Hat tip to daytrip for sending this along, from newsday.com:
The East Meadow home where serial killer Joel Rifkin may have slaughtered some of his victims, storing at least one body in the garage, recently sold for $322,000, according to real estate records.
The four-bedroom, two-bath expanded ranch first came on the market in May for $424,500, a difference of $102,500.
The buyers, who hope to move in by Thursday, said they are thrilled with the purchase. “It’s a great house, and we got it for a great price,” said Tracy, a teacher who asked that her last name not be used to protect her and her fiance’s four children.
The 1951 house and its 61-by-109-foot lot came on the market with Howard Kaminowitz of Laffey Fine Homes as a “handyman’s special” shortly after Rifkin’s mother, Jeanne, died.
Rifkin is serving a 203-year sentence in upstate New York for murdering nine women. He admitted to killing 17, many of them prostitutes, some either in his bedroom or in the basement of the house.
His father, Ben, was found unconscious in the kitchen after a failed suicide attempt in 1987, shortly before Rifkin started his killing spree. He had been suffering from prostate cancer, dying four days later in the hospital.
“I’m sure something happened in the house. I just feel bad for the family,” said Jim, Tracy’s fiance who also asked not to have his last name used. Tracy said that she just wants to live happily ever after there. “A house is a house. People die all the time in houses. We’re bringing all positive vibes .. no more bad,” Tracy said.
This is timely. There’s a certain house currently on the market in Fire Mountain that was the scene of a very sad and traumatic situation (understatement). I approached it much the same as the woman of this story, that we could change the karma from negative to positive and people die in houses all the time, plus get a screaming deal. Hubby wasn’t quite of the same opinion (think whole body shiver heeby jeebies :)). I wonder how many buyers don’t have a problem with it vs. those who absolutely will not live in a house with a very tainted past? Would make it more difficult to resell I think.
Maybe the new owner is a priest of some kind.
Or “cleanse” it the easy way with little kids. No ghost in the world is able to overpower the laughter of a child. 🙂
The only thing I’d be worried about is the possibility of finding something stuffed into a wall/crawlspace/etc.
Who ya gonna call??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKbg7CfG7i4
Remember Heavens Gate in RSF….
http://www.rickross.com/reference/heavensgate/gate34.html
Tore it down and changed the address
“A house is a house. People die all the time in houses. We’re bringing all positive vibes .. no more bad,” Tracy said
They might want to have a word with the The Lutz Family (Amityville Horror) about buying a house where murders took place.
How do buyers know when a house has a spotty history? I think the law only requires disclosure if an event happened within the last five years. What if I want to know what happened in the last 20 years? Thoughts?
Heck, if they’re not superstitious and the house was perfect, more power to them! I’m very happy for that family and wish them all the best.
(Seriously, ’cause they’re gonna need it!) 🙂
I remember, at college, someone was complaining about how people built on indian burial grounds. The fact is that the world is littered with decayed corpses, and people have been building on cemetaries (or burying near where they lived) for a long time.
I wonder if there’s going to be a surprise in the walls or something, but I also recall stories about people finding WW2 practice ordinance in their lawns in a San Diego suburb, so…
“A house is a house. People die all the time in houses.”
________________
Call me crazy but I see perhaps just a slight difference between someone dying in a house and a serial killer murdering 17 prostitutes in a house.
Call me crazy but I see perhaps just a slight difference between someone dying in a house and a serial killer murdering 17 prostitutes in a house.
Agreed, I bought my house from the daughter of the late owner. The owner died of old age in his bed in the house. I had no problem with this, and both birth and death are a part of the natural cycle of life. However, if the disclosure had been that a killer had murdered 17 prostitutes in the house I think I would have passed.
I agree with #10 and #11….17 Murders in bedrooms and basements would cause me concern. I pass! I would always be thinking about where, what, how and if that spot I noticed on the ceiling has been there before and for how long! I guess you would need to inspect the place with a bottle of luminol and a blacklight!
not only did he kill people there but didnt elaine date the guy for awhile….?
Back in the 70s I bought the La Bianca house (of Manson fame). The realtor did not reveal it to me and needless to say I was upset when I found out. She had helped me purchase a number of properties and it was a great deal so I got over it.
