Would you buy a house that was *supposedly* HAUNTED?

[Corie]

No, my new house is not haunted but I was talking to a new friend here
and she said her house has some "weird" happenings. She was going
to explain more when the kids were not around.

It got me thinking. Did she know about the history of the house before
she bought it? Would the owners disclose that information? Would she
still buy the house if she was told that this haunted was *supposedly* haunted?

Just curious...

[Twoboos]

No, nay, never. Nev-er, ev-er!!

[Sweetum]

No. While I don't "believe" in those things, I don't want to wake up one night to a strange sound and think it's because it's haunted and want to immediately get out of that house!

[HonoluluMom]

I wouldn't!

[wencit]

No WAY. And I also wouldn't want to live in a house in which someone was murdered, committed suicide, or died in some kind of violent way. I'll pass, thankyouverymuch.

[mommylamb]

I would. I don't believe it any of it.

[slworld]

No. While I don't "believe" in those things, I don't want to wake up one night to a strange sound and think it's because it's haunted and want to immediately get out of that house!

:yeahthat:

[crl]

Probably not. And I would pretend that was because I was concerned about resale.

Catherine

[TwinFoxes]

No. While I don't "believe" in those things, I don't want to wake up one night to a strange sound and think it's because it's haunted and want to immediately get out of that house!

:yeahthat: My first reaction was "yeah, I'd buy it" then I thought about it. If DH was out of town, and I heard some weird sound, I'd freak out and not be able to sleep all night. So, no, I wouldn't. :bag

[BabyMine]

Yes they have to disclose it and no I would never live in a haunted house. I had an experience in a summer house when I was little so I do believe.

[ThreeofUs]

I am certain three houses I lived in were haunted, including my current home. (Everyone who stays in this house thinks it's haunted, too, so it's not just me!) I loved all three houses, and was let alone and/or loved by whatever else was there.

I'm not sure I'd buy a house that was said to be haunted, though. I dunno. I'd have to get the feel of it first.

[maestramommy]

I don't know. I'm not sure if I believe in "hauntings," but I do believe in less than friendly "spirits" of the living that can leave a bad aura. If I absolutely loved a house, but heard it was haunted, I would probably ask my pastor to do a blessing ceremony.

[gibas23]

no way...never...

i don't even watch scary movie. let alone live in a haunted house

[gatorsmom]

Nope. Living is hard enough, who needs "something" scary added into the chaos?

[billysmommy]

If it was a malevolent spirit then no but otherwise I totally would.
I think it would be really cool to live in a house that was haunted by "friendly" spirits

[Minnifer]

For those of you who said you've had "experiences" in haunted houses/places, would you tell us about them? I'm really curious - it always gives me the heebie jeebies to hear these kinds of stories.

(it probably goes without saying that I'd be too creeped out to live in a house thought to be haunted)

[Melaine]

This is interesting....I also want to hear stories from everyone about the haunted houses you've been in.

I'm not sure about it. I do believe in spiritual powers which include demonic ones....and I know they manifest themselves in very tangible ways at times.

[GonnaBeNana]

Wouldn't bother me a bit. I don't believe in those things. Weird noises can and do happen in any house for many reasons so the homes' history wouldn't concern me at all. Just bunk.

Beth

[daisymommy]

I believe in spirits after death, and haunted houses, souls of unrest. So no way!

[nrp]

Yes they have to disclose it and no I would never live in a haunted house. I had an experience in a summer house when I was little so I do believe.

I think it differs from state to state regarding the disclosure requirements. I know that some states do indeed require disclosure for a "haunted house," but I think it usually has to be more than hearing an unexplained bump in the night. Some states also require disclosure for violent crimes committed in the home, especially recent ones.

[hillview]

I would. I don't believe it any of it.

:yeahthat:
/hillary

[infomama]

I wouldn't.

[mamicka]

Not sure. I believe in spirits of all kinds but I don't believe that "nice"ones hang around to haunt. So probably not.

[mariza]

Nope. I'm convinced my childhood home was haunted and while nothing "bad" ever happened it was unsettling waking up to creepy sounds at 03:33 every.night. my entire senior year in high school :eek:

p.s. Where oh where is Fairy on this post???

[essnce629]

No WAY. And I also wouldn't want to live in a house in which someone was murdered, committed suicide, or died in some kind of violent way. I'll pass, thankyouverymuch.

Yep, exactly my feelings as well. NO WAY!

