Haunted Homes can Hassle Home Owners

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 03:41:26 -0700

You remember that scary house on the corner? The one that all your friends always said was haunted? I guess not everyone had one of those in their neighborhood, but my street had a doozy! It was the first house on the street, but just past it was a fairly large drainage ditch that was at least equal to two or three home lots before you got to the next house on the block. The street sloped down past the home, so it really was the scary house on the hill. It loomed above us – an architectural oddity compared to the other homes in the neighborhood. Arched windows, gab¬les and a sinister looking balcony on the side made it really stand out from the rest of the homes on the street. People lived there, but because their driveway was on the cross street, you never saw them come or go.

The stories we told about that house! For a half dozen 8 year olds, that home was the scariest ‘haunted house’ you could imagine. Through the power of Google Maps, I’ve even gone back to take a peek at it once again. Maybe it isn’t quite as sinister as it was in my memories, but it still gives me the shivers to look at it.

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, there are just some homes that stand out from the rest. You know what I mean - those homes with the sounds that you can’t quite place or that have unexplained drafts. Maybe even a home with a dark past.

But when you’re selling or buying that home, can those unexplained phenomenon have an effect on your ability to complete the sale? Do you have to explain to potential customers that there is an apparition in the attic or poltergeist in the powder-room? How about if you’re buying? Should you ask about any grumpy ghosts or mysterious manifestations?

Hauntings fall under the term ‘stigmatized properties.’ Stigmatized Properties are properties or areas that may have a historical or non-physical reason that would cause a buyer to reconsider buying a home. Death, murder, hauntings or even local conditions can all potentially effect the sale of a home. Do people really want to move into a home where a murder took place or a neighborhood where children were kidnapped? While most stigmatized properties have a verifiable history that can be researched and proven, ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night are not universally believed in. What is one person’s knocking furnace is another’s fumbling phantom.

So what should you do? Tell or not? I can’t tell you what to do since every region and every property is different. The Amityville Horror house, in New York, is absolutely stigmatized. Murders, hauntings and fame have made that house far more than a simple home. But few homes are that awash in bloody history. If you live in a home that has some oddities, is it enough to have to tell potential buyers? Where is the line in the sand where you need to disclose or not?

There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to stigmatized properties. Each situation will differ as will the rules of your community, local Real Estate boards, and Provincial Real Estate associations. When in doubt, talk to your Real Estate professional. They are the best person to research the law and decide how to proceed.

If you’re buying, make sure you ask the questions that are important to you. As a buyer, it might not be a bad idea to meet your potential neighbors ahead of time. Whether the home owner is saying anything or not, I assure you that someone on the street knows and is willing to tell you all about the home in question. Google or local law enforcement are also great resources to find information on your future home.

The last thing you want to do is find the things that go bump in the night AFTER you move in.

First Time Home Buyer Considerations

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 11:15:57 -0700

Two weeks ago my wife suggested that I pick up a new set of tires for my Jeep. These two weeks have been a nightmare. If you haven’t priced tires lately, especially big ones, you should know that this isn’t some $100 per tire type of adventure. The tires I priced ranged from $200 to $500 a piece. It’s hard to put $1500-$2000 into a set of tires that you’re going to have to love for the next three or four years without getting all the information possible. I’ve talked to 20 different tire guys, some Jeep guys, and even the co-worker who shares an office with me – much to his chagrin. Do I want to go taller? What can I fit under my Jeep? If I go much bigger, I’ll have to trim the body or get a bigger lift. Can my tire carrier handle the extra weight or will I need to replace my rear bumper? Will my axles handle the extra weight? If I do go larger, I’ll have to buy new rims. Black rims or silver? Machined or polished? If I stick to a slightly smaller tire I’ll spend less money and can use my same rims, but am I going to regret that decision later?

Obviously I put way too much thought into tires; but before I spend that money, I want to make sure that it’s what I want and what I can afford.

Can you imagine me buying a new home?

For some, buying a first home is exciting and thrilling, but for others, it’s a terrifying experience. I just spent two weeks stressing over a $2000 purchase, but when you figure that a new house, even for a first time buyer, can easily be over $200,000 you have to figure that you’re going to want to really think about it for more than a couple weeks.

Buying a home isn’t just about price: location, your needs and wants, future resale and many more choices are going to be considerations for your first home. So what should you be thinking about as you plan on dropping 10-Toyota-Corolla’s worth of dough on a pile of brick and wood?

Over the next few days, we’ll talk about some considerations you may want to think about before you take the plunge.

How much can you afford?

When you get pre-qualified for a loan, your bank looks at your income and your debt service ratio to determine what they believe you can afford. I’m not going to go into details because I’m not a mortgage professional, but even if the bank tells you that you are pre-qualified for a $200,000 mortgage it doesn’t mean that that is what you can afford. Maybe you like to go on a cruise every year, see 10 movies a week (with extra butter on your popcorn, naturally) or have an eBay habit that you haven’t quite been able to kick but has been instrumental in meeting that nice guy in the big brown truck.

You know better than the bank does how much you’re spending on your Blue Ray collection, iPad Aps or collection of novelty key chains. Just because your mortgage professional approves you for a certain amount of money, it doesn’t mean that’s what you can afford. Look at your budget and determine how much you can afford per month. When I say afford, I’m not talking about the as-long-as-nothing-goes-wrong-and-we-never-have-to-buy-anything-other- than-gas-and-food-and-plan-on-working-4-jobs-each sort of afford. I’m talking about the ‘We can make this work, still save a little for emergencies and still live the life we’d like to live’ sort of afford. Work with your mortgage professional to determine what the mortgage would be with that monthly payment and then stick to that total. Be honest with yourself. Nothing would be worse than getting six months into your shiny new 20 year mortgage and realize that there is no way you can afford it.

This is why talking with a professional, even when you’re just starting to think about buying a home, is so important. Make sure, before you start your search and end up falling in love with a property, that you are in a position where you can afford to buy your new home and that your lender agrees.

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Signature Service

Haunted Homes can Hassle Home Owners

First Time Home Buyer Considerations

How much can you afford?