Would you view/buy this house with a dark past?

[medicinewoman182]

Hello,

I'm after your opinions or personal experiences of buying a house with a dark past.

The house in question is a really well presented, 3 x bed semi in a suburb just outside of leeds in a sought after area. Decorated fantastically, a lovely street/neighbourhood, schools, transport, shops and nightlife nearby. Basically ticks all of our boxes.

EXCEPT.......

Back in 2012, there was a murder. The father has a psychotic episdoe, killed his wife in the kitchen, daughter in the living room and his second daughter and dog were found alive but shaken.

My first thought was NO, NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS.
But I've been researching and thinking about it a lot and may be coming round to the idea.

The house didn't kill those people, he did, and he's in HMP for life!
IF, and thats a big IF, there are any ghosts, ghouls or spirirts there, it's fairly reassuring knowing that they were good people, and wouldn't be out for revenge.
I would say most houses have had somebody die in them (granted not under the circumstances) at some point.

So basically, I want to know what you guys think.
I think we are going to view it, and get a feel for the place. I might run out screaming, or get a good feel and want to make it a happy, loving home once again.

P.S. It has been lived in since then, we would be the second owners since the incident.

I would like to say it wouldn't bother me but I would have to view to be sure. I certainly wouldn't worry about ghosts and the like as I don't believe in them but I might be put off simply by knowing what took place and being at the scene so to speak.
I'd have to get a feel for the place.

I'm not superstitious etc but I'd be worried about the guy potentially showing up again one day.

Nothing much he could do of course but it would always be at the back of my mind that there might be a letter one day or a knock at the door.

For me it would be all about the feel in the house. I think you'll know as soon as you walk in if you like the feel.
Havn't rtt.

Hmm... I don't know. I rented a house where a murderer lived and though it felt ok, for six months sinister bods in big dark cars drove slowly past, looking in the window.

I wouldn't want to live there. It's just so sad and violent.

Plus, I'd be worried that the murderer might return to the house when he gets out of prison, as it was the last thing he knew. I'm sure you'd be protected, but I still wouldn't want that hanging over me.

I'd also be curious how much the present owners bought it for. Bet it was far less than they're trying to flog it for now. I'd just be worried about school parents not wanting to come to our house because of what happened, ghoul tourists, shite neighbours.

No absolutely not

I'd also be curious how much the present owners bought it for. Bet it was far less than they're trying to flog it for now

Bought for £152k in Oct 2014. That's quite a jump in 2.5 years

'Bought for £152k in Oct 2014. That's quite a jump in 2.5 years'

They're having a laugh!

I would not be the slightest bit worried about ghosts / negative vibes etc etc [ grin] but yes , agree with PPs about resale value ( cynical or what ? ) Make sure you get it at a good low price simply because of word of mouth and resale. If you walk in and it's feels OK , it would just be a financial thing for me.

I wouldn't. The newspaper report has made me shake. God knows what i would be like if i was actually in the house knowing what happened. I would constantly be thinking of the mother and daughter and the little girl cowering upstairs for hours before the police found her.

I just couldn't. No way.

Oh no, a straight out no for me. I get shivers just thinking about it. I wouldn't even go and view it .
Regardless of ghosts and bad feelings in the house the fact he could get out or prison one day, albeit not any time soon, and return to the house is a possibility plus you get some weird folk that like to visit places where horrific things have happened...you don't want them rocking up on your doorstep or standing for outside your window.

So I will come across as cynical - have the current owners bought it cheaply ( because of the circumstances) - done it up and selling it on? I haven't actually seen the newspaper reports but I get the point that some thing very bad happened in the house. In which case my point about word of mouth stands , you should ( if you feel comfortable with it ) be able to live in it but should think about resale. If you are thinking about this - so will others.

I was going to say I would, but because he is still alive and on a relatively short sentence, the posts about him being released and revisiting the scene have made me change his mind

IMO it's not unlikely, even if he was not having a psychotic episode and was feeling remorseful its not unlikely that he would at least drive by or come and stand outside at least once.

Also with a recent murder the point about neighbours etc feeling uneasy could make you struggle to settle into the area. If you have kids who go to the local school it may be hard for some who knew the family to go for playdates etc.

I don't go in for ghosts etc at all, I would buy a murder house, but not that one because of the murder still being about and potentially released and because I think it being recent would make making new friends in the area hard especially if they had been friends with that family

it would certainly give me pause...

It's a nice house but knowing the details of that horrendous murder means, even if the man was never released, there is no chance I could live there.

I could not. Way too grim.

On an other note, if we had a psychotic episode why was he not juged not criminally resposible and sent to a specialised psychiatric facility?
Is it a sentence that does not exist in the UK?

Yes I would expect him to be housed indefinitely in a secure psychiatric hospital, if the episode was accepted as being the cause of the killings.

He was only sentenced 15 yrs imprisonment at the time from what I've read on Google so I don't think he's in psychiatric hospital.

Its a gorgeous house.
My personality is such that when I am tired/stressed I am prone to obsession and therefore I could not buy that house because I would be thinking about what happened, imagining it and it would bring me down.
It depends how sensitive you are in yourself. If you are mostly resilient and can switch it off, then why not.
My Nan's small studio appartment was next to another studio owned by an old lady. She went to a nursing home and her son rented it out. We never saw the neighbours but saw that many people lived there.
They moved out and we later heard that the husband had murdered his family. Even though we visited the studio afterwards as the owner gave us the keys to look after it, I never felt quite right there. There was a sadness to the place. But it could have been my own sadness projected.

That being said, if you are so disposed, there is a lot of energy clearing you can do with white sage etc.

Another one who'd also be worried about the other child or the man returning. I'm not normally that squeamish but this is just so horrible.

It's just a house. Ghosts don't exist. Very tragic though

It's got nothing to do with ghosts. Ffs.

I am ultra resilient and unsensitive. There's still no way I'd buy that house.