True, but somethings are more noxious then others. For me personally, a constant reminder of death is not something I want around my family. I want to focus on the glory of life.

Plus, I would be conscious as to how it would make family and visited feel.

Mark you make it sound as if the house was perched right on the cemetery. This particular one was down the road from one.

It wouldn't bother me (or my family) in the least if I live beside or across from one. I'd rather live next door to a cemetery than a school, and a lot of houses are built around schools.

I lived next to a cemetery for much of my life. I suppose there are ookey ones, especially since cemeteries can make their own fog the way golf courses do, but the only disturbances we had were from the workers, not any of the dead or grieving. Well, sometimes the wildlife that wandered in and couldn't wander out. Seeing an obviously urban worker trying to move a large Suffolk ewe who had wandered nearly to our fence (half a mile from the gate, at least) was hysterical. I went out to tell him how to lead a sheep but before I could do so animal control arrived. We used to see horned owls and big white owls, ravens, phoebes, some kind of blue jay looking bird that is blue but not a jay, and all kinds of smaller birds. If you're not used to country, that would be the biggest downfall: There are moles, voles, field mice and rats, and other such critters living in cemeteries. If you move there, you'll want an outdoor cat or two.

Well to each there own. Living near a cemetery would not be my cup of tea.

Well, I grew up on a farm that had a family cemetery, the farm is gone. The cemetery is still there. It is the only place I visit when I go back. We always felt very comfortable there. Very peaceful. Wouldn't think twice about living next to one.

Good for you.

I try to stay away from old threads that get bumped, but this one lured me in. I'm with Mark. I wouldn't live near a cemetery, or in a neighborhood/area for which the normal access route for me and for my guests required driving past one.

A cemetery is not a park or a golf course. It's a cemetery. I have a lot of stiffs in my neighborhood, as most people do, but the ones still here are at least still moving around. For me, it's not superstition, nor concern, nor a weak stomach - it's just that it's negative ambiance. Negative energy. Areas have positive and negative features - other than something like a noisy or smelly commercial operation next door, having a cemetery is right up there on the list of potential negatives for me. It's also bad feng shui.

The home's back to the cemetery but it's in such a way that you couldn't tell, there is a by way road like a maintenance road which connects to the cemetery so you don't see it entering or exiting the community. The other thing is it's a huge memorial park, lush green and landscaped, not the creepy looking cemeteries. Apparently, an expensive one! The other thing is the community itself is close to the downtown about 4 miles and yet has the suburb feel to it. It's not anything cheap since everything is kind of ridiculously expensive in the Bay Area but due to summer and it being back to the cemetery it's just a little longer on the market as per our agent. It's expected to go soon enough so I need to think if it's a smart investment considering I will be living here 6 years at the minimum. The current owner landscaped the patio quite well and the builder had all these parameters in mind, so it's surrounded by tall trees and fencing so unless you climb the wall, you couldn't see the cemetery that easily. I only found out after I got home and looked up in the maps that it actually backs to this park. I appreciate you all sharing your feedback.

I would love having a beautiful, landscaped QUIET "park" next to my back yard. No worries about a development or a MacMansion potentially looming over my yard. Very little traffic, etc. It would especially appeal to me if the grounds are gated and locked at night to dissuade vandals or anyone else from being in there at night.

There are no negative vibes in the cemeteries I've been to, and certainly not the one I lived by. It's also right in the middle of very heavily travelled city streets, and you'd have to make very convoluted circuits to avoid going near it from just about anywhere in that part of town to any other.

Spreddy, think of it this way: the cemetery won't be any greater an obstacle when you go to sell than it has been as you're buying. As others have said, schools can be uncomfortable to live by. Fire stations are loud at all hours. Churches ring bells. There are all kinds of "good" things that can lower your pool of buyers and maybe price. Some people love to see a bunch of bikes in driveways denoting a young family neighborhood, others think it's ugly or don't want to be around all those kids. Offer what you think is a fair price considering that this is an equal nuisance to any non-house neighbor (though far quieter unless they're having a lot of New Orleans style corteges and second lines), and you won't lose on the selling end.

And if you go for it, get a cat.

