Post by natalie on Oct 22, 2013 14:50:57 GMT -5
By Jay Busbee
23 hours ago
As Halloween approaches, here's a thought to keep you up at night: did someone die in your home?
Think about it. There's every chance that someone may have passed away in your home, and not just by violent means, as in the home that served as the inspiration for "The Amityville Horror," pictured above. Accidents, suicides, natural causes ... there are plenty of reasons why someone may have breathed their last before you arrived in your home. And in most cases, real estate agents and sellers aren't required to voluntarily disclose such facts unless the death was the direct result of the house's condition or a newsworthy event.
Certainly, the older your home, the more likely someone once walked in and was carried out. Now, a website purports to give you peace of mind by providing you with certification that someone didn't die in your home.
DiedInHouse searches 118 million public records to see if your address, or your prospective new address, shows up in connection with any deaths. For $11.99, the site provides you with a custom report documenting who died in the house, and if known, how. For instance, if you were looking to purchase 171 Lake Washington Boulevard in Seattle, you might take notice of the fact that a man by the name of Kurt Cobain killed himself there, though chances are you'd probably have learned that yourself along the way.
It's worth noting that DiedInHouse distances itself from any "technical, typographical, or photographic errors" that may exist in the information. But as a first-sweep tool, this could help buyers, sellers and real estate agents remove at least one element of concern.
So. Brave enough to check your own address? Visit DiedInHouse.com to see.
Contact the author on Twitter at @jaybusbee.
23 hours ago
As Halloween approaches, here's a thought to keep you up at night: did someone die in your home?
Think about it. There's every chance that someone may have passed away in your home, and not just by violent means, as in the home that served as the inspiration for "The Amityville Horror," pictured above. Accidents, suicides, natural causes ... there are plenty of reasons why someone may have breathed their last before you arrived in your home. And in most cases, real estate agents and sellers aren't required to voluntarily disclose such facts unless the death was the direct result of the house's condition or a newsworthy event.
Certainly, the older your home, the more likely someone once walked in and was carried out. Now, a website purports to give you peace of mind by providing you with certification that someone didn't die in your home.
DiedInHouse searches 118 million public records to see if your address, or your prospective new address, shows up in connection with any deaths. For $11.99, the site provides you with a custom report documenting who died in the house, and if known, how. For instance, if you were looking to purchase 171 Lake Washington Boulevard in Seattle, you might take notice of the fact that a man by the name of Kurt Cobain killed himself there, though chances are you'd probably have learned that yourself along the way.
It's worth noting that DiedInHouse distances itself from any "technical, typographical, or photographic errors" that may exist in the information. But as a first-sweep tool, this could help buyers, sellers and real estate agents remove at least one element of concern.
So. Brave enough to check your own address? Visit DiedInHouse.com to see.
Contact the author on Twitter at @jaybusbee.
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