Old Haunts, New Buyers: How to Handle 'Stigmatized' Properties

Updated
Crime scene home stigmatized property
Crime scene home stigmatized property

The New York Times reported today on an odd permutation of the buyer's dilemma: like the price, love the house, hate the fact that an elderly couple was brutally stabbed on the premises by their troubled son, who later jumped in front of an oncoming train. What's a homebuyer to do?

There's a name for this not-so-unique state of affairs -- "stigmatized property." While the thought of buying a house with a haunted history may keep you from sleeping soundly at night, experts say it doesn't necessarily have a big impact on the bottom line. The problem is, unless you bothered to do your own sleuthing, it's unlikely that you would have ever known what transpired in the home.

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