Buying a house someone was murdered in

pc7

I personally wouldn't buy it, just wouldn't sit right with me. Also would worry it would affect any future selling price.
There is a house in my area I always adored and said one day I'd buy it if I ever could as was my dream home/area.
Person who owns it has since be found guilty and convicted of rape. If it went on the market tomorrow now I wouldn't buy it. Bad vibes or whatever you'd like to call it but it will be forever know as 'the rapists house' now so I wouldn't buy it, same with murder.

mkhall

Breezer wrote: »

I'm a first time buyer, and I've recently found a wonderful house that I was all set to put on offer on. Getting all excited about this, I went and googled the address, and discovered someone was violently murdered in a house on the road several decades ago. The house number isn't specified, but there's only a couple of houses on this road, so there's a reasonable chance this was the one it happened in.

While it's a fairly upsetting thought, I don't believe in ghosts etc. But other people do, and what I am worried about is resale value! Would this be something that would put people off, do you think?

Yes, this is serious question!

This happened to me, except it was in a house I was renting and I had already lived there for two years. I would have been absolutely creeped out had I known beforehand and would never have moved in. Wondering..where and what happened in the room I'm sitting in..etc but after I found out I didn't care, I'd lived there for so long already and knew there was nothing strange. You would have more of a chance of "a haunted" house if you bought an old farmhouse or something.

If anyone's interested it's this story here
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/trial-told-woman-in-ditch-was-strangled-1.1112313

A lovely taxi man told me this story when he dropped me off at my house at 2am, when my housemate was away for the week! I don't think it's clear where she was murdered but just knowing I was living in the same house was weird at first. I'd actually completely forgotten about this until I read this also!

mirrorwall14

Would you not just go into the local pub and ask? Someone will talk!

Skommando

I wouldn't. Nothing to do with superstition. And the house will never be worth as much as a house with a clean history.

Do you really want to explain to young kids that they are sleeping and growing up in the house where someone raped, bludgeoned and tortured a woman to death because you thought it was a bargain ?

Do you really want to make love to your wife in that room ? Would she ? Bizarre that you would.

April 73

I'm not religious and I don't consider myself to be superstitious, but I wouldn't buy a house someone was murdered in.

Having said I'm not superstitious - when we were house-hunting two years ago I did feel some houses had a happier feeling than others.

One particular house had a really negative feeling & despite looking on paper to be what we wanted, I didn't spend more than 5 minutes viewing it because of the vibe. I found out later it was a bank sale - I think the upset & negativity & worry of the previous owners was still there.

As I said - I'm not superstitious though ;-)

Ayuntamiento

mkhall wrote: »

This happened to me, except it was in a house I was renting and I had already lived there for two years. I would have been absolutely creeped out had I known beforehand and would never have moved in. Wondering..where and what happened in the room I'm sitting in..etc but after I found out I didn't care, I'd lived there for so long already and knew there was nothing strange. You would have more of a chance of "a haunted" house if you bought an old farmhouse or something.

If anyone's interested it's this story here
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/trial-told-woman-in-ditch-was-strangled-1.1112313

A lovely taxi man told me this story when he dropped me off at my house at 2am, when my housemate was away for the week! I don't think it's clear where she was murdered but just knowing I was living in the same house was weird at first. I'd actually completely forgotten about this until I read this also!

Just reading that story makes me feel so sad. If I lived in the place that it happened, I know that I'd think about that woman everyday. I just wouldn't be able to get it out of my head.

Nothing to do with ghosts, etc. That's just the type of person I am. So I'll vote against you buying the murder house.

BettePorter

I don't think i'd have a problem with a murder house tbh. But a house in which a suicide took place would freak me out more for some reason and there's a lot more of them in Ireland than murder ones sadly.

Bobeagleburger

Skommando wrote: »

I wouldn't. Nothing to do with superstition. And the house will never be worth as much as a house with a clean history.

Do you really want to explain to young kids that they are sleeping and growing up in the house where someone raped, bludgeoned and tortured a woman to death because you thought it was a bargain ?

Do you really want to make love to your wife in that room ? Would she ? Bizarre that you would.

