The Gasp Menagerie: Haunted House For Sale…Who’s Buying?
Steve Barton
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ABC’s “20/20”
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/hot-real-estate-market-buyers-dying-live-haunted/story?id=24471842
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Haunted houses used to be a matter of legend. You’d hear from someone who knew someone whose brother’s sister’s cousin’s former roommate once walked past a house and got the willies. Okay, maybe the tales were a little more solid, but you get the idea.
Back then you’d hear second-, third-, or fourth-hand about a house being wrong, off, spooky, or troubled. Now, however, we live in the information age. News doesn’t just travel fast, it’s instantaneous.
We hear about events like revolutions and disasters as they’re happening, in real time, and have stacks of evidence readily available soon after; and the same goes for haunted houses. The modern haunted house doesn’t require the time needed to become a legend. One stop on any number of social media sites will allow a hauntee to throw up their tale for mass consumption. You would think this increased speed and detail would cause houses that come with a little something extra to remain empty for years, but ABC’s “20/20” reports that’s not the case.
A recent story on the program covered the phenomenon of intentionally purchasing a house reported to be haunted. According to polls, a majority of Americans would consider buying a haunted house, and over a third of us report that we’ve lived somewhere that we believed to be haunted.
The popularity of paranormal reality shows and ghost-themed films has to be involved here, but the fact remains: People are buying haunted houses faster than ever.
Cindi Hagley runs Past Life Homes in Northern California. This business focuses on “stigmatized” properties, including homes reported to be haunted. She says that business is brisk, although she does credit the current paucity of homes for sale in the area for the spike.
How about you? You can check out the Past Life Homes site right now to see if there’s a property that you’d be interested in. Just be warned… it might come with roommates you can’t count on to pay their share of the rent.
Would you move into a “stigmatized” home? Should real estate agents nationwide be forced to divulge reported hauntings like they are in California? Let us know what you think!
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Categorized:News
