Full disclosure

What, exactly, are you required to tell potential buyers about the property they may be interested in?

Anything that would affect the buyer’s decision to purchase or the price and terms the buyer offers needs to be disclosed. So if you have knowledge about a defect, it should be disclosed.

But what if someone died in the property? Or how about this- what if the home is haunted?
Interestingly enough, although disclosure of these characteristics is required in some states, that is not the case if your home is located in Massachusetts:

from the MGL site:

Section 114. The fact or suspicion that real property may be or is psychologically impacted shall not be deemed to be a material fact required to be disclosed in a real estate transaction. “Psychologically impacted” shall mean an impact being the result of facts or suspicions including, but not limited to, the following:

(a) that an occupant of real property is now or has been suspected to be infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or any other disease which reasonable medical evidence suggests to be highly unlikely to be transmitted through the occupying of a dwelling;

(b) that the real property was the site of a felony, suicide or homicide; and

(c) that the real property has been the site of an alleged parapsychological or supernatural phenomenon.

No cause of action shall arise or be maintained against a seller or lessor of real property or a real estate broker or salesman, by statute or at common law, for failure to disclose to a buyer or tenant that the real property is or was psychologically impacted.

If you live in California, you don’t have the same leeway – a death occurring within a 3 year window of the listing must be disclosed. And in New York, for example, you are required to tell possible buyers if a home is inhabited by ghosts.

Even though disclosure is not required in Massachusetts, if a buyer asks, you must tell the truth:

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this section shall not authorize a seller, lessor or real estate broker or salesman to make a misrepresentation of fact or false statement.

So… what about the buyers who WANT to buy a house with a little … um… history?

Here are a few supposedly haunted homes that are for sale. NOTE: for the sake of full disclosure, I have no first-hand knowledge about these properties ;).

Missouri: 6 bedrooms, several ghosts

Amityille: yes, this is the one. Listing info from Zillow

And here is a site that matches up haunted house buyer and sellers, and pairs them with a local knowledgeable real estate sales agent: Real Haunted House Listings . I didn’t see anything in Massachusetts there, but it wouldn’t bother me to show haunted houses!

If you want to just visit the ghosts on a temporary basis, here are some haunted Bed and Breakfasts in the Northeast.

And last but not least – here’s an article with staging advice for moving that haunted house of yours!

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