How to Sell a Haunted House

Spider webs, witches, ghosts hanging from trees, and skeletons rising from the ground. Front yards are transformed into graveyards. Fall is in the air and, of course, Halloween is right around the corner. 

All across the country, thrill seekers by the thousands stand in long lines waiting to stumble their way through sinister structures, spooked by specters and chased by chainsaws. Haunted houses may feature the dead, but haunted houses are alive and well nonetheless.

Some homes bear that label all year long, year after year for decades. What do you do if a property you list has the reputation of being a haunted house? How do you proceed if the place you are selling gives off an unnatural aura or sends out strange signals?

Well, before you consult an expert in the paranormal or settle for a seance, consider these thoughts when trying to sell a haunted house.

Try to treat it like any other house on the market

Many Americans love the thrill of getting scared out of their wits. That is why the haunted attraction industry brings in roughly 300 million dollars in ticket sales and sees an average of 8,000 (and up to 40,000) guests at each venue.

But not everyone is so eager or inclined when the house they are looking to buy is considered to be haunted. Same goes if a house is otherwise stigmatized, such as when someone died, committed suicide, or murdered someone else on the property.

Unfortunately, a house with a history of haunting or foul play can generate a lot of attention. There is often no way around it. And if the deeds were done or began a long time ago, the lore surrounding a home may be deeply rooted in the community. That kind of publicity can have a negative effect on your potential home buyers.

But that doesn’t mean that you have to buy into it. According to an agent in the Los Angeles area with decades of experience (including the sale of one of the most notorious and mysterious scenes of a grisly murder in the region), the best approach is to treat it “like a normal listing.” Halloween might draw scary clowns out of the shadows, but that doesn’t mean that you need to join the circus. No matter what attention is drawn, no matter the spectacle, plow ahead and treat the sale as normal.

Fix the first impression

Perception is reality. When you are dealing with a “haunted house,” you will have to deal with the perception of potential buyers. There may be a few house hunters who are intrigued by a spooky story and a few who couldn't care less, but there are also those who might think twice before touring a haunted house. In any case, if the home has a history, it will likely be unearthed on social media before buyers schedule a walkthrough. And while you may not be able to change the story line, you can change the appearance of the home in your listing.

So, try fixing those first impressions before scheduling any showings. You can do that by including brightly lit professional real estate photographs in the listing instead of dark and dreary images that amplify the eerie aura. You can augment the interior with virtual staging to transform what looks like an abandoned home into an elegant estate. You can even use aerial images with drone photography to add life to the property.

Another consideration is addressing some of the other reasons that people might find a house haunted. Strange sounds can make a house feel like it is inhabited by the supernatural. Is the heating system moaning because it is out of date? Are those creaking and squeaking noises caused by neglected tree limbs scraping the windows? Are the spectral lights really just faulty old wiring or flickering lamp bulbs that need to be replaced?