Would you live in a house with a tragic/dark history?

[Bramblies]

I've just gone down a rabbit hole thanks to a book I'm reading and found this. It's a lovely little flat in a great location and for the time, a brilliant price. But would I want to live there? I don't know. I'm not given to woo and I'm quite level-headed but I'm not sure I'd fancy it tbh.

Would you live in a house that had a dark history? Particularly if you could get it for a knock down price?

I walk past that flat fairly regularly, it’s a lovely area.

I wouldn’t live there though, it would be on my mind too much. If the details were less well known it would be different.

I would. A friend of mine bought a house where the last owner had died in it very tragically and wasn't discovered for a while - she said she didn't think about it after a few weeks. I've lived in lots of very old houses though, including one over 300+ years old, so I'm sure lots of tragic things have happened in them, the only difference is I didn't know about it.

If I knew prior something had happened there? No.

I think some places are just 'happy homes'. I think you sense it on a property viewing too.

I'm always a little put off when I see the same properties being listed for sale every couple of years.

A suicide occurred in the bedroom where I am now, the previous owner’s friend, about five years ago. It’s a sad story but it doesn’t bother me and there’s certainly no dark energy. It’s a 100yo house, I’ve found newspaper archives showing a death due to old age, and at least one birth there. Just part of life.

Why on earth would you want to be penpals with a prolific serial killer?

You can get a property space cleared by a Medium/Psychic. Read "Echoes Within Walls" by Sam Ritchie...

That's great! My friend told me an old lady lived there and her husband had died, the neighbours were terrible and she'd had enough. There are other details, but she knew when we were very young, under 10. Children are so sensitive to detail and I did visit. It was beautifully decorated, but I felt something. I was always attuned to that kind of thing, I think we have to shake it off to an extent!
Lots happens when different people live in the same houses; it's a different home each time.

I had a friend who owned one of those flats and I stayed over with her many times.
There was absolutely no sense of the atrocities that had been committed there, it felt like an ordinary flat!

No idea, found him interesting, which he was. Simple as that

Would not bother me
I think I would find it interesting I would want to know all the details

Yeah in a country that has a housing crisis

omg

Surely part of the issue is being known as the one who DID buy it. I think people would assume you were a fan or after some gruesome history trophy. Cant imagine anyone letting you look after their kids if they knew you lived there, for example. Sounds bonkers but I would probably wonder.

I really have heard it all now
Who would daft enough to pay for this
It is just a scam
A fool and his money ..................

Well that's not true. Have you never seen "a house through time" on BBC2? Genealogists do house histories all the time.

If your house was built pre-ww1, then it is more than likely that people were born there, died there. Many people though feel there is a difference between someone dying naturally at an advanced age, or some sort of violent crime. But unless it was a very high profile case, you are unlikely to know about it when you view the property.

My brother lives in a house where the previous owner died by suicide. It has always felt like a nice house with a good vibe to it. DB says he likes to think he's bringing happiness back to the house. He hasn't told his children about the suicide there though which seems fair enough but I know he hopes the neighbours don't mention it to them one day.

I would be very much the "everyone at the start of horror movies". Can't say no to good discount...
I do, however, know people who wouldn't even buy reposessions because they believe it would bring bad luck profitting of bad luck of others.

With these flats, my only worry would be people trying to look in etc.

I'd not live there but mostly because I'd be worried about taking a wall down and finding something.

An older house where people have died naturally is something entirely different and I think knowing someone lived happily then died well in a house would be rather lovely.

It wouldn’t really bother me but I’d have to visit and get a feel for it first.

Dd’s ex was convinced something bad had happened in our house but it’s always felt like a very comforting house to me.

I have wondered whether people know about this type of thing when they buy?
I was thinking of the flat in Walton Thames where Levi Belfield murdered beautiful MD.
Everyone knows the gap in the hedge where she was lured through (has been gated up now) and wondered if the flat actually is still being lived

Last night, on the news, there was a report about the Henry Novak murder. The journalist stood outside the house where it happened. That house will always be associated with this tragic death and I couldn't help feeling sorry for the people who now live there. The house will always be known as the house where poor Henry Novak was murdered in front of.

I suspect most houses over 100 years old have probably had someone die in them. Anywhere with a tragic past, I would avoid. Sometimes you only find out once you have moved in though.

When can I move in?

I'd want a good discount in case it was hard to sell. I might get a priest to "sort it" too.

I live in london where there was (obviously) heavy bombing during wwii. You can see where bombs fell online and casualties. 3 houses on my small road were damaged and occupants killed, one house i assume the grandparents were baby sitting for a GC whilst the daughter worked. It was a daytime v2 and everyone except the adult DD died, i would find that more disturbing tbh, the despair of coming home and finding her parents and child had died. I wonder if the occupants know, I assume the bomb damage repairs would come up on the solicitor search (?)

Overall I think knowing a child had died would put me off but adults less so.

It sounds strange to say it but houses can have atmospheres.
I know I can go somewhere and immediately feel uncomfortable for no apparent reason.
If the feeling was quite strong I would walk away and not buy at all. Good price or not. The house you live in has to feel settled.