The suicide house

I'm not superstitious at all, but in the reality of the world we're now living in.  Full disclosure is imperative.  Needless to say, I thinkn a lot of people would be freaked by it. 

Reminds me of the scene in "World According To Garp" where the plane crashes into the home he is looking to buy. He buys it on the spot and says "I'll take it, what are the chances of that happening again". I think people would be surprised if they knew how many homes they have looked at or lived in had at one time had a death in them. What about the property itself? Man has been living and expiring for many years. Natural causes or suicide...what's the difference?

You should follow your own State's laws about this. . in Maryland, we are not allowed to reveal anything about the house that is considered a stigmatized property. . .

From the sellers point of a view. .

and if you were in Maryland. . your being ethically correct with your buyer clients could cost you your license.. .

Fernando:  In Canada you must disclose any stigma's with the property.

If you don't know, all you have to say is "I don't know" then it is up to your buyer to research it himself.  I would never go talking to neighbors to track down something that could hurt the sale of the home.

This would have been a violation of Georgia license law as well. You should have told your buyer to reasearch this themselves.

Each jurisdiction will have different laws about properties with stigmas, however, you wouldn't want to feel like you're pulling the wool over your client's eyes. Some people would be ok with buying a house like that, others wouldn't.

Interesting.  In Florida this changed in the last few years and we are not required to disclose deaths in a home.  However, if a seller disclosed it to me, I'd advise that we disclose it as well.  It's easier to overcome this at the beginning of a home search than to have a buyer find out from a neighbor at the walk-through.

This is the buyer's due diligence to check this information out.    In Colorado you are not to disclosure this information about your listings.

From the buyer's perspective, I would definitely buy it, especially as an investor.  The stigma would fade over time.

Ryan, you did the right thing, even if you were not legally required to disclose that fact.  You helped your buyer make a decision and that decision turned out to cancel the purchase.  Just think if they bought the house and later found out, how upset and disappointed in you they might be.  As far as me, personally, I would not buy a house where someone had committed suicide. 

I've found there are a lot more suicides than I thought. Knowing and disclosing could have softened the news and maybe kept the deal together.

I bought a house where there had been a suicide. We were told verbally when we bought.  We did a written disclosure when we sold it.   

Are you acting as a buyers broker?  Or as a subagent to HUD?  What does your state law say about disclosure AND about agency... that matters a lot more than what any other agent thinks about it... IMHO

Jocilyn I don't think "right to rescind" applies to real estate in any state, but I am not an attorney.    Contact a real estate attorney, that's a legal question.  

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