I know people are into saving money these days but...I was reading an article in the New York Times about home funerals and burials to save money. What?!!
Imagine we are selling a house and the seller has to disclose not only that Fido planted in the backyard... Grandma and Grandpa are too!
Then what happens if they sell the property??
Do they dig them up and take them along after closing?
The article didn't address what would happen if they sold the property.
I see many sticky issues with this.
Some buyers might be creeped out by the fact that bodies are buried in the backyard. I've had some very superstitious clients.
It might have to be agreed upon in an addendum.
"Contingent upon the sellers removing all bodies buried out back, restore the ground to match the area surrounding and re-seed with KY Bluegrass please."
Maybe resale will be difficult. I'm not sure I would buy a property with bodies out back. It reminds me of the "Night of the Living Dead" movie. What if they get restless at night?
Then for the sellers, wouldn't that be tramatic to dig them up again?
Would you have a guilt complex if you left them?
Do you need visitation rights written in to the contract if they stay?
What if the property gets foreclosed?
Some states won't even allow for burial outside of a cemetary.
I have too many questions!
Like trying to bury Michael Jackson at Neverland was a no-no without special permission in California.
What do you think? Want to spend $6000 for a fancy funeral/cemetary or $250 for a pine box/backyard?
And I thought dealing with fleas in the home was a problem, lol, thanks for the chuckle!!!
Steve...fleas won't bug you at all compared to dead people in the yard! LOL
Well, here that is against the law:) Here you do not have to disclose even a murder in a home. I do not think I want to live where someone was murdered. I do live in a house where my dear past brokers husband died. That is a really wonderful story.
Sounds like something to add to the seller's disclosure. Boy, I'd be worried about a dog trying to dig it up. Definitely worth the money to do a proper burial. :)
Katerina - I agree about living in house that is stigmatized by murder. Too creepy for me!
Sonja - That would be awful! Bad dog!
Lizette,
If this is a trend or soon to be trend it could be very interesting in future home sales.
Please don't let the resting place of the dead become a real estate issue too. I can already see another disclosure form on the horizon...
Strange, that would open a whole bunch of new disclosures wouldn't it.
Lizette, REOs and Short Sales are sold AS-IS and do not require disclosures, so how is any buyer to know what is buried on the property they plan to purchase? Or if there is a horse that died of colic buried on the grounds?! If the previous owners do not want to admit to their property being used as a burial ground...they do not have to...scary indeed! Thank you for the post!
Cindy - That's kind of like that catchy song, "Grandma Got Run Over BY A Reindeer"
Don - I think it might be. I've not heard of doing it around here in KY.
Norma - You know that it's on it's way. Then maybe it's effect on the environment. LOL
Christine & Jennifer - I believe that will be next.
Wanda - You are right! I wrote an earlier post on foreclosure properties that may have had meth labs in them. The danger of having no disclosure. Scary!
Lizette- I think that having dead people in your backyard would defiantly be creepy.
Lizette - You bring up very good points if this were to happen. I can't see it happening, but you never now. Very creepy....
Robert - It's not something I would want either.
Michelle - You never know when we might have to deal with something like this.
Oh my word... (ROTFLMAO!!!) The things I could say but wont (LOL). ;-)
Featured @ Club Chaos
In Pa many old farms and homesteads have family burial plots. Usually they are fenced around in some manner. At least they are quiet neighbors.
That does creep me out. There are many unanswered questions. Would you want to leave your relatives buried in a backyard that now belongs to other people? That's just weird.
Getting past the oddity and transactional implications, I have questions about the logistics.
So many more things come to mind. But at the end, why not just cremate the body if you want to save money?
Carolyn - I can think of a few also! Thanks for the CC feature!
Bonnie - It has been that way around Kentucky too. Only a few on old farms.
Stacey - I would think that odd since some people like to decorate graves of relatives.
Erik - See...I just knew you could come up with more questions that we need answers to. All those you have may be in our future.
What are Grandma and Grampa doing "planted" in the backyard, anyway? I think dead people should go to an approved cemetery location or their ashes scattered. I don't want to have to complete "Burial Disclosures" in the future.
Tom - It sounds crazy to me too, but I bet we will be dealing with this in the future.
Lizette - I don't think this sounds like a good idea at all, no matter how much money this may save people. Hopefully this does not become a reality.
Troy - I hope not but after I read this I believe more people will be doing it to save money.