I was reading about the Pennsylvania case of a woman (who was originally from California) who found out after purchasing a rather expensive property that the seller purposely concealed the fact that the house was the setting of a murder-suicide.

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In spite of her determination to take the case all the way to the Supreme Court, her reasons—primarily the loss in value the property will have when she sells it and also (and in my point of view just as important) the psychological strain that this knowledge has put on her family to have to live in such a “tragic” building—have not been “sufficient enough” to obtain a court judgment in her favor and void the bill of purchase.

Here in California the law prescribes that such past information be disclosed when a property enters the market, but it looks like not all states, or countries for that matter, agree on that. Also, I have been teaching for years that houses with tragic pasts probably had very bad Feng Shui to start with. Remember, it is not the tragedy that causes the house to have bad Feng Shui, but rather the bad Feng Shui that caused the occupants of a house to have “bad luck” over and over in the first place, even if the occupants are not the same over time.

Foreclosure properties are an example of this. They are “bad for money properties” and bring bad luck to all the occupants in their financial life who live or do business there. (For more on this see my previous article on foreclosures)

So if you have found yourself stuck with an expensive property (or any property) after discovering some tragic past about it, or perhaps you bought it on purpose because it was so inexpensive, what do you do?

Well, you could…

1) Decide to ignore it, but it may come back to haunt you: I have seen several houses, some of which were the settings of some very famous murders and suicides (which were overly covered by the media), where after the trail ended, the house was sold to pay legal fees and settlements. Then the new “lucky owner,” generally a successful businessman who was thrilled to purchase such a great piece of property for relatively little money, watches their luck (both personal and financial) go downhill right after moving onto the premises.

2) Call it a loss, level the property, and then rebuild it. This is the favorite solution that many opt for: from Sharon Tate’s to O.J. Simpson’s homes, new buyers have purchased the lot for a song (comparatively speaking), and then tore down the building (including the foundation) and started out fresh.

3) Have a qualified Feng Shui Master look at the property (before you buy it, preferably). She or he will be able to tell you:

1. What caused the unfortunate accident(s).
2. How you can fix it, and from there you can get an estimate of how big or small a job it is going to be so you can factor that cost in along with your overall costs of closing and moving.
3. Is it really worth it? Perhaps the extent of the renovation needed is above your budget and you’d rather not take any chances.

In truth, even if you decide to level the property and build it up from scratch it will still be advisable for you to consult with a Feng Shui Master anyway; if for nothing else than to make sure that the house you are planning on building—which is probably going to be rather expensive—will not incur any similar problems (or a worse problem) than the one you just tore down.