An Inman news story from this past week revealed that 749 15th Street is back up for sale in Boulder, Colorado. A real steal at 2.3 million, this beautiful 7,000 square foot home features 5 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, a beautifully updated kitchen, and it's within walking distance of Colorado University. Oh, and did we mention that 14 years ago they found the body of 6 year old Jonbenet Ramsey in the basement?
If you read through the listing description, you probably won't see that listed as one of the features. For some strange reason, they didn't want to highlight that aspect of the homes history. However, that leads us to a very interesting discussion about stigmatized properties.
Oftentimes, real estate sells at a different price than normal, because of some aspect of the home other than its actual physical characteristics. Though a stigma is typically viewed as a negative thing, real estate sometimes sells for MORE money because of some characteristic tied to its previous owner or unique location. Celebrity homes or those used in positive movies bring a higher price than the surrounding neighborhood because of their cultural significance.
In fact, Miley Cyrus' recently used her Hannah Montana fame to good use, when she sold her Destin, Florida condo for a $160,000 profit...AFTER just 2 months!!! Even those who are radically bullish on the real estate market can recognize that her big time price increase was more about her name than an actual rise in the value.
There are also a number of negative things that can cause a property to be stigmatized. Last year a home in Northhampton, MA was listed $200k under market value because it was next to a landfill, and even with the big discount, it still didn't sell. Some people also consider short sales to be stigmatized property because they often sell for 10-15% less than market value, not because of the property condition, but primarily because of the delayed response time. Some other common stigmas include a possible murder or suicide taking place in the home, or even rumors that a particular house is haunted.
Have you ever tried to sell a house that was stigmatized? How did it affect the value? We'd love to hear your story! Let us know by leaving a comment in the box below...
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