Death as a Disclosure

For some it’s a deal breaker, for others, just something they want to know. In California, if a death has occurred on the property within the past 3 years, it must be disclosed.

I’ve had one listing with a death on the property – an older woman who passed away of natural causes. For most this doesn’t cause concern.  But when does a death on the premises attach a stigma to the house? And when that happens, how does the innocent house overcome that stigma? Is it the nature of that death?

Bad stuff happens in life, and it sometimes happens in a house.  What would make you more uncomfortable – knowing there was a death in the house, garage or yard? Or finding out there had been other horrible things occurring inside the walls of that dwelling?  The fact is, a death must be disclosed, but other sordid circumstances may not.

For some people, no matter what the circumstances, a death on the property would give them the willies. And it’s better they learn that before the deal is sealed, than afterwards from the neighbors.  I have clients in contract now who learned there was a suicide on the property they’re buying.  A little off-putting at first. But, they didn’t know that when they first viewed the property. Their initial reaction when walking inside this particular home was ‘It feels so peaceful here’.  It’s that sensation they’re remembering, now that this disclosure has presented a different picture. If they learned there had been a murder, I’m not sure they could have come to grips with that.

What about a house where unspeakable things happen – abuse, drug trafficking, neglected children or animals.  Those things are just as awful – does the house take on that stigma too?  Would they give some buyers the creeps?  I’ll bet that they would.  Yet, those are not disclosures.  Ultimately new owners may learn about them though, once they take possession and the neighbors start to talk.

Where does this leave the house – perhaps never a happy home?  I like to think that the story of that house, maybe one with a sad or terrible ending, gets to be re-written.  The chapter closes on the broken lives of previous owners, and new owners bring the house back to life, giving it a reincarnation of sorts.

What have been your experiences with buyers and sellers?

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