Have you ever wanted to spend the night in a haunted house? Better yet, how about spending 30 years there with a fixed mortgage rate, a golden retriever and a white picket fence? According to Realtor.com's Haunted Housing Report (2013), 62% of potential buyers would NOT be deterred from purchasing a dream home if the house came already furnished with "things that go bump in the night." In fact, 12% of those surveyed said that they would pay full market value for a home said to be haunted, if not more. Given that 1 out of every 3 buyers I've represented have asked me if anyone has ever died in the house they're considering to purchase, the answer to this question does matter, whether or not a welcome mat is set out for the "uninvited" or a full blown exorcism is ordered. And since each state has its own real property laws regarding disclosure of any sort of paranormal activity or even death in the house, a prospective buyer may have to do his/her "due diligence" to uncover whether their dream house today has had a nightmare of a past.
In my state of New York, the real property law, "Caveat Emptor," AKA "let the buyer beware," is in place, leaving the buyer with the responsibility of investigating a property's history for his/her own benefit. The local library, the town Historical Society (particularly if the property in question is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites,) and the assistance of your local neighborhood realtor can usually award someone any and all of the information needed on a "stigmatized property," which can refer to houses deemed to be haunted on some level. The website "Porch.com" documents certain design projects undertaken at a residence and encourages the owners to reveal a little history behind the work being done on the property as well, possibly giving a glimpse into a paranormal cause of a certain design project or renovation. For the more morbidly curious individual, websites like "DiedInHouse.com" can serve up all of the deadly details of a property for the low, low price of $11.99 per search. Personally, I find that the local neighbors and town folk tend to have the 411 on any house with a past and certainly love to dish out the information when politely asked.
Let's not forget the importance of the home inspection usually done just before the buyer signs the purchase contracts. Although, as my home inspector and friend Tom Walsh of All Aspects Home Inspections aptly puts it, the home inspector cannot go beyond the state's Standards of Practice methodology to attempt to identify any sort of paranormal presence in a home, a home inspector can help determine what structural or "age-appropriate" conditions of the home might be the cause of the eerie sounds that haunted houses are so cliché in producing. Banging on the walls, creaks in the floor boards, etc. The more technical kind of buyer can even set a continuous radon monitor machine, if it can be acquired, on the premises in hopes of revealing any activity or "presence" in the house other than those living and breathing there on an expected basis. There are mediums in most cities and towns as well who offer services in locating and identifying a paranormal presence in the home, helping the prospective buyers discern whether or not they have a real "ghost of a chance" at turning a house, haunted house into their home, sweet home.
So, for the buyers out there who decide they are ready, willing and able to be "ghost hosts" to any transparent co-occupants of their new home, congratulations! You are likely to receive a discount off of the market value of the home, you'll probably have the most popular house on the block at Halloween, and think about the 24-hour, in-house, and completely free security system you now have for your largest investment! To boot, the website WikiHow's article titled "How To Live In A Haunted House" is a must-read even for the sheer amusement of the step-by-step instructions on how to peacefully co-exist with the Caspers in your new home. I don't know about you, but for me, it's always educational to learn what furniture may be more respectful of a ghost's personal space and which topics of discussion are taboo when such ghosts are present in the room.
Happy Halloween.....and BOO!
http://www.wikihow.com/Live-in-a-Haunted-House
http://www.usinspect.com/insights/blog/haunted-home-inspection-houses
Monday, October 26, 2015
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
How Your Buyer Attorney Should Be Protecting YOU
Bringing a successful real estate transaction to fruition is always dependent upon the expediency and fortitude of the parties involved. From the listing and buyer brokers down to the home inspector and appraiser, the diligence (or sometimes lack of) of each person involved in the process is crucial to the deal's success. And the real estate attorney often plays the biggest role in whether the deal moves forward to the handshake and handing over of the keys or whether it gets halted somewhere between accepted offer and WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED HERE?!
Recently, my buyer clients signed a contract for purchase through their real estate attorney whom was referred to them; This contract included an inane stipulation strategically placed in the contracts by the seller attorney, stating that the seller did NOT have to provide insurable title with the property by closing. My buyers, the vulnerable consumers, trusted their own attorney when she assured them that this issue would be cleared up soon, allowing them to proceed with signing the contracts....five months later, we are still waiting with baited breath and cautious optimism that the title issue will finally be cleared at a town hearing next week, after months of opposition and subsequent delay by the town board....Fortunately for my buyer clients, it seems as if this house will now officially be their home soon. Yet, their signature on these contracts could've posed a much larger problem for them as they were contractually bound to a house that wouldn't have been mortgage-able for them without clear title.....due to an oversight and lack of due diligence on their entrusted attorney's behalf.
The buying (and selling) process can often be overwhelming enough, emotions flying like a bundle of balloons in a sky that can become as tumultuous as it was clear blue just the moment before. This is why it's paramount that the right real estate attorney is hired for the job. One who lives and breathes real estate transactions, one whose wheelhouse is well seasoned to tricky situations like a cloudy title issue. It is equally as important for the buyers and sellers to be able to completely trust their hired legal counsel to guide them both ethically and professionally, to help turn any question marks into periods. Especially when the contracts to most eyes can be like reading a medieval scroll for the first time. It is the attorney's role to protect their client's best interests and to guide them with the hand and heart of an educator. So the buyers know what they're signing up for when their pens grace the dotted line...With a home purchase standing as one of the most significant and expensive investments in one's lifetime, the buyer is entitled to the most professional and expert guidance by the ones whom he/she has entrusted to share this wonderful and life-changing experience with.
Stay motivated, stay informed....and Be Moved!
Recently, my buyer clients signed a contract for purchase through their real estate attorney whom was referred to them; This contract included an inane stipulation strategically placed in the contracts by the seller attorney, stating that the seller did NOT have to provide insurable title with the property by closing. My buyers, the vulnerable consumers, trusted their own attorney when she assured them that this issue would be cleared up soon, allowing them to proceed with signing the contracts....five months later, we are still waiting with baited breath and cautious optimism that the title issue will finally be cleared at a town hearing next week, after months of opposition and subsequent delay by the town board....Fortunately for my buyer clients, it seems as if this house will now officially be their home soon. Yet, their signature on these contracts could've posed a much larger problem for them as they were contractually bound to a house that wouldn't have been mortgage-able for them without clear title.....due to an oversight and lack of due diligence on their entrusted attorney's behalf.
The buying (and selling) process can often be overwhelming enough, emotions flying like a bundle of balloons in a sky that can become as tumultuous as it was clear blue just the moment before. This is why it's paramount that the right real estate attorney is hired for the job. One who lives and breathes real estate transactions, one whose wheelhouse is well seasoned to tricky situations like a cloudy title issue. It is equally as important for the buyers and sellers to be able to completely trust their hired legal counsel to guide them both ethically and professionally, to help turn any question marks into periods. Especially when the contracts to most eyes can be like reading a medieval scroll for the first time. It is the attorney's role to protect their client's best interests and to guide them with the hand and heart of an educator. So the buyers know what they're signing up for when their pens grace the dotted line...With a home purchase standing as one of the most significant and expensive investments in one's lifetime, the buyer is entitled to the most professional and expert guidance by the ones whom he/she has entrusted to share this wonderful and life-changing experience with.
Stay motivated, stay informed....and Be Moved!
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