Jim K. Do they teach that business plan at the McRib investment seminar? I feel like all I need to do now is find a haunted house and start cashing checks! Can't believe your giving this info away for free.
Just a teaser. If you sign up now for our signature Mystery Meat and Houses investment seminar packages for $9,995 we'll do a deep dive into incredible next-level investment strategies for poltergeist lairs and coven meetinghouses in addition to haunted houses as add-on revenue streams. I personally do a session on the practical points of turning pet cemeteries into stunning new mobile home parks.
But wait, there's more! For the PLATINUM LEVEL POLTERGEIST PACKAGE FOR ONLY 3 EASY PAYMENTS OF $4,797....
Rental Property Investor · Southern NH · Member since 2017 · 87 posts · 100 votes
7y
I'd actually take that superstitious leash and run with it to get more money off. Notify the seller and the seller's agent how much money it will cost to call a medium to exorcise the ghosts!
Specialist · Milford, ME · Member since 2016 · 630 posts · 378 votes
7y
What @Jeremy A. says is fairly accurate. Many make jokes of demons and their power but it isn’t something to mess with. I have experience with them. 20 years ago I bought a house with that problem. The woman there ended up burning herself to death. Generally demons attach themselves to inanimate objects or follow those who welcome them into their lives by their practices. In the house I bought it was connected to some of the objects in the house. Both myself and one of the contractors took some of the things back to our homes and subsequently had trouble with the demons. Once we got rid of them the problems went away for both of us.
That being said, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy the house but I would in no way keep anything from it. I wouldn’t give it away either but rather dumpster everything in the house and you and future people should be ok.
BiggerPockets Money Podcast Host · Longmont, CO · Member since 2014 · 7k+ posts · 10k+ votes
7y
@Gordon Starr , murder is different from haunted. I'd NEVER buy a murder house - especially a notorious murder. There was one near me that made national news for weeks, dad murdered pregnant wife and 2 daughters. I would take that house if it were free. I don't need the headaches that come with that money - there's other places to find money.
@Michelle Bulich , I live near the Stanley Hotel. Stephen King was inspired to write The Shining after staying in Room 217. That room is "haunted" and reservations for that specific room run out several months. Buy the house and AirBnB it and watch the piles of cash roll in. I'd go a touch further and plant walkie talkies in the air vents, then have some weird, quiet noises on a timer to enhance the experience.
@Jim K. , you know self-promotion is not allowed in the forums...even when it's a legit University such as yours.
@Kyle Schlosser is there a place to check for deaths at a house or are you just at the mercy of google luck of the draw?
Great question. I've not personally encountered the scenario though the data could potentially be had within City/County records...possibly even within old (previous sale) disclosures as well, though that may be less likely.
Real Estate Agent · San DIego · Member since 2019 · 177 posts · 185 votes
7y
In California you must disclose if there was a death in the house within 3 years, and also must disclose anything that would pose a significant detriment to the property, if you know about it, regardless of when it happened. For instance, you'd have to disclose if Marilyn Monroe died in your property, or Charles Manson lived there, no matter how long ago. I'd point blank ask the sellers if they have anything to disclose about the house's reputation for being haunted.
Then, like the others say, I'd negotiate accordingly and buy it to AirBnB it.
Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
7y
My wife and I had 2 short term rental houses and wanted a 3rd. The limiting factor on occupancy was bathrooms. We found a 3 story house with 4 full baths and a jacuzzi. We bought it, put 9 beds in there plus furniture and appliances.
The first group of people that rented it were 11 pipefitters from Baytown Texas. After the first week, the foreman asked me if it was haunted. I said no. A few months later they moved out, I asked them whey they thought it was haunted. He told me things would move across the mantle and you could hear footsteps coming up the stairs from the basement and someone would rattle the door at the top of the stairs.
Next group of people were pipeline hands from Oklahoma. They didn't know the pipefitters. They said the same thing, things moving across the mantle and footsteps coming up from the basement.
Next group of people were boilermakers from Arkansas. They said things wouldn't stay on the mantle, lights and water would turn off and on on their own, and they would come home after work and hear someone walking around on the second floor. They'd go up there and find nobody.
A group of welders from Louisiana said a light turned on by itself, then they saw a shadow of a person walking up the stairs. A cup slid across the kitchen counter, then it slid back to where it originally was. Their work was winding down, and only one guy was staying in the house for a few more nights. He went to bed around 9 p.m. Said his room was around 70 degrees. He woke up at midnight and said his room was freezing cold and that it felt like 1000 hands were holding him down in his bed. Said he couldn't get out of bed for about a minute. When he did, he grabbed all his things and slept in his truck.
Now, when I show the house to people, I don't mention anything about being haunted. But half the people ask me if it is. I have 22 other short term rentals. Nobody has ever asked if the other houses are haunted.
I've discovered that paranormal activity happens when people leave the house messy. Messy people tend to experience that kind of activity and tell me about it. Clean people never mention anything about paranormal activity. I go in the houses once a week to collect rent, and I can see how they keep it. I keep this sign on the fridge.
Investor · Joplin, MO · Member since 2015 · 76 posts · 78 votes
7y
@Michelle Bulich
Buy it, have the guys from ghost adventures film an episode, it's a real TV show(stupid, but a real show) and the market the sh$t out of the house as a haunted bed and breakfast, there is a market for that kind of thing. In all seriousness if the numbers work for you, go for it.
