Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you live in a house where there had been a murder?

387 replies

1988TBT · 16/11/2021 07:18

Just that really… DP and I looking at buying a second property to rent out. It’s underpriced and chain free… because 18 months ago the husband murdered his wife in one of the bedrooms. It’s put me off a good amount but DP is still keen to go ahead with the sale and says there will be lots of people that won’t want t rent it but it won’t put EVERYONE off. Would it put you off?

OP posts:
EssexLioness · 16/11/2021 08:39

I wouldn’t live in a house where someone had been murdered. That annoys me cos I don’t have a single logical reason why not. I don’t believe in ghosts, curses etc. I do watch too many horror movies and have a vivid imagination though so would just end up freaking myself out.

SirVixofVixHall · 16/11/2021 08:42

I couldn’t live there, too upsetting and unsettling.
A house came up for sale recently that ticked boxes for us, but there was a murder suicide there not very long ago, the man killed his wife and then himself. The house is quite isolated and I didn’t even want to view it.
I went to visit a friend years ago, he was living in a really beautiful house in a very expensive part of London. The house was huge and rented as bedsits . It had the most unpleasant feel, I can’t describe it, like a film somehow, this horrible unreal quality that was incredibly sinister. There had been suicide there not long before, but it almost felt as though the house had led to the suicide, rather than the house feeling menacing because of it. I am shuddering just thinking of that house now and it was twenty years ago.

BreatheAndFocus · 16/11/2021 08:42

I wouldn’t live in a house where someone had been murdered. Obviously lots of have have died in houses but murder is something different and would have very bad vibes of fear and terror and pain. Not that I’m really someone who’s into vibes, but I just couldn’t do it.

PingedPotato · 16/11/2021 08:44

@Atozofpoodles

Also, who get the proceeds from the sale?
That's a good point
Couchbettato · 16/11/2021 08:44

People have been murdered in many places over time.

As pp said, unless it was a high profile case where creepers will try and take a peep, then I really couldn't give a rat's arse.

HappySantasaurus · 16/11/2021 08:45

I'm not sure, as long as the feel of the house was good I think I probably would. My house is quite old so I've really no idea if someone has ever been murdered in it. I suppose it's fairly unlikely but it would be pretty hard to find out for certain.

Lemonlemon88 · 16/11/2021 08:48

I don't know. I know someone where the father hung himself in the garage and they stayed living there...probably couldnt do that myself. But a murder....would depend on how gruesome it was...plus some places just feel a bit not right.

Elphame · 16/11/2021 08:52

It probably wouldn’t put me off if I liked the house otherwise.

You may find you have a high turnover of tenants though as they find out the house’s history (and they will)

SpookyScarySkeletons · 16/11/2021 08:53

Our neighbour over the road hung himself from the loft hatch a few months after they moved in. It was summer and the windows were open so I actually heard his wife's screams when she opened the door and looked up the steps. It was awful.

The house has been on and off the market for about 12 years now and she just can't sell it. It wasn't reported in any local press though so I don't know if people have been told or if there's a strange feeling in there.

JadeTrinket · 16/11/2021 08:53

@BreatheAndFocus

I wouldn’t live in a house where someone had been murdered. Obviously lots of have have died in houses but murder is something different and would have very bad vibes of fear and terror and pain. Not that I’m really someone who’s into vibes, but I just couldn’t do it.
No vibes of any kind here.
Horst · 16/11/2021 08:54

Someone was murdered next door plenty of people and landlords where willing to buy the house but the current owner wouldn’t accept their lower offers.

tedsletterofthelaw · 16/11/2021 08:55

Any one of us could be living in a house where there was a Murder. Especially older houses. How on earth would we know?

I don't think it would put me off, but looking at the responses to this thread you may find it difficult finding tenants if they have the same thoughts

tcjotm · 16/11/2021 08:56

There was a man murdered near where I lived. Very high profile case. Murdered by a stranger. When they re-rented out the flat it was also pretty high profile and got lots of interest but basically it was a normal, neatly redecorated flat in a sought after location. And so got rented and life has gone on.

