To ask if a house is haunted before I buy it

[pineapple7peach]

As the title says. Irrational childhood fear which I never grew out of. I don't know if I even believe in the paranormal but my worst nightmare is buying a house I'm too frightened to live in.

Would I be an embarrassment if I asked the estate agent/seller this question?

I've learned on this thread that ghosts haunt people not places so your phantom cat could just be making its way to you really slowly. Like one of those lost pets who hitches a ride on a lorry and turns up 2 years later 😃

Oh crumbs! The voice was rather creepy too.

I've learned on this thread that ghosts haunt people not places so your phantom cat could just be making its way to you really slowly.

Haha!

I do think houses have a vibe to them. But I'd say you can pick that up on viewings - some house feel warm and welcoming, some make you feel cold and some are neutral.

On a serious note...

We own a rental house which is next door to an undertakers, including a mortuary. It was a florist when we first bought it.

It does put some people off. We currently rent it out to Goths who were apparently attracted by the idea!

I'm in Scotland. 20 years ago I bought a house. Vacant as repossession. Turned out it was being sold as a result of a murder/ suicide case (from out of area, didn't know till too late). Lovely house no 'vibes at all' (neighbours odd tho'). Current house. Creepy as fuck from day one. For £ reasons have had to stick it out. Finally googled it, turns out it's mentioned as 'huanted' in an academic paper. Smashing..
You can ask, but I doubt you'll get an honest answer. Do a viewing, trust your gut. If you aren't happy, don't commit, 'haunted or not.

I definitely didn't pick up the spookiness on viewing. I just felt like I really absolutely had to live there and cried a bit when I thought someone else might buy it.

Ha! A previous owner tried to sell my current house as 'haunted by friendly spirit'. I've never got the impression the energy here is 'friendly' (after 16 years).

I mean thats a level of crazy. That's like asking if aliens have ever abducted someone from the garden or if there has ever been any local warewolf sightings.

I'm frankly more worried about Ants etc... getting in than Ghosts and I did live in a historic house famed to be 'haunted' for 4 years (nothing ever tried to kill me, at most I occasionally chuckled to myself when I misplaced something and accused the 'ghost' of nicking it lol).

Sounds like a sensible ghost 😂

Ghosts don't exist OP.

But buying a property which is a well-known crime location is entirely different to a demented fear of ghosts -- potential buyers are almost certainly just making a practical decision about the fact that, even if they get a bargain, its resale value is going to be less, and it will take longer to sell if they want to sell on again.

My house had a notorious murder in it just over 100 years ago, but, given its subsequent sales history, that doesn't seem to have had any measurable impact, and I had no hesitation in buying it.

This is a question I'm now tempted to ask before booking holiday lets in old houses and cottages. Every one we have booked has been absolutely fine over the years except for two. One sounded like it was a pub with the murmur of voices and clinking of glasses coming from downstairs in the night. Otherwise it felt peaceful, warm and welcoming and we have happily returned, especially as it was a lovely cottage in a unique location. The second we would never return to even if offered a free holiday, and despite it also being another lovely-looking house in another unique location.

Perhaps I should start up a haunted/not haunted holiday let business? Yikes? Wootages.com? Scarebnb? Any takers?

Ghosts don’t exist. HTH.

I take your point that for many people the reasons for not buying a property which had been the scene of a recentish crime might just be practical ones, the worry about being able to sell it on with ease when the time came. But I'm one of those people who be creeped out at the thought of living anywhere I knew there'd been a murder, even if it occurred 100 years ago.

@MmaRra ScareBnb is genius.

LumpySpaceGoddess · Today 14:58

OP I’ve not tried it myself but I have a friend who swears by smudging to expel bad energy, she is quite spiritual.

What's smudging?

I don’t believe in ghosts but when we were house hunting one of my criteria was how comfortable I would be in a house on my own overnight. I was thinking more about layout, what’s outside, etc.
e.g I didn’t want to buy one house which was quite aside from others with easy to get into back garden. So I think it’s worth to think how the house makes you feel.
I would be careful asking EA, they might assume you were after a certain answer and might make it up.

I am truly fascinated by people that believe they know everything. It's comforting, I suppose.

Wow. How massively insensitive of you. Why does it matter?

While I think this is all absolute nonsense, I would like to acknowledge your excellent ideas for business names

😂🤣

Years ago a lady from the next street was strangled by a man she had met in a club and had invited him home. Whe her house was sold I met the new buyer. She was initially nervous about the purchase so had the local priest look around the house for her. He said there was a calm feeling about the house and definitely not haunted.

I'm interested in the psychology of 'hauntings', of what kind of people see things, what they see and why.

So when I bought my house, I did ask the seller (I knew him very well beforehand) whether the place was haunted. I got a raised eyebrow and an 'umm...no?' But really I was interested in whether he thought it was haunted (strange noises, doors refusing to close, - which I'd like to know about in any house, whether you believe the cause to be a ghost, or just noisy neighbours/bad building).

For goodness sake, don't move to York!