Would you purchase a house that haunted?

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Would you purchase a house that haunted?

Michelle Bulich
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?!

Am I crazy to want to still bid on it?

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Jim K.
Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
7y

@Michelle Bulich

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.

PEOPLE WILL COME.

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  • Charles Dobens
    Duxbury, MA · Member since 2011 · 84 posts · 67 votes
    7y

    These are some very funny answers but, legally, know the law in your state. Some states require disclosure. Ask your realtor. Check out this case in New York.

    1Reply
  • Renae Bouchard
    Flipper/Rehabber · Burlington, VT · Member since 2018 · 28 posts · 14 votes
    7y

    Ghosts are real and it's pretty trendy. If you plan to list it on Airbnb you could probably list it for more per night because of this!! But totally depends on your location.

    0Reply
  • Cristina Mendoza
    Property Manager · Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich I would

    0Reply
  • Scott Couch
    Milledgeville, GA · Member since 2015 · 13 posts · 5 votes
    7y

    I would buy the property going in to it knowing that I may have additional disclosures if I sell it.  Some states have laws of what you do and do not have to disclose, but some things may need to be disclosed for the moral aspect of it.    

    2Reply
  • Ray Fisher
    Rental Property Investor · Higginson, AR · Member since 2015 · 123 posts · 101 votes
    7y

    https://www.americasmosthauntedhotel.com/

    Cresent hotel in eureka springs AR has embraced it, and uses it for advertising, been cashing in on it for years.

    Personally, I have never met a ghost!, had a paranormal activity that I know of.  But the one thing I do on each house. On the way out after the rehab is done. and I am ready to put it on the market.

    It's time to sit down and ask the good lord to bless this house, protect it and its inhabitants with a shield of peace and goodness. I ask to bring me a good family that will appreciate the hard work and efforts that has brought them to this home.  I am a Christian and I believe that good is among us.

    2Reply
  • Marjorie Carlson
    Realtor · Sewickley, PA · Member since 2018 · 14 posts · 2 votes
    7y

    Buy some sage and go for it!

    1Reply
  • Deneuve Brutus
    Investor · Woodbridge, VA · Member since 2019 · 162 posts · 64 votes
    7y

    Your not crazy at all, you can market it as a haunted house, see if it's in a haunted trail. Turn it into a spooky bed and breakfast! It would kill during Halloween!

    Good luck.

    1Reply
  • Brent Crosby
    Rental Property Investor · Farmington, UT · Member since 2018 · 171 posts · 148 votes
    7y

    @Jim K. Boom! I feel like you should have your own HGTV show. Now just turn your personal life into a circus for the tabloids to feast on and you can’t lose!!!

    1Reply
  • StacyA McBainPro Member
    Real Estate Agent · Boise, ID · Member since 2015 · 193 posts · 70 votes
    7y

    Practically speaking, you might check your disclosure rules, now that you have an internet record asserting that you believe the house is haunted. In Idaho, "Psychological issues" are not disclosure issues. If the same is true in your state, you won't have to worry about your future sale coming back to "haunt" you, from a disclosure perspective, if Yo Sammity Casper shows up. 

    Pun-intentional of course :). Good luck! 

    0Reply
  • Jim K.
    Handyman · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    7y

    I remain convinced that there are worse ways to make a buck in real estate, far more offensive to God, than by giving superstitious people a little thrill. I would set up the Airbnb and figure out a few tricks to pull on visitors at night to help the believers along in their silliness, and I'd spend the money they gave me afterwards with a clear conscience.

    2Reply
  • Michael Kiley
    Real Estate Agent · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2017 · 184 posts · 253 votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Jim K.:

    @Michelle Bulich

    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.

    PEOPLE WILL COME.

     I saw @Jim K. commented on this and knew it would be good! 

    1Reply
  • David Wright
    Lender · USA · Member since 2013 · 186 posts · 97 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich - You asked and I have an answer.  For those offended by Biblical Christian Views you may not want to read what I have to say, but I make no apologizes for it.