I've never felt "negative vibes" in a cemetery- though I have in other places. Spent three years living in a house that had terrible vibes (and two house fires in a town where I can only think of two other house fires in the past 30 years) that was nowhere near a cemetery. Some of my happiest times as a teenager were spent in cemeteries- I like to read the gravestones and try to work out who was related to whom, and if people died at the same time was there an epidemic? and stuff like that. I'd live next to a cemetery in a heartbeat if the house was what I was looking for.

I've always felt that ghosts wouldn't bother hanging around a cemetery, they'd go to someplace that was familiar in life.

Around here many older rural properties have old family cemeteries on the property. The law in our state is such that relatives of those buried in a family cemetery have the right to access the cemetery forever. One property we looked at had a small cemetery right across and behind the garage/barn from the main house. That was one of several reasons why I didn't want to purchase the place.

This thread reminds me of the grave photo thread. I wouldn't mind living next to a cemetary either and would also prefer that as opposed to say a school or other houses. Actually the older the better too, lots of interesting history to discover and maybe even some pictures to contribute. LOL

You would rather be reminded of death then enjoy the antics of young children as they learn and play?

IME (and I work in a school), it isn't always playful antics, it's often loud disputes over toys and territory, who likes and doesn't like who today and just general yelling because it's fun at that age. Cemeteries don't remind me of death (in the first instance), they make me think of the people who lived before me and what their lives would have been like.

Mark, a cemetery doesn't remind me of death. You make a schoolyard sound like Ann of Green Gables or Sound of Music, Hahhaaa

Jasdip....:0) They bury dead people in cemeteries. Now do they remind you of death? :0)

Cemeteries aren't creepy and negative to me. They're peaceful. Still better than schools.

To each there own. I'll take the school over a cemetery everyday and twice on Sunday.

Their

My guess is that people who have difficulty with the concept of death would have difficulty with being reminded of it daily by living near a cemetery. I am not in that group.

One of the major cemeteries in Los Angeles is known for the beauty of its park and chapels. People have weddings there all the time.

"My guess is that people who have difficulty with the concept of death
would have difficulty with being reminded of it daily by living near a
cemetery. "

That may be, though maybe not. Like you, I'm not in that group, but I still wouldn't live too near a cemetery if I had a choice.

As for weddings at cemeteries, anything is possible in LA (Forest Lawn). I'd say that approach is reserved for people who didn't have enough time to think through the choices.

I would never shy away from a property solely based on the fact that I knew decomposing bodies were in the vicinity.

Given the fact that we all live in areas which have seen a human inhabitance for likely thousands of years, its almost a sure bet that someone, somewhere, at sometime was buried on or near our property.

I'm not freaked out about it; there is no such thing as "ghosts", "negative energy" etc.

It is a natural part of the life cycle and I, personally, don't ascribe to alternative spiritual theories of energy, spirits, etc.

If they existed, science would have proven them by now.

Thanks for all your responses. As I said, you really have to put effort to see the cemetery or tomb stones. The community has a huge fencing and a big drop outside the fencing wall before it touches the cemetery. They have tall pine trees all over so the builder made sure it's not visible that easily but then again properties at a distance can maybe spot the head stones from their windows. Since this is back to the cemetery, at the border, because of all the trees you couldn't tell much. I am mostly concerned about the resale value, otherwise the property by Bay Area standards is pretty good.

I mentioned it before but in case you missed it, proximity to a cemetery is bad feng shui. You can be sure that no ethnic Chinese family would consider a house so located, and I wonder if ethnic Indians would either.

It's not immediately visible? No matter, those who care check out neighborhoods using Google maps and satellite pictures.

Depending on where you are in the Bay Area, the preceding comments may matter a lot or not at all for resale.

Stairs opening out right in front of the door--a common American building style--is bad feng shui. 4's in the house number (or zip code or area code) signify death and are unlucky. Feng shui is part of a highly developed and precise religion that is about balance with the natural world. By and large there are mitigations for poor feng shui and if you're concerned about being able to resell to adherents, you can hire a master to check out the space and explain what might need to be done. Landscaping (possibly what the house already has) can provide a lot of resolution.