Yeah, not a believer in that stuff either but I wouldn't buy a house all the that went on in either. You could be living there for 40 or 50 years. I know a house like this too. Priced under market value and great location. Nobody touching it.

mkhall

Ayuntamiento wrote: »

Just reading that story makes me feel so sad. If I lived in the place that it happened, I know that I'd think about that woman everyday. I just wouldn't be able to get it out of my head.

Nothing to do with ghosts, etc. That's just the type of person I am. So I'll vote against you buying the murder house.

I had actually found out landlord was selling the house not long after and moved. It did consume me for a week but I couldn't let my mind go there. Neighbors tried convincing me it was thought to have happened in the car, maybe to comfort themselves.

Lantus

Sounds like a great opportunity. When society starts to outgrow superstition and myth will your purchase be seen as wisdom?

People die in houses all the time. Age, disease, misadventure and sometimes acts of violence or stupidity.

And these same things happen on the streets, in offices and all over the city, country and planet. Are you going to boycott everywhere something bad has happened?

Ayuntamiento

Lantus wrote: »

Sounds like a great opportunity. When society starts to outgrow superstition and myth will your purchase be seen as wisdom?

People die in houses all the time. Age, disease, misadventure and sometimes acts of violence or stupidity.

And these same things happen on the streets, in offices and all over the city, country and planet. Are you going to boycott everywhere something bad has happened?

I don't think any of us will outgrow being empathetic and emotionally motivated beings.

Ultimately I don't believe that I'd be bumping into ghosts in the hallway. However, I know that I wouldn't be able to shake a feeling of unease about the house. It would be like a constant reminder of the type of evil that exists in the world.

I frequently walk past a place where a young child was killed in a hit and run. I think about her poor parents every single time. I'm not even religious but I find myself hoping she's at peace somewhere else.

Charles Babbage

Pat Mustard wrote: »

Murders can affect the value of property in an entire area.

If I was buying a house in which a person had been murdered, I would attempt to negotiate a favourable price. It should also be borne in mind that if you attempt to sell that house, the resale value may be affected. But what does it matter, if you have made the saving when you bought the house, originally.

This. make sure that everyone else buying the house knows about the murder, and negotiate a discount.

realdanbreen

Breezer wrote: »

I'm a first time buyer, and I've recently found a wonderful house that I was all set to put on offer on. Getting all excited about this, I went and googled the address, and discovered someone was violently murdered in a house on the road several decades ago. The house number isn't specified, but there's only a couple of houses on this road, so there's a reasonable chance this was the one it happened in.

While it's a fairly upsetting thought, I don't believe in ghosts etc. But other people do, and what I am worried about is resale value! Would this be something that would put people off, do you think?

Yes, this is serious question!

I wouldn't worry too much.
<mod snip>

DivingDuck

lau1247 wrote: »

can you not ask the estate agent directly?? Aren't they obliged to disclosure any information relevant to the property.. akin to don't ask don't tell but ask and they have to answer.

Breezer wrote: »

I did, yeah. Nothing coming up, just the road name, no number. I wondered was that deliberate.

I don't know exactly how long the current owners have been there, I must find out, I think it may have been just slightly less than the time elapsed since the murder though.

I did a bit of digging myself, and can't find out any more either, unfortunately. As someone else suggested, someone at the local pub might have more info.

The agent can only tell you what they know; if they don't know something, they can hardly disclose it. If the current owners bought the house after the murder, they can always claim they knew nothing about it, and may not have mentioned it to the agent.

Then again, if they've had the house for over a decade, there probably isn't anything creepy about it. I'm always wary of a property being sold very quickly after purchase, and while I might buy a murder house, I would definitely not buy a murder house the previous owners only had for five minutes. Maybe I'm being silly, but that sounds warning bells for me.

athtrasna

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Breezer

TOMP wrote: »

OP, was it an adult or a child that was murdered? Bad karma either way

An adult.

I unearthed an old Thom's directory. It is the house.

This thread is giving me a lot of pause for thought as regards resale value, and if I'm honest yes, it's a weird feeling. I'll think about it.

Keep the opinions coming folks, this is helpful.

pablo128

Breezer wrote: »

An adult.

I unearthed an old Thom's directory. It is the house.

This thread is giving me a lot of pause for thought as regards resale value, and if I'm honest yes, it's a weird feeling. I'll think about it.

Keep the opinions coming folks, this is helpful.

