If you're looking for a deal on a home, you might try your local haunted house. Haunted houses are also known as "stigmatized properties", along with houses that have had murders, gang usage or other unpleasant histories. These properties may be short on reputation, but their price may well make up for it.
Houses with purported ghosts in them don't do as well on the market as their spiritless neighbors. There are still people who believe in otherworldly entities (or just don't want to risk that they might be lurking in a corner). This can drop a home's value by up to 35% in some cases. On average, a house reputed to be haunted will sell for 2.4% less than similar houses in the neighborhood. 2.4% doesn't seem like a lot, unless you're dealing in real estate. 2.4% of a $400,000 home is $9600. That's nearly ten thousand dollars that you could be sinking into that $400,000 home to make it worth $450,000.
Some realtors are understandably reluctant to reveal that the house they are showing may or may not have a non-corporeal tenant. Disclosure could mean that the buyers refuse to consider the property. Also, disclosure means that prices go down. The laws in each state vary as to disclosure of negative aspects of a property. Find out what your state's laws are concerning properties with a negative incident in their past - sometimes nondisclosure is grounds for legal action.
If your state has no disclosure laws, then you may have a difficult time finding out from your realtor if the house has an unsavory past. If you have an understanding realtor, you can ask specifically for properties with a negative past. Some realtors would be more than happy to show an interested buyer a house that is lingering on the market due to rumors of creepy happenings.
You might have to do some digging for stigma. Or you might go to your newspaper archives and look for creepy stories about houses in the area you're considering. If you're looking at a specific house, Googling the address might help. That and asking around the neighborhood. People are usually delighted to tell you any juicy stories about any creepy tales. If there is a property tale that the seller is not disclosing to the public, you could make it a factor in offering a lower price on the property.
Understandably, these properties involve some risk-taking for an investor. Just because you're willing to take on the negative vibes from a purportedly haunted house doesn't mean future home investors will be so eager. If the stigma is bad enough, it may well last for years. However, with a little work, it is possible to make current memories erase the ones that stigmatized the house in the first place.
For quality information about the homes in South Florida, visit AllianceRealtyFlorida.com. Lisa Brodeur is a certified South Florida Realtor offering a wider range of professional realty services. |
