Haunted
Houses: How to Investigate Your House’s History
By: Dawn Colclasure (Dawn@theshadowlands.net)
Most people don’t take issue if a home they plan to buy has a shady past.
Despite stories being passed around of how a house whose former tenant
committed suicide now has the tenant’s spirit lurking in the halls or how one
home’s morbid history comes to life in the forms of moving furniture and
slamming doors, it’s not very common for prospective buyers or renters in the
U.S. to get spooked out of signing the contract.
Yet these stories remain, and they often leave tenants and prospective buyers
wondering if looking into the history of their future or present home will help
them figure out what’s going on. The question on most peoples’ minds, however,
is can researching a home’s history really explain a haunting?
“I think the history of the property can help in understanding a haunting, but
there aren't any guarantees,” advised Kristyn Beaty, Acting Assistant Director
of the South Jersey Ghost Research (http://www.hauntedhelp.org/). “Residents
might be picking up activity that is better related to a house nearby, rather
than their own house."
With this in mind, Beaty commented on how exactly to go about researching
property history. "This can be a somewhat frustrating process for
residents,” she said. “As a county librarian, I'm not even 100% sure, and
people have been referred to local libraries looking for property information.
I always suggest to people- keeping in mind that the process could vary from
location to location- that they go to their municipal building and speak to the
‘Registrar of Deeds.’ I think that is their best source, and if not, that
person would be able to refer them to who they need to speak to.”
Trying to uncover the history of a home can be an arduous task, one which Beaty
understands can frustrate residents or prospective buyers concerned about their
homes. “Hopefully their town or municipality is cooperative- if a resident is
looking for property history due to a haunting, they are more than likely
anxious for answers, and the run-around will frustrate them greatly."
Mary Pope-Handy (http://www.PopeHandy.com and
http://www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com ), a realtor for almost 13 years located
in Los Gatos, California, has had personal experience in working with things on
the paranormal side. Co-author of the book Get The Best Deal When Selling Your
Home In Silicon Valley, Pope-Handy runs the Web site http://www.HauntedRealEstate.com
and has a BA in Religious Studies and an MA in Systematic Theology. With this
under her belt in addition to her own personal experiences with hauntings
inside of a home, Pope-Handy understands the feelings of prospective buyers or
residents aware of activity occurring in the home.
She offers valuable information in how to conduct research on a home’s history.
“Property records are public information! So yes, you can investigate certain
aspects of a home,” she said. “One of my cousins, Ryan Slack, has a cool site
called Property Shark (www.PropertyShark.com) that gives folks info on a
property, recent comps nearby, and all kinds of good info. It's in NYC now but
is spreading. Agents have access to county records via their title companies,
Dataquick (a subscription service) or Metroscan (another subscription service).
But anyone can go to the county recorder's office and look up the basics. But
that will NOT say if a home is haunted, if there was a crime committed there,
or if there was a death there. You'll have better luck talking to neighbors and
reading the local paper and doing a Google search for that.
“As far as I know, there is no online service listing haunted homes (that
aren't tourist traps, etc.). In fact I'd be afraid to list a place as haunted
without the owner's written permission - it could be construed as damaging
(liable, possibly - but also if they suddenly got unwanted traffic and odd
folks hanging out at their place they wouldn't be too happy).
“It depends on the buyer, of course. Some folks might want a psychic or
sensitive person to visit the home and give their impressions of the place.
“Most purchase agreements allow time for the buyer to conduct investigations on
the home, the area, and anything they believe will affect value and
desirability,” Pope-Handy said. “During that time, the buyer can research the
presumed ghost issue a number of ways.”
“The easiest, and usually best, way to learn if a home is haunted is from the
current owner (if it's owner-occupied, anyway). This is a little tricky because
the laws vary from state to state on disclosure and what is required. Some
states insist on the seller disclosing any ghostly type of activity (
She offers some further tips on how to research a property’s home:
“Talking to the neighbors is an age-old way to discover what an area is like,
the history of the street, and so on. So if there's a concern about a haunting,
I would advise the buyers, once in contract, to introduce themselves to the
neighbors and gently prod for information. Open-ended questions usually yield
the best results. Instead of asking directly, ‘does that house have a ghost?’
