In some states a murder on the premises is considered a material fact and should legally be disclosed. Read the following article for one viewpoint.

Here is a link that might be useful: interesting article on whether or not to disclose grisly details

USGIRL, your agent is wrong, your atty is right. This does not have to be disclosed in NYS anymore. (I believe it was changed about 10 years ago).

On the disclosure form that I filled out in central TX recently it had a question about are you aware of any un-natural deaths that have occured on the property.

This issue seems like it is straight out of the twilight zone to me. I mean, even if there are ghosts, they're nothing to be afraid of unless you somehow anger them.

Ghosts aren't always the problem, if ever;
sometimes it's the still-living perpetrator.

I think I've posted this here before, & I don't know if the facts are correct or if this is an urban legend, but it's something to think about.

A couple bought a house, thrilled with the area & the price.

The "girl's bedroom" was ideal for their daughter, a little blonde 4-year-old.

The only problem was a bathroom window, next to the little girl's room, that wouldn't lock.

One morning, while the new homeowner was working on that window, his new neighbor came over to introduce himself & chat.

When he said, "We were surprised to see a couple with a child buy the house, especially when we saw that you had a blonde 4-year-old daughter", the homeowner got down off his ladder & asked for details.

The previous owners had moved away after their daughter, a 4-year-old blonde, had been abducted & killed.

The killer had come through that bathroom window.

He hadn't been caught.

Sounds like an urban legend to me because the seller would have most certainly fixed that window lock before selling.

...forgot to add that the living are always the ones that worry me.

If you're buying a house, you might check with law enforcement-
have they had received complaints about that address for such things as gang activity, drugs, or violence?
Vengeful people & violent people might return to the house with weapons.

Many years ago, when I split up with my now-ex, I moved into a tiny little old rent house.

I had paid the deposit & the first month's rent, & was ready to move in as soon as the current tenant moved out.

When the rental agent called to tell me that the house was ready, I reserved the van & went to pick up the house keys.

As she put the keys into my hand, the rental agent said, "oh, by the way, the lady who just moved out of the house has a crazy ex-boyfriend that keeps wanting to get back together with her, that's why she moved. So if he comes by, just tell him she's moved."

(So I not only have to worry about my vengeful ex, I have to worry about someone else's.)

Seeing the stricken look on my face, she added, "but he probably won't come by when he doesn't see her car."

Well, he did come by.

Fortunately, abusers & stalkers don't usually reveal that part of their personality to other people, or maybe he was just in the "remorse" phase of his cycle, so when I told him that I didn't know her, never had met her,didn't know where she was, & that I was living in the house now, he said thanks & went away.

but if I'd known it before I'd paid & rented the van, I would have found another house.

...while you were posting.

yes, it does sound like it might be an urban legend, but similar things do happen.

I was trying to encourage buyers to check everything & ask direct questions, regardless of what the state requires the seller to disclose.

That story was the only one I could recall until I had already posted, & then I remembered that little rent house.

also, there's the gossip / nuisance factor.

If you buy a home where a notorious murder took place, that murder may be a part of every conversation you have w/ your new neighbors.

"what's it like to live in that home?"

"I would never be able t live there!"

"did you know about the murder when you bought?"

"Oh, you're lady who bought that house with the murder"

Because other people are stupid. And they make inane conversation.

What a pain in the patootie!

THAT would be the reason I wouldn't want to live in a house with that sort of history.

State laws determine the requirement for disclosures.
Someone told me last week that if someone smoked meth in a home, it's treated just like there was a lab. (don't know if thats the law yet)

If you're a true believer in paranormal/supernatural powers or acts, it isn't always the structure that's the problem. The land it sits on could well have been where a crime or other horrible incident may have occured. Slaves were hung from trees in the south, Indians were killed on many prairies, and don't forget the battle at Gettysburg. When visiting the battlefield many years ago, I swear I could hear sounds of crying and wailing, along with an uneasy feeling while walking the area. I swear my last house sat on 'bad' land, as it was the first house built on the site, but we had many strange happenings occur in the house itself.

Strange as it seems now I didn't loose any sleep in that house even though I was alone frequently(apart from three young children as my husband travels extensively.
I did have the need to research thoroughly what had happened. It ended up being a tragic family affair. Son on drugs shot his parents in their bed one night. The father was killed and the son fled. He was challenged in another state in a shoot out with a state trooper and he was killed in addition to the policeman.I did sometimes think of the terrible sadness experienced in that house. The family had been prominent in the town and had a street named after them.
I think that the event had had closure, no matter how dreadful, helped me not to worry about living there. A happy family home full of children helped. We never told the children, of course. I also have no imagination when it comes to paranormal events and don't think that ghosts etc exist. I suspect that once we die that is it!
I only lived there for three years in the end and moved to France.