Really, though, can't your agent find out whether they're having trouble selling the house because of the cemetery? Not the price, location vis-a-vis transporation, schools, shops, crime, etc. Not because of the size or condition. Not the price, which is king. Ask your agent if there's any trouble selling houses near cemeteries and how much less they command. But, again, this kind of thing doesn't change much, so the differences in 6-10 years shouldn't be much different than they are now. The exception is if there's a current bubble in your neighborhood that might burst. When there isn't much "inventory" the prices for "problem" houses go up because people become grateful to find any house.

Considering some neighbors that I have had, I think a cemetery would be a bonus--no noise, no lights left on 24 hours a day, no barking dogs, no untended vegetation. I also like the quiet peace of reading epitaphs and working out the stories of those who live no more.

I grew up in a house that had a small, very old, unattended, cemetery on the hill across the road. It was a lovely, shady, spot--trees had grown between the graves, and we often hiked up and played there as children. My grandfather knew the stories of some of the hand-hewn grave stones, which were of his parents' and grandparents' contemporaries (1800's), but no family members. One grave was of a stranger who was passing through and was killed in a fight, but never identified.

After I grew up the land was purchased by someone not local to the area, who built a house behind the hill. We found out later that he had destroyed the grave stones--his explanation was that his wife wouldn't live in the house they were building if she knew about the cemetery. They're divorced now ... maybe she found out despite his vandalism and disregard for history.

Regards to living next to a school, I think it depends on age, family situation and the school. We used to live behind our elementary school growing up and could hear the sounds I'm sure Mark is referring to. At the time my parents loved it and always talked about how great it was to hear. But like everything it eventually becomes a been there done that situation. What I've experienced is that once the kids are grown and the work is done, a lot of folks are ready for some peace, and it's no longer the most appealing of noises. I know for sure I would never want to live by a middle school or high school as well. I will take the sounds of birds, trees blowing in the breezes and the smell of fresh cut grass found in a cemetery any day.

I also have to agree that it doesn't remind me of death either. Besides, the idea of giving the dead a chance for some quiet neighbors is probably appreciated by them and their visiting families as well. :c)

Yes, none of those things are present. There are Just thousands of corpses located right outside your front door.

Well, in the grand scheme of things, considering the age of the earth, any and every place probably has that qualification.

Where's the Big Billy Goat Gruff when you need him?

I just think it's kind of funny how if you tell someone that you've seen a ghost, they would likely tell you that you were just seeing things and that there is no such things as ghosts but yet so many people are acting like they'd have ghosts if they lived near a cemetery. So which is it, ghosts are real or ghosts are make believe?

It's not the ghosts or not ghosts for me. The cemetery in my small town has a gun shooting range behind it. The police and locals practice there. It backs against open space and has a hiking/biking/running trail behind it too. I tried biking the trail and thought it was scary.....because of the gun fire! So.....no....I would NOT own a home next to the cemetery in MY town! :0)

There are other businesses that present a problem too...

I knew a woman that purchased an old 1800's home next to a Dominos Pizza. She said it smelled like pizza aaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the time and she couldn't stand to live there! She said her furniture smelled like pizza, her clothes smelled like pizza....

Whether I would buy it, which a cemetery wouldn't stop me, it's a moot point. I don't buy a house to consider resale later on. His concern is resale and yes, it will likely be affected by the cemetery. Now the question he has to consider is whether he's getting a deal on it such that he can sell it down the road to his satisfaction. And NEVER take a real estate agent's word for ANYTHING!

I love cemeteries and have visited many (including two particularly interesting ones, one in Edinburgh, Scotland and the other near Oranjestad, Aruba).

Never have I felt any negative vibes EXCEPT at one. It was at a small country cemetery not far from where I live; I felt the vibes when I approached the grave of a young local woman, whom I kind-of knew, who was murdered when she was simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. (I did not know she was buried there until the instant I read her name on the headstone.) The vibes were almost tangible, real and black. Fury and rage, I think. I hightailed it out of there. And it wasn't a dark or cloudy or dreary day, either - it was a bright, warm sunshiny summer day.

Other than that one time, all the cemeteries in my experience have been peaceful places, filled with nature sights and sounds, opportunities for reflection on the meaning of life, and curiosity about and appreciation for those who have passed before us.

