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?

Don’t think Kirsty or Phil have ever been asked this
Woocation, Woocation, Woocation?

We need to do a ScareBnb podcast immediately. I hate woo stuff, and podcasts, but that description was compelling.

You're not allowed to say that with no follow up. It's illegal.

In fairness, we don't have the technology to get human witnesses to Mars yet.

We know it's there, and lots of people believe its there, but what do you consider evidence? Landing a rover is just as "woo" as some people seeing ghosts innit?

I don't believe any of what I've just said by the way. It's a philosophical question.

I don't like people being mocked when their belief is pretty harmless. If ghosts don't exist then Mars doesn't, I don't care what Brian Cox says.

I think asking outright is a difficult one because haunted could mean so many different things. And houses can feel completely different to other people. I think you would just have to view the house and get a really good feel for it, perhaps ask about the history although I don’t always think an unsettling history = haunted.

I’m not sure I believe in ghosts necessarily but I think homes to have an energy about them. Ive been in really unwelcoming newer homes and felt completely relaxed in older ones.

I’ve lived in a Victorian doctors house previously which had a small chapel of rest style room in it , people in the village used to frequently tell me about all of the relatives they had had laid out in there. Never had any strange vibes though.

Same in my current house that’s 400 years old, all quiet.

However I think there are instances where you instantly get the no-go vibes. Years ago I went to view a house, my mum came along for company. Lovely house, not that old really, probate sale and really well priced. Met the estate agent on the drive who simply said ‘it’s open, see you shortly’
Thought it was a bit odd he didn’t come in but carried on regardless. If a house could have screamed “f**k off” the minute you went in this was it. The silence was deafening and you just felt horrifically unwelcome, we walked out after a minute. Estate agent laughed and went ‘let me guess, not for you?’ He said he had lost count of the viewings.

Turns out the house belonged to an old couple who had lived there for decades. Wife died and a few weeks later the husband went too. I swear those two were still in that house and didn’t want anybody else there! It was on the market for months after, I assume it eventually sold. But it was a truly awful feeling being inside it…..

Maybe you need a new-build?

That won't help - you would still need to ask. Assuming that you care at all about that kind of things and that the owners wouldn't simply lie.

HOW could you prove in court [a] that the house is haunted and [b] the seller knew it?

I remember a TV show about a brand new house built "in the wrong place" where residents were complaining about weird happenings.

Honestly I am genuinely shocked at the amount of locals that get absolutely shit faced and then hop into their cars!

That was entirely my point, I dont think dying suddenly of a debilitating illness at a young age is relaxing.

You really think kids dying of whooping cough wouldn't have unfinished business and also be quite noisy spirits?

I'm not PP but (or even from London) but are you on about Cain Hill? I would have loved to have visited that place.

I live in a 220 year old house ( actually it's multiple houses converted into one) and there are often incidents happening sometimes weekly.

How I would answer depends on the way you phrased your question. If you asked me if I had ever seen a ghost here then I could quite truthfully say no as I have never actually seen them.

Plenty of other people have(!) but you'd have to ask me the right question.

When darkness falls and things start going bump I suddenly find myself feeling woo. I would have been crapping myself at all that.

I'd prefer the benign Georgian gentleman someone up thread has hanging around their dining room. I'd just leave the port out and tell him to (quietly) help himself.

An old Native American practice where they burn white sage and use the smoke to clear a space.

Many cultures have their own variation on it. Smudging refers specifically to the Native Americans. The Scots call it "Saining". A more generic term is smoke cleansing.

It would be pointless to ask, for various reasons:

(i) Most people don't believe in ghosts, and the scientific consensus based on the best evidence is that they do not exist, so the rational answer to the question will always be "No, the house is not haunted."

(ii) Most people don't believe in ghosts, so will truthfully answer that the house is not haunted, even where you will subjectively perceive the house to be haunted (either because the ghosts are the product of your imagination or because you are more 'sensitive' and perceive their existence when others do not).

(iii) Most people don't believe in ghosts, and the scientific consensus based on the best evidence is that they do not exist, so even if the seller or estate agent also believed in ghosts, believed the house to be haunted, and lied to you by answering that the house was not haunted when they knew it was, you would have no recourse in law because you could never prove they lied!

Wouldn’t you pick up some sort of vibe during a viewing?

I did once - I’m not a ‘woo’ type at all, but one house we once viewed, so perfect on paper and even more so from the outside - gave me such a cold, horrible feeling once inside, I couldn’t wait to get out again.

It’s only happened that once, but OTOH I’ve more than once felt a lovely warm* atmosphere - you could tell the house had been a happy family home.
*and I don’t mean the temperature!

I'm not sure if this was in response to me, but I was talking about Friern Hospital which has been turned into luxury housing. Loads of Z list celebs live there....most of 1 Direction lived there at one point and when Ashley Cole was married to Cheryl they did too. Although it's sympathetically restored, I wouldn't live there....too expensive for a start, expensive to heat as there's loads of high ceilings and mezzanine floors, and not that great an area for the cost.

Haha

I presume they were talking about Colney Hatch.

You mean the real Cane Hill Hospital in Coulsdon, south of Croydon? Not the fictional Cain Hill from he 2017 movie?

As a former psychiatric hospital, it's got a good potential for harboring ghosts.

It stood empty for year, was a Mecca for urban explorers. Finally been demolished and turned into a housing estate.

Anyone living there to report strange happenings?

The one in North London was Friern Hospital (formerly Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum), today converted into the Princess Park Manor.

Yes I was talking about Friern Hospital (as it was known when I was training there in the early 90s), previously Colney Hatch, now Princess Park Manor. Cane Hill was in Coulsdon, opposite site of London.

yanbu I wish I did this before I brought my first home. ended up getting a exorcism 3 months in

@sewerrat - oooh tell us more!

I would find it funny.
But seriously- even if it was and someone wanted to sell it, they wouldn't probably tell you?

the typical things you'd hear in movies. doors slamming, noises of people running up the stairs when no one else home. then I had the wine glasses smashing one by one in the kitchen with no explanation. was harrowing

This is priceless response.😂😂👏