Would you buy this house?
Asked by
Jude (
32204
)
September 30th, 2011
There is a beautiful old house for sale in Northern Michigan. It was originally listed at 200,000. Now, it’s down to 89 Gs. Four bedroom, two bath, tons of character. The catch, someone was murdered in the house. Would you buy it?
A son was shot by his Mom while he was in his bed.
Here’s the house.
I wouldn’t.
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88 Answers
I couldn’t be persuaded to buy it simply because of the superstition in the situation…that doesn’t mean I won’t feel like I missed out on an awesome deal though.
Sure, if it’s right otherwise. The house can be cleansed of bad energy, if necessary.
Nope.
We have a house like this where I live. It comes up for sale almost yearly. Usually the buyers are new to the area.
I’m going to see it tomorrow.
Sure, if I wanted to move to Michigan.
@SpatzieLover Did they move because they find out about the murder?
I noticed the room with the red walls. Yikes—you have to wonder if it was painted red to hide the splatter stains. Sorry, but this is gruesome. I’m not sure what I’d do.
I would be open-minded about it. As @XD said, bad energy can be cleansed. It’d really depend on how the house feels when I stepped inside of it. If it felt really bad, I’m not sure that it’d be something I’d want to take on. If it feels a little creepy, it’s probably only because I know the story.. so once I did a cleansing/purification ritual, cleaned the house, and put my own energy in there, it’d likely be fine.
When I lived in Roanoke, the guy directly across the hall from me died in his apartment and was there for a few days before he was found. I can’t tell you the energy and the creepy factor emanating from that apartment. I totally felt like I could still feel him there, for a good month, and I seriously thought it’d always be that way. But you know what? With time, that faded. Every time I thought of him, I honored his memory and how sad it was that such a young guy died so early. It stopped feeling creepy and weird.
So, basically, I’d check the house out and see what my gut said.
@Jude It was a murder/suicide more than two decades ago, so that is unlikely. Apparently some drug deal gone bad…in a very nice neighborhood where homes tend to attract long-term families.
As I mentioned on Facebook, I would gleefully buy it and move in. If ghosts started bothering me, I would enslave them.
I would do it, I think if the house suited in all other respects.
Oh Hell’s yeah I would (assuming I wanted to move to the area). My first house was sold because the owners wife was killed in a random shooting. A boy who committed suicide lived in my current house. Neither died in the houses, but it wouldn’t have mattered regardless.
No. It wouldn’t be about ghosts, I don’t believe in them. I just wouldn’t feel comfortable making my home in a place where something that horrible happened. I would haunt myself, with the thinking about it all the time. I wouldn’t be able to get it out of my mind.
Edit: I just checked the link, that price is pretty damn tempting though….
“just wouldn’t feel comfortable making my home in a place where something that horrible happened. I would haunt myself, with the thinking about it all the time. I wouldn’t be able to get it out of my mind.”
That’s how I feel.
@Jude & @lillycoyote I think that’s how the neighborhood feels in the circumstance I am familiar with. The home is in an idealic subdivision, the back yard abuts a (Presidential Blue Ribbon) Middle School, in a village where there is almost zero crime. Somehow that feeling must be passed on to the new owners
I thought you said there was no way you were going in the house.
I would totally buy it.
It looks like a lovely house. All previously owned places have a sense of history if you’re sensitive to that. Some good, some not-so-much. If it was built in 1897, I’d bet there are more good energy associations than the creepy one. I’d buy it and repaint or lock up the Redrum red room.
@ANef_is_Enuf I’ll take pictures and find out more about the history.
I’m excited. I fell in love with the house when you first posted it. The foyer and the stairway were enough, I’m sold.
Why are people using squirrels as their avatar?
@Jude It’s a really tough one. It’s not entirely rational to be put off by it but I am. But, it’s a lot of house for the money. Maybe going there is a good idea. At least check it out. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I believe “vibes.” If the house “feels” right then maybe it will be o.k. I don’t know if that is any more rational than believing in ghosts, though.
@Jude I’m not sure, but I was jealous of all of the cute avatars.
HS that house is being sold for the taxable value at less than ⅓ of market value in 2005! I would jump all over that…in fact I will….
<<dialing realtor>>
I ain’t afraid of no ghost!
