Many Homebuyers Would Consider Purchasing a Haunted House, Zillow Survey Finds

A recent survey by Zillow has revealed that a majority of potential homebuyers would have no problem purchasing a house they belive to be haunted if it reduced the price. It’s a chilling display of desperation as housing and loan prices continue to skyrocket.

The report polled 901 recent homebuyers as well as 993 potential buyers. A whopping 67 percent of those surveyed said they could tolerate a few bumps in the night as long as the house fulfilled their real estate dreams, or was in some way discounted.

Nearly one third of potential buyers said they’d purchase a haunted house if it was in their desired location. Another 35 percent said they’d buy haunted if the price was lower, while 40 percent agreed if the estate came with features like a big backyard, or swimming pool.

“The combination of high prices, limited inventory, and rising interest rates is creating a witches' brew of trouble for would-be homeowners,” Zillow’s Senior Population Scientist Manny Garcia said in the report. "Despite these chilling conditions, life events like job changes, coupling up, and having children still drive households to buy. When balancing so many priorities in an inventory-starved market, avoiding ghosts and ghouls doesn't always make the cut."

Buyers shouldn’t get their hopes up, though. It’s unlikely even the most severely haunted houses will see any discount. Seminole, OK’s Grisso Mansion, considered one of the most haunted homes in America, has been on the market for $1.8 million since 2019. It was built after the town’s pharmacist, “Doc” Grisso, married a 15-year-old Indigenous woman to gain access to her land and oil. When she died under mysterious circumstances, Grisso remarried and built the estate. (It's one of the many cases which inspired Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.)

Kristin Hill, the realtor representing Grisso Mansion, assured Men’s Journal that the price won’t be lowering anytime soon. She also reported that potential hauntings don’t factor in determining a property’s value. “We got a professional appraiser in there to evaluate the price,” Hill confirmed.

The report’s release comes after mortgage rates surpassed a 22-year high earlier this month. Another study by Zillow found that hopeful buyers must now earn a six-figure income in order to afford a home purchase, haunted or not.