Depending on the area of the country you are in will say if a realtor is expected to say anything about the property. In MA, I have found that asking "were there any psychologically impacting events that have occurred or related to this property or previous owners.." or something along this line. This appears to be a catch-all phrase. I have found that if you ask the realtor was there a death in the house they may say no if no-one actually died in the house even if a tragic event occurred and the victim died while leaving the home. Best of luck.

Thanks, Everyone. Very interesting. Ghosts, huh?
Don't know anything about Tupac, but discovered that the main suspect in a grisly murder here has the house up for sale. Only happened to put the pieces together when reading a magazine article about the crime and thinking about properties on the market we have had our eye on. Certainly expalins the reasonable sticker price. No doubt that the agent knows the history, but an out-of-towner may not know to ask. For me, it would not be the stigma of the tragedy but the person I would be conducting business with. Is an agent obliged to answer direct questions about the felony criminal history of a seller? Thanks all - this has been enlightening.

Amendment to Chapter 93A

On August 11, 1998, Chapter 294 of H 2099 was signed into law. This amendment states that "The fact or suspicion that real property may be or is psychologically impacted shall not be deemed to be a material fact required to be disclosed in a real estate transaction..."

Such facts would include:

-- That the property was the site of a murder or suicide;

-- That the property has been the site of a supernatural

phenomenon (such as ghosts).

Unfortunately realtors do not have to disclose deaths or supernatural incidents. That said, if you ask specifically and the agent has knowledge of something they must disclose it.

Without questioning, a listing broker is really only liable to disclose facts that have actually been made known to him or her. For instance, if the seller does not tell the listing agent certain facts that listing agent is not obligated to research and find out anything negative about the property.

How do you know about the murder scene?
anyways, if you know anything about Tupaks murder, write a book.

In California, a seller must disclose if a death occurred on the property within the past 3 years. The Seller does not have to disclose how the death occurred. This information is obtained from the Seller's agent who cannot know the accuarcy of the facts. Additionally, if the home is bank owned (a common situation) the owner (bank) does not have to disclose (they would have no idea, anyway).
Hope this helps.

No. "Stigma" items like you are talking about need not be disclosed unless you specifically ask the question. Murders suicides, ghosts and whatnot are not required disclosures.