    The Bible teaches about spiritual warfare and evil and demonic spirits and there are many in properties vacant and occupied and people in general.   I can not speak for this property, because I do not know, but my advice is not to fear.  

    Born again spirit filled Believers in Jesus Christ have authority over demonic spirits and the devil himself, so if you are a disciple of Jesus, just tell the evil spirits to leave and they will.

    That's my sermon for today, and I did not even take an offering.  God bless.

    3Reply
  • Josh Dane
    Rental Property Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 100 posts · 85 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich just give the ghost a 5-day notice :)

    0Reply
  • Khari Lewis
    Tallahassee, FL · Member since 2018 · 13 posts · 2 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich hell no

    0Reply
  • Nathan Alex
    Flipper/Rehabber · California, CA · Member since 2019 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich Great

    0Reply
  • Chris LumLee
    Investor · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2017 · 187 posts · 108 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich No chance in hell I would submit that bid. I wouldn't bid if you paid me to do it.

    0Reply
  • Chris Hardgrove
    Tampa · Member since 2019 · 2 posts · 1 vote
    7y

    This is similar to a situation I had a few years ago, except someone committed suicide inside the house.  The idea of a non-natural death, especially if a suicide was gory, turned me away.  You should consider how superstitious possible tenants/buyers could be.  "Be waaaared"....as Dracula says.

    0Reply
  • Craig Jeppesen
    Rental Property Investor · Chubbuck, ID · Member since 2018 · 532 posts · 466 votes
    7y

    Tell the seller the ghost goes with them, or you need a discount to keep the ghost. Haha!

    1Reply
  • Robert Shedden
    Rental Property Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2018 · 84 posts · 140 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich

    Do the ghosts pay their rent on time? :)

    0Reply
  • Suly B.
    Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2018 · 81 posts · 62 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich if you decide to Airbnb the place you'll likely get more bookings if you list it as a haunted house. It'll set your place apart from the rest! People love to stay at haunted houses.

    0Reply
  • Suly B.
    Rental Property Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2018 · 81 posts · 62 votes
    7y

    @Jim K. Yes! Totally. I like your style!

    0Reply
  • Joe Burrell
    TX · Member since 2018 · 1 post · 2 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich

    We were cleaning up after a lease was up and getting the house ready to rent again. I keep hearing sounds like someone was in the house. Lights would be on the next day and the house was locked up still with new locks. On the third day I shut the main breaker off just for the heck of it thinking that someone was getting in somehow after I was leaving. The next morning all of the blinds were ripped to shreds and laying on floor, and the house was still locked. At this point I didn’t even want to be in the house because I was sure that a bad spirt was in the house. I left the kitchen lights on after that and nothing was out of place the next morning. I truly thought that there must be a sprit in the house that was scared of the dark. We told the new tenant and they thought that it was funny and wouldn’t you know that they found the neighbors cat when they were moving in. We think that it was hiding behind the HVAC piping in the basement while we were there for some reason.

    2Reply
  • Account Closed
    New to Real Estate · Argyle, TX · Member since 2017 · 28 posts · 25 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich

    HEEEEEELLLLLL NAAAAAH!

    Next thing you know you’re gonna have a damn poltergeist! Ruuunnn

    0Reply
  • Aron Zee
    Member since 2019 · 2 posts · 1 vote
    7y

    I mean if you plan on AirBnb'ing the property, there could not be a better marketing gag than that no?

    Haunted House in Philly! Spectacular! Wouldn't even need to rehab it... just add spiderwebs, and some dark wood/paint and creeking noises as upsell...

    Just get it if the numbers are right, and if it really is haunted well... who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!! 

    0Reply
  • Jason Merchey
    Investor · Hendersonville, NC · Member since 2013 · 754 posts · 281 votes
    7y

    Oh wow, 5 pages of talk of hauntings? What is wrong here?

    1Reply
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