Nice view, two bathrooms…and a ghost!

I have lived in a few properties over the years that I considered to have spooky goings on. Indeed those earlier experiences were probably partly responsible for my interest in studying the supernatural. However, I never considered the possibility of a resident ghost being a marketing tool for selling my home – indeed I would have thought quite the opposite!

Recently, a few news articles have caught my eye though and it appears that there is currently a boom in ‘spooky’ real estate. Consider for instance the “Haunted Hill House” in Mineral Wells, Texas. Evidently in need of a few repairs and on at the price of $99,900 it is marketed as having 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms (1 sealed for unknown reasons) and nine resident ghosts. The property is also sold as a thriving ghost tour business hosting paranormal investigations for $400 a night, and operating as a paranormal research centre. The owners claim to have tried to renovate the property but faced difficulties due to ‘supernatural complications’. Likewise, in October 2016 (rather appropriately) the reputedly haunted “The Cage” residence in Essex, UK, went up for sale. Even the estate agent claimed to have captured paranormal activity with one of the photos from the property featuring its very own orb. The Cage is a well-known haunted location in England, with a dark history of imprisoning Ursula Kemp accused of being a witch before being hung for her alleged crimes in 1582. The property was marketed as either a residence (for those brave enough!) or a popular paranormal business. If, however, a haunted house is not quite enough for you then why not double up on the phobia potential and purchase America’s ‘Most Haunted’ Clown Motel? As of July 2017, the notorious clown motel, not only filled with thousands of clowns but located next to a cemetery in Nevada, was put up for sale for $900,000 (the only stipulation being that any buyer must keep all of the clowns…).

Indeed a number of properties have started to appear on the market with their very own ghosts – Carbisdale Castle with ‘Betty’ the ghost, the ghost of Bela Lugosi (the 1930’s Count Dracula) in his Hollywood home, or Darnick Tower which has various ghosts haunting the grounds. Ghosts it seems have become a popular selling point…particularly it seems if the property in question requires a bit of work!

The move towards marketing ghosts or hauntings to sell a house is an interesting development. In the three examples mentioned earlier, the properties were not only being sold as a residency but also for their business potential – further demonstrating the commercialisation of ghosts in our modern society. A haunted house traditionally would have been considered a concerning feature, and as demonstrated by the infamous ‘Ghostbusters’ ruling in 1991 deter potential buyers. In this particular case, a New York Court officially ruled a house as ‘haunted’ after a seller was taken to court for not declaring the property as haunted at the time of the sale. Whilst it could not be proven that a ghost inhabited the property the previous owner had perpetuated rumours that the house was haunted. It was only after the buyer had put a considerable down payment on the property that he found out its reputation – this led to a court case ruling in the buyers favour. Since this case some states in America now require sellers to declare if a property is allegedly haunted – or at least if you have publicly acknowledged it as haunted. As discussed on Realtor failure to do so could result in grounds for the buyer to sue.

Given the current trend for haunted house sales, however, it seems like keeping your ‘ghosts in the closet’ is not only a poor legal decision but also potentially a poor sales decision! To hell with it, instead of the smell of freshly baked bread to lure your buyers in, why not crack out the Ouija Board and leave a few windows open to ensure the odd cold spot lingers. In fact I think I won’t bother with replacing the old doors and creaky floor boards in our house if we put it up for sale, instead I’ll find a ghost and let them do the selling for me…