Would you buy a house where people have been murdered?

The property market can be a killer. But what if there has actually been a killing in a house you think might be your dream home? Would you still buy it?

THINKSTOCK REAL ESTATE .. A stock photograph of family standing outside their new home.

If you think the fierce clash on any given Saturday (as would-be buyers participate in auctions fighting for their stake of real estate) is bloodbath enough, then you won’t want to read any further.

The abstract carnage of hopefuls who are left with their hearts in their mouths and disappointment scribbled on their faces as the hammer falls (not in their favour), is indeed ugly.

Real estate is a killer, they say. But wait, what if there had actually been a killing in the house?

When someone dies calmly in their home, it’s an opportunity to sell it and breathe new life into it. The sales pitch reads “Deceased Estate”. As if to say, come buy me. The owner cares nought.

Murder, on the other hand, is not embraced so benignly.

In 2004, a property in Sydney where Sef Gonzales had murdered his parents and sister was put on the market without mentioning its gruesome history. A Buddhist couple bought it unawares and, upon learning of its past, demanded a refund. After much ado, they were reimbursed their deposit and the NSW government made it illegal henceforth to sell a home without disclosing murders that took place in it.

My cousin was recently confronted with this situation. After countless open inspections and being out-bided at auction on properties she thought she had a chance on, she started to lose hope. The clock was ticking; she was due out of the property she had sold in order to upsize and was feeling somewhat despondent when she struck upon a property that ticked all the boxes, and then some.

“As you are interested in buying this home, we need to share some news that has just come to our attention,” the real estate agent told her. “A murder has taken place here.”

He didn’t divulge the how, why or who, but Google has no secrets and just a few clicks later, all was revealed. It was a frenzied stabbing murder, with the husband sending his wife to an early grave. And the scene of the crime? The master bedroom.

I imagined poltergeists running amok. Things like furniture being flung into the air and unexplained knocking on the walls. Thanks to being obsessed with Stephen King as a teenager, I knew spontaneous combustion was also a distinct possibility.

There have been so many sworn testaments from seemingly normal people who have experienced the paranormal. Normal, logical people who claim to have been the victim of ghosts too peeved off to leave this word and levitate to the next.

I was adamant my cousin should withdraw from any future bids.

“Are you mad? Have you tried to buy a house in Sydney for under a million bucks? I’m hoping other people pull out,” was her response.

“Besides, I’ll get a priest in to clear it of any negativity.”

Despite my arguably logic-defying apprehension, my cousin did indeed buy it.

So if you’re in the property market, rest assured that sometimes all it takes is a murder or a macabre occurrence to scare off the competition.