Would you buy and live in a house that was the scene of a horrific murder?

[GaryG48]

People buy and live in houses where horrific deaths occur, all the time. I've never heard of a house being torn down after a murder. Have you?

John Wayne Gacy's house was completely demolished. Supposedly the authorities were looking for more bodies but in fact the other property owners in that upscale neighborhood demanded "something" be done. It was. Before the housing bubble burst property values around there continued to increase.

I would have no qualms about living in such a house--but you can bet I would remind its sellers that I was entitled to a substantial discount due to the house's reputation.

[Murasaki]

I believe in things that go bump in the night. Also, I wouldn't want to deal with gruesome tourists who like to visit houses where those sort of things take place.

[gordonb]

Interesting question. There are some cities or states, wherever, where the real estate agent is not allow to disclose a horrific murder or cataclysm of thoughts. So naturally, there were a few who buy in and then discover the history. Hence, the making of certain horror stories. Some years back I knew the person who owned the Manson House, as it was known, where more accurately Sharon Tate and friends were murdered up on Cielo Drive. The owner moved back there, after the murders. He had previously leased it out, to a variety of Hollywood folk and then finally the Polanski. Oddly enough, although the house had been the scene of some awful killing, there wasn't a strong or negative vibe inside. Even in the living room where Sharon Tate was murdered, there was no sense of that terrible night. Nevertheless, I would say the owner of the house did experience his fair share of bad luck, after reoccupying the house and ultimately had to sell it. The new owners knocked down the original structures and put up three brand new houses on the property. Whether it was superstition, fear no one would move in, or whether the large property with 180 degree views of Los Angeles, from the mountains to the ocean, enabled the developers to make more money by subdividing...I will leave it to conjecture.

[froglipz]

I agree with Gary, I would have no problem asking for a discount, but really Other than the people coming around occasionally to rubberneck, which can be cured with good fencing, there isn't much reason why not. I wouldn't want to be the one to clean it up though.