Mary Pope-Handy's Silicon Valley Real Estate Commentary

Ok I will go first.  I was sitting an open house of another agent.  The house was vacant I was just hanging out by myself, after all it was an open house on a rainy day in so. cal.  I kept smelling flowers, I would get up and look for smell good plug in thingys and found nothing.  Then I even went outside looking for flowers nothing.  However every now and again I would smell flowers.   I don't know what it was but it was so strong it was unnerving. 

Very cool!  Thanks for sharing.  I have heard of similar experiences of smells.  Did you ever ask what the story was on that house? I'm sure there was a connection! 

Somebody say, SPOOKY!

Hey Mary, I put together a California Only Real Estate Blog, let me know if you would like to get involved!

Scott

kewl post

I grew up in an Irish family.  They sat around the table late at night and talked about ghosts.  I had nightmares for years, lol.  

I was thinking about this very subject this morning as I read the paper,  a couple in Guilford was found dead due to suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.

In Connecticut, if I recall correctly, the rule is if they don't ask you don't have to tell.  I think it goes a step further and says if they do ask it should be a written request. 

In Nh -- we DO have haunted houses -- however, there is no duty to disclose the presence of ghosts -- However, if a buyer directly asks the question regarding ghosts -- then and only then must the seller disclose!  Hopefully, all the ghosts are friendly!

Thanks everyone for the responses. My family is Irish too.  Do you know about the Banshee? Or maybe you just heard someone hollar "Yer screamin' like a Bansheeeeeee!" and had no idea what it meant. The Banshee is a spirit who comes to Irish families to warn them of an impending death of a loved one. The Banshee's wail is the wail of mourning.  I didn't know that until a few years ago.  Anyway it's March, a "green" month if you will, and everyone's thinking Corned Beef and Cabbage, The Wee People, and Shamrocks in addition to St. Patrick (who was English, not Irish, by the way) driving the snakes out of The Emerald Isle. You can be counter-cultural now and discuss the Banshee :)

Oh, and if folks continue with this thread, I truly appreciate any input on the disclosure requirements of ghosts/spirits/stigmatized properties in various states.  Thanks in advance... Slainte! (Irish for Thanks.)

I hear that the City of Chicago actually has a certification of hauntedness that can be issued with "proof" and an inspection...

talk about stigmatized property!

Mary, I love a good ghost story! Hawaii is full of haunted houses and buildings, Folks there will have their homes bless to "lesson the hauntings" I've bookmarked your post so I can check your site out later ~ am being rushed to go enjoy the last day of bike week!

Hi Mary:

Oh boy!  Lot's of hauntings in this old city.  As a matter of fact, I live in the oldest city in North America, St. John's Newfoundland, not to be confused with the oldest settlement in North America which is St. Augustine, Florida (if history serves me correctly).

Banshees, fairies (good and bad), ghosts, spirits, ghost ships, sheilas, and so forth are all found here.

Here's my story.  Several years ago the office received a call from a lady who had purchased a property from the firm.  She said she wanted her money back - that the house was haunted. I said I could not personally give her her money back but that I would try to find out from the selling agent if there were any hauntings, murders, suicides, or unnatural deaths.

This lady was persistent she called several times to say that  spirit was moving about the house making it unbearable to live.  Ice cold in some areas, too hot in others, that she had a priest come to the house to bless it, she wanted an exorcism done to chase the spirit away.  The priest said it had to be done to a living person and not a ghost. I said I'd try to find out but back then we did not have disclosures.  The office had a great chuckled over it and pretty well left it at that.

Then I thought that the best way to keep this lady happy and to stop the phone calls, I'd research the property myself.  I did going back more than fifty years to find that indeed there was a murder in the house.  I called to tell her that and she was relieved.  She listed the house and we sold it - this time with the disclosure.  New owner and ghost now living happily ever after. 

Wow! Fascinating story!  Thank you for sharing it!!

Mary, You mean you let ghosts in the State of California too, awesome.  I can identify with you on this one.  Been there, and felt that, senced that, etc.  Thanks for sharing.

Great post. I am living in the Savannah area. According to most people here, a lot of the older buildings downtown are haunted. I've never really had an issue with any of the homes I have been in.

The only story I have is from when I was a teenager. I was sleeping at my friend's house. We were on the second level and she was telling me of a ghost that lived there. I didn't and still don't believe in ghosts, so I just disregarded everything she said.

When all the lights were out, there were a strange noise and a weird glowing. We decided to go to the third story to sleep. They kept the door leading to the attic locked and we locked the door to the room. I checked the attic door by pulling on it. I was completely shut. She was telling me more, when the door to the attic blew open. It scared me and I started down the stairs to the bedroom door. I opened the door, stepped on the cat, and fell down the rest of the stairs. We slept on the main level of the home with no further disruptions.

I don't know how the door opened, but I am willing to guess it was some kind of pressure build in the attic that caused it. You can draw your own conclusions.

Here in TN we aren't allowed to disclose anything about a "stigmatized" property.  Kind of a bummer with all the historic "battlefield" homes we have around here.  :o) 

I grew up in a 75 year old Tudor house in CA.  When we moved in we had a few odd experiences.  My mother wholeheartedly believed in ghosts, ESP, etc. and had the most experiences (breezes when the windows were shut, cold spots, scents we couldn't identify, etc.).  The most interesting, IMO was:

When we first moved in she "had a dream" that she woke up and a woman was standing at the end of her bed saying "it's nice to have a child in the house again."  My mother never thought anything more about it until a few years later when she had another dream.  Same scenario, but the lady was saying "thank you for everything, but it's time for me to leave now."  The next morning, my mother mentioned the dream and my dad (who DOESN'T believe in this stuff) handed her the paper.  The man who used to own our house had passed away and was in the paper.  Evidentally, his wife was waiting for him.  Kinda freaky.

