Buying a murder house could save you a lot of money – if you can handle the terror

While some people wouldn't dare set foot on a property where a murder has taken place, others would happily call it their home forever – and would even pay a premium for it.

The proof is in Santa Clara, California, where a house was recently put up for sale just months after news broke that a Google engineer had killed his wife in it.

Despite the house's dark history, it ultimately sold for well over its asking price of $2.1 million.

However, most murder houses remain on the market and are sold at a significant discount.

For example, Nicole Brown Simpson bought her condo in Brentwood for $625,000 in January 1994.

After the murders of Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman on the property, the LA house was put up for sale in 1995 for $795,000.

It was for sale until 1996, when it was sold for $520,000. In 2006, after a renovation and a clever change of address, the house changed hands again for $1.72 million.

With the right changes, a home can be given new life, so to speak.

In 1989, Erik and Lyle Menendez murdered their parents, Jose and Mary “Kitty” Menendez, in their home in Beverly Hills, California.

The Menendez family had bought the mansion the previous year for $4 million. Since the murders, it has been sold twice, most recently in March of this year for $17 million.

While this high price sounds like a success story, forensic appraiser Orell Anderson, president of Strategic Property Analytics, estimates it was about 25 percent below market value.

Why most murder houses are sold at a discount

According to the National Association of Realtors®, murder houses fall into the infamous category of “stigmatized properties,” which are often difficult to sell.

(This includes homes where suicide or violent crimes have been committed, or homes that are near a cemetery or neighboring murder house.)

This stigma can so severely affect a property's value that home sellers in many states are required by law to disclose whether a murder has occurred in their home – similar to how they must disclose previous floods or termite infestations.

However, in other states, such as Connecticut, sellers are only required to disclose that a murder occurred in the home if the buyer asks. In other states, there is no requirement to disclose such a thing.

“I've probably been involved in more murder house deals than I realized,” says Connecticut-based real estate agent Kate Joynt, who owns Atmosphere Real Estate Services. “Some states require the information, some don't. If you go to closing and don't know anything, you're pretty much screwed. Everyone is put off when something grotesque happens on a property.”

How long a home can stay on the market, according to Joynt, “is directly related to the seller's willingness to lower the price to sell it. That shrinks the pool of buyers, and you have to lower the price. You have to get the price just right.”

But a price drop may not be the only downside to a murder house.

For example, if it is known that a tragic event occurred on the property of a house, onlookers and crime fans might visit the property and take photos.

But in Joynt's experience, most home buyers have a price in mind that will turn a “murder house” into a livable property.

“I also think that there is a part of the population that just doesn't care,” says Joynt. “Some people live practically and are less sensitive – for the right price.”