My opinion is the only thing to use the information for would be to beat the price down. Although that's unlikely in the current market.

tuxy

What about buying houses that were built over land that someone had been buried on.
Like lets say a mass burial dating back to the neolithic period.
Is that an issue?

Ayuntamiento

tuxy wrote: »

What about buying houses that were built over land that someone had been buried on.
Like lets say a mass burial dating back to the neolithic period.
Is that an issue?

That wouldn't thrill me either to be honest.
I understand you're trying to rationalize the argument but all of us here are speaking about our gut reaction to the situation. There might be very little logic to it but that tends to be how people make decisions about massive undertakings like buying a house. It's best the OP knows that a lot (maybe most) of people that he might try to resell to will have a problem with this.

ohnonotgmail

Breezer wrote: »

An adult.

I unearthed an old Thom's directory. It is the house.

This thread is giving me a lot of pause for thought as regards resale value, and if I'm honest yes, it's a weird feeling. I'll think about it.

Keep the opinions coming folks, this is helpful.

Is the house being sold at a significant discount? that is the only thing that matters.

Ursus Horribilis

If the people posting here are in any representative of the general population, then I'd not touch it with a 20ft barge pole. Not from a superstitious/bad vibes point of view because I don't buy into those beliefs personally. It's the resale that'd be my concern. You don't need to be making it harder for yourself to sell the house if needs be. Especially if it's known locally as a murder house. I think the good has been taken out of it for you at this stage. Whatever you choose to do, don't buy something that you have any niggling doubts about. You'll have plenty of time afterwards to think about it.

pablo128

tuxy wrote: »

What about buying houses that were built over land that someone had been buried on.
Like lets say a mass burial dating back to the neolithic period.
Is that an issue?

I lived in Cloverhill in Ballyfermot as a child. Apparently it was built over a famine graveyard!

TeaBagMania

GT_TDI_150 wrote: »

Buy it!!

Be a cool topic to drop at dinner parties.

This or I was thinking of a Halloween Haunted House recreation that is second to none, probably guaranteed not a single tricker-treating kid knocks on your door for at least 20 years

intheclouds

Sure any number of people could have been murdered on the site where your house is over the past 10,000 years.

You only happen to know abut this one because it was quite recent.

Wouldn't bother me in the slightest. I'm not superstitious or religious or suffer from any other megrims that might cause me to worry about buying a house where someone died. I'll die somewhere and I hope it won't put anyone off being in that place.

Death is a part of life. Happens to us all and is as natural as birth. That it was death by murder is just happenstance.

I'd be raising it with the estate agent to negotiate a discount mind you.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

intheclouds wrote: »

Death is a part of life. Happens to us all and is as natural as birth. That it was death by murder is just happenstance.

Death by natural causes is natural. Murder is not.

TeaBagMania

pablo128 wrote: »

tuxy wrote: »

What about buying houses that were built over land that someone had been buried on.
Like lets say a mass burial dating back to the neolithic period.
Is that an issue?

I lived in Cloverhill in Ballyfermot as a child. Apparently it was built over a famine graveyard!

Wouldn t mind this in the least, id happily be a custodian to those that lost their life in such a tragedy

intheclouds

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote: »

Death by natural causes is natural. Murder is not.

But so what?

I really don't see what the issue is beyond superstition.

bullpost

Breezer wrote: »

An adult.

I unearthed an old Thom's directory. It is the house.

This thread is giving me a lot of pause for thought as regards resale value, and if I'm honest yes, it's a weird feeling. I'll think about it.

Keep the opinions coming folks, this is helpful.

One option might be to go to local Garda station and ask. Tell them your concerns and while not telling you which house, they might eliminate your one?

Sapphire

intheclouds wrote: »

But so what?

I really don't see what the issue is beyond superstition.

I'm not religious or superstitious, but I don't think I could fully enjoy living there. I've slept in beds that a person has died in, sat in chairs that they died in so I think my discomfort would be about the violent way they met their end I'd be constantly thinking about. Trying to watch CSI while my eyes would be straying to the spot where X killed Y.

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater

intheclouds wrote: »

But so what?

I really don't see what the issue is beyond superstition.

No, I'm just making the point that murder isn't natural. I agree that it's superstition primarily which would put people off, but I can also see why someone who doesn't believe in ghosts would still be uncomfortable in a room/house where they know someone died a painful, violent, horrific death.