The real estate situation in Russia is now difficult. The demand for home purchases falls, many real estate agencies go bankrupt. Meanwhile, sites are increasingly placing ads: "Haunted house for sale." What is behind this and how can such information affect the price of an object and the demand for it? Let's figure it out …
"Unclean" houses
In the West, the market for "haunted houses" has existed for a long time. As a rule, information about the presence of "evil spirits" is not hidden, as sooner or later it will emerge anyway … And the former owners honestly warn potential buyers that the house is "unclean".
So, recently, the star couple David and Victoria Beckham were forced to put their mansion for sale at a greatly reduced price, since the phantom of the former owner allegedly lives in it. The owner of one of the houses in the state of Pennsylvania cannot sell his property in any way due to the poltergeist. But a certain mansion in New York, on the contrary, is in high demand among buyers because of the ghosts supposedly living there.
It would seem that people should avoid "haunted houses". But everything is very ambiguous. Some people dream of living in such a house. Buildings associated with some famous personalities are especially in demand. People who believe in mysticism, or even researchers of the paranormal, may want to settle in such a house.
Still, people are more attracted to houses, where "otherworldly inhabitants" behave relatively harmlessly. Few people want to buy real estate in which something terrible and dangerous is happening, for example, things break down and catch fire by themselves, accidents happen to tenants, some dark entities appear that are trying to attack people … Also, potential buyers bypass houses, where someone did not die of their own death, where murders took place …
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Houses "with history"
There are many such buildings in Moscow. For example, the famous House on the Embankment, many of whose residents were repressed in the 30s. Dmitry Khalin, managing partner of the agency for the sale of elite real estate, says that at night in the apartments you can hear the clatter of boots, as if the security officers had come for another victim. And some people also see the ghosts of those who once lived here … Nevertheless, the demand for apartments in the House on the Embankment is quite high. And they are not sold cheap at all. Just like the apartments in the house where the famous Socialist-Revolutionary Fanny Kaplan lived, who made an attempt on Lenin, the price per square meter there is 30 percent higher than the market price.
A poltergeist is also found in the house where the Bulgakov Museum is located at Bolshaya Sadovaya, 10. They say that the ghost of the cat Behemoth, one of the characters of The Master and Margarita, appears at the entrance. And according to the director of the museum Nikolai Golubev, at night the objects in Bulgakov's former apartment change places and electronic devices turn on by themselves. I had to remove the device for drying hands, as it constantly worked "idle".
Poltergeist to choose from
The house on Sadovaya is also included in the list of "haunted real estate". Such items have appeared in many real estate catalogs. Just start a search engine and you can choose from numerous options. When you open such an ad, an inscription pops up: "CAUTION, GHOST!"
One ad speaks of a brownie who likes to take shiny objects to himself, but then always returns them to their place. In another apartment for sale, there is a ghost who giggles when the owners watch comedies. The third announcement seems to be the most frightening: it talks about a silhouette that appears from time to time in the kitchen by the window … Two more announcements concern apartments for rent. A brownie allegedly lives in one, stealing sweets from the owners, in the other the lights turn on and off by themselves … The cheapest one-room "apartment with a poltergeist" in Moscow can be rented for 25 thousand rubles a month.
Alexey Avdey, head of the secondary real estate market at TsIAN, and his colleagues even decided to create a new function for their mobile application that allows you to search for "haunted houses."
Thus, having familiarized yourself with the catalog, you can easily find out whether the housing you like is included in the list of "unclean" or, on the contrary, find yourself a decent "house with a ghost".
The price varies according to demand. If there are not enough people who want to live in a house where otherworldly entities are found, then the cost can be reduced, usually by 10-15 percent. If the “ghostly” reputation of the place does not bother potential buyers, then the price may even be raised.
By the way, CIAN even released a detailed video instruction on how to behave with the ghosts that are found in your apartment. The singer Natalya Ionova (Gluk'oZa), the star of the “Voice” show Maria Eroyan, the magician Daniil Radaev, and blogger and journalist Ilya Varlamov took part in the video project.