Yes, I've visited dozens of cemeteries - throughout the Normandy landing beach area, the WW 1 cemeteries in Northern France and in Belgium, Pere Lachaise in Paris (fabulously interesting for who's there, ranging from Moliere, Delacroix, Rossini of the 19th century to Jim Morrison of the Doors). Cemeteries at concentration camps in Germany and Austria. etc etc. A large VA cemetery near my university, i passed it a few times a week.

"Negative energy"? It's nothing supernatural or spiritual. I'm not superstitious at all, never have been. Maybe we're not sharing the same definitions. To me, that's something that triggers sadness, or disgust, or unhappy feelings, or anger. Cemeteries aren't happy places, they're not upbeat or uplifting.

Some of you are being way too literal. From a home appreciation and resale value, you won't convince me it isn't a negative factor and especially so in my multicultural area. If you want to live next to a mortuary or cemetery, please go ahead. Me, I'm a happy person, I much prefer happier places.

I'd have no problem buying a home near a cemetery. But I do agree that it could easily be perceived as a negative for resale.

Though my body has a track record of having spoiled me ...

... at my age, I can expect to be in one of them soon, quite possibly.

What do you figure might be the chances of getting a meeting of some of the resident spirits, for a discussion of, with a view to possible action, toward being selective about the neighbours considering moving into nearby housing ... wouldn't want the neighbourhood to go downhill, now, would we?

ole joyfulelled ... just came from a meeting, with son and daughter, of the doc dealing with the prostate cancer: good three-month report

P.S. I have no compuncion/concern about living near a cemetery ... actually, I just remembered that the farm where I grew up was a quarter of a mile from a small cemetery, where some of our forebears were buried. We walked by it every day on our way to and from elementary school, sometimes went in to look around.

o j

It is bad Feng Shui.

Do you live in an area with a large population that actually believes in feng shui? If so, it could hurt resale, if not, I don't think it will matter.

I lived next to one for six years, peaceful no wild parties!

Chi - did you end up buying the house? I find myself in a similar situation to yours from almost 5 years ago now and this thread has been quite useful so far. Curious to know what decision you made.

Oh wow, this is an old thread! We put an offer on the house but the inspection revealed a lot of negatives so we withdrew from that house and picked another. They had a second/backup offer so the cemetery didn't seem to be a negative.

My daughter's house backs up to a national cemetery - a VERY small national cemetery, in which a long-ago KY native President is buried. The entire neighborhood was once part of his family farm, Springfield. The family home (now privately owned) is around the corner from DD's house. The cemetery is surrounded on three sides by houses, and on the 4th by a busy road. On all sides, there is a beautiful old stone wall that is about 4 1/2 ft tall and 2 ft thick. What a gift! A wall like that would cost a fortune today!

In a national cemetery, all the headstones are the same simple marble markers. To see rows and rows of these, is very lovely and very moving.

My grandsons have always played in the cemetery, climbing over the wall. When they were little, my daughter had Easter egg hunts there. She asked me if I thought it was disrespectful, and I said if I were buried there, I could think of nothing lovelier than happy children, gleefully hunting eggs on Easter.

None of the houses surrounding this small cemetery have ever been hard to sell. Most people adore the stone wall, and like the quiet as well. Kind of nice to not have noisy neighbors behind one!

Its not an issue in my town. I live between 2 cemeteries, but I should qualify this. Both are historic cemeteries created when the town was established. One cemetery is very small and two doors north of my house. The second one is one block south and is more prominent. It is attached to the town's historic St. Albans chapel. This chapel is patterned after the one in England that was in the home area of our town founder. I have been here for 40 yrs and there has been only one burial in the little cemetery north of me. These cemeteries seem not to have any effect on property values as they are fully accepted as being part of the original town.

Same as having a house anywhere else.

Wouldn't have an opportunity to have a bunch of noisy, problematic, bothersome neighbours.

(And not a long move when one's own termination date arrived).

ole joyfuelled (who's never owned a home)

I have to wait for a bus right outside a historic cemetery. I must admit at times especially at night it can be somewhat depressing.