Why prospective homebuyers would settle for a haunted house
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
A haunted house is not a deal breaker for many prospective buyers after all.
Driving the news: Almost 70% of potential homebuyers would consider purchasing a haunted house if it had the right features, the location was desirable and cost was more affordable than other homes, per a Zillow survey released last week.
What they're saying: "More concrete issues like a busy street with loud noise or a high-interest rate with a high mortgage cost, can weigh on someone more than the potential of the house being haunted," Adam Kirkham, president-elect of the Utah Association of Realtors, told Axios Salt Lake City.
The big picture: The survey's findings underscore the concessions that buyers are making to achieve homeownership amid a volatile housing market and high interest rates.
- The median price of a single-family home in Salt Lake County last month was $614,000, per data from the Salt Lake Board of Realtors.
Flashback: Kirkham said he once worked with a client who suspected their home was haunted.
- The large property, in a historic Salt Lake City neighborhood, required a lot of lighting and made the homeowner, who had been accustomed to living in a condominium, feel uneasy.
- When Kirkham brought up the issue, he said the buyer didn't mind and closed on the home.
State of play: A haunted house can be "a double-edged sword," Kirkham noted.
- For some buyers, it may bring some mystique and intrigue. For others, it's a conversation-ender.
- It's why Kirkham recommends that sellers be open and upfront to buyers if they believe their home is haunted.
Between the lines: Under Utah real estate code, "stigmatized properties" are the site — or suspected site — of a homicide, felony, suicide, infectious disease or drug contamination.
Yes, but: Sellers in Utah are not required to advertise if someone died or if a crime was committed on the property, Rob Ockey, president of the Salt Lake Board of Realtors, told Axios.
But, but, but: While not legally required, the voluntary disclosure of known stigmatizations to potential buyers is widely encouraged to maintain transparency and ethical standards in the real estate industry.