If I lived in that area and the house was structurally sound then I would buy it and live it. Then I would buy a pile of gold with the profit that I would make from selling our current house.
Why would I not buy it? Of course I would buy it. There are places where we’ve stood where indians were raped and killed…...
Yes I would, as long as the place had been properly cleaned.
I’d buy it as long as there wasn’t anything structurally wrong with it. And if the price was right. $89,000 is cheap where I live. You can’t even buy a condo for that much.
I don’t believe in ghosts or bad karma but it would be an interesting conversation starter or ender lol.
I would. Dead is dead. They’re not coming back.
Actually I just re-read the question again and changed my mind. Northern Michigan… {{shivers}} There’s no way I would want to live up there in the winter. Now if it was southern California I’d buy it.
I wouldn’t let a murder in the house stop me, but I would never live in Northern Michigan.
The world is pretty old. The chances that something horrible happened anywhere you go are high, I’d bet.
No big deal. I’d definitely want it to be thoroughly cleaned.
Oh, hell no. But not because of the killing. I don’t care for the style of the house on the outside and I just could never deal with wall paper ever again. That wall paper is hideous.
But I would be concerned that mom was phsyco and she may get out of jail and come back around the neighborhood. I wouldn’t want to be there when she came back. Unless she got the death penalty. But really. I think she overpaid at 200,000.
I’d have to feel the “kharma or vibe” myself before I decided.
Buy it, then hold an exorcism, then sell it :-p
I don’t care about deaths or ghosts or anything as long as I like the house. If anything I see the death and deducted price as a bonus.
Also, do comps yourself to make sure the house really is worth $200K. Even if the murder really happened, the ghost story might be a con to trick someone into buying the house for $89K at a “bargain” when it’s really worth even less.
I’d also take your cats and watch their reactions. Animals can pick up on this.
That is so sad. I don’t know that I could live in a house where a mother had shot her own son….walking through rooms he walked through….I’d like to know more about the crime.
Picture finally loaded…OMG! That is BEAUTIFUL!!
Well, here is the story. No. I couldn’t live there.
But man it’s a beautiful home! I’ll be happy to visit, Jude!
You do know that is a foreclosure website….. Typically homes listed on that site are because people could afford their fannie mae property and it was forclosed on so unless this was foreclosed on because the person who commited murder was forclosed on then that is fully possible, but the reason its so cheap is because its a forclosure not because its a home that had a murder commited in it. It will probably go to auction next if it does sell through that type of listing which will make it cheaper to purchase.
@downtide The problem with Southern California is that it is hard to find a house a murder wasn’t committed in.
Its like that movie DREAM HOUSE!!
Actually the house is creepy already w/out the added murder drama. Since it’s built in 1897 I’m sure there are more secrets in the house.
I would need to see it in person, if I actually got the creeps, I wouldn’t buy it…if I walked in and had the feeling of uneasy I wouldn’t touch it. My MIL’s house gave me an uneasy feeling. The first time I stayed there when she was gone I walked upstairs and found a Lego thing on the floor when I picked it up GET OUT was written on the Lego platform in Lego pieces! That wasn’t the last of it! Tupperware went flying across the kitchen once! My MIL was evil while she lived there…I thought it was the house…I found out it’s just her actual personality lmao!
But the other stuff really did happen I swear
I have lived in a couple of haunted houses and I am seriously done with that!
My wife is from Michigan, and would love this place if we wanted to move there.
I am more concerned with the mention that it was built in 1897, than the murder. That means all the indoor plumbing was added after the house was built.
I think I would… Things like that don’t bother me much.
@Pandora The Mom hung herself in her jail cell. She also had plans to kill her daughter (they found the Mother’s journal).
As long as the mafia did not kill someone there, and might come back and make some crazy mistake, I think it is ok to buy. Why do you even know someone was shot there? Because of the people who live in the town? Someone dying in a home is not a required disclosure in most states.
Sure I would! I once lived in an old farm house where the previous owner was not only born in the house but also died in the house. No big deal. On a side note with this one in Michigan, the son was killed (or died) in the house on my birthday. November 7th! Creepy, but it looks like a great deal on a beautiful house.
where do you get to see the house? I don’t see it with any of the online articles.
