Got ghosts? I'm not telling....

In Connecticut, when selling a home you do not have to disclose that you have ... people living with you that don't pay rent, people who walk through walls, move things on you, wailing in the middle of the night, shaking the bed... in other words, ghosts. Nope, the seller doesn't have to disclose the fact their house is haunted, not here in Connecticut.

If a buyer is concerned that there is a ghost in residence they can write a letter to the seller asking if anyone other worldly beings live in the house. The seller is not required to answer the question. But the request must be in writing from the buyer to the seller. Not agent to agent, that's not how it works. I wouldn't answer that question anyway. I can see it now, being hauled into court because I told a buyer a house wasn't haunted... but when they moved in the house was akin to a certain house in Amityville, NY. Nope, not me.

If it is important for you to know, and you feel that perhaps the seller isn't being straight with you, you could ask permission to bring Ghost Busters in. (Don't do it without permission though, seriously.) Contacting former owners of the house is probably a bad idea. You know, the agent knows someone who grew up in the house.. so they call to find out if the house was haunted 35 years ago. What if the former resident says no, the house wasn't haunted back then, how can you be sure that is still the case? Short of contacting the dearly departed that used to live there to make sure they aren't living there now, you really only have one choice. You have to go directly to the owners. Keep in mind it is the owners right not to answer the question.

And for the curious, yes, someone I know got that call. "Hey, when you lived in that house as a kid, was it haunted?" I hope the buyer had a plan B, that's all I have to say!

Got ghosts? In Connecticut the only way to ask that question is in writing!

(And just to be clear, this post is not to make fun of anyone who believes in ghosts. I am fairly sure I have lived in a house with .... ghosts. It can happen to the best of us!)