A Friendly Ghost Is My Kind Of Ghost

I love Halloween! I enjoy dressing up, going to school and embarrassing my kids… It’s the best. I usually spend weeks or months thinking about what I’m going to be and creating a costume that will get a surprise response from my kids. A few years ago, my friends and I dressed up as old ladies. It was awesome! I had a different costume in mind when I went thrift shopping for the attire, but as I was rummaging, I got excitedly, inspired by a pair of lavender elastic pants and a silky, flowery print button up blouse and I thought of my grandma and it was on! I bought the clothes and the next day headed to grandma’s house to complete my outfit. My kiddos didn’t know what they were in for!

Grandma had all the accessories! She had a gray short haired wig, some reading glasses, a scarf to wrap around my head. She handed me a cane she had laying around and a little red purse for an added touch. The lavender pants were a bit over-sized so I shoved a pillow in my back end. It was my best costume to date! My grandparents loved it (it was a great memory of my grandpa. He laughed so hard), the teachers and the kids got a kick out of it (except for my oldest daughter). I waited at the office for when they all came parading through the high school and Megan, bright red from embarrassment, actually turned away and tried to hide when she saw me. Her classmates were waving and saying, “hi”. I had succeeded in my quest to bring the Halloween fun!

A couple years ago, I was invited into the second-grade class for a fun task of helping the students sell a haunted house. The project was interesting, and I had to do some research for it, since I myself have never sold a haunted house (that I know of). Those kids had some fantastic ideas for marketing… friendly ghosts! My kind of ghost.

Montana is home to some well-known haunted houses. The Brantley Mansion in Helena is said to be haunted by ghost Judge Brantley and he’s known for turning lights and tv’s on, and stealing candy. I bet he enjoys Halloween as well. Butte homes the Copper King Mansion and the spirits there are known to be cheery and will play jokes on the living. The Kleinschmidt House in Helena is another spooky home added to the list of paranormal sightings. According to ghost.hauntedhouses.com real estate agents felt compelled to tell prospective buyers about the entities which come with the property. Mary Kleinschmidt’s footsteps are heard throughout the house and her youngest son has been seen playing in the bedrooms.

States differ in what they require to be disclosed about a home when there is rumored “paranormal” activity. The majority of states do not require the disclosure of hauntings. They don’t have to disclose if there had been homicides, felonies or suicides in the home. That goes for natural deaths as well.

Material facts are to be disclosed about a property, which might influence a buyers’ decision to buy the house or how much they would pay. If there had been a fire or flood or pests… those kinds of things would need to be disclosed because they are material. Montana per code 37-51-102(b), Montana law does not consider the fact that a property was the site of a suicide or felony to be “material” and therefore does not require disclosure. It’s up to the buyer to do the research on the property if they’ve heard rumors. They will decide if they are comfortable with the property.

So... no, you do not have to disclose whether you believe your house is haunted or not.

Selling a haunted house could be interesting. There are many people into paranormal sightings and experiences. There’s a history to whatever people are seeing or experiencing. Challenge excepted.