[graciegirl]

I don't believe in haunted houses and I don't believe in ghosts.

I do believe in meth labs. And I wouldn't want to buy any home that had one.

What happened to the meth lab house?

[downeaster]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

Florida Laws on Stigmatized Property | eHow.com

I would want to know about that. I guess it pays to talk to some of the neighbors around a house you are interested in purchasing.

Good advice, Taltarzac. It is better to find out before the fact rather than after. The same information found after the fact may not have been a deal breaker had it been known before the fact but it could be disturbing.

As a former Florida real estate broker I could tell some interesting stories on neighbors' involvement in the sales process.

[2BNTV]

Some things just creep people out like being near a cementary.

I think gomoho is legally right. For some people, they might feel a moral obligation to be told.

[Cantwaittoarrive]

In most cases when you buy a foreclosure it comes "as is" with no disclosures. Once a house has been foreclosed the "bank" is the new owner and would not have first hand knowledge of any events that may or may not have taken place concerning the property.

[OldManTime]

Its the Law, full disclosure, if not disclosed the realtor faces triple damages

[SALYBOW]

I cannot imagine a Realtor who would be so unprofessional as to share a clients personal information so cavalierly. Unbeknownst to me I once bought a home in which a woman had died of a heart attack. I managed to live there happily for 19 years and move on to three new homes in spite of that. A death or a suicide does not "put a hex" on a home. If informed you just might put one on it mentally.

I was really less stressed before I knew about the death in my home. Why would someone want to know this?

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by SALYBOW

I cannot imagine a Realtor who would be so unprofessional as to share a clients personal information so cavalierly. Unbeknownst to me I once bought a home in which a woman had died of a heart attack. I managed to live there happily for 19 years and move on to three new homes in spite of that. A death or a suicide does not "put a hex" on a home. If informed you just might put one on it mentally.

I was really less stressed before I knew about the death in my home. Why would someone want to know this?

I agree Salybow.

In Europe, many homes are literally centuries old and many people have been born or died in those homes.

I think if we dwell on things we can cause fear to happen. Being born and dying is part of everyones life on earth.

[blueash]

Originally Posted by galeforce

So is the key word there might be "suspected". Most states mandate "if known", it must be disclosed to the buyer. In, Florida, I'm not sure, but the wording makes me suspicious.

No, the wording is very clear here. "was, or was at anytime suspected" The first was takes care of the known suicide or homicide or death. The second phrase covers where it may have happened. The same statute covers HIV/AIDS which is not required to be disclosed. The florida realtor association has a several page disclosure form for the seller to provide however it seems to be their form not one required by law. The only laws I could find were related to flood plains, property taxes and few other minor concerns.

Here is the best summary I could find: FAR-Legal Center-Ask an Attorney-Disclosure Legal FAQs

"A seller isn�t required to fill out a seller�s disclosure statement regardless of whether the seller occupied the property or not.

However, pursuant to the Florida Supreme Court case Johnson vs. Davis, a seller is required to disclose known facts that materially affect the value of the property that are not known and readily observable to the buyer."

It seems to allow a lot of wiggle room for the seller to decide what is a material fact, like repaired plumbing. The purpose of the cited law is to categorize suicide... as not being a fact that needs to be disclosed. Maybe we could encourage Rep. O'Toole to draft legislation requiring a fuller property disclosure similar to the realtor's form, as I believe most other states already do.

[gocubsgo]

People need to be more open minded when it comes to hauntings. The house I moved from in Chicago was so haunted, I had paranormal investigators from around the country lined up to come in and do research. I didn't stay long enough to wait for the results!

THAT house was built in 1885 and was built in an area where there were over 400 John and Jane Doe's buried from a local mental asylum. The realtor never told us the history of the area and as a result, that house and several other houses in a 3 block area were haunted. I'll never forget what happened to us in that house but...on topic...the realtor never said a word.

[jflynn1]

Originally Posted by John_W

Our neighbor just sold their CYV and neither the seller nor agent disclosed to the buyer that there was a major water leak in the slab of a 1-1/2 year old home. Last September when our neighbors came for a short stay they discovered the M/Bath and M/BR were flooded with water. A pipe under the slab had sprung a leak. TV Warranty Department fixed the problem, it took three weeks to repair. They had sledgehammers going through the floor, all the drywall, cabinets and flooring had to be ripped out and replaced with new.

Six weeks ago our neighbors came for another short stay in March, but while here they decided to buy a new CYV in Sanibel and put this CYV on the market with TV Real Estate.

Two days after they left a man along with a couple came by the home while I was in the yard, the man said, come meet your new neighbors. The home was sold, the couple said they were Canadians and just wanted to use the home for a couple of months a year since the man still worked.

The following week I saw the couple again, and they said they had just closed that morning and they were dropping off a few items and then would be headed back to Canada. The neighbor across the street said, did they tell you about the water leak in the slab? The couple looked shocked and said, what do you mean. They immediately went inside and called TV Realtor. The next day I saw the couple as they were packing the car and were getting ready to leave. The woman said to me, if I had known about the leak, I would of never bought this home. I asked what did the realtor say, she said that since it was repaired by the warranty department, it did not need to be disclosed. They got in their car and started the engine and the woman said when they get back to Canada, they were going to contact a lawyer.

The listing and photo are still online if you use search, here they are below. However, it is no longer on the TV Homes website. I would believe that not giving out such pertinent information is bad dealing by TV Real Estate, then again the realtor is working for the seller and not the buyer.

Properties of The Villages

Evidently they purchased the home from a sales agent of the Villages who do not operate under the same disclosure issues of the the rest of Florida Lcensed Realtors.

[DougB]

Just curious, why would you have to disclose anything if the repair was done correctly by a licensed contractor? I've had another house on the east for the last 20 years, don't think when I sell I will remember all the repairs done to disclose.

[graciegirl]

We have had many real estate transactions over the course of our 51 year marriage.

We have worked with the same Villages agent on two homes here in the last six, almost seven years and were basically looking for a second home about two years after buying the first one, as we planned to make the move to a year 'round home.

In the ins and outs of looking with Jim McLaughlin: our villages agent and looking without him at open houses by The Villages and by MLS agents you learn a lot. And absorb a lot in the way of climate in the real estate market locally.

Jim is a villager and he told us truthful answers to the questions we posed to him and a lot of the truthful answers were "I honestly don't know". Jim also told me that there are a couple of "pushy" agents who work for The Villages. I imagine that perhaps there are those that maybe we wouldn't have liked as well as Jim and perhaps there are some that are not as honest.

The truth is that these houses for sale here are in one of the hottest real estate markets in this country. You don't have to lie and cover up and be tricky to sell them.

[DonH57]

I once had a home that had paranormal occurences happen and at the time since we never felt threatened and was some what curious I now wish I spent time researching the property. It was never disclosed by the realtor if something did happen there.

[jimmy D]

Originally Posted by jflynn1

Evidently they purchased the home from a sales agent of the Villages who do not operate under the same disclosure issues of the the rest of Florida Lcensed Realtors.

The Florida Real Estate Laws are the same for ANY Licensed Agent in the State of Florida. There is no special Laws for REALTORS only.

[bmarlo767]

I can not think what any one would care what happened in the house if it did not affect
the structure of the house. There was a death in the house, Happens a lot in the Villages
Same with the water Leak, I would be glad it happened before,Instead of after I purchased
the home.