It wouldn't be Halloween without a haunted house or two and a Silicon Valley real estate agent has developed a virtual subdivision of homes from hell for your devilish delight.
Mary Pope-Handy, a real estate agent with Los Gatos, CA-based Intero, launched HauntedRealEstate.com two years ago to display her penchant for things that go bump in the night.
The website makes the connection between the surreal and residential real estate by revealing, well, ghosts have to live somewhere too.
While specters and spooks don't mind holing up in out-of-the-way belfries and cozy opera houses, they tend to prefer the comfort of single-family homes. Apparently, their lack of corporeal restrictions make them immune to sticker shock.
While the site pokes fun at accommodations that house abominations and offers links to ghost tours, haunted hotels and other creepy cribs, it is also an educational resource and portal for those with unusual housing needs. HauntedRealEstate.com also offers information about buying and selling properties stigmatized by translucent tenants and making proper disclosures before the boogeyman panics the buyer.
Whether it's an apparent apparition or some unexplained ugly, the best course of action is, of course, to disclose it -- even if you don't believe it.
With disclosure you'll avoid the much scarier potential of being sued for ectoplasmic fraud. The website includes real life stories of non-disclosed phantoms who came back to haunt both sellers and real estate agents who were tight-lipped about unseen restless residents making a racket in the rafters.
Go browsing for housing fright and you'll also discover a new addition -- a "Haunted Places In The News" feed from HollowHill.com a sort of online séance for ghost hunters.
Pope-Handy's website has also uncovered a, well, creepy niche of home buyers.
"When I started this page I thought most folks who would read what's here and follow the links, because they were interested in stigmatized or haunted properties. I thought some might be interested in finding haunted spots to visit, like hotels or via ghost tours. What I didn't expect, though, was that people would contact me to find out how to buy a haunted place," she writes.
For those leads she refers to a nearby clairvoyant connection, or a psychic powered pal in the area, as well as the San Diego Paranormal Research Project, which offers a unique national multiple listing service matching brave buyers with homes that have permanent guests.
"My approach would be to talk (out loud) to the spirit person and ask him or her, nicely, to please move along or at least co-exist quietly. Some of them don't know they're dead and may not appreciate being told," says Pope-Handy.
Along with the referrals, disclosure information, lists of historic haunts to tour and the new news feed, the site includes a bounty of select stories about haunted homes.
The website's only shortcoming is a glaring one, given Pope-Handy is a long-time resident in an area where the inventor of the "rifle that won the West" built the nation's most famous haunted house.
There's no mention of San Jose's Winchester Mystery House, the former estate of Oliver Winchester, who left the mansion to widow Sarah Winchester and, as the legend goes, the spirits who moved in and vexed her.
"Okay, I'll add that," said Pope-Handy.
Don't be afraid.
Bookmark it.
"Site To See" reviews are occasional but timely critiques of content-heavy real estate websites deemed unique, consumer-friendly, informative and easy to use.