[essnce629]

Nope. I'm convinced my childhood home was haunted and while nothing "bad" ever happened it was unsettling waking up to creepy sounds at 03:33 every.night. my entire senior year in high school :eek:


Oh wow, that would totally freak me out! How scary!

[shawnandangel]

It depends. I agree with a pp that I would have a pastor come through and clear the house. I don't believe that any spirits are friendly. I think they are all demonic and pretend to be something they aren't to get the response they want from the haunted.

[DrSally]

That stuff freakes me out, so no.

[lhafer]

If I knew before hand - ABSOLUTELY NO WAY IN HE!!


For those of you who said you've had "experiences" in haunted houses/places, would you tell us about them? I'm really curious - it always gives me the heebie jeebies to hear these kinds of stories.

(it probably goes without saying that I'd be too creeped out to live in a house thought to be haunted)

While I've never had "bad" experiences in my memory, I have had plenty of experiences to believe!

Luckily I don't remember this, but my mother has told me the story many times. I was about one year old or so, and she was feeding me dinner in my high chair, which was facing a bay window out to the front yard. We lived in the country, and she didn't have window curtains, and it had gotten dark outside. She said that I was looking out the window when all of a sudden I got a look of terror on my face and began SCREAMING. She looked where I was looking, didn't see anything, didn't see anything outside either. She found out later that the man who had owned the house before us had shot himself in the head in the front yard of the house.

In high school (different house), we had a "shadow man" that lived in the house with us. I saw "it" on several occasions, and my mom has seen it several times as well. I would be sitting in the living room, and out of the corner of my eye, I would see someone walk down the hallway. But there would never be anyone there. And it's a tiny 1500 sq ft house. Not like I wouldn't know if someone was home! It seems to hang out in my room and the hallway outside of my room (which led to all the bedrooms). Once I was in my room with my door closed. I got up to leave my room, opened the door and walked out, and the temperature felt like it was freezing in the hallway. It's like I walked "through" shadow man that time. VERY weird. When ever I got creeped out, I would just ask him to go away and he would. My tv in my bedroom would also come on by itself in the middle of the night. The remote would be neatly on my nightstand.

My younger sister (she was 3 when I left for college) now has my old room (she's 16 now). I have never talked to her about shadow man, nor has my mom. But she has told my mom about weird stuff she sees, and she has seen him too. He's not scary. It's just creepy sometimes.

I have tons of other stories that have happened to my mom, my grandmother and other members of my family.

[cuca_]

No way -- just thinking about it freaks me out!!

[MamaMolly]

No how. I responded a while ago to a thread about kids seeing/doing spooky things, and I am absolutely convinced our townhouse in VA was haunted and what ever 'it' was had taken to upsetting DD1. She could see what ever it was, woke up crying and pointing to the same place in her room, etc., etc. I had a heartfelt mama-bear moment with 'it' and said it was welcome to stay as long as it left the baby alone. So having gotten out of that I don't want to ever try again.

When DH and I got married there was a house at the end of our street where the teenage daughter killed herself in the room above the garage. They had a really, really, really hard time selling that house, and when it did sell people didn't stay long. :shrug:

[DrSally]

No how. I responded a while ago to a thread about kids seeing/doing spooky things, and I am absolutely convinced our townhouse in VA was haunted and what ever 'it' was had taken to upsetting DD1. She could see what ever it was, woke up crying and pointing to the same place in her room, etc., etc. I had a heartfelt mama-bear moment with 'it' and said it was welcome to stay as long as it left the baby alone.

So after that, did it leave the baby alone?

[ha98ed14]

No WAY. And I also wouldn't want to live in a house in which someone was murdered, committed suicide, or died in some kind of violent way. I'll pass, thankyouverymuch.

In California, you have to disclose to potential buyers that someone died in the house. I think if it happened more than 4 years ago, you don't have to tell. But even the law thinks there is something to beware of.

[MamaSnoo]

My rational mind says that it is fine.....but I know I would freak out some night when DH was at work. No way.

[kijip]

Yes. Because I am a skeptic at the very best. And no place that I know of requires disclosure of supposed hauntings- the laws often require disclosure of violent crimes or if someone died there. Not the same thing. At all.