Over the years, we had a few odd occurrences (nothing really scary - more playful than anything).  For example, i had a sleepover.  We were in the living room telling ghost stories and I was tapping on the floor.  The other girl kept saying, stop it, stop it.  I'd laugh and do it again.  I finally stopped.  Then we heard tapping on the floor.  She said "stop it" - I said "i did."  Needless to say, we slept in another room that night! LOL!   

Wow! Great story, Tori!  Thank you so much for sharing it with us!!!

Mary,

What a neat post! I am bookmarking this for interesting reading tonight. Will probably be back with a better comment:)

Mary,

In Louisiana you do not have to disclose hauting which is probably for the best given the amount of voodoo and everything else that goes on down here!

I have one.... have had some curious experiences in the house we are renting. When we moved in, the previous owners had had a world of bad luck here and felt the house was full of bad evergy. We had the house blessed, and thought nothing of it. LAter, after my daughter was born,  a babysitter was convinced our spare room (later to become our master, as it was to the previous people) was haunted. We used it as a play area. She commented on it constantly, and one day she up and quit becasue of it. Then while pregnant with my son, I would constantly wake up to the sound of a baby crying. My daughter was 5. And after he was born, same thing, but the monitor would be off.  That said, one day my husband ran into the previous owner's son, who asked if anything weird had happened since we moved in. My husband hedged, thinking of my experiences, and sure enough, this kid says his mother used to be troubled by the sound of a baby crying.... creepy.  

great stories - my clients for this weekend are firm believers in good energy bad energy - they actually google addresses to try and make sure nothing bad has happened in these homes.  We took 2 off the list of showings one for suicide and one for suicide by cop... they amazed me that they had the information.  I was aware of each but am not required to disclose it.  Knowing their feelings I had already removed them from the list and planned to explain upon their arrival. 

Mary

I just love all the stories and the information. Thanks for bringing it to us!!!

Hugs & Smiles,
Joeann Fossland e-PRO,GRI, PMN MRE Society, Certified e-PRO Trainer, Master Certified Coach Founder http://www.webwomengivingcircle.com/   RELAXED Real Estate for MAGNIFICENT Agents!   Visit my blog: http://blog.joeann.com/
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Nope, I've never heard or seen a ghost.  I used to do telephone and computer work for one of the  larger mortgage brokers in the area.  This office was located in Tacoma, WA.  Two of the ladies reported that if you came in very early, you would have a chance to see a man, dressed in a 1950s era suit, working feverishly.  He never acknowledged their presence.  Never looked up from his work and when you went back later, he would be gone.  Not frightening, just interesting.

Well, Mary, I haven't seen a ghost yet, but I sure don't know why not!  In the past couple of years, I have helped a buyer purchase a property where the owners were found dead in the house three years after they died, I have had a psychic as a buyer, and I have had a tenant murdered in one of our rentals!  I think I should be seeing ghosts by now!!

Thanks Bill! Sounds like you could start your own stigmatized (if not haunted) website based on your experiences. Thanks for sharing!

I've linked to you on Shak & Jill!  Great post!  kathy

WE  HAD A  1784 HOUSE IN CT.  AND  YES  VERY  HAUNTED ....DOORS  OPENING  ...SMELL OF  ROSES  ONLY IN  FORMAL  LIVING  ROOM  IN  WINTER..OUR DAUGHTER  COULDN'T OPEN  A DOOR  ONCE ..THOUGHT SOME ONE WAS HOLDING IT  SHUT...NO ONE IN HOUSE!INSURANCE AGENT  GOT  SPOOKED  AND LEFT ..FRIENDS  OF OUR CHILDREN  SLEEPING OVER  WOULD LEAVE  IN  MIDDLE  OF NIGHT...NEATEST THING  WAS WATER  FALLING FROM  SECOND FLOOR  ..CLEAR  WATER ...NO  SIGN  OF  ANY THING  UP STAIRS  ...NO  WATER MARKS ON  FLOOR ..WALKING SOUNDS  UP STAIRS  ...HUSBAND ALWAYS  THOUGHT AS HE WAS  READING  MORNING  PAPER AND HAVING COFFEE  HE WAS  NOT ALONE...DOGS AND CATS WOULD SIT AS THOUGH SOME ONE WAS TALKING  TO THEM..WE LOVED LIVING THERE...AND YES WHEN WE  SOLD IT  WE  TOLD  NEW OWNERS  ABOUT  THINGS ...

I have been looking for a place to call my own in Louisiana that is haunted, with a good ghost. You see, I'm trying to become a medium among other things, & I heard that Louisiana is haunted a lot. I have found many more than logical explanations for why not to fear the departed than I have found to fear them. more than anything, I feel very sad for them, & I'd honestly love to help as many as I can. I don't understand why more paranormal investigaters just try to prove the existence of life after death Well, I have a 2 & 1/2 year old gourgous daughter, & I'm pregnant with my 2nd baby girl. I'm having much trouble with my baby-daddy, & I'm seriously considering leaving him. We argue almost every time we "talk," & the only things we have in common are our babies. I know every one has there problems, & I know I'm lucky I don't have it as bad as other moms who live with abuse! But living with someone who cridicizes my life purpose & supports nothing I do, coupled with my ever-present depression, I'd probably be better off finding a man with at least most of my beliefs; & I think Louisiana is a wonderful place to find all I need. Given all I have now told you about my situation, & the fact that I'm living on SSI, which means I live in poverty, is there any way you could take me under your wing & help me find an afordable affordable place to raise my family??? Sincerely yours, Janine @ janine.havins@yahoo.com

Janine I'm not in Louisiana, but I wish you the very best of luck!