(remember, half of the neighbors will think you're crazy by asking), you might
ask, ‘are there any interesting stories associated with that house?’”
Pope-Handy offers caution, however, when it comes to asking the open-ended
questions. “You need to be sensitive to the situation - if you have an old
widow there and her husband died recently, you need to be careful not to offend
or upset her, just on a human-kindness level,” she said. “Some basic questions
are: ‘did anyone die at the property?’ and ‘were there any violent or criminal
happenings at the property?’”
She added, “Reviewing old newspaper articles may also turn up some interesting
information. This may be found on the Internet, or if it's a small town paper,
by going to the local library. What would be helpful is knowing if there was a
death on the property and if so, what kind (natural death in old age will be
viewed differently than either a suicide or a murder). Sellers may not be
required to tell the buyer if there was a murder, suicide, or other death on
the property - so asking is also a good idea, and following it up with research
even better.”
One other aspect to keep in mind is good old common sense. Ask yourself, how
does the home make you feel? “Usually, if they're sensitive to this type of
thing, they won't make an offer if it feels negative,” Pope-Handy said.
“Conversely, if a home has a warm energy, I've seen people make an offer even
though there are things about it that they might have decided were too negative
to overlook in other homes. Many agents go into homes and get a
"take" on whether the home felt happy or tense. Sort of like when you
go into a room just after someone's had a fight - you can sort of feel it in
the air.”
Should there be any difference between old property and new property? “New
property can still hold some answers- residents can find out what was on the
land before their home was built,” Beaty explained. “I’d still caution them to
take their findings with at least a grain of salt- the activity and impressions
that they are picking up could be from another location. Spirits sense who is
able to communicate with them in the area, and will gravitate towards those
people or that person. A home could have gone for decades without any activity,
and when a new family who is sensitive moves into a home, spirits in the area
tend to gravitate toward them- spirits will have to use less energy to
communicate with sensitives."
In the event residents or buyers uncover information relating to a haunting,
what’s the next step? “If there IS a ghost disclosed (or more than one), do ask
what kind of activity occurs, and if possible, when (like on the anniversary of
something?) and how frequently. Many, many ghosts are rather quiet most of the
time but may act up if there's remodeling. Some just occasionally appear on a
staircase or gently play hide-and-seek to remind you they're there. If they
aren't throwing knives or locking you in the basement, it really may not be an
issue at all!”
This echoes a sentiment which Pope-Handy feels about haunted houses. “If a
place is found to be haunted, the question has to be asked if it's actually a
problem at all. Most ghosts are not nasty (remember, they're just people
without a body), but either may be simply attached to the place or confused.
Plenty of stories abound regarding friendly, and sometimes even helpful,
ghosts. Not that we want to keep them like pets, but it should not be presumed
that just because there's a ghost, it'll be out to make your life miserable. So
that, too, needs to be checked out. If the ghost IS a problem, there are a
variety of ways to address that too, from having a priest visit the house and
blessing it, to burning sage, to remodeling (ghosts often stay because a home is
familiar - when it ceases to feel like home, many move along).”
The reality, though, is that even if you ask questions, most people who don’t
believe in the paranormal won’t attribute things they know and see to anything
consisting of a haunting. “About half of all Americans don't even believe in
ghosts, though, so it's possible for a seller to hear noises and experience
things but attribute them not to ghosts but to who knows what - rats in the
attic, a draft, or something else,” Pope-Handy said. “So even asking directly
is no guarantee of full disclosure.”
Another hard fact about using property research to explain a haunting is that,
often, nothing will turn up helping the case. “I would tell people to be
careful about property research. It may not give them the answers they are
seeking, but if they are curious about the history of their area, and anxious
for answers, it could still prove helpful in other ways,” Beaty said.
Bottom line, Beaty explained, doing the research isn’t exactly a lost cause. “I
think that even if the search is unproductive, it may have psychological
benefits to the residents, because they feel a sense of being proactive, like
‘well, I have left no stone unturned.’ This can help calm them down- they can
take comfort in the fact that they made every attempt to find out what was
behind the activity."