How to Sell a Haunted House Like Any Other Home on the Market
Americans love the cheap thrill of gut-wrenching fear. Every year, hordes of Halloween enthusiasts lock arms and flock to their local house of horrors. These zombie-obsessed adrenaline junkies happily pay for a good scare, fueling a $300 million haunted attractions industry.
So, how does that translate to “haunted” home sales in the real estate market?
Ask top real estate agents who’ve sold homes with the worst stigmas and rumors attached, and they say that selling a “haunted” house often lacks the drama, mystery, and fable of those manufactured fright nights.
You’d think the agents would want to play up the mystery and the folklore to attract more buyer attention.
But that’s not always the right move.
We chatted with the real estate agent who sold the infamous Los Feliz Murder House in Los Angeles, analyzed dozens of marketing materials and press around real-life haunted house sales, and looked up real estate disclosure laws around stigmatized homes in all 50 states.
What we found surprised us:
If you want to sell a haunted house or a house tainted by murder stories, treat it like a matter-of-fact business deal and the whole ordeal won’t be as scary as you think.
Here’s how to sell a “haunted” house:
Work with a low-drama real estate agent who isn’t in it for the press
There’s no getting around it — a house with a history of hauntings or deadly foul play generates attention, whether it’s a full-blown three-ring circus or quiet whispers from surrounding neighbors.
The former was the case for Nancy Sanborn, a real estate agent in the LA area with over 40 years of experience, when she was hired in 2016 to sell what she thought was a regular old probate listing in a wealthy LA neighborhood.
The listing came as a referral and as she says, “I did not know its history when I took it on, but everyone else did.” She got up to speed quickly with nothing but a Google search, which instantly showed the property had been the scene of an unusually grisly crime nearly 60 years before.
Inside the ominous estate, the troubled Dr. Harold N. Perelson had killed his wife with a hammer, struck his daughter in the head, and taken his own life. That was December of 1959, yet rumors swirled for decades to come.
As the story went, the Perelson’s Christmas decorations — a tree and presents underneath — could still be seen there. (Later, it was rumored that these items actually belonged to renters who lived in the house afterward).
There was no putting a lid on the publicity surrounding this listing. The mansion drew attention as a notoriously haunted attraction on the local murder mystery house tour, being dubbed as “LA’s most famous and mysterious murder house.” Some say they’ve seen Dr. Perelson’s ghost.
But rather than take press calls pouring in from around the world, Sanborn rolled up her sleeves and got to work. Rumors aside, the house was in terrible condition and needed a ton of preparation to be suitable for the market.
“We just treated it as best we could like a normal listing,” Sanborn told HomeLight. “The murder took place in the ‘50s for goodness sake, and the rumor just stayed with the house. My obligation as an agent is to sell it for the most money possible, not to generate notoriety.”
Nevertheless, the house drew the biggest broker open caravan she’d ever seen and strange behavior from visitors with a morbid interest. Sanborn carried on and listed and marketed the house like any other, notifying the neighbors ahead of time so they could anticipate the extra street traffic and press attention.
