Halloween and haunted houses go hand in hand—but for some homeowners, the spookiness doesn't stop on Nov. 1. A recent Realtor.com survey found that 86% of Americans believe houses can be haunted, and 12% believe they are currently living in a real haunted house. The real estate platform even rounded up some signs that you might need to call the Ghostbusters to your own home.
5 Signs Your House Might Be Haunted
So what exactly constitutes a true haunted house? Realtor.com says these are the most common signs, according to homeowners with experience.
- Strange sounds: According to former residents, the most common sign of a haunted house is unusual noises. This includes footsteps (even when no one else is home), music playing, and strange banging sounds.
- Apparitions: 62% of people who have lived in a haunted house say they've spotted a shadowy figure or apparition lurking around their halls. Talk about an uninvited guest! Hopefully, you can at least convince your ghostly roommates to pay rent.
- Phantom touch: Over half of respondents who've lived in a haunted house (51%) say they've literally felt an unknown sensation in their home.
- Flickering lights: Appliances and lights turning on and off on their own are experiences that many haunted respondents (58%) shared.
- Objects moving on their own: This is more than picture frames falling off walls. Picture objects levitating or twitching without external interference—or switching rooms.
Related
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/GettyImages-1753589757-8f3eb8c58c86433fb3058617d6e55689.jpg)
Don’t Miss These Key Details During a Home Inspection, According to a Real Estate Agent
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(webp)/Ask-an-agent-recirc-Joyelle_210602_021-a89eba68efad4007b248e3211a298995.jpg)
Do These Rumors Affect Home Listings?
Realtor.com said that even houses with a strange, haunted history wouldn’t bother some buyers. More than 1/3 of respondents said that they’d be just fine purchasing a home that is rumored to be haunted—for the right price, of course. An additional 14% of respondents said that these legends don’t bother them at all, no matter the price of the house.
In fact, Realtor.com’s survey found that crime bothers buyers a lot more than strange voices and flickering lights: a house that is known to have had a violent crime occur in it is a likely no for 79% of buyers—and we can’t blame them.
