A friend of mine went with her mother to view a house in sheffield with the intention of purchasing it and the layout of the house was very strange. My mate being the odd person that she is picked up on some pretty nasty things in the house and despite her mum being christian - her mother also felt very uncomfortable in the house.

The house still contains all the possessions of the previous owners including record collections, electric guitar and posters on the walls. When the agent was asked why the house was on the market he seemed uncomfortable with the question and said he was given that information.

My friend has since been told of a dr being the first to the scene of a murder on that road.

What is the point? Do estate agents have a responsibility to tell customers what it is they are buying into. Some people may not mind that someone lost their live in that particular house - others may.
Also how would one find out if a murder took place at a particular address - from the POV of confirming feelings and presences (spooky) in a house?

Moon Maiden

I suppose we could all be living in a house with a murky past maybe the chance of someone dying in the house are high especially in an older house and we may never know the history that it holds.
Though the point your making is should the estate agent tell he buyer of what has happend in the house.
I,m not sure of the law about this, if you have a fault structure wise and you don't tell the buyer then that is an offence, but on the basis of the murder and holding this back then it is not an offence.As someone said in another thread don't try and fix it if it is'nt broken.

I thought the law for estate agents was full disclosure?

If you aska question about a house you are bidding on.. or wanting to bid on, the estate agent must give full disclosure to all your questions.

A friend of mine bought a house a few years back. I felt very uncomfortable in it (worse in some areas than others) but she loved it. I have no idea if anything 'bad' had happened there but I wouldn't have bought the place.

Personally I think it's not the fact that someone died in a place but any violence or fear experienced that affects the atmosphere. If you pick up on that then you'll not feel comfortable ( no matter what an estate agent says) and if you don't then it's not going to be a problem.

My mum had a thing about living in houses after some previous occupant died therein. She lives on Wordsworth Ave and could always smell cigarette smoke in the back bedroom - a neighbour told her that the old lady used to have that room and often sat by the window smoking. Don't think she passed away in the house though but they felt her presence somehow so the neighbour told mum to go into the room and say - you can go now, we live here - 3 times and after that she never noticed the smell again.

When I moved into my present house I did a check on how many people lived here using the White's directories in the research room at the City library. What I couldn't find out in there I learned from neighbours - purely for historical purposes but it's a good way of cross-checking.

removed by spook.

You guys get all the good jobs eh spook :(

In my experience people break their necks to tell you bad stuff like that. You can be SURE.

Just going to pay the paper bill would result in a "oh you live in the house of death then"

We live in a terraced house with an off-shot kitchen and the computer is in the back (dining room) next to the kitchen.

Around last October/November 2002, when I was sitting up at the computer late at night, if I'd had a drink or was tired (or both), I kept thinking I was seeing a small black dog, in the corner of my eye, darting from one side of the kitchen to the other.

I just put this down to the Stella Artois and tiredness and didn't really think much more about it.

Then Christmas came along and I casually mentioned it to my son. He immediately said that he'd been seeing it. He described it and it was what I'd seen - a bit like a small version of Gnasher out of the Beano.

Then we mentioned it to my wife, and she said she'd also seen it. We'd all see this 'dog' and had felt too daft to say anything.

None of us ever saw it agin after we'd all spoken about it.

Weird.

I suppose in almost every house over the age of 10 years had bound to have had some one die in it i mean years and years ago before home help and massive hospitals people will have passed away at home so really it isnt that spooky.

Originally posted by DaBouncer
I thought the law for estate agents was full disclosure?

It is, as far as the quality of the building is concerned. They are not obliged, to my knowledge, to disclose any information about the seller, or their reasons. The seller is not obliged to even tell the estate agents, unless it would have a bearing on the price of the property. The nature of the demise of the previous tennant does not have a bearing on the price, nor does any spiritual or religious opinion (yes, even indian burial grounds!!)

Although I mainly work with Specialist properties, I believe this is true of all building markets. :cool:

Does any one know a web site where you can find out the history of your house ??

Depends what your house is. If it's Chatsworth, or Haddon Hall or something, then there'll be loads of info on your house.

Nah its nowt like that ita just my mums had some weird stuff hapenin in her house its a really big old 1 in deepcar an i want to find out as much as i can about it.

Originally posted by Moon Maiden
Do estate agents have a responsibility to tell customers what it is they are buying into.
Moon Maiden The Estate Agents Act 1979 attempted to put a lid on some of the worst excesses of Estate Agents. In the example quoted their duty "not to make misleading statements" may be relevant. If you have a bad feeling about a property or consider the price lower than you would expect then a question like "why is it so cheap" should get an honest answer - if the agent doesn't disclose news of a recent murder - a fact which would affect the value of the property - then he would probably be in breach of the act.
(I knew of someone who bought a house very cheap knowing that there had been a murder there - unfortunately he omitted to share this information with his wife - all was fine until she asked a neighbour's daughter to baby-sit "Not in that house" she replied - you can guess the rest. Wife moved into an hotel immediately, husband got an ultimatum.)

Unfortunately the penalties under the act are only a ban on working as an estate agent and a fine. Back in 1979 the real problem making the law necessary was exaggeration in property descriptions - 2 minutes walk to the shops (only achievable if you're an Olympic sprinter) - room measurements conveniently rounded up the the next yard - Sea view (only if you stand on a chair and hang out of the bathroom window). It was necessary to pass a law to stop them telling outright lies.

If the agent knows of information which will affect the value and you don't ask an appropriate question he doesn't seem to be under any duty to tell you.

I heard of a house somewhere around Banner Cross - a friend was going to buy and it looked a good deal - but he had a structural survey done (which is not cheap). The surveyor told him it had serious structural problems - basically it was slipping down the hill. In his estimation it was worth no more than 20% of the proposed purchase price - the only sensible way forward would be to demolish and re-build. Friend told the agent who just readvertised it at the original price - waiting for a buyer who wouldn't check it out properly. Later the friend found that he wasn't the first potential buyer to drop out for the same reason. The agent NOT volunteering the information was perfectly legal (and the reason Estate Agents have a bad reputation) but if a potential buyer asked a fairly broad question like: "do you have any information which might adversly affect the value of the property" the agent would probably be in breach of the act if he didn't tell what he knew. If he decided to lie he has the defence of "I didn't know" and you'd have the problem of proving he did.

In practise - assume the estate agent is untrustworthy, make your own checks, use a surveyor, talk to the neighbours. Buying a house is, for most of us, the biggest transaction we will make in our lives. It is worth taking extra care to avoid a mistake.

Originally posted by Moon Maiden
When the agent was asked why the house was on the market he seemed uncomfortable with the question ...
He would do, he probably knew he could lose his job for not telling you what he knew.

Originally posted by tiffy
Don't think she passed away in the house though but they felt her presence somehow so the neighbour told mum to go into the room and say - you can go now, we live here - 3 times and after that she never noticed the smell again.
Why do you always have to say things 3 times in situations like this? Also, when these people leave will the old lady return like she did when the previous occupants left?

Press Association news

A couple who discovered their new home was the scene of a horrific murder were seeking damages from the sellers today. Alan and Susan Sykes discovered the gruesome past about their house in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, only while watching a television documentary about how a father had butchered his 13-year-old adopted daughter and hid her body parts around the house and garden. 10:30 High Court.