# Would you live in a house where a tragedy had happened? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 23, 2013, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159 "2013-02-23T11:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/41 "2013-02-24T16:43:37Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > It’s also the house where a lot of Gramps’ attacks on his descendants took place (dude’s incest switch was off), part of the reason I’d like to live there is that I think the renovating would be sort of a cleansing experience. That actually makes a lot of sense, but I can only imagine it would be a difficult job to take on, emotionally. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/42 "2013-02-24T18:05:23Z")
Have any bad things been reported by recent owners of the DeFeo house (Amityville, Long Island)? The Lutz family had some issues. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/43 "2013-02-24T19:19:47Z")
If people are freaked out by someone dying in a house, their choices are narrowed considerably. Death happens. A neighbor told us that the former owner’s sister committed suicide in our garage. She deliberately ran the car with the garage door closed. Well, we know the garage is pretty well-sealed! I feel empathy for this poor woman and don’t have a problem with this knowledge, but I can’t go in the garage without the light on. Pretty small hang-up, though. I wish I knew more about her. Is it weird that sometimes I talk to her when I go in the garage? 😕 I tell her I’m sorry she felt there was no other way. Her brother took the proceeds from the sale, bought a Caddy and skipped town owing a lot of people money. He was a college prof, too. I think maybe he flipped when he lost his sister. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/44 "2013-02-24T19:39:21Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I would act all scared and wave a chicken bone around to try and get them to lower the price. Beyond that I wouldn’t care. Thank you for sending ice tea spraying all over my monitor… that’s the best laugh I’ve had in a week. :)😃 I wouldn’t mind it but I don’t think I would want to live in a house where something particularly gruesome had occurred, that (or the gawkers that would follow) might unsettle me. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/45 "2013-02-24T19:52:09Z")
My wife and I are currently house hunting. This is a slightly dramatized reenactment of a conversation we recently had with a relator: Relator: There’s something important I need to disclose about this property. Me: Ok, go on. \ Relator: You see, a previous owner killed his wife and himself here 12 years ago. Me: Oh, thank goodness, I thought you were going to tell me it had knob and tube wiring. Relator: \ Me: goddamnit. ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/46 "2013-02-24T20:38:13Z")
LOL, buckgully! I, too, would find knob and tube much more horrifying! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/47 "2013-02-24T20:59:37Z")
I wouldn’t care about a tragedy but I would about notoriety. A long time friend of my mom lived around the corner from the Nicole Simpson murder house. It was a fucking nightmare for years. Why would anyone go to Brentwood just to get their picture taken in front of that place? Eventually the place was torn down and a new house was built but even all of these years later they still get looky-loos. On the other side of the coin, a good friend of mine used to rent a house here in town that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Every few months he’d get a knock on the door and a request for a tour from an architecture student. For some reason he was nice enough to comply most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/48 "2013-02-24T21:29:44Z")
It would depend on the circumstances, I guess. If elderly Martha passed quietly, or if there was a suicide, I probably wouldn’t mind. Murder, though, would make me pause. The house across the street from my Mom was the scene of a pretty gruesome double murder a few years after we moved in. In the twenty or so years since, no one has lived there more than two years and was vacant off and on for at least six years. It was recently up for sale again, priced at least 10k less than its value. It didn’t help that when people would come and look at it, another neighbor would hightail over and let the prospective buyer know the history. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/49 "2013-02-24T22:41:12Z")
> [@buckgully](#): > > My wife and I are currently house hunting. This is a slightly dramatized reenactment of a conversation we recently had with a relator: > > Relator: There’s something important I need to disclose about this property. > Me: Ok, go on. > \ > Relator: You see, a previous owner killed his wife and himself here 12 years ago. > Me: Oh, thank goodness, I thought you were going to tell me it had knob and tube wiring. > Relator: \ > Me: goddamnit. I’d have a very similar conversation, I suspect. > [@MissTake](#): > > It would depend on the circumstances, I guess. If elderly Martha passed quietly, or if there was a suicide, I probably wouldn’t mind. Murder, though, would make me pause. > > The house across the street from my Mom was the scene of a pretty gruesome double murder a few years after we moved in. In the twenty or so years since, no one has lived there more than two years and was vacant off and on for at least six years. It was recently up for sale again, priced at least 10k less than its value. It didn’t help that when people would come and look at it, another neighbor would hightail over and let the prospective buyer know the history. That’s interesting - it probably wouldn’t bother people at all if they never found out about it, but if someone tells them, then it’s a problem. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/50 "2013-02-24T23:37:38Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > I wish I knew more about her. Is it weird that sometimes I talk to her when I go in the garage? 😕 I tell her I’m sorry she felt there was no other way. No, it’s not weird. I think it shows you have a good heart 🙂 Whether or not she can hear you is irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/51 "2014-05-13T14:28:26Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > It would depend on the circumstances, I guess. If elderly Martha passed quietly, or if there was a suicide, I probably wouldn’t mind. Murder, though, would make me pause. > > The house across the street from my Mom was the scene of a pretty gruesome double murder a few years after we moved in. In the twenty or so years since, no one has lived there more than two years and was vacant off and on for at least six years. It was recently up for sale again, priced at least 10k less than its value. It didn’t help that when people would come and look at it, another neighbor would hightail over and let the prospective buyer know the history. Maybe they just didn’t want to live near that buttinsky neighbor! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/52 "2014-05-13T19:49:06Z")
> [@velvetjones](#): > > I agree about the notoriety. I wonder if the various people who have owned the house in Amityville over the years have had problems with tourists and curiosity seekers. The answer is affirmative even though the city changed the address number to try to control the wave of curious tourists. Finally the house was made into a tourist attraction. I believe the Lizzie Borden house in Fall River MA had the same problem and has been converted into a bed and breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![browncoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f08c70/32.png) [@browncoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/browncoat)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/53 "2014-05-13T21:32:25Z")
Personally no, I thought I could live with the fact a woman who had previously lived in my house took her own newborn son’s life at only a few days old…having children of my own I now know I can’t. Circumstances and emotions can play a hand with such things. Certainly going to be one of the first questions I ask for any new home. Passing away is one thing, murder? Can’t stomach that in home I want to feel safe in. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/54 "2014-05-13T22:46:44Z")
What if the house is infested with… zombies! We actually made an offer on the knob & tube & murder house, but someone else came in at the last minute with a cash offer $50k higher than ours. At this point, I’d scrape rotting corpses off of the kitchen floor if it meant my offer would be greeted with anything more than a giggle and an eyeroll. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/55 "2014-05-13T23:06:06Z")
Was it seriously knob and tube, or was that just part of the joke? Because I laughed my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![stolatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stolatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolatt)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/56 "2014-05-14T12:47:38Z")
I have sensitivities to spirits, so I would have to say no. Our house was built in 1929 and we have a spirit here. I think the older the house, the more likely you are to have a spirit. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/57 "2014-05-14T17:24:50Z")
It’s not a situation I’ve ever run into, but I don’t think it would bother me. I wouldn’t care for constant visual reminders, like deep stains on the hardwood floor or gawkers, but the circumstances themselves wouldn’t dissuade me from buying. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/58 "2014-05-14T17:35:27Z")
Since there’s no such thing as ghosts, spirits or any such phenomena, I would see it only as a bargaining tool for a better deal. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/59 "2014-05-14T19:33:01Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > LOL, buckgully! I, too, would find knob and tube much more horrifying! 😃 Having replaced knob and tube, I concur. In our case it was knob and tube behind lath and plaster. We had to buy an angle grinder to cut holes in the walls to get to the wiring, because the sand in the plaster just ripped up even diamond blades on a regular saw. By the second room, my son had gotten good at locating the area to make a small hole to untwist the wire. The sand also threw impressive sparks. It’s an old enough house that someone might have died there. Like most posters, I wouldn’t care unless there was enough notoriety to cause a nuisance. The last time my other son visited, we went to Sacramento to take a couple of tours. Since we were close to the Dorothea Puente house, we drove by it. It had a tubular metal fence with a gate across the driveway and a sign out that said something about tourists. I don’t know what it said, exactly, because we weren’t going to stop and go look, we were only going to drive by. That was as invasive as anyone wanted to be. I’d have skipped it, personally, but I was outvoted. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159/60 "2014-05-14T19:39:21Z")
I rented an apartment in a two-flat (a house converted into two separate apartments) and after I rented the upper unit I found out from a neighbor that the lower unit was the scene of a murder-suicide which wasn’t discovered for about two weeks. I was weirded out a little; but I was renting for a good prices, so I just let it go. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-live-in-a-house-where-a-tragedy-had-happened/651159.md?page=4)