Does your house have a case of the blues?
Not all homes have a dreamy history, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t recover on the market. When a home has a nightmarish past, it can affect the resale value of the home. Certain circumstances can cause a house to feel stigmatized – maybe it’s the graveyard across the street, or worse, a death occurred in the home. While the physical condition of the house could be impeccable, purchasing a home is emotional, and fear can affect the home’s overall value.
Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes, if something tragic or illegal happened in a home in the last 12 months, would you want to buy it? When a home is stigmatized, information is power. Be open and honest with potential buyers so that the incident that may be buzzing around the community is rooted in truth and not conjecture. It will be easier to accept a home when the lore doesn’t surpass the home’s authentic history.
In addition to transparency, executing an extensive remodel or refresh can do wonders. New flooring and fresh paint or wallpaper can make the house feel new and help it shed its scary skin. Another option is to make lemonade out of lemons. If you think your home is haunted, you may have a unique commercial opportunity on your hands. While you may not want to live in the haunt, your home could be converted into a haunted house or escape room.
As a buyer, if you can look past the properties spooky history, it can be an excellent opportunity to get the most out of your investment. Stigmatized homes often have significant price reductions to help them sell.
The silver lining? Stigmas don’t last forever, and as time passes, another story will have the community buzzing, and your home’s scary stories will start to fade away.
