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Original poster

Buying a murder house.

153 replies

Tiiiaa · 18/02/2022 19:16

My boyfriend and I are buying our first house together.

HOWEVER…. recently we came across information that we feel should have been disclosed by vendor/estate agents.

The house was the site of a tragic and violent murder, in which the husband killed the wife (in the living room). We have previously asked the estate agents why the house was for sale, if there was anything wrong, and why exactly the sellers wanted to sell. On each occasion this information was not disclosed to us. Typically they would just mention that they had been instructed by solicitors to sell the property, and even that it was meant to be redone as an investment but they decided not to.

My question to mumsnet is….would you continue with the purchase on the house? And why?

Please note we have already spent 1k and mortgage offer received.

OP posts:
SoItWas · 18/02/2022 20:30

I wouldn't, the murder would haunt me, so to speak my, I think my mind would keep going back to it.

SoItWas · 18/02/2022 20:30

*my

yesbutnobut · 18/02/2022 20:30

Reduce your offer?

saraclara · 18/02/2022 20:31

@Piper90

For those of you saying you wouldn’t buy the house, why not? Do you have supernatural beliefs? I’m honestly boggled.
I am the least woo person you could come across. I think the supernatural stuff is a load of bollocks. But yes, I'd be bothered. I have a kind of visual imagination, and I'd find it hard to relax and feel at home in a room where my mind would lead me to visualise what happened there, and the sheer terror of the victim.

It's a weird crack in my otherwise very down to earth nature.

ENoeuf · 18/02/2022 20:31

I’d buy it. I think happiness would rebalance the vibe. I would probably get the carpets changed and a deep clean before moving my stuff in.

opinionminion · 18/02/2022 20:32

No way

NaerDoWell · 18/02/2022 20:33

It doesn't really matter what 'other people would do' - everyone will have a different view on this so it's down to you and what you're comfortable with.

If it will upset you or play on your mind then don't buy it.

I've lived in my house 10 years, last year an ex owner came to see the house - he told me his dad had died in my bedroom. Didn't change the way I feel about my house or anything, but it might have affected some people.

labyrinthlaziness · 18/02/2022 20:34

@LightfoldEngines

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/articles/homicideinenglandandwales/yearendingmarch2020

These are not all violent deaths, of course.

I thought it was two deaths/week women killed by partners?

somewhereoverthechipshop · 18/02/2022 20:35

I couldn’t go ahead op. Sorry. Silly or not I would always think about it.

labyrinthlaziness · 18/02/2022 20:37

@Piper90

For those of you saying you wouldn’t buy the house, why not? Do you have supernatural beliefs? I’m honestly boggled.
I absolutely do not belive in anything supernatural, but I would be minded of it and I would rather not think of a real murder in my own living room.
DirtyDancing · 18/02/2022 20:37

@SoItWas

I wouldn't, the murder would haunt me, so to speak my, I think my mind would keep going back to it.
Me too. I would feel it was a sad house and constantly be wondering how the poor victim suffered, what they went through. It would be difficult for me to think of nothing else, I would find it very upsetting.
Newbabynewhouse · 18/02/2022 20:37

For everyone saying that loads of stuff has happened in old houses....I think its more the mentality of living in a home that you KNOW there has been a murder. It would feel unsettling and not very happy vibes when youre sat with your cuppa at night in pjs relaxing...just not nice thought is it...

Saffy321 · 18/02/2022 20:37

I think you need to go on your gut instinct OP, either its still the right house for you and you won't dwell on what happened before or you walk away - don't forget if/when you come to sell in future that could be seen as a negative for other potential buyers.

BurnDownTheDiscoHangTheDJ · 18/02/2022 20:37

WG Sebald said: “[places and] things outlast us, they know more about us than we know about them: they carry the experiences they have had with us inside them and are - in fact- the book of our history opened before us.”

I agree with this and so for me, I couldn’t live in that house.

labyrinthlaziness · 18/02/2022 20:38

@saraclara I also have a very visual imagination, it is hard to explain but I would 'see' it also.

