How superstitious are you?

Would you buy a house in which there had been a murder and suicide 50 years ago?

I came across a listing for a cute house for sale (not the one in the painting above) with an asking price some $30,000 below its municipal evaluation — which is unusual. Most house sellers ask more than the municipal evaluation.

So, I emailed the real estate agent asking why it was being sold at such a steep discount.

The answer: a murder and suicide had occurred there in the 1960s.

There were other reasons why it was being sold at a discount, but the murder/suicide were the first things the agent listed.

Afterward, I wondered how I might feel if I spent a night alone in that house? Would I be spooked by every creak in the woodwork? Would I see things that were not really there? Would my imagination get the best — or worst — of me?

No, I probably wouldn’t buy the house because of its reputation, even though there are probably no ghosts or bad psychic vibrations still hanging around from the ’60s. And I am doubting they will be able to find a buyer at all; this isn’t the first time the current owners have tried to sell it.

In most places in Canada and probably the U.S. and other countries, homeowners must tell potential buyers if there has been a murder, suicide or even a death in homes for sale. I doubt the fact grandma passed away peacefully in her bedroom would stop someone from buying a house. But a murder/suicide is another matter.

So, how about you? Would you buy the house in question if it met your needs?

— Jillian

Photo: Painting called The Haunted House, by Louis Eilshemius (1864-1941). Credit: Metropolitan Museum of Art/Wikimedia Commons