@JLeslie Nikki’s family lives near there. Her parent’s were house hunting (coming from N. Carolina) and wanted to have a look. Her Uncle knows some of the locals and found out about the history.
@SpatzieLover My partner’s Uncle found out about it. He lives a town over. People talk and word got around. The majority of the town felt that she (the Mom) was innocent.
@Jude is there a photo of this that others are seeing…I don’t see it.
Here is the house.
Here is an article on the murder.
It wouldn’t scare me off.
If I liked the house, I would buy it. I don’t like the house or the neighborhood, though.
It sounds like both the mother and son were mentally ill. Interesting that we don’t hear any stories that get into much detail about their moods.
In a f*king heartbeat.
I’m already planning the housewarming party. Mua ha ha ha ha….
I love that they want to close by Halloween. ^_^
Yes I would. Because you know of the murder you wouldn’t buy it but what if you find out later when you already have it ? ^^
I would certainly be tempted. It’s a nice looking house for a great price.
We went and saw the outside and peeked into all of the windows on the mainfloor. The foyer, staircase and kitchen were beautiful. The “wallpaper” was lovely, actually. I didn’t think that I would like it, but, I did. So did my g/f. One of the upstairs bedrooms, the windows were covered up (?). The garden and the gate at the side of the house; lovely. Tons of character. I must say, the woman had great taste in decorating. She was a barber and cut hair from her home.
Here is my g/f making a scary face while we were in the backyard. Ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-ah!
It’s got great woodwork inside. They did a nice job keeping that. Look at it this way: If you excluded all houses where someone died or was crazy the available housing gets pretty slim.
When you visit, sit or stand in a corner silently and see how you feel. You may feel happy or scared, at peace, or worried, etc. If it’s a negative feeling, don’t buy. The death had nothing to do with you and may not affect how you feel about the house which is innocent. It didn’t commit a crime.
I recently read an article where certain towns in Michigan was offering abandoned buildings and ones that have been on the market for a very long time for $20k to police officers. You might be able to get it cheaper than the $89k. I would ignore the history as long as it was in a decent or rebuilding neighborhood and you can get the blood stains out of the floor and walls.
If you have problems after you fix it up call the Ghost Hunters. You wouldn’t want to show a beat up dirty house on television.
I’d certainly check it out. If I liked it (and didn’t get a creepy feel from it) and the neighbourhood ..I think I’d consider it. The house seems like it has a ton of potential (if you’re into that sort of thing – renovating and stuff).
@Plucky no renovating needed. Brand new carpets. The green pattern wall paper in the foyer actually works.
If you aren’t going to buy it, you seem to be doing a lot of research!
@janbb I find it fascinating. I’m morbid like that.
Also, I’m in love with the look of that house.
I think the house is fascinating. If I had 90 grand and it was somewhere other than Michigan (maybe… Illinois. Yeah. Illinois would be nice), I’d be all over it. I love a house with a story. And just think – I’d have a room ready for all my morbid artwork and ready to display my sword collection. It’d make a great library.
@Jude that’s a great looking house with a new high efficiency furnace. Since I paid 10k for my new heating and water system, you are getting a great deal. Thank god for superstitious people keeping the price down.
Not interested in buying it, myself.
@Jude I guess that should have been obvious, why would you post the listing if you intended to buy it. That would be a great way to get into a bidding war.
@Ron_C I was wondering if people could live in a house where there was a murder. My partner’s parents wanted to have a look (they’re not interested in buying it now), and I thought to myself “I couldn’t do it” (buy that house), despite the fact that I love the look of it (which is why I posted the listing). I wanted to see if you all could.
@Jude I really like that part of the state, Detroit sucks but upper Mi. is heaven except for the horse flies. If I could figure a way to work and live there, I’d buy it myself.
If the community is very close knit, and usually new people don’t move into the area, but rather families move within the area, then it might be hard to resale because the history will be easily known in the community. That’s the only negative I can think of.
If I want a house in Michigan, I would need a house close to Delta City, not in the northern part of the state.
Yes, probably. What would turn me away is if the house had a history of “haunting”.
I would buy it in a hearttbeat. I know Elk Rapids too.
I think an Indian cemetary, or a pet cemetary or a giant clown of any kind might do the job. Them are deal breakers.
Folks, this part of Michigan is beautiful. If you’re able to get through cold, cold Winters.
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