This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Janice Tieperman. Janice is a professional and creative writer who has worked at wikiHow since 2019. With both a B.A. and M.A. in English from East Stroudsburg University, she has a passion for writing a wide variety of content for anyone and everyone. In her free time, you can find her working on a new crochet pattern, listening to true crime podcasts, or tackling a new creative writing project.
This article has been viewed 4,297 times.
Learn more...
This house checks all of your boxes, and you’re tempted to make an offer… but is this property a little too good to be true? It’s completely valid to be cautiously curious about a house’s history, especially when it comes to deaths that occurred on the property. Thankfully, it’s easier than ever to get the lowdown on your house—and we’ve got the inside scoop. Read on for plenty of easy ways to discover the truth about your property before you move in.
Things You Should Know
- Search the house address online to see if anything major happened at the property.
- Cross-check with newspaper archives and vital records to learn more about the property’s history.
- Pay $12 on DiedInHouse to quickly find out if someone died at a certain property.
- Check out HouseCreep for a free, crowd-sourced compendium of properties with creepy and/or morbid histories.
Steps
Community Q&A
-
QuestionWhy exactly does it matter if a stranger died at your house? Are curses and ghosts real or something?wikiHow Staff EditorThis answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Staff AnswerwikiHow Staff EditorStaff AnswerIt doesn't officially matter if someone died on a property. However, some prospective homeowners don't want to settle down in a house where something really violent happened, like a homicide or suicide. -
QuestionWhy do some people not want to settle down in a house where something violent happened?wikiHow Staff EditorThis answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Staff AnswerwikiHow Staff EditorStaff AnswerIt's really a matter of personal preference! Some people don't like the idea of living in a building that has really dark, negative memories attached to it, while other people don't care about the past history of the home.
References
- ↑ https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2466433?hl=en
- ↑ https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/died-in-your-house-36833831
- ↑ https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/dvs/death11-03final-acc.pdf
- ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliesportelli/2015/10/26/this-website-can-tell-you-if-someone-died-in-your-house/
- ↑ https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/how-are-private-investigators-paid-34166