Off-putting real estate question of the day
When people ask questions on real estate search engine Trulia, the queries are usually along the lines of, "How can I fix my credit so I can buy a home?" or "Do sellers have any liability after selling their house?"
Not so common: "Will the murder of a homeowner inside the home being auctioned or sold affect either the auction price or the selling price of the home?"
Yikes!
The Baltimore buyer asking the query has his or her eye on a home that last sold for $950,000 in 2007.
Would you be put off a house because something bad happened there, even if the crime was unusual for the neighborhood? Here, take the poll:
UPDATE: Forgot to mention this is a multiple-choice poll. Feel free to care about all the scenarios mentioned.
Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 7:00 AM | Permalink
| Comments (6)
Categories: Housing market experiences, Polls
Categories: Housing market experiences, Polls
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Comments
I recall reading an article in Newsweek or the Journal that spoke about a few houses with notorious murder(er)s. I believe that Dahmer's home went up and the Heaven's Gates manse went way down.
Posted by: "Little Debbie" | January 3, 2010 10:53 AM
I wouldn't mind knowing the house in question. Anyone have an idea where it might be? Murders in 950K properties are very unusual anywhere in the country and in Baltimore such murders (the person who posted the question implied both owners were killed) would have made front page news for days.
Posted by: Tom | January 4, 2010 5:32 AM
I don't know, Tom. I wondered if it was the Brownings' house -- 16-year-old Nicholas Browning shot his parents and brothers -- but that wasn't purchased for $950,000 in 2007.
Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | January 4, 2010 9:25 AM
Back in the eighties in Randallstown a druggie decapitated his infant son on Christmas Day. This was well before I was interested in real estate but do recall seeing a For Sale sign several years after. The property never sold to my knowledge and last time I looked it was abandoned and in danger of collasping. Maybe some Wonk readers will have further information on this.
Posted by: Don Wilson | January 4, 2010 9:12 PM
I just thought about this post last weekend when I saw a listing for "estate sale - all offers subject to orphan court's approval". It was really creepy - I have a child myself and wouldn't want to live in a home where parents died and left an orphan. Needless to say, I closed the listing immediately.
Posted by: Jelena | January 18, 2010 2:34 PM
Jelena: such dry wit I love it! ;)
ps still giggling
Posted by: MrRational | January 18, 2010 2:56 PM