I think it was harder on the existing residents. I know for a long time I felt sad every time I walked past. But the murder was so utterly random, it’s not like moving was going to help. The building was no more or less safe because of his death.

I agree with a PP who said it would depend how it felt to them.

SirVixofVixHall · 16/11/2021 08:56

@HappySantasaurus

I'm not sure, as long as the feel of the house was good I think I probably would. My house is quite old so I've really no idea if someone has ever been murdered in it. I suppose it's fairly unlikely but it would be pretty hard to find out for certain.
Actually easy to find out, at least for the past two hundred years or so. You can search old newspaper reports. My friend’s house is five hundred years old, that might be a bit harder, but in rural areas particularly the knowledge is often passed down and still talked about in the community.
Fifipop185 · 16/11/2021 08:57

Wouldn't worry me at all. It's just a building, lots of people die all the time at home. It makes it even less of an issue if you're going to renovate and redecorate throughout.

clarehhh · 16/11/2021 08:58

My friend did exactly that , no problem.

HarrietsChariot · 16/11/2021 08:58

@tedsletterofthelaw

Any one of us could be living in a house where there was a Murder. Especially older houses. How on earth would we know?

I don't think it would put me off, but looking at the responses to this thread you may find it difficult finding tenants if they have the same thoughts

Sometimes you just know. I viewed a place once where I walked through the front door and just felt an oppressive sense of tragedy. Nothing to do with how it was decorated, it just felt like someone terrible had happened. I found out several years later that their had been a number of suicides there over the years, it was an old Victorian building so there had been plenty of time for tragedies to occur.
cookiemonster2468 · 16/11/2021 08:58

We often don't know what has happened previously in houses we live in. I know nothing about the past of my current place and something like this could easily have happened that I don't know about.

It wouldn't particularly bother me because I would just dissociate from it - different people, different time, etc.

So I would happily buy it to live there, but I would be wary that it would be harder to rent/ sell to others in the future.

Derbee · 16/11/2021 08:58

Definite no from me. Wouldn’t buy it, wouldn’t live in it

hapagirl · 16/11/2021 08:59

I wouldn’t. I guess it’s because if there’s been a murder or a suicide, the walls have seen misery and I feel that will linger somehow. Whenever I move, I always google the address. Saying that, I think I am in the minority. A house near me where a woman had been bludgeoned to death by her builder recently went on sale and went to closing date (in Scotland).

MsAgnesDiPesto · 16/11/2021 09:00

I don’t believe in ghosts or anything so none of that would put me off. But a number of other things would:

  1. Is the perpetrator still alive? Is there any chance he will be released from prison in future, and be back in the area? This could be difficult to handle. He might hang around. Even one instance of him standing outside would be unnerving.
  1. If he is still alive, will he benefit financially from your buying the house? If so, it would be a massive ‘no’ from me.
  1. The murder happened very recently. People locally will still be talking about it. Some of them will happily talk to your tenants about all the gory details, and put the willies right up them. You might be faced with void periods or trying to find new tenants every six months.

I think if it had happened longer ago, and we were two or three sales down the line, it would be straightforward to say yes. But given the recent and horrible nature of what happened, and the potential complications I’ve set out, I would resist it. It looks like a bargain for a reason.

LoveComesQuickly · 16/11/2021 09:01

I'd buy it.

RandomUser18282 · 16/11/2021 09:09

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 16/11/2021 09:12

@Atozofpoodles

Also, who get the proceeds from the sale?
I've always understood a murderer can't profit financially from their crime. I don't know how that affects a case where two people own a house jointly and one murders the other. Presumably if they had an insurance policy to repay the mortgage if one died that wouldn't pay out if the reason one person died was because the other person killed them.

However, in this case, did they actually own the house, or were they renting? Also, if you are put on trial for murder, you should have legal representation. Do you let legal aid for that if you own a house, or would the house be sold to pay for the legal fees?

In answer to the OP, I don't think it would put me off, especially if the rent was maybe a touch less than market rates.

I have no words for the idea of getting the house blessed by a priest, but then I'm an atheist and that kind of thing baffles me.

Rosiiiiie · 16/11/2021 09:15

@JadeTrinket still gives me the creeps. What’s wrong with that?