Deerwood Realty and Friends Podcast
I was reading this story about a fellow who killed his wife and two kids and the details around the sale of the family home.
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Thoughts:
1. In Missouri, we aren’t required to disclose stigmatized properties…unless the seller would want us to do so. And, it’s kind of strange. The umbrella for stigmatized properties is pretty large…and what can affect one buyer’s judgement on the purchase of a home might be something completely different than someone else. For example, a house that is said to be haunted might not bother someone but a suicide does.
2. The line that caught my attention is this…an attorney who is not representing any party in the proceedings says…”There’s no good answer for this”
3. And, what is the best answer? Originally, the family of the deceased envisioned some sort of community charitable work or effort. But the house is in a subdivision, and I’m not sure neighbors are going to want to be put in a position of continual remembrance….as much as they might already be.
4. There’s this odd pull here because I know someone would buy the house…it’s a 4,000 sq ft house in a pretty nice subdivision, it’s thought that the house is worth at least $600,000. The pull is that so many buyers are desperate for housing and now we have this house sitting vacant, but it definitely has some issues attached.
5. How do you get a 6 million dollar lien removed? What’s the order, because you have the mortgage and the HOA dues also having leins on the property. The parents of the deceased have the property tied up.
6. What do you think would be the right thing to do would be? Put a comment in the comment section below. I’m leaning towards just tearing down the house and making it a small park. If you happened to buy it as it stands, you are always going to be involved in this odd tourism…where people are constantly curious enough to drive out, drop off flowers and toys, and take photos.
7. Look at what this terrible event does to a neighborhood though. The other neighbors, who had nothing to do with the murders are stuck dealing with it. The social contract has been broken here…the neighbors are stuck with an eyesore that has attracted break ins..they are being held captive by this situation.
8. This situation reminds me of the great recession in the real estate market around 2008…you had these homes in the middle of neighborhoods owned by financial institutions with no real incentive to take care of them like a typical homeowner would.
My concerns are heightened as I know that instead of financial institutions taking back homes through foreclosure, they’re spent the past couple of years buying single family homes in neighborhoods around the country. Will these institutions take care of their inventory any better than the banks did in ’08.
Sources:
https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/08/13/shanann-watts-chris-watts-frederick-home-murder/
https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/chris-watts-murder-home-remains-in-purgatory/
https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/2825-Saratoga-Trl_Erie_CO_80516_M14210-53428
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