Would you purchase a house that haunted?

Would you purchase a house that haunted?

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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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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  • Member since 2018 · 12 posts · 0 votes
    7y

    I would like to joke about it, but I would say, "I would do it if I weren't new to this passion and if I really wanted the entertainment." I find myself weeding out any property that knowingly has a "catch" to it because I'd prefer to not have the drama. If the surrounding perception is that the house is haunted I wouldn't touch it now. Maybe when I'm further along and had scaled to the point of wanting the entertainment value, or even if I had such an inventory that it really didn't matter, I'd consider doing it for someone who really, really, really wanted a favor, or whom I really wanted to help out because I loved them. Speaking of love, I'm into this "satisfied-customer-down-the-line" thing. I plan to pass it on to another person; I wouldn't want someone coming back to me saying, "You sold me a house that you knew was haunted," which of course could be avoided by bringing up the necessary disclosure at the outset. Right now, I wouldn't do it. Later, who knows? 

  • Specialist · Piscataway, NJ · Member since 2019 · 15 posts · 8 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich No way!! There are other deals man. Lol 😂 I just had this conversation with a wholesaler near me. Everyone that bought the house had a history of suicides and when you walked in there was Satan worship signs everywhere and Bruhiya or santa something or other. Had a bad vibe. The house is still there ten years now...

  • Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2019 · 21 posts · 1 vote
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich I think it comes down to your personal beliefs. I’m not a believer in ghosts, but if for some reason things like that was happening and you tried to rent/Airbnb it and noticed you received that type of feedback - you could always sell it and get it out of your way could be your last option. You should definitely run the comps for selling to make sure if you did resort to that last option - you could still get some money in return

  • Member since 2018 · 12 posts · 0 votes
    7y

    Not now...

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich

    Dont do it

  • Dion McNeeleyPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Port Orchard, WA · Member since 2018 · 116 posts · 123 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich

    I think you are missing out on the huge potential of renting to people fascinated by the supernatural. That is virtually an untapped market.

  • Rental Property Investor · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2017 · 147 posts · 65 votes
    7y

    This is ridiculous 

  • Ned J.Pro Member
    Investor · Manteca, CA · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y

    If the numbers make sense, I wouldn't bid on it and use the "haunting" to my advantage to get the best price possible...use the "concern" to drive the price down.

    My one concern with the "market it as haunted" for STR is that eventually when you go to sell it, the house will have a large history of "being haunted" so your market for buyers just got way smaller. By marketing it that way for years, you reinforce the "haunting" as being real and you will have a real hard time reversing that in the future. You purposely put a big black cloud over the house and it may come back to "haunt" you when its time to sell....

  • Matthew Irish-JonesBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Buffalo, NY · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich depends on what kind of ghosts we are talking about here.

    Scary mean ones or friendly like Casper?

    Irish Jones Realty4.947 Reviews
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  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    7y

    Buy it!

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2015 · 4 posts · 5 votes
    7y

    I love this post!

  • San Antonio, TX · Member since 2019 · 930 posts · 836 votes
    7y

    Make sure you are only running comps of other haunted houses.

  • New to Real Estate · Catskill, NY · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 24 votes
    7y

    @Taylor Ferrell Thanks Taylor! 

    I didn’t get the bid. I have to admit I’m a little disappointed but not dwelling on it. It was my very first bid so I got my feet wet and feel a lot better about the whole process. On to the next one! 

  • New to Real Estate · Catskill, NY · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 24 votes
    7y

    @Matthew Irish-Jones Not sure how friendly but the family coexisted with whomever she was(they had a psychic come in and was told it was a she) for years before moving out. 

    Unfortunately I didn’t get the bid but at least I finally took action and have my first bid under my belt. Moving on

  • Flipper/Rehabber · Stuart, FL · Member since 2018 · 18 posts · 7 votes
    7y

    @Michelle Bulich just evict the spirits you own a property now 😂

  • New to Real Estate · Catskill, NY · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 24 votes
    7y

    I didn’t get the bid. If I had gotten it and experienced anything out of the norm I would absolutely disclose that if and when I sold, whether or not it was required. I would not do business any other way. 

  • New to Real Estate · Catskill, NY · Member since 2017 · 23 posts · 24 votes
    7y

    I have no idea if it was. That was just information relayed to my son by the woman who lived there years earlier. I makes no difference, I was outbid. I was just curious to see if anyone else had dealt with anything like this and whether or not to pursue.

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