Homicide can really kill your home value

An outdated kitchen or leaky roof can make it harder selling a house. But an even bigger home value killer is a homicide. A non-natural death in a house can drop the worth 10-25%. When it comes to selling a house where a death occurred, it is all about perception. When you have an image that somebody was murdered, it usually is uncomfortable if you are living there.

The Lanza home in Newtown, Connecticut, ended up being demolished. “Some circumstances are very horrific…that the property loses all value.

Disclosure rules vary by state and some tend to be strict in what buyers have to be told regarding a home’s history. Bell said about half states require a homicide be disclosed and that New York and California tend to be by far the most strict about disclosures. Finding buyers willing to pay list price for a home which has a dark past generally is a struggle.

Some buyers are totally fine with it, It depends on the personality. Some won’t even step foot into the home. In 2014, DeBianchi had a luxury listing where a high-profile suicide had occurred. The home got some verbal low-ball offers, however it was eventually removed from the market. “At the end of the day, there was nothing I could do about [its history]. The fact was the house was gorgeous, on the beach, it needed a little work, but it still had a good energy.” The home is now back on the market for sale, but has rented in the past for approximately $25,000 a month.

Living in close proximity to a funeral home, crematorium or cemetery can also have a negative influence on your residences’ value, based on data from Trulia that controlled for other factors that could impact house values.

Houses in the South and Midwest that happen to be near cemeteries, funeral homes and crematoriums normally have the biggest difference in value, as outlined by Trulia’s Chief Economist Ralph McLaughlin. He added that of the top 10 markets with the largest negative difference, eight have been in located in these two regions.

In Omaha, Nebraska, home sales were reduced by 3.9%, which may be $5,812 discount for the median home value there. The impact was almost double in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the funeral home or cemetery reduced a home’s value by 8.6% or $11,050.A property in close proximity to a cemetery could be an easier sell — especially if it’s an older and less active cemetery. DeBianchi has a client considering buying a property on a street that backs up with a cemetery. “The buyer likes the quiet. There’s something tranquil about it.”

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Nick & Cindy Davis cover the Tampa Bay and surrounding areas, so if you are looking for your new home. We are always just a call to 813-300-7116 or simply click here and we will be in touch.