It is annoying being this way!

Bumpy23 · 18/02/2022 20:38

I don't think it would bother me. At the risk of sounding odd, I thinks houses have a feeling, you must have been comfortable walking round.
My house is really old and has some dodgy history - but I feel really comfortable and safe in it. My old house, I had to have every light on and never really felt that it was right.
Go with your gut.

Crazykatie · 18/02/2022 20:42

Not for me thanks.

Original poster
Tiiiaa · 18/02/2022 20:43

@Tiiiaa

My boyfriend and I are buying our first house together.

HOWEVER…. recently we came across information that we feel should have been disclosed by vendor/estate agents.

The house was the site of a tragic and violent murder, in which the husband killed the wife (in the living room). We have previously asked the estate agents why the house was for sale, if there was anything wrong, and why exactly the sellers wanted to sell. On each occasion this information was not disclosed to us. Typically they would just mention that they had been instructed by solicitors to sell the property, and even that it was meant to be redone as an investment but they decided not to.

My question to mumsnet is….would you continue with the purchase on the house? And why?

Please note we have already spent 1k and mortgage offer received.

Thanks all for replying.

At this point in time, we want to go through with the purchase. However, we are nervous about the resale value of this property as this most likely will not be our forever house.

This incident happened during the pandemic and has not been lived in since (put on the housing market last year). However, the report from our surveyor states the house is in great condition. The neighbourhood is otherwise very good this seems to be an isolated situation.

Also to anyone who initially did not want to live in the house, would your thoughts change if you were not the immediate residents after the incident?

Thanks again

OP posts:
Drunkpanda · 18/02/2022 20:47

I would think too much about the poor woman involved, how she felt in those last moments - only the OP knows if she would do likewise or not be bothered. The resident of my last home died in the living room - from old age though and this didnt bother me though I thought of him from time to time.
If you still had neighbours who lived there at the time of the murders you might hear details you'd rather not.
Mind you I grew up watching the Amityville horror movies so probably affected by that!

ParkheadParadise · 18/02/2022 20:49

Like I said in my previous post
My nephew lived in a crap house riddled with dampness and not enough room for them all.
Now they all have space and a garden for the kids to play in.
There is No way they could have afforded to buy. The house was deep cleaned and decorated before they moved in. They pay minimal rent.

I HATE the thought that people would refer to it as the murder house.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 18/02/2022 20:50

@Thoosa

No such thing as a “murder house”. Reminds me of that bossy Channel 4 programme in which they prefixed everything with “benefits”. Benefits dog, benefits meal etc. If you’re going to think of it like that, better to avoid.
You've obviously never watched American Horror Story 😂
godmum56 · 18/02/2022 20:51

I honestly don't know. Its the recentness and violence that would bother me.

dontgobaconmyheart · 18/02/2022 20:51

If it bothers you OP then it bothers you, you don't have to justify that. Ultimately buying a house is a gigantic outlay, you need to feel comfortable in it. Whether others would or wouldn't has little to do with how you feel as a couple.

If the main concern is resale then I think for me it would swing down to things like; if you google the address (as a prospective future buyer might) then do news articles about this incident come up? If not it is unlikely to come to light in a few years. Deaths and violence will have happened in a lot of homes without occupants having any knowledge of the past and are none the wiser for it. If you don't buy it someone else will, it's just whether it is right for you.

labyrinthlaziness · 18/02/2022 20:52

Also to anyone who initially did not want to live in the house, would your thoughts change if you were not the immediate residents after the incident?

Not me personally.

I think you will be able to sell it, but some people will not want to buy it.

But I just sold a house with a really ugly building behind it - everything can sell for the right price.

MakeThingsRight · 18/02/2022 20:53

My sdad was looking to buy a lovely cottage, turns out it was where Judas Priest drummer abused young boys he was giving lessons to. That would always have been on my mind sitting in that room. A murder between 2 adults probably less so, which is strange.