What makes a property feel creepy?

Excited13

I went to view a house built in the 80/90s with my mum and have never felt so odd. It sounded amazing on paper 4 double bedrooms, ensuite, granny annex, garage etc but as soon as we walked through the door it didn't feel right. I still can't put my finger on it but at the end of the viewing the owner proceeded to tell us how her daughter had died of a brain tumour and that was the icing on the cake. The property is still up for sale and looks even better value now as property prices seem to be going up round us.

Lord_Baltimore

Some great comments in this thread and that garden is truly idyllic.

But this property is not for you; nor will it ever be.

Trust in the force young skywalker and you will have Better Days elsewhere.

harrup

Better_Days wrote: »

Just a quick update. !Going back for a second viewing on Thursday with DH and the EA who sold our house to give her opinion on value and the work that needs doing.

Haven't told EA about the 'creepy' feeling so it will be interesting to see what she thinks about the property.

Probably a good idea to have another look just to be sure.

However, do yourself a favour and don't try to "reason yourself" into buying a house which has an iffy vibe to you.

A house, even a neglected, dilapidated house, shouldn't induce a spooky or "off" feeling. Not on a dull, rainy evening and least of all on a sunny afternoon.

Stale, imbedded cigarette smoke can be unpleasant, annoying, unwelcome.....but it ain't in any way spooky.

I don't crochet my own sandals either ( as of yet, anyhow, I might just give them a whirl in due course) and I know EXACTLY what you meant. Some places just have a peculiar, uncomfortable vibe. Nothing one could exactly put a finger on, they just feel wrong...or sad. Or give you the feeling of impending doom.

Speaking of the latter - houses feeling wrong and sad - allow me to share the story of one of my MIL's !houses:

Many years ago, my utterly sunny- dispositioned and completely level-headed MIL !purchased an incredible house. Absolutely gorgeous property. The house, the grounds, you name it - it looks just dreamy. To this very day , actually. The kind of house when you !walk past the drive, look at the beautiful house, and just cant help yourself envying the very, very !lucky owners.!

And yet.... my MIL always said that from the moment she first walked in, she always had a weird reaction to it. Either she suddenly and inexplicably developed a severe stomach ache...or a blinding headache....or she just felt oddly peculiar and disquietened for no discernable reason. There were no odours, nothing which would account for it ( and just in case you wonder it wasn't due to carbon monoxide poisoning, it was summer and !no gas appliances or heating on).

But it was their dream house. Their definite "forever" house. So she told, or rather "convinced", herself that the various physical aches experienced !and her " off", spooked feeling were purely coincidental and due to excited nervousness.

Hence, they proceeded with the purchase.

Then my FIL suddenly died ( he was 48) and all manner of unexpected things went wrong left, right and center. !Her sister, a completly down-to-earth, couragious woman, who, BTW, would have declared anyone even talking of ghosts, vibes !or some such as "totally !barmy", told her many years after she had sold said house, that whenever she came to visit she felt deeply anxious and frightened also and simply couldn't wait to get out of the house. And that was even BEFORE my FIL suddenly passed away.

Long story somewhat shorter - my MIL always, always maintained that she should have listened to her instinct and given that house a wide berth. Mind you, it wasn't that she BLAMED the house for the unfortunate, traumatic occurences per se. No! The pivotal point here is that the last thing one wants - should life throw an upsetting curve ball...or several - is to be in a house that makes you feel ill at ease the first time you set foot in it and continues to feel that way. Which it did. Always.

If anything, a house should feel like a haven when things are rough, bad and sad, it shouldn' add further to the misery.

!She couldn't wait to get rid of it. She knew even then ( early 70's) that she would make a most healthy profit !hanging on to it....but she just wanted to move out of this profoundly ill-at-ease feeling place ASAP.

Just saying......

So, if that house still feels spooky next time - definitely avoid! Or take the local vicar with you to exorcise it ( incidentally, my MIL said that she had pondered doing just that in all earnest when she felt at her most desperate. But, given the circumstances, she was worried that they would section her!)

The_Thrilla

If somebody has committed suicide in the place.

BTW, if you are a house owner, and thinking of doing the decent thing, book into an hotel room. DON'T do it at home: it puts the price of the house down.

harrup

Just to add to my prior post...I have absolutely no idea WHY there are exclamation marks all over the place and in the strangest of places.

What I can say, hand on my heart, is that I didn't type them.

I am getting a tad spooked myself now....

Goldiegirl

What makes a house feels creepy?

Possibly an over active imagination.

BUT, however rational and grounded you might be, places have an atmosphere, whether it's a house, church, office or whatever.

If you are getting a negative feeling viewing a property, I think I'd go with my instinct, and not proceed with a purchase. If you aren't comfortable there, then it's not the home for you

Better_Days

Well, we went for a second viewing with a friend who I didn't forewarn about the 'creepy' feeling. We stood in the hall and I said 'what do you think of the hall?' (in retrospect a pretty daft question, who gets excited about a hall?:o)

'What do you mean?' was the response. 'Well how does it feel?' I replied. 'Well, it needs decorating' she said. At this point I gave up and explained why I was asking. She reassured me that it felt OK to her (and she has been in a few haunted houses). She said it may feel odd because of the way the hall narrows as it goes down, the ghastly brown swirly carpet, artex on the walls, and wallpaper on the ceiling (not forgetting the plant growing through the wall in the porch which must have leaked during the winter).

I did still get a bit of an 'odd' feeling in the hall, but no-where else in the house. Apparently it is not a probate property, but the vendor has had to go into a care home and the property is being sold to pay for fees.

We were the first people to view the property last week, and prior to that it had been uninhabited for about a year. The property certainly was a bit more 'aired' this time and the 'creepy' feeling wasn't so strong.

harrup many thanks for sharing your MIL experience. She had such a tough time. It has been very helpful hearing about the varying experiences of others when it comes to how a house 'feels'.

Mulling it all over (and without wishing to venture into knitting my own sandals territory again) I think that whatever was causing the creepy feeling, it was less evident on the second viewing. Perhaps people coming and going was dissipating the 'creepiness'. And two out of four people didn't notice at all.

As the property is otherwise exactly what we want we have decided to offer - have to wait until Monday for a response. We have very little wiggle room on the offer due to the amount of work that needs doing on the property, so what will be will be. There is a lot to do and I will be asking tradesmen for quotes, so I will have a few more opportunities to see if the creepy spot in the hall recedes.

I think this will be one of those instances where you wont know until afterwards if you have made the right decision.

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences, at least I no longer feel like I am going dotty in my old age:eek::eek:

robatwork

Better_Days wrote: »

She reassured me that it felt OK to her (and she has been in a few haunted houses).

No, she hasn't

Lord_Baltimore

Better_Days wrote: »

Well, we went for a second viewing.....cut....

Ah well, if the house is still creepy you can always put a tent up in that cracking garden.

Good luck.

paddy's_mum

It may be just some little architectural feature that is disturbing you.

I once lived for a short while in a rented property and from the very first evening, felt uncomfortable and uneasy in the place. It was only once I had moved and was watching an old black and white film that I realised what it was that had so bothered me.

In the film, the victim came down the steep, shadowy staircase where a murderer was hiding behind the curtains waiting to pounce. The staircase of the house I had lived in was identical to the spooky type so often used in thriller films and that almost subconscious recognition was the source of my unease.

Go look again and see if perhaps there is something similar that you can spot. Identifying the root cause of the feeling might be enough to make it vanish. Good luck and happy house-hunting.