Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: What value is notoriety in a Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 11:28:29 EST Message-ID: \SE E;LIFE \SS (WS) \HD What value is notoriety in a house? \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT LOS ANGELES LOS ANGELES - A year or so after actress Lana Turner's teen-age daughter stabbed her mother's boyfriend to death in 1958, the house came up for lease. The new tenants raved about the place - until they found out about its past: Mobster Johnny Stompanato had been slain in a bedroom of the Beverly Hills mansion in what was ruled justifiable homicide. "She called me up crying and said, 'You may think it's childish, but I'm very superstitious and you have to get me out of [the lease],' " recalls real estate agent Mike Silverman, who helped the woman out of the contract. Potential buyers or renters often have a strong reaction - both negative and positive - when they learn about a home's lurid past. But the effect on the value of a house is harder to gauge. After Rock Hudson died of AIDS at his Hollywood Hills estate in 1986, the home went on the market for $7.5 million. Director John Landis eventually bought it for $2.95 million. But many observers said the estate was grossly overpriced to begin with. Mr. Silverman says brokers often get a number of low-ball offers after a well-publicized death from buyers hoping to pick up a deal. However, the owner of a Coldwater Canyon home where real estate broker Elaine Siegel was murdered last summer during an open house is considering raising the price because of the slaying. "He [the owner] thinks it's a famous house," says real estate agent Elaine Young, who was a friend and partner of the broker's. However, she says no one has made an offer on the $795,000 home during the six months it has been on the market. Ms. Young says she feels a moral obligation to tell any buyer about the history of the house. Legally, California sellers and agents are well advised to inform potential buyers of a death in the home if it has occurred within the past three years, experts say. "The buyer can sue the seller or agent for nondisclosure if he can prove that they knew," says Steven Sokol, an attorney for the California Association of Realtors. "But the buyer would still have to prove . . . that it would affect the decision of a reasonable buyer to buy." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM