Halloween is just around the corner, and with it, all things spooky and haunting. In the real estate profession, we see lots of scary things come up during inspections or home tours, but there’s always an interesting question for buyers: would you purchase a home where a murder happened or one located near a cemetery?
Years ago, I was representing buyers who were interested in a home in Indianapolis. We had toured the property, and everything seemed to be moving along as it normally would. But after one of our showings, the owner pulled me aside and shared something I hadn't expected. There had been a murder in the home.
I went home that evening and started doing some research and learned the property had once belonged to an Indianapolis woman who was known for keeping a significant amount of cash in her home. She had been murdered during a robbery in the 1970s, and the case had received national attention.
I felt my buyers deserved to know that information before making one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives. So, I shared what I had found and gave them time to think about it. They weighed the pros and cons for about a month, taking into account the home's history against everything they liked about the property. They considered the location, the house itself and whether its past would affect how they felt living there and ultimately decided to buy it.
What makes a home undesirable to one buyer might not matter much to another and that can have a very real impact on the market.
In real estate, homes associated with a murder, death or other troubling events are sometimes referred to as stigmatized properties. From a buyer's perspective, there can be both advantages and disadvantages to purchasing a stigmatized property.
If a property's history causes some buyers to rule it out, that can mean fewer competing offers and potentially more room to negotiate. For a buyer who isn't bothered by what happened decades earlier, that could present an opportunity to purchase a home in a desirable neighborhood at a competitive price.
But I would caution anyone against assuming a home with a dark past is automatically a good deal. A home's value still comes down to the fundamentals: location, condition, comparable sales and demand in the surrounding market. And buyers also need to think beyond the initial purchase.
You may have no concerns about living in a home where something tragic happened, but what about the next person who considers buying it? A property's history could affect your ability to sell it down the road, particularly if the event was widely publicized.
Here’s what I would recommend to a buyer. First, do your homework. Research the property, ask questions and understand what sellers are legally required to disclose. In Indiana, sellers generally aren't required to disclose that a murder or other psychologically affecting event occurred in a home.
Second, evaluate the property just as you would any other purchase. Look at comparable sales, get a thorough home inspection and make sure the asking price makes sense for the market. A home's history shouldn't distract you from potential physical or financial concerns.
Finally, be realistic about your own comfort level. I've worked with enough buyers to know that everyone approaches homeownership differently. Some people would never consider buying a home associated with a murder, and others might acknowledge the history and move on without giving it another thought.
When I think back to my clients who purchased the Indianapolis woman's home, I don't think about whether they made the decision I would have made personally. I think about the fact that they had the information, took their time and made a decision they felt comfortable with.
As a real estate agent, that's ultimately my job. I'm not there to tell buyers how they should feel about a property. I'm there to help them understand what they're buying, what it's worth and how that decision could affect them in the future.
