Topic: Real estate woo?

[DCLimey]

I used this tactic when house hunting a couple of years ago. The market in DC / NOVA can be competitive sometimes, so when I was viewing a house with a lot of interest (which means you often see other buyers there), I would always walk in as if in mid conversation with the realtor:

"Wow, they did a really good job on the paint down here. You can even see the bullet holes. Poor man".
"So this is the famous Smith Murder House, eh? It looks so innocuous ".

Worked at least twice too!

[AQB24712]

You are evil awesome, DCLimey.

[seamas]

I'm in the process of selling my house and one of the documents you have to complete requires you to disclose all material information about the property. But as it turns out, here in Cali you also have to disclose whether someone has died in the house in the last three years. A couple looked at the house this weekend and they really liked it but they expressed concern about someone having died in the house. They're actually not the first to ask.

Does it seem silly to have to disclose that someone died in your house? Would you care if you were buying one? Would you want to know?

I was in a slight conflict with my sisters about this issue when selling our mother's house.
They got offended when one seller's agent discussed how to "stage" the house and buyer's frequent concern as to whether someone had died there.


My sisters thought she was totally rude for saying this. I thought the agent was just being realistic. There are a lot of people who would think that someone dying in the house is a deal breaker.

(It was a small house, so I preferred staging it almost empty, my sisters thought it best to make it looks like someone's grandmas' house--I didn't see the appeal there)

[Citizen Skeptic]

And as anyone who watches property/real estate tv shows with any regularity can tell you, the feng shui thing is often a deal breaker for some Asians.

Yeah. When we opened our Taiwan office we had a feng shui consultant bless the layout of the office. We also blew off a bunch of firecrackers. Not sure how many people actually believe it but it seems to be one of those traditions that isn't going away anytime soon.

I haven't had any lookers bitch about the chi yet.

[Traveler]

I haven't had any lookers bitch about the chi yet.

If it happens you can just bring in a house chiropractor with some chains and hydraulics. After some creaking and popping your house will be realigned, and its chi will be flowing.

[MikeHz]

I've seen this in all sorts of buildings. Surprisingly I've never seen row 13 skipped on a plane or gate 13 skipped at an airport. I would expect people to be more nervous about unlucky numbers when they're already nervous about flying than when they're checking in to a hotel room.

I once personally tempted fate by sitting in row 13 on a flight leaving from gate E13 on Friday the 13th. The woman sitting next to me was not happy about this. I pointed out to her that she must be very important if the universe was going to reach out and kill everyone on the plane just because she was sitting in row 13. She accepted that until I opened my book, and discovered I was starting chapter 13.

I would imagine that if row 13 crashes, then the rest of the plane is going down with it. Doesn't really matter what row you're in, you're screwed.

[Citizen Skeptic]

I haven't had any lookers bitch about the chi yet.

If it happens you can just bring in a house chiropractor with some chains and hydraulics. After some creaking and popping your house will be realigned, and its chi will be flowing.

 

[mkelpie]

I actually think it's fair as far as a well know grizzly murder in a house may effect the price when on-selling.

[Citizen Skeptic]

Or living on top of an old burial ground that the developers desecrated. Now that's worth disclosing!