Buyers Aren't Spooked by Haunted Houses
With inventories so tight, many consumers say they’re even willing to live in a haunted house.
Thirty-three percent of more than 1,000 consumers recently surveyed say they’re willing to live in a haunted house, and another 25 percent said they’d consider it, according to a newly released survey by realtor.com®.
“Haunted houses are a popular attraction this time of year, but we wanted to see how many people would actually live in one,” says Sarah Staley, a housing expert who commented on the study’s findings. “What we found may be a sign of today’s tight housing market, or for many living in a haunted house doesn’t have to be a deal breaker.”
Further, 47 percent of respondents said they’d live in a home where someone has died, and 27 percent additional respondents said they’d at least consider it, according to the survey.
Still, 40 percent of consumers said they’d need a price reduction in order to choose a haunted home over a non-haunted home. Also, a good neighborhood, extra square footage, and more bedrooms would convince them too, according to the survey. On the other hand, 42 percent of respondents insist they aren’t open to the idea of buying a haunted home, even for those extra perks.
For some consumers, living in a haunted house may not be considered a stretch because they claim they’ve already lived in one. For example, 28 percent of respondents said they have lived in a haunted house, and another 14 percent think they may have. They say their house was haunted because of strange noises, odd feelings in certain rooms, and even some reports of objects moving or disappearing.