[Tracey]

Not only wouldn't I buy it, but I would sell a home I was already in if something spooky happened regularly. I have a friend who swears their house is haunted. This house was built in the late 1800s. All three members of their family have seen the "ghost". According to her, there is the spirit of a little girl in the house. Apparently the spirit is very happy to have them there and it is a "love" type feeling from the ghost. They moved after living in the house maybe five years because of break-ins in the historic district. They have left the house vacant since the real estate market is so bad right now. She says she hates to go check on the house because of the overwhelming feelings of sadness she experiences from the spirit. This lady is a totally sane, intelligent person. I don't know if I believe it, but I believe she believes it.

[Carrots]

I don't believe in hauntings or spirits coming back from the dead, but I don't think I would feel comfortable buying a house where a violent murder/death occured - because it is creepy.

However, even though I don't believe in hauntings or spirits, I had a very strange experience while I was babysitting for my neighbors when I was in high school.

I was the regular babysitter for 2 children who lived down the street from my house (their parents still live there). Late one evening, after the kids had gone to bed, I was watching TV upstairs. I heard someone slowly walking around dowstairs, making the hardwood floor creak. I obviously assumed the parents were home, so yelled down to them "Hi! I'll be right down!". The footsteps stopped and I was a little surprised when no one answered me, but I figured they were tired. I went back in to the TV room to shut everthing down and when I got back to the stairway ready to go down, I could hear the footsteps closer to the bottom of the stairs (the stairway took a corner as it went up to the 2nd floor and I couldn't see who was at the bottom). Speaking loudly, I said "Lenny?" (the dad's name). The steps stopped and no one answered.

At this point, I started to freak out and the creaking steps started again. As I backed my way into the master bedroom, I grabbed the metal hose off the vacuume cleaner that was in the hall and locked myself in the room. I called my dad, who was right around the corner and told him I thought someone was in the house (I don't know why I didn't call the police). I remember feeling relieved as I watched my dad come running down the street with a baseball bat, then relief turned to horror as I realized I needed to go downstairs to let him in.

I opened the door to the master thinking I was going to see Freddy or Jason in the hall waiting for me, but no one was there and I couldn't hear the creaking anymore. I crept down to the corner of the stairs where I could see into the foyer. When I realized no one was there, I ran for it. The front door was locked up tight and I let my dad in. He as soon as he got into the foyer, the parents pulled up.

The kid's dad went through the entire house looking for an open door/window or an ax murderer hiding in a closet, but didn't find anything out of place. I went home with my dad, but I didn't sleep.

A few days later at a neighborhood cookout, the kid's mom came up to me and said "We didn't want to scare you the other night, but when we bought the house we were told that the previous owners would occationally hear someone walking around in the house." WTF???

I babysat for them several times after that, but I always stayed downstairs and very alert - ready to run out of the house as the slighest noise. :bag


P.S. My brother is a realtor and has had 2 clients who specifically wanted to buy "haunted houses". Both clients claimed the could tell a house was haunted when they entered it.

[DrSally]

Not only wouldn't I buy it, but I would sell a home I was already in if something spooky happened regularly. I have a friend who swears their house is haunted. This house was built in the late 1800s. All three members of their family have seen the "ghost". According to her, there is the spirit of a little girl in the house. Apparently the spirit is very happy to have them there and it is a "love" type feeling from the ghost. They moved after living in the house maybe five years because of break-ins in the historic district. They have left the house vacant since the real estate market is so bad right now. She says she hates to go check on the house because of the overwhelming feelings of sadness she experiences from the spirit. This lady is a totally sane, intelligent person. I don't know if I believe it, but I believe she believes it.

That's sad....

ETA: Carrots, OMG, how creepy!

[Dream]

While I love hearing horror stories and would like to experience, I would not live in a haunted house.

[Corie]

I babysat for them several times after that, but I always stayed downstairs and very alert - ready to run out of the house as the slighest noise. :bag




I can't believe that you went back again!!!

[SpaceGal]

NO WAY!!! I'm too chicken to live in a haunted house!

[gatorsmom]

There have been some great threads about ghosts and hauntings. Here's one: http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=336908&highlight=ghosts

This one is cool too: http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=330906&highlight=ghosts

Hope you aren't home alone tonight! Enjoy. :tongue5:

[Octobermommy]

No way. I get scared too easily

[graciebellesmomma]

Nope.

We actually found ourselves in a heck of a mess when we tried to buy a house a few years back. We fell in love with the house, gave notice at our rental, started packing and had the paperwork rolling. I got a phone call from a good friend who had a friend in the new neighborhood. She informed me that the previous tenant had committed suicide in the house. Not only that, but he was really and truly crazy and tormented. He wandered around the neighborhood ranting and raving....

