One thing that first-time buyers must always put in mind before closing any deal is knowing the history and neighborhood of the property that they want to buy. One could never be sure if the roof that they are comfortably staying under may have been a scene of the slaying of a whole family or a site of satanic rituals. Always keep in mind that real estate listings don't reveal it all.
A perfect example of this is the state of Oregon. Oregon doesn't require the seller of the property to disclose any information that are deemed to be not material facts to a real property transaction.
According to Oregon Law, incidents that are not material facts to real property transactions include:
- The fact or suspicion that the real property or a neighboring property was the site of a death by violent crime, by suicide or by any other manner;
- The fact or suspicion that the real property or a neighboring property was the site of a crime, political activity, religious activity, or any other act or occurrence that does not adversely affect the physical condition of or title to real property;
- The fact or suspicion that an owner or occupant of the real property has or had the human immunodeficiency virus or has acquired an immune deficiency syndrome;
- The fact or suspicion that a sex offender resides in the area;
- And, the fact that a notice has been received that a neighboring property has been determined to be not fit for use.
Janet Eastman of Oregon Live has reported some examples of properties and neighborhoods that have horrible pasts but were not disclosed in the online listing.
One example given by Eastman is the three-bedroom house at 513 Nicholas Drive in Springfield, that was generically described as "near a Dutch Bros. coffee, Outback Steakhouse and a few parks."
The online listing doesn't include the fact that this house was the site where a 38-year-old son murdered his parents and stuffed them in a large chest-style freezer.
