Most people find the home buying process fun and exciting. Besides, buying a new house gives you something to look forward to and an avenue for building your future and all the memories that will come with owning a home. However, if you don’t take the time to properly research your new home so you know exactly what you’re buying, you could be in for a big surprise. One of the questions many people ask when they are thinking about buying a home is “Who died in my house?” Of course, they want to know who might have died in the house they are thinking about buying. But why would anyone want to know that information? Well, there’s a very good reason you really need to learn everything you can before buying any given home.
What Is a Stigmatized Property?
There are homes out there that are classified as “stigmatized properties.” These are homes people shun due to something that has happened within that home at some point in time. The home could be deemed stigmatized due to a murder that happened on the property, a suicide, an illness such as AIDS, a meth lab was once present or if the house is thought to be haunted. People tend to be superstitious and don’t want to live in a home where something unpleasant has occurred.
Is A Seller or a Real Estate Agent Required To Disclose the Information About a Stigmatized Property?
Well, that’s a bit of a gray area when it comes to what is lawfully required and what actually takes place. The fact is that in most states a homeowner or real estate agent doesn’t have to disclose that type of information even though morally they should. But even in the states that do legally require that information to be disclosed, it’s usually not. Most realtors use the “don’t ask, don’t tell,” method of disclosure. That means if you don’t ask the question “who died in my house” you probably won’t voluntarily be given that information. And to further complicate matters, even though some states do require that information be disclosed, there are very few cases where someone was actually sued for not disclosing it.
What Are the Drawbacks of Buying A Stigmatized Home?
Aside from how you and your family would feel about living in a stigmatized house, there is another major reason for not wanting to purchase such a house. For example, when you get ready to sell, a stigmatized house will usually take about 45 percent longer to sell and they will also generally sell for significantly less than a house that is not considered stigmatized. So while you might have gotten it for a discounted rate when you bought it, you will probably also have to discount it when you get ready to sell it as well.
Where Can I Find Out Who Died in My House?
Prior to the 1980’s it was a bit more difficult to find out the history of a house. However, in 2013 Roy Condrey built a website called  DiedInHouse. This site is a database of all the digitized records of stigmatized houses that have been collected since the 1980’s. You simply put in the address of a home and the website will return any public information that’s available about that house. However, there is a small fee to use this service.
Where Can I Find Free Information About Who Died in My House?
If you don’t want to pay the small fee to use the DiedInHouse service, there are a few other ways you can find out for free if the house you are thinking about buying is considered a stigmatized property.
1. You can review the seller’s disclosure form to see if there is anything that might have been intentionally left blank. If you find any blanks, or even if you don’t, you should ask your real estate agent to discuss the issue with the seller in an effort to get to the real truth about that home.
2. Another way to find the history of a house is to pull up the old newspaper archives and see if you can find any stories about suspicious circumstances, murder, drugs, and so on. You can find newspaper archives at the library and you can also search the online obituaries that reference the home as well.
3. Talking with the existing neighborhood homeowners could also help you learn about the history of a home, although this can be a bit awkward to discuss with people you don’t know. But, this is usually the best way to get the information you need. And if you are able to talk with the neighbors, you will probably get more information than you ever wanted to know.
4. You might also try a website called housecreep.com. However, there are no guarantees the information is reliable. The Housecreep website is an online community made up of users from around the world who submit information by crowdsourcing publicly any available information or personal experiences they’ve had with any given home.
5. Sometimes cross-referencing the previous homeowners of a house with the public death records will shed some light as to what happened in that home; however, this method can be quite time-consuming.
Where Can I Find Information About the Previous Owners of a House?
There are several ways to find out who has previously lived in the house you are considering. You should check the property tax statement to gather the address, lot number, and property tax account number which will assist you in your search. Then check the county tax records online or at the county tax assessor’s office. These records will provide you with a history of who has paid taxes on that property over the years. All you have to do is request the property tax detail using the legal description of that property to find the information you need. And sometimes you might be able to request the information by name. You can also go to the local library and ask for copies of the city directory if the home is older and the county’s tax records don’t go back more than a few years. Additionally, the census records are another good place to find out who has previously lived in that home. Most local libraries have the census information stored on computer disks or microfiche that can be accessed to gather the information you need.