I came to the conclusion that horrific events happen all the time and it was not the house’s fault. That being said, it was a rental and got tricky at times but no one moved out because of it’s history.
I don’t think I would do it again though as it does bring a lot of drive by traffic and general weirdness.
“I guess you would need to inspect the place with a bottle of luminol and a blacklight!”
I suspect that under close scrutiny, almost any pre-owned object or property would reveal disturbing weirdness. A few weeks ago on the UK TV car show “Top Gear” the hosts bought three 20-year-old used cars and took them to a forensics laboratory. Turns out this is something you should NEVER do if you ever want to be able to sit in the car and not think about feces or pubic hair.
Clearfund @ #5, thanks for reminding me of this. I just did a quick check and the subsequent buyers did pretty well with the purchase.
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Rancho-Santa-Fe/18239-Paseo-Victoria-92091/home/4178865
I think it takes a special kind of person to buy a house where a serial killer did his dirty work. I couldn’t do it.
Marsha Stereos: I was wondering when someone was going to make the Seinfeld connection! Funny.
On an unemotional level, I would certainly have forensics done to determine whether there are any environmental factors in the home, such as unusual chemicals, radon gas, or other issues which might have a long term psychological effect on one. Who knows if the killer suffered from some imbalance caused by such factors. Remember the strange effects Chinese wall boards had on so many due to contaminants. Absent that, with a clean bill of health, its a bargain.
I couldn’t buy it if I knew there were murders there! That said, I discovered there was a suicide in my childhood home in the East Bay after my parents sold it. One of the teenage daughters had a drug overdose. But I’ve always wondered if it happened in my bedroom.
That fact wouldn’t stop me from buying it today–so many cherished childhood memories!
The present owners bought it back in 1995 and were kind enough to let my family and I come visit in 1998 after I wrote them a letter. A childhood friend had told me it had sold (Her parents still lived two houses away, an there was an Open House that she attended.) We stayed two hours, and I shared original black & white photos with them.
A Realtor told my dad he would never get $80K for it (4,000 sf total with 3/2 on top and a finished basement below on 1/3 acre with a pool). But he did! The present owners bought it for about $625K, and I wondered if they overpaid.*Chuckle* Zillow now values it at $1.1 million.
The best part of this story is that I’m still in touch with the owners and they are just the nicest folks! I recently received a holiday card from them and all three kids are now grown up. It’s been a wonderful childhood home for them too…
It was the person in the house that was defective, not the drywall and 2×4’s. Sounds like that house was a great deal for a couple not bamboozled by silly superstitions. More power to them.
No. I would not.
Wonder what Feng Shui says about this?
Back in the 70s I bought the La Bianca house (of Manson fame). The realtor did not reveal it to me and needless to say I was upset when I found out. She had helped me purchase a number of properties and it was a great deal so I got over it.
Art | March 10th, 2011 at 11:44 am
Interesting story, Art!
Personally, there is no way I’d buy a house where heinous murders had taken place. Depends on the crime and situation, but a serial killer? No way.
Perhaps a psychic home inspection is called for? One can just imagine the buyers counter offer with amendments to ‘Seller shall certify, through a California registered exorcist, that the gates of Hades noted during the home inspection have been securely sealed along with leveling the foundation settling in the basement”.
I think that’s on the standard California real estate evaluation 10-23B form, Kirby. Just look under the “Disclosures” page, go down to the “Gates of Hades” line item, and make sure “securely sealed” is checked rather than “gaping open”.
If someone dies of natural causes in a property, house becomes a short sale situation(broker notes this fact in brokers comments). Later house goes to auction then ends up an REO sale. My questions are does the bank have to disclose this fact? If I were to purchase the property as a rental would I have to disclose this fact to potential renters?
Thanks in advance for your replies.
If known, the realtor has to disclose it.
I don’t think you could sue the bank for non-disclosure, because they’re covered well in their disclosure about having no knowledge, and the state backs them up.
I don’t know if you have to disclose to tenants, but I would for the obligatory first three years.
“we could change the karma from negative to positive and people die in houses all the time, plus get a screaming deal.”
After dispatching and dismembering 17 prostitutes in the house, regardless of the price, “a screaming deal” is the only appropriate description.