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By Mike DelRose Jr. | DelRose McShane Team | Coldwell Banker Realty
Quick answer: Haunted real estate comes up more often than people expect. Buyers leave showings over a bad feeling. A New York court once treated a house as legally haunted. A New Jersey couple never moved into the house they bought. Massachusetts even has a law that mentions ghosts. Here’s our team’s Halloween tour.
Watch: Mike and Bobby McShane trade a few haunted real estate stories.
Our last video was all about old homes. Sloped floors, field stone foundations, a hundred years of history in the basement. When Bobby and I sat down again, the conversation turned to something every October brings back around.
Some houses just feel off.
Yes. Bobby and I have both had clients cut a showing short within minutes. Nothing was wrong on paper. The buyers said the house felt haunted, and that was the end of it.
We don’t push back on that feeling. Buying a home starts in the gut and gets justified by the numbers later. If you can’t imagine falling asleep in a house, the floor plan won’t save it. We thank the seller and keep looking. There’s always another house.
Has a court ever called a house haunted?
A New York court did, and it’s become our team’s favorite October story. I first covered it here in 2024 in Spooky Real Estate.
The house is 1 LaVeta Place in Nyack, a Victorian on the Hudson owned by Helen Ackley. She talked about her poltergeists openly. The stories appeared in Reader’s Digest in 1977, ran in the local news, and put the house on a local walking tour.
Jeffrey Stambovsky didn’t live nearby and hadn’t heard any of it. He signed a contract, learned the history afterward, and asked to get out.
New York’s Appellate Division agreed with him in 1991. Because Ackley had publicized the haunting for years, the court said she couldn’t turn around and deny it. A buyer has no way to inspect for ghosts. For legal purposes, the house was haunted. It’s known as the Ghostbusters ruling to this day.
Listen to the episode
We talked through the case on the Real Estate Is Ridiculous podcast. Our guest, a colleague, once sold a home where a victim of the Boston Strangler was found decades earlier. The full episode is about 44 minutes. Jump to the 12 minute mark to skip the market update.
Does Massachusetts have a law about haunted houses?
In a way. Chapter 93, Section 114 of the Massachusetts General Laws deals with psychologically impacted property. A home that was the site of a felony, suicide or homicide qualifies, and so does one tied to an alleged supernatural phenomenon. The law says none of that is a material fact a seller or agent must disclose.
Which means nobody expects your agent to hold a séance after the home inspection. We’re grateful for that.
The statute still doesn’t allow anyone to make a false statement. Ask the question, and you’re owed an honest answer. Our team’s approach goes a step further. If one of our listings were perceived as haunted enough to affect its value, we’d tell buyers. A surprise after closing helps no one.
Is The Watcher based on a true story?
It is, and it’s Bobby’s recommendation this year. The Netflix series comes from a real house at 657 Boulevard in Westfield, New Jersey. There’s no ghost in this one. Some would say that makes it scarier.
Derek and Maria Broaddus closed on the 1905 Dutch Colonial in June 2014 for $1,355,657. Soon after, letters signed “The Watcher” started showing up. The writer said their family had watched the house for generations, and asked about the couple’s children. The Broadduses never moved in.
In 2015 they sued the sellers, saying the sellers had received a Watcher letter before closing and kept it to themselves. The case was dismissed in 2017. On July 1, 2019, the house sold for $959,360, roughly $396,000 under their purchase price. The letter writer was never identified.
For the full account, read The Haunting of 657 Boulevard, Reeves Wiedeman’s 2018 story for New York Magazine’s The Cut. It’s a fascinating read.
Which Massachusetts places are the most haunted?
The same names come up every October. Here are the four people ask about most, alphabetized, plus two Mike has stayed in himself.
Joshua Ward House, Salem. A 1784 Federal mansion built for merchant Joshua Ward on land once owned by Sheriff George Corwin, the man who carried out the witch trial executions. Most of the ghost stories point back to him.
Lizzie Borden House, Fall River. Where Andrew and Abby Borden were killed in 1892. Lizzie was acquitted and the case was never solved. Tours run daily, and you can stay the night.
S.K. Pierce Mansion, Gardner. An 1880s Victorian built by furniture maker Sylvester Pierce, whose wife died weeks after they moved in. Visitors describe voices and apparitions. Mike has explored it in person.
The Mount, Lenox. Edith Wharton’s Berkshires home. Wharton loved a good ghost story, and visitors say figures in period dress still walk the estate.
Two Mike has spent the night in
They get less attention than the big four. Both are worth the trip.
Houghton Mansion, North Adams. A 1914 car accident killed Albert Houghton’s daughter Mary and a family friend. The driver died by suicide in the mansion’s basement the following morning, and Houghton passed days later. People say he still keeps watch over the house.
Longfellow’s Wayside Inn, Sudbury. It bills itself as America’s oldest operating inn. Legend says Jerusha Howe still waits in Room 9 for the English traveler who promised to return.
Mike has been lobbying the team for a haunted open house on a fall listing for two years. We haven’t said yes yet. Happy Halloween from all of us.
Have a house with a story?
Buying or selling, our team would love to hear it. Book a time to talk about your next move.
Sources
- Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 93, Section 114. malegislature.gov
- Stambovsky v. Ackley, 169 A.D.2d 254 (N.Y. App. Div. 1991). Case summary
- Reeves Wiedeman, “The Haunting of 657 Boulevard,” The Cut, 2018. thecut.com
- Bloomberg via Boston.com, August 9, 2019. boston.com
This article is general information and is not legal advice. Consult a Massachusetts real estate attorney about disclosure questions on a specific property.
