House History

I'm interested in buying an old home that was built in the late 1800's but I want to find out some background info on it. Mostly I want to be sure no one died or was murdered there! It already has that creepy vibe but it's beautiful. Just knowing who the past owners were and the homes history would totally ease my mind. How would I go about doing this?

House History

Finding the history on the personal stories of previous owners of a house going back that far is nearly impossible. You can get the history of who owned the house but that will not tell you about any deaths or crimes that may have occurred in the house. You can try talking to the current owners to find out if they know anything. You could try researching the previous owners of the home but in the 1800's it was very common for people to be born and die at home. If the house has a creepy vibe I think you have your answer--if you are religious you could have the house blessed once you own it another option is to do your own cleaning ritual by burning white sage or just sage--if you look up smudge you can get the details.

Re: House History

Where is the house located? I can search some newspaper archives for you. If anything major happened in the house it would have been in the paper.

House History

As a previous poster said, since it was built in the 1800's, it is very likely that someone (or maybe several) people died in the house, as this was historically very common for the time period.

House History

I would check with the library in town. They usually know and have records.

I love old homes.

Re: House History

Re: House History

I think your best bet is googling the address to start. If you want to FM me the address, I can check public records, but because it's an older home, they may not go back that far (and Nassau has far better public records than Suffolk).

You can always go to the town (or village) it's located in and do some research.

But in truth, most homes have had people die in them, and unless it was a crime or something unusual (a fire or weird accident), there's really no way to know.

Even if something happened in the recent past, the sellers wouldn't need to disclose it. In NY, you don't need to affirmatively disclose if a crime was committed (such as murder) in the home, or someone died of an infectious disease there. However, a seller cannot lie about such things, so you can always ask the listing agent and/or seller to see if they know. Ask neighbors, too.

I do agree with the others, though, that if you get a "bad vibe" from the house, for whatever reason, then it's probably not the one for you.

I know from experience -- my own personal house buying experience and from seeing my buyer clients -- that when you decide to buy a home, it's because your gut feeling is saying that this house feels like it could be your home. It may not be perfect, but it feels "right" and you can see yourself living there. If you feel on edge or creeped out, then that's the opposite of that good, inviting, homey feeling. And I'd move on!