Posted by Redline on November 25, 2000 at 23:55:51:
NJ has no such law. Sellers are not required to disclose this information.
RL
How much does death in property affect it’s value? - Posted by Rent2Owner
Posted by Rent2Owner on November 22, 2000 at 10:41:09:
I have been renting a property in Southern California for the past 2 1/2 years. My landlord recently offered to sell me the property for $225,000. First of all I don’t know how to determine if what he’s asking is fair market value concidering that this area of the country is a hot sellers market. Based on what I saw for comps on HomeRadar.com I think he may be as much as 20K high on his price. Second, after talking with one of my neighbors about buying the home, they told me that 11 or 12 years ago a previous owner committed suicide in the garage. The landlord never told me about this. This fact does not concern me about buying the house but I would think it would affect the value of the house. Can anyone give me an idea as to how much this would affect the value of the property or the price he is asking?
Re: How much does death in proper - Posted by dewCO
Posted by dewCO on November 22, 2000 at 22:15:03:
From 11 or 12 years ago? You’ve got to be kidding. Of course not.
Does death in property affect it’s value? - Posted by Tom
Posted by Tom on November 22, 2000 at 12:29:36:
It will and does effect the value, but in my state and most others there is NO duty to disclose. See below:
38-35.5-101 Circumstances psychologigically impacting real property - no duty for broker or salesperson to disclose
(1) Facts or suspicions regarding circumstances occurring on a parcel of property which could psychologically impact or stimatize such property are not material facts subject to a disclosure in a real estate transaction.
It goes on to list the those circumstances including suicide, homicide, HIV, AIDS, or felonies.
There is also NO requirement for the property owners to disclose. Most of the time it’s the neighbors who do the disclosing after the sale.
Psychologically Impacted Property - Posted by Randy M.
Posted by Randy M. on November 22, 2000 at 12:02:39:
Some states have laws that require sellers to disclose that their property has been “psychologically impacted.” I know there are laws concerning this in my state (SD). We are about the last to get these types of laws, so I just about bet there are some laws concerning this in your state, too!
Re: How much does death … affect Proprty value? - Posted by Rob MacFarland
Posted by Rob MacFarland on November 22, 2000 at 11:23:18:
domania.com is also another “COMPS” source.
As for the “suicide” … I doubt that much of anything could hurt property value in that area of the country (depending on neighborhood) … my only suggestion is to take this “rumor” to the seller and see if you can get a better price. Good luck.
Maj Mac
Some, initially… - Posted by TRandle
Posted by TRandle on November 22, 2000 at 11:08:36:
What are you planning to do with the property? Would you have rented it if you knew previously about the suicide? We have a house in a great neighborhood and a couple of years ago one roommate shot another prior to our purchasing it. It’s the talk of the neighborhood. The very first day our repair guy was there, he left with all the grisly details. We declined to listen for disclosure reasons at that time.
A month after we closed, a realtor called to inform us that Court TV was doing an hour long episode on our death house. Interesting to say the least, and of course, our disclosure requirements increased. Initially, all we wanted to do was unload the property.
Now, it’s probably worth 60k to 70k more than we paid and we have a T/Ber who has an option price that’s 20k to 30k under market (Austin area’s been nuts last two years!). I think she’s going to exercise, but I’m now hopeful she won’t because we want to keep it. I believe fear of death and the heebiejeebies fade with time. As long as the property’s been occupied, I wouldn’t have any problems with something that happened that long ago and I would probably use the negative to get a concession or two. Hope that helps…
Re: How much does death… - Posted by vladimir_chicago
Posted by vladimir_chicago on November 22, 2000 at 11:07:15:
Though I am a newbie, I 've heard that you may be sued by your buyers if they find out that you knew someone committed suicide and did not tell them. And if you disclose that your know that someone commited suicide in the garage years ago, some buyers may not be too existed about purchasing the residence.
Some people have religious beliefs that forbid them from occupying a residence where someone commited suicide.
Vladimir_Chicago
Re: Psychologically Impacted Property - Posted by JD
Posted by JD on November 22, 2000 at 20:31:37:
Since I live in CO, I am familiar with the statue that Tom quoted. I believe it to be the norm, but would interested to see conflicting statues from other States. Could you please reference the SD law that requires disclosure of psychologically impacted properties.
Re: Psychologically Impacted Property - Posted by Quato
Posted by Quato on November 24, 2000 at 19:51:44:
SD only requires the disclosure of a homicide committed during the last 12 months. Hardly significant.