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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:
whynotwhatknot · 18/02/2022 22:28

not that recent i wouldnt no-and be careful if youre hesistating future buyers might

MakeThingsRight · 18/02/2022 22:29

@Albgo I'm glad it's not just me. He served 8 years for attempted rape of a 17 year old. The sentence tells me there was more to it than that. My son was 5 at the time. I just would not have been able to like that house in any form. Esp as it was going cheap as he needed it sold before he went to prison!

It is strange as it's not like murder is consensual. I just didn't want to be in the house at all (sdad took me over to view with him) a house of abusing minors. No chance.

AcrossthePond55 · 18/02/2022 22:45

It wouldn't bother me unless it was a 'notorious' house that still drew public interest.

There's a house in a city near us where a notorious serial killer murdered and disposed of their victims. It's a nice older home but it's still an object of 'curiosity' to people who are interested in that sort of thing, over 30 years later. People still occasionally take pictures of the house, or stand and gawk. The owners have said that people actually will knock on the door and ask to see the back yard!

So, that kind of 'murder house' I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.

feelsobadfeltsogood · 18/02/2022 22:45

There's a house for sale near us - usually they sell very quickly round her and it's in a brilliant position and beautifully decorated however the reason it's being sold is that the wife wants a fresh start as her husband hung himself in their bedroom it's putting people off

MsAdoraBelleDearheartVonLipwig · 18/02/2022 22:46

I think it would actually put me off. I don’t think I could bear to sit in that living room every day. I’m on my own quite a lot and I’d just keep thinking about what happened to her.

Ellmau · 18/02/2022 22:50

On one level, it just depends how sensitive you are to atmosphere. And it might depend on how long ago it was.

But I also think it could make resale trickier later.

Bellex · 18/02/2022 22:50

I’m pretty sure they do have to disclose it. My bf killed himself in his parents house and they struggled to sell it as the estate agents had to disclose it to all the buyers

www.readysteadysell.co.uk/selling-house-guides/selling-house-someone-died-in/

chocolatebrowniesaddict · 18/02/2022 22:50

I personally wouldn't because I wouldn't be able to sit in the living room watching Netflix whilst knowing a poor woman's life ended tragically. I would always try to picture it and think I'm only living here because she got murdered. Im afraid it would be a dealbreaker for me and I wouldn't be able to see past it to enjoy my home.

Mumtofourandnomore · 18/02/2022 23:04

I think it’s the type of thing you might think about when you first move in - you might dwell on it when relaxing in the living room initially.

But I think once you’d been there for a few weeks or so, it would quickly turn into your home, with your plans and friends/families etc - I think you’d rarely think about it any more.

So I don’t think it would bother me in the grand scheme of things.

Hollywolly1 · 18/02/2022 23:13

@ParkheadParadise so sorry to hear of your terrible lossFlowers

PerditaPerdita · 18/02/2022 23:20

I just wouldn't buy it.

Smurf123 · 18/02/2022 23:33

If it's the house round the corner from me I'd probably still buy it as it's a normally quiet and highly sought after area, there was no big mad media frenzy at the time either.
As others have said I wouldn't in other circumstances but in this case I prob would if I lived the house

PermanentTemporary · 18/02/2022 23:38

My husband took his own life about a metre from where I'm sitting. Never occurred to me that I should tell anyone that as and when I sell. Frankly I think get over yourselves.

However, when I was a child we once had the local vicar bless our house, I have a feeling he offered and my parents didn't know how to refuse. You could see if vicars still do that (naice version of exorcism).

LovelyYellowLabrador · 18/02/2022 23:40

Personally I couldn’t do it as I believe places have energy and vibes

BunnyRuddington · 18/02/2022 23:45

So sorry for your loss @PermanentTemporary Thanks

TheMeditativeRose · 18/02/2022 23:45

I wouldn’t be able to live comfortably in a house knowing that.

Motheranddaughtertotwo · 18/02/2022 23:52

It wouldn’t bother me. If the house is perfect in other ways then I’d go for it.

Mo1911 · 18/02/2022 23:58

What do you think is going to happen if you move in? 😄

You like the house the but it, it's no big deal.

NuffSaidSam · 19/02/2022 00:02

For me it would depend on how the house was viewed in the local area. If in a small community where everyone would have known the victim and her murderer it would put me off. I wouldn't want my house referred to as the murder house. I wouldn't want people telling me what happened or making comments when they found out where I lived. I wouldn't want to make friends with someone only to find out they couldn't come round because they knew the victim and the house is triggering for them. It's all that sort of stuff that would put me off.

If it's in a large city where no-one would really know or care then it would be fine.

BunnyRuddington · 19/02/2022 00:08

For me it would depend on how the house was viewed in the local area. If in a small community where everyone would have known the victim and her murderer it would put me off. I wouldn't want my house referred to as the murder house. I wouldn't want people telling me what happened or making comments when they found out where I lived. I wouldn't want to make friends with someone only to find out they couldn't come round because they knew the victim and the house is triggering for them. It's all that sort of stuff that would put me off

I think that quite sensible. A lovely woman was murdered in the next street to us when I was a young teen. It's a small community and 40 years on it's still known locally as Murder Cottage. I'd be gutted if I'd moved to a lovely village and everyone called my home that.

Melminiani · 19/02/2022 00:26

Some friends and I rented a house that we later found out had been the site of a murder about 15 years before. I only found out whilst sitting in the living room watching a documentary about how a killer had been brought to justice and it started by showing our address. It was quite strange, and very sad, to sit there and realise that someone had been murdered near where I was sitting, and buried (for a few weeks until they were found) a few metres away.

We felt a little strange for a few days, but then reminded ourselves that we hadn’t felt anything strange in the house before finding it out, and it was never really a problem for us again after that.

Regarding disclosure, I think you have to ask directly and specifically if someone has been killed in a house and then the vendor is legally bound to disclose it.

Tallisimo · 19/02/2022 00:28

Wouldn’t put me off.

BoredZelda · 19/02/2022 00:36

Nope. Couldn’t buy it.

PoshWatchShitShoes · 19/02/2022 01:02

It would absolutely put me off buying the house. I wouldn't relax knowing that and replaying it in my mind.

A few years ago, I was having dinner at my friend's new house when she announced that her fiancé had bought it as probate property in a really bad state and he'd done up the house...2 elderly sisters had lived there. The 1 sister had had a heart attack in the bath. The other was wheelchair bound and had starved to death in the living room. They were found weeks later.

All I could think then was how quickly I could eat the broccoli on my plate and leave!!! So glad I wasn't staying overnight.

RusticCharminglyCrumbled · 19/02/2022 01:08

@ParkheadParadise is exactly right. The person who was murdered was someone's child, someone's friend, someone's neighbour. Don't demean people's memories by referring to her old own home as the murder house. I'm sure you didn't mean to be insensitive but every murdered person will be associated with a house. With regard to resale, you could have the happiest house in the world, never a cross word, never a tear shed but buyers still won't like the carpet, the weird smell etc. It's not worth worrying too much about.