The next time you go house-hunting, be sure to thoroughly look into the backstory of the house you're interested in. These properties might have been inhabited by serial killers, used by members of the adult film industry, or contained the "essence" of the former (now deceased) owners. Real estate agents must, by law, disclose the truth about these potentially haunted houses, but some may not even know what happened there unless they speak to the neighbors.
These Reddit accounts detail what went down in homes before their current owners purchased them. Turn all of the lights on and remember that home isn't just where the heart is; there's plenty of horror, too.
20 People Describe The Horrible Backstories Behind Houses Up For Sale,
Former Resident Was A Child Pornographer
From youdirtynetwork:
"So two years ago my step dad was charged with some child porn offenses, not a great time, 0/10 would recommend. More to the point of this story, flash forward to this October and the police contact my sister wanting to ask some questions. As it turns out, he had little creepy cameras all over the house and had been filming her since she was in Grade 9 until she moved out! Needless to say my mother is selling the house. I feel bad for the next people who buy and possibly come across something the cops missed!"
Someone Committed Suicide In One Of The Rooms
From ControlYourPoison:
"When we were looking to buy a house we looked at one in which the father of the family committed suicide in. You could tell which room it was because it had clearly recently been sheet-rocked and painted. It didn't really bother us though and we didn't get any creepy feelings. We chose not to put an offer in because the rest of the house needed a lot of work.
And no, the realtor did not tell us that someone had committed suicide in it. I happened to know because it is very close to the house I grew up in and it's a very small town."
Old Tenants Locked Their Kids In The Closet
From JaytheFarmer:
"My parents were realtors, and also flipped houses. When I was growing up I used to help them a lot, usually by cleaning. When I was 12, I was helping with a house that was infested with roaches. I noticed the closets were smeared with shit and children's hand prints, with fingernail scratches on the insides of the doors as well. I asked my parents why this was the case. They told me the old tenants used to lock their toddlers in the closets for days."
They Dug A Basement
From _old:
"My grandma sells/rents houses in the Denver area. A few weeks ago I had to help her evict a few college bros from one of her properties. This is a cottage-style home, no second floor, no basement. These guys literally dug a hole in the wood floor and made a basement where they've been throwing trash away for the last year. Like it's a living room, complete with a tv, a couple arm chairs, and a giant hole in the ground filled with ice cream wrappers, pizza boxes, and cigarette butts."
A Lack Of Hobbies
From stuisthebest:
"My aunt is a realtor and was selling a house that a lady owned but had been renting out to her college-aged son and a few of his friends.
When they went to do the first walk through so my aunt could take pictures and such, it was apparent the lady hadn't been in the house in ages. Every single room had a tv, a chair, a box of Kleenex, and a bottle of lotion. They were literally just jacking it with each other all over the house all the time.
The lady was so embarrassed."
Two Homes With Previous Occurances
From WillSmiff:
"I photograph homes. It's normal, people die in homes. I've photographed a few homes where the reason for sale was a recent suicide in the home. I photographed a new home that the builder killed himself in the garage just before the project was complete.
The weirdest one was mostly very creepy and suspicious. I photographed a billionaire's compound where the guy had and absurd fascination with flesh. There were well over 50 heads mounted on walls from water buffalo to elephant. Five-to-10 large cats, stuffed. Chandeliers made from the feathers of rare birds. Stools made from elephant feet/legs. Paintings and abstract photos of oily skin, 'veiny' muscles of humans and animals etc etc. I looked for his kill room, but I never found it. In general I find billionaires don't behave like normal people, but this one was particularly weird."
Asked About A "Water Leak"
From tiberion:
"The lady next door to me died, and wasn't found until she was, well, more liquid than solid on her living room carpet. The family couldn't pay back taxes or something, and the house went to HUD to auction. HUD paid for some cleanup, but not to replace the carpet, only to steam clean it.
So it finally sold, and was talking to the guy who is flipping it. Before I could mention the death, he asked if the house had a water leak under the foundation, because when they ripped up the carpet and pad to put down the laminate floor, it was really dirty and got all over them and their clothes. I told him what happened and how HUD went cheap on what to fix before the auction; he got green as a pea and started puking right there on his side of the fence."
A Killer Of A Deal
From Yup4545:
"When I was looking for my last house, I went with my wife and realtor to look at several houses. We went to look at one house in particular because it didn't seem like the price they were asking for could be real: a huge house sitting on tons of land with outbuildings, going for millions under market value.
We got there, and the realtor said 'Oh, I should mention, a serial killer lived here and when he was put away cops found 11 bodies on the property.' Oh, well that'll do it."
A Porno Was Shot There
From Grandmastrgusto:
"An old friend of mine bought a nice house in a quiet neighborhood. The place is beautiful and has a really nice deck outback with a hot tub. About three weeks after closing he was cleaning out some previously owner junk in one of the closets and found an old DVD. It was a Bridget the Midget porno with a hot tub scene on the cover. His hot tub. It was epic."
A Converted Victorian Era Asylum
From Zutsky:
"Not a realtor, but I used to rent an apartment that was in a converted Victorian asylum. It was rumored to be haunted, but I never heard or saw anything whilst living there.
When I met with a leasing agent to hand the keys back at the property, and for him to run through a final inspection he asked if we had been 'happy' there. I said something to the effect of yes, but we were only moving as the landlord had it up for sale. It became clear he was after some kind of ghost story as he explained that none of his colleagues liked going to any apartments in the building because when taking photos to market one of them, the red eye detector kept triggering on his phone when no one was in frame!
The poor guy looked nervous as heck the whole time we were there."