Buying a house where a tragedy happened

[Canistayinbed]

Would you?

House near me is up for sale, in the 60’s a father murdered 5 members of his family then killed himself. I couldn’t even bring myself to view the house let alone buy it.

Houses that have had fatal fires, been renovated and ready for occupancy again. Nope.

Id be awake at night ruminating over things and never get any sleep, I know it seems stupid. Anyone else the same? Or do you live in such a place and aren’t bothered by it?

Hahahahahahahaha…no. Not a chance. I’d probably want to go view it though to see if it came with bad vibes, out of curiosity.

A friend rented a house where children had been killed and said no matter how long she had her heating on, it was always freezing with no obvious reason why.

I think for someone who is superstitious they’d probably be able to feel the trauma, some people are a lot more in tune to stuff like that.

Ghosts

No way

This. In the house next door to me, the lad hung himself off an internal door after an argument with his girlfriend. She had stormed out and left the toddler with him. The police had to break the front door down, and I could hear that poor little girl crying. No one has said a word to the new owner. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t got a clue.

Considering my house was built in the 1930's I'd be astonished if someone hadn't died at home while living here.

Doesn't worry me at all, I generally tip my hat to them and hope they like that I love it's period features (what's left).

Not sure about a tradegy though, I'm not sure I would feel comfortable. But I wouldn't say no for sure without feeling what the house felt like.

i was going to say that . . Because I have followed the case for years. There was even blood still on the walls in places and they kept an item of Sheila’s clothes she wore on the day unwashed in a laundry basket ( admitted in an interview)

hmmmmm - my flat is 300 years old and its had 2 murders in it (one in the 1920s which was quite high profile - as i only found out because i searched the address and the other was in the 50s - there are newspaper articles about both of them!

and in 300 years I wonder what else has went on

I’m fine with a house where people have died and our last house definitely had at least one death as is on the census. But I don’t think I could do somewhere where there was a murder.

Suicide is also something I don’t know if I could get beyond. I could do with getting over it really as may have option in the future to buy a house that would suit us on one level really well though maybe not on another level. I know that someone shot themselves in there about 25 years ago and I don’t think I feel comfortable with that despite not believing in ghosts etc.

I think it depends on the property, if I really loved it, and it was a good price, I’d consider it,as long as it wasn’t recent, but theoretically I’d not want it really it would be a mental struggle.

i do believe, and fully accept its illogical, but I believe that homes have happy vibes or bad vibes, our house had a previous life, non residential but would have been joyful and I always think it’s a happy place. So I assume I’d think the converse if something dreadful happened there.

😱

I think one can be a total sceptic with regards to superstition and hardened to things like trauma though and still not want to live there. My dad has a thick skin about seemingly everything but he wouldn’t want to.

Edit: Just read your last sentence after writing!

I used to drive past a house where a murder took place in the 80s; a woman was murdered when she'd been sunbathing on the terrace. The house eventually sold and was later featured on a show about people who've bought such houses. The new owners were quite new age in their lifestyle, and the wife had actually given birth in the room where the murder took place. The couple chose to do so to 'breathe new life' into the room, so to speak.

I think, so long as the incident wasn't too recent, that I'd be fine with living in such a house.

Natural death wouldn't bother me but I don't think I'd like to live where someone was murdered. My DSis moved into a house after the previous owner(lovely lady we knew) died of old age comfortably asleep in her armchair in the kitchen . My sister finds that if gives her a comforting feeling to know the previous owner was so happy there and died a lovely peaceful death.

I do remember years ago I worked in an office next to the local council buildings. There was an awful murder suicide involving a local couple who lived in an old mid terrace in a sought after area. The following morning after the tragedy there was a massive queue outside the housing office as it had been known that the house was rented from the council and there was a massive queue of people wanting to enquire about the house.

I’d be more put off by true crime fan types wanting to loiter around.

In the 60's is 80 years ago

Bloody hell I'm looking good for 80!

I would at least view it. I'm about as sensitive as a brick and not at all suspicious so wouldn't expect to 'feel' anything, but then I've never looked at a house before where anything happened. To my knowledge anyway!

You know, I quite like the idea of that!

I'd go and see it and be led by my gut. I'm not really "woo" about things, but I visited one hotel when we were looking at wedding venues and on paper and in photos it looked stunning, but when I walked in I had an overwhelming feeling of panic and fear and couldn't get out of it quick enough.

Assuming I didn't feel like that walking in, it wouldn't put me off.

i think it’s more like being psychologically primed, if you tend to be superstitious or a bit “woo” and you hear a story/gossip about a house, you’re much more likely to hear or sense things which aren’t there, because you’re subconsciously expecting them.

I was born in 1958 but I’m only 65.

Most old houses will have seen sone death - when it was common to give bury at home, die from old age at home. Accidents too. Growing up someone in the street started renovating his new house and found a body bricked up in the basement.
So not sure about your first example, but a fire or a death in the normal course of life - fine.
My husband died of a heart attack in our bathroom. It sold without issue.

There is a podcast about these houses - on my list of things to listen to.

I think this "stuff" would stop me, OP. Especially if I wanted to start with a clean slate, so to speak. Oh, and also any extensive repairs or reconstruction would put me off, but that's just me 😊

I would be ok with it as long as the house didn't give me the shivers. Most houses have likely had something happen in them at some point, especially older houses.

After we’d owned an old house for several years, we were told by a neighbour that it had been a commune in the permissive 60s, with ‘all sorts going on’, and that the owner had hung herself in the hall a
few years after that all came to an end.

we had been very happy there and still are. Neither circumstance had left any aura or vibe

It wouldn't bother me. Most older houses have had someone die in them. It's comparatively recent for deaths to take place mainly in hospitals or hospices.