We contacted the agent who said that yes, it was true, but it had happened a long time ago.
We sat and thought about it, discussed it, went back and forth. My friend then told me that it had actually only been 5 months, and nobody had lived in the house since. I googled and found out that he'd shot himself and it was a few days before anyone found him. Ugh.

So we contacted the agent and let her have it. She let us back out of the deal with the threat of a lawsuit. We got all of our money back and more....They lied to us and did not disclose. Big no-no.

We ended up living in a (very nice) hotel on their dime for 3 months and another 3 months on our dime. It was hard to find anything in the Bay Area that we could afford.

[klwa]

My high school dorm was haunted. (Formerly a hospital. Lots of areas were haunted in that place!) We talked to "our ghost" on a nightly basis & he'd only do weird things every so often. If it was a ghosty like him, I'd be fine with it. Mean ghost, heck no. Poltergeist type stuff, NO!

(No, I never actually saw him, but he'd move things around while roommate & I were both in bed if we didn't say good night. Made my shoes flip over when we were joking about him in front of friends. Locked me out of the room one night when my roommate was out of town, when I was about 5 feet away from the door the entire time.)

[MartiesMom2B]

Absolutely not

[megs4413]

no way. i stayed in a "haunted" house once (purely by chance in savannah) and it was no fun at all. the homeowners were quite proud of their home's historical significance and interesting occupants, but it freaked me out! the one "ghost" walked the stairs all flippin' night long.

[viba424]

No Way!!

[Globetrotter]

No, because even if I'm not sure of their existence, I would freak out constantly at every little noise!

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

No way jose! nope, nada, niet,nine, nu-uh. I grew up in a house that was pre-civil war and that was enough for me. Nope, the house we're in now was built in 67 and dh's folks bought it in 69. It's wonderful.

[edurnemk]

No way. Even if it was a "friendly" ghost, I'd be spooked by every little sound. I hate feeling watched. I've had a couple of "paranormal" experiences, I wouldn't want to have that 24/7.

[Corie]

I grew up in a house that was pre-civil war and that was enough for me.

What happened? I'm curious!!

[Clarity]

No, my new house is not haunted but I was talking to a new friend here
and she said her house has some "weird" happenings. She was going
to explain more when the kids were not around.

It got me thinking. Did she know about the history of the house before
she bought it? Would the owners disclose that information? Would she
still buy the house if she was told that this haunted was *supposedly* haunted?

Just curious...

I don't BELIEVE in ghosts or other spooky entities. That said, heck no, I wouldn't buy a house someone thought was haunted! I don't know EVERYTHING, kwim?

[Fairy]

No, no, and HELL no.

No.

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

There weren't any harmful or malevolent spirits in the house thank goodness. But orbs in family pictures and I know the house had one playful ghost who was a little girl who delighted especially in turning radios on.

The first house that dh and I bought and are in the process of selling had some bad juju attached to it. Just lousy energy, things breaking right and left after we moved in,stuff falling over that shouldn't have and us getting into an unusual number of arguments over stupid stuff. After the 2nd month there dh suggested we do a spiritual "cleaning". After that things went well. Turns out the people that owned the house before us had a really nasty divorce. I don't know anything about any owners before that.

Now the house is nice and quiet. We're in a subdivision built on an old farmfield. No bad juju here. Just us. yay.

And yes I believe in spirits and residual energy. But then again- the town i grew up in tore down it's confederate prisoner of war prison after the civil war and used the boulders to build streets and curbs and foundations of houses. It's documented to have been a wretched awful place that 90% of the people who went in didn't come out.So yeah-there's some interesting stories that get traded around town.

[maestramommy]

Probably not. I have enough trouble falling asleep after scary movies. I don't need real life spookies in addition.

[Sillygirl]

If it were a house I loved, I'd try my best to get a steep discount because of the "haunting." Total bunk.

[Reyadawnbringer]

If it were a house I loved, I'd try my best to get a steep discount because of the "haunting." Total bunk.

:hysterical::yeahthat:

[ohiomom1121]

I might...we went and looked at a house that was supposedly haunted before. I guess it was a stop on the Underground Railroad. There was a rug in the hallway that the realtor lifted to show us the door that led to the basement. The house was a total dump but I wouldn't let the haunted stories keep me from buying it if I didn't get a bad feeling in the house.