'It's the scene of an unsolved murder': We put in an offer on a secluded cabin with 40 acres, but someone was killed there. Should we bail?

By Aarthi Swaminathan

'It doesn't really bother me that someone was killed there. However, what does bother me is the fact that this murder is still unsolved'

Dear Big Move,

My girlfriend of two years and I put in an offer on a beautiful cabin with 40 acres, but discovered that it was the scene of an unsolved murder. We are unsure of how to proceed. We currently live in a growing suburb of a southeast metro, but we have been wanting a change of pace recently, and decided to buy a tranquil piece of land so we could raise a family.

The 40-acre cabin has a 1,000 square feet cedar cabin, which has an upstairs to which we can add bedrooms. It has rolling, wooded hills; two spring-fed creeks that are filled with sand bars and crystal clear water. The entire property is a little neglected, but it's absolutely gorgeous. In fact, it's one of the prettiest properties I've ever laid eyes on.

My girlfriend started telling coworkers about it and the area where it was located and one of them basically said something to the effect of "Not to scare you, but I think someone was murdered around there about a year ago." My girlfriend Googled (GOOGL) (GOOG) "murder in X area" and found that someone was, indeed, murdered there about a year ago.

We decided to go ahead and place an offer on the property. During the course of signing the paperwork, we notice that the contract lists "John Smith" as the seller and we think, 'Huh, that's the same guy from the article who was murdered.' We do some Facebook (META) stalking, and sure enough, this is the property where the murder took place.

Imagining the crime

The seller is the son, John Smith Jr., who inherited it. We decided to call the listing agent and just ask her straight up, "Was someone murdered here?" She begins to tell us that yes, the property is owned by the son and, yes, his dad was murdered there a little over a year ago. Props to the agent on this because technically in our state, she doesn't have to disclose this.

It doesn't really bother me that someone was killed there. However, what does bother me is the fact that this murder is still unsolved. I just can't shake the fact that someone has intimate knowledge of this house and, more than likely, the land, and the fact that they are still walking free just unnerves me.

We have viewed the property five to six times, and during the day, I feel absolutely at peace. The tranquility of the property is undoubtedly there. At night, it feels unsettling - like eyes are watching you. And I know it's probably just in my head, but it's just hard not to imagine the crime now that we know the details.

I imagine the person that killed him has an intimate knowledge of the house to at least know where he was so they could kill him. How would you feel about living in a secluded cabin on 40 acres of land that was the place of an unsolved murder? I love the property, but I don't want to be paranoid living out there either.

Freaked Out

Dear Freaked,

Here's a question to test your mettle: If it was disclosed by your real-estate agent up front that this secluded house in the woods that someone was killed in - and the murder was still unsolved - would you still have made an offer? Based on what you've written about your experience, it seems that the answer is most likely to be no.

No matter how much peace of mind you feel during the day, the "unsettling" feeling at night and the "eyes watching you" is enough to shatter the illusion that this is a home, versus just a house. Sure, people die in their homes all the time. In 2021, 128,200 home-related deaths occurred, driven by unintentional poisonings and falls, according to the National Safety Council.

But an unsolved murder is a different kettle of fish. Are your night-time jitters induced by the darkness, isolation, and silence that comes with living in a 40-acre plot surrounded by the woods, or if it is the backstory of the house. If it is the former, you might find yourself getting over it really quickly. You are moving from a suburb, so it may be a big adjustment.

Clare Trapasso, executive news editor at Realtor.com, who has written extensively about murder houses, said that one thing you can do is ask for a discount. "Folks who are buying a murder home often get a discount, because these homes tend to sit on the market longer, as potential buyers don't want to live in the home."

A warning for the prospective buyer

"That discount is typically between 10% and 25%," she added, depending on how gruesome the crime was, how well-publicized it was, and whether it involved children. In fact, Trapasso recently wrote about how the JonBenet Ramsey murder house failed to find a buyer, despite steep cuts. The house is where a young girl was found dead, and the murder is also unsolved.

Many homes where murders occurred often get torn down, she said. The Milwaukee apartment building where the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer committed his crimes was torn down in 1992. And the off-campus house where four University of Idaho students were killed was torn down last year. The point is, these homes come with a stigma.

You need to decide if you're going to be able to stomach it, or if it will start affecting you mentally. The bottom line is this: No matter how beautiful the place is, if you feel worried, that is likely a sign that you don't feel 100% comfortable going forward with the offer. Think carefully about whether you want to live in this cabin and if it's worth sacrificing your peace of mind.

And, now, a warning: If you do decide to buy this cabin, which does sound very picturesque, and you want to sell it at a future date, the prospective buyers may have the same concerns as you. In that case, the property could take a long time to sell and, assuming you get a buyer, you and your girlfriend could be the ones offering that 25% discount.

(Realtor.com and MarketWatch share the same parent company, NewCorp.)

'The Big Move' is a MarketWatch column looking at the ins and outs of real estate, from navigating the search for a new home to applying for a mortgage. Do you have a question about buying or selling a home? Do you want to know where your next move should be? Email Aarthi Swaminathan at TheBigMove@marketwatch.com.

By emailing your questions, you agree to having them published anonymously on MarketWatch. By submitting your story to Dow Jones & Company, the publisher of MarketWatch, you understand and agree that we may use your story, or versions of it, in all media and platforms, including via third parties.

This week's question was spotted on Reddit.

-Aarthi Swaminathan

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-20-24 0637ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.