Buying a house you think someone might have died in? Yes or no?

[Aaaghbuying]

Saw a lovely house that's just come on. House here go pretty much within a day - think we saw it first.

It clearly belonged to an old person. And was told it's a probate sale.

What I hadn't expected was that the house still had the hospital bed with all the wipes etc by it. All the personal possessions etc. Looks like nothing has been moved or tidied AT ALL since the owner passed away. Which is a bit creepy.

I asked the estate agent if he knew if anyone had died there and he wisely said he hadn't asked as it's an uncomfortable question to ask, which is true.

Genuinely not sure what to do. It will go very soon whatever and ticks all our boxes in terms of size, location and price.

But I'm not sure if I could buy a house someone could have died in? Is that over-sensitive? It's a Victorian property so someone may well have passed away there in the last 140 years.

Views please. Have you done this and regretted it? Or done this and not regretted it? Or couldn't do it?

Thanks.

Makes me wonder about a house down the street a bit. If no one mentions it then all of the neighbours except whoever buys it next will know what happened there. Somethings you might want to know in advance or never find out, but not find out later - if you know what I mean.

Gosh no. Death comes to us all.

I think it's charming that someone obviously loved that house and had wonderful memories made in that home that they didn't want to leave and chose to be there as long as possible. Wouldn't put me off one bit. If it's the right house for you, your family can make lovely memories there too.

My MIL died in the spare bedroom of PIL’s house a few months ago. I still can’t bring myself to go into that room or sit in her chair. Don’t think I ever will.

But, if someone I didn’t know died in a house I had no connection to it wouldn’t bother me much at all unless it was a violent death. I go on the feel of a house. One we viewed the couple were divorcing and it felt like such an unhappy home, holes in the wall behind the door that looked like one of them had slammed the door back in an argument, such an oppressive feeling. The house we’ve just made an offer on the other hand, you can tell an elderly person owned it, it’s currently empty apart from a couple of bits and being sold chain free so the owners might have died (in the house or else where) or they’ve had to go into a home maybe but it doesn’t feel like a sad house.

My house was built in 1794. Countless people will have died and been born here. It’s a normal part of life. Unless you only buy houses built very recently then someone will have died in them. Previous generations had less hospital/hospice intervention. It’s nothing to worry about. Think how happy and comforted the departed person would have felt being in their own home surrounded by familiarity

As a student I lived in an ex care home that had been converted into student houses. The furniture had been kept, so there is an overwhelming liklihood that someone had died in my bed. Didn't bother me, especially since i worked in hotels after and they barely even change the sheets before the next guest if it happens!

Wouldn’t bother me. Dead people aren’t dangerous. It’s the living ones you need to worry about.

Isn’t that what most people want? To die peacefully at home? My house is about 450 years old- I dare say a fair few have died here but not a hint of a ghost sadly

Should think many people have died in my house, it's over 100 years old! Doesn't bother me.

Thanks everyone. Wasn't expecting to laugh at some of these responses, but there you go.

Also wasn't expecting such unanimous agreement that it was not a problem!

It's not that I would mind if someone died in a house a long time ago, it was the unexpected shock of seeing all the personal effects, the coat hanging on the hook by the door, the hospital bed, etc. And as it was a Victorian house lived in by an old person who didn't appear to have decorated in about 60 years, it felt very gloomy and dark as well. So the general vibe wasn't good.

That said, it is a huge amount of house in a very convenient location, with a lovely garden.

It did seem really odd that the family had put it up for sale without apparently touching a thing. That seemed kind of callous.

We've cleared out homes for relatives who passed away before selling and put a lot of thought into it.

Also, not really the same for people who had a much-loved relative pass away in a house they then live in. Obviously, the happy memories of the person alive will be much stronger than the memories of the death.

Whereas with this house today, there are no other memories, for me anyway.

But good to hear that approx 100% of people think I'm being oversentimental!

You are worrying about something that might not have happened. Many older people have community beds, many go into hospital at the end of life. The fact that it is still there suggests that is what happened rather than at home.

What are you worried about? What do you imagine is going to happen?

Op I'm surprised that only 44% of people die at home. But then I suppose my GP both collapsed at home but weren't pronounced dead until hospital.

A 140yo house, does it bother you that the men who laid the stone, the joiner who fitted the windows and doors are dead?
It's history, if only the walls could talk and tell you all the fun times and the sad times.

Death is nothing at all, it's just as much a part of life than birth. If someone died there, in their one home, instead of being taken into a noisy, impersonal hospital, that's a lovely thing.

Wouldn't bother me, I don't think. Never been in that position though. I'd probably see it as an opportunity to enjoy and care for something that was someone else's pride and joy; to be able to carry their memory on without knowing them, so to speak.
I often drive past my late grandparents' house and it makes me smile to see what the current owners have done to the property.

It did seem really odd that the family had put it up for sale without apparently touching a thing. That seemed kind of callous.
I think you are assuming that they are nearby and capable of clearing it out. They may be elderly themselves, ill or even in a different continent.

I viewed a house once which sounds very similar. It wasn't the bed and full laundry basket that put me off, it was subsidence. If you really can't live in it, that's fine but the hospital bed will be gone and once you redecorate and move your things in it will be a lovely home.

As others have said, people will have died in most houses, and people will have been born in them. I think it’s lovely in a way, the story the house has. You can be the next part of its story.

Super creepy about the wipes and the old bed, but chuck them out and go get the house. People die in their homes all the time. Only a murder would stop me buying a house. Or like torture etc

The torture comment randomly got added in because I just remembered Fred and Rose West's house . Thank God it was bulldozed

I would absolutely be put off by a house that didn’t feel right. But not by possible deaths.

Nice people die too op. They are not all ghosts and ghouls. Maybe you will feel more comfortable thinking of it like that. My mum died at home my dad in hospital. I feel both of their presence in their home. The house still feels warm as though someone is there although it has been empty for months now.

Most houses will have had someone die in them, surely.
Why is that creepy? It's just how it is.

The first house we bought had been lived in by an old lady who was born and died there, bringing up 11 children. It was a tiny cottage, originally one up one down, with a wooden building in the garden where some of the children slept.

From the first time we looked through the windows we fell in love with it. It was in a block of four houses that had stood empty for years. The block was bought and renovated by the council but kept its charm - dark wood beams downstairs, sloping ceilings upstairs and walls so thick that they made lovely window seats.

The house had been full of love until the old lady died and it was so good to be able to fill it with life again.

And if you are that worried,,you had better go for a new build that isn't sited on a previous cemetery or house/hospital etc

Our current house is 150yrs old, our last one was 100yrs old and I grew up in a house mentioned in the domesday book (1086) so the chances that someone died in one of those are pretty high.
Unless it was a close family member or friend, I'm a bit meh about it.
Houses have all sorts happen in them, births, deaths, joy, violence - it's the past it doesn't stop me living my life in them and I don't believe in ghosts.