Stat Of The Week: The Cost Of Ghosts
Literal ghosts.
Somehow found a suburban dream home below asking price, only to later discover it was the site of a grisly event? Even if you’re not following the Otises’ example in adapting to a haunted property, you may still have options.
As noted by the ABA Journal this week, at least 37 states and D.C. have some form of a law addressing “stigmatized properties,” according to data compiled by the National Association of Realtors as of May 2020.
But how much can a ghost really hurt the bottom line?
The ABA Journal put this question to Randall Bell, a stigmatized-property expert. Bell estimates that a home that is the site of a murder or suicide can lose 10-25% of its value, adding that price drops for alleged hauntings “are very real.”
It also seems that these numbers will only climb — Americans’ belief in ghosts is up 400% since the 1970s.
Can Real Estate Disclosure Laws Protect From The Supernatural? [ABA Journal]
Jeremy Barker is the director of content marketing for Breaking Media. Feel free to email him with questions or comments and to connect on LinkedIn.
