You bought a home where a serious crime was committed. Now what?
Posted Sep 14, 2016 03:08:41 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Many people are feeling for the family who bought the home at the centre of the double-murder investigation in St. Clements.
Police continue to hold the scene on Hessen Strasse, the former home of accused Glenn Bauman and his common-law wife Linda Daniel. Daniel and her daughter Cheyenne have been missing since 2011, and police say they found human remains inside, and outside the home.
Many people are wondering what is going on with the home and the people that own it, who were displaced when the murder investigations led police to the property.
They were forced to move out, which raises the question of what could happen if a serious crime took place at your home before you moved in.
Tyson Hinschberger is a Broker with Planet Reality in Guelph and says it could obviously effect the re-sale.
“The impact on the saleability and the price somebody is willing to pay is always subject to each individual person,” says Hinschberger. “But in some cases, there’s little to no impact, in the higher profiles, there can be a substantial impact to the tune of upwards of five-to-six figures.”
He says it’s something that your lawyer, and the seller, should be upfront about, but it never hurts to make sure on your own.
“Anytime a property is stigmatized, or there is anything to detriment the saleability of the house, a realtor and the seller are supposed to – legally – disclose any of those things,” says Hinschberger.
“I did have a buyer of a property where a murder-suicide did take place; they were still interested in the property afterwards, but it’s always a good idea to run a google search, or a bit of a background check,” says Hinschberget. “It can save you a lot of time, and disappointed if you do a little homework.”
