"Slightly Haunted" home for sale

A couple in Dunmore, Pennsylvania has listed their home for sale. It is a 110 year old home, with 1850 sq. ft. of finished space and another 1350 sq. ft. of partially finished space. Original hardwood floors throughout,four bedrooms, 2.5 baths, even a "secret" room hidden behind a pair of bookcases. All this for only $144,000...and a slight catch.

Front Exterior of the "slightly haunted" home

The home is "slightly haunted". 

The buyers claim the haunting is nothing serious, but that buyers can expect "The sounds of phantom footsteps. A strange knocking sound followed by a very quiet (hardly noticeable, even) scream at 3:13am, maybe once a week. Twice a week, tops. And the occasional ghastly visage lurking behind you in the bathroom mirror. Even still, this occurs very rarely and only in the second floor bathroom."

Clever marketing scheme or sellers being honest about the different aspect of their home? Either way, they haven't seen much action on it. Interviewed over the weekend, the seller said they have had several calls from ghost hunters and curious looky-loos, but nothing from serious buyers.

Would you buy a home described as "slightly haunted"?

See more pictures of the home and read the entire listing here.

BC Home Sales show steady growth for 2013

BCREA - A report released by the BCREA today shows a bounce back in home sales in B.C. in 2013. Residential sales increased by 7.8% from 2012, while the annual residential home price in the province was up 4.4% from 2012. Total sales dollar volume was $39.2 billion, an 

increase of 12.6% compared to 2012.

“After declining nearly 12 per cent in 2012, home sales posted steady growth through last year,” said Cameron Muir, BCREA Chief Economist. “Greater Vancouver, Kamloops and Okanagan Mainline board posted the most significant changes, with home sales rising between 12.5 and 14 per cent. Stronger consumer demand combined with fewer 

homes listed for sale improved market conditions in most regions last year.” 

CREA to remove Quebec Listings by Out-Of-Province brokers

www.gelderman.ca

CREA (Canadian Real Estate Association) has said it will begin removing listings in Quebec by out of province brokers this month.

The issue of listings from out-of-province brokers was one of many reasons why the real estate boards in Montreal, Quebec City and other smaller centres opted to leave CREA at the end of 2013. CREA was awaiting a response from OACIQ (the Quebec Real Estate regulatory organization) before it could act, saying "CREA cannot remove a listing by a member unless the province shows it is inconsistent with its laws.”

CREA has also decided to wait until January 28th to remove the listings of those boards which have chosen to leave the national association. This is being done in order to allow for an orderly transition, as well as to give time to departing members to inform their clients that their listings will no longer be on Realtor.ca.

Read the entire article in Real Estate Magazine here.

Metro Vancouver housing market to remain stable in 2014

Local economists are predicting stable conditions in the Lower Mainland's real estate markets for 2014. The wild swings of past years and 2013's rebound in sales is expected to settle for 2014.

Vancouver Sun - “Home sales quietly improved last year compared to 2012,” said Sandra Wyant, president of the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, “although the volume of activity didn’t compare to some of the record-breaking years” of the past decade.”

CREA scrambles to retain Quebec members

Great article! (CREA scrambles to retain Quebec members) Frankly, I agree with part of the Quebec broker's positions. First off, I find Realtor.ca a very primitive, useless platform. The reason why many buyers are looking many places for properties is because the CREA's website is not as good as it needs to be.

Furthermore, I also agree with Quebec's law that requires listing agents to verify data on listings. I strongly oppose the so called mere-posting that Melanie Aitken was advocating through her position at the Competition Bureau (but funny she didn't utilize it herself). The public demands and needs the real estate industry to be professional, accurate, reliable, and experienced.

Can you imagine buying a property listed on the MLS that you assume is being put forth by an ethical, legally-bound and bonded agent only to find out it's the seller putting false representations forward? We're talking hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. Protection of your largest asset should be of monumental importance!

 

What are your thoughts?