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Encountering haunted homes while working as a real estate broker is what inspired me to write The Beijing Ghosts, my third book for The Beijing Family book series. I’m not a paranormal expert. However, in my real estate career, I’ve encountered two types of hauntings – one is the classic paranormal kind such as strange and unexplained sightings, hearing sounds like voices and footsteps, feeling cold spots and picking up strange “vibes”. Then there is the alarming poltergeist variety where objects are moving and sometimes quite aggressively and violently in a room. Some paranormal experts and critics don't believe in poltergeists and harshly debate its existence. I simply use the term categorically to reference hauntings involving moving objects. Both cases are not only frightening but potentially hazardous and can sometimes be legally problematic as realtors.
In the state of California where I’m licensed, realtors are
legally obligated to disclose deaths that occur inside the home up to three
years of the date you make the offer to purchase or rent a property under California
Civil Code Section 1710.2. If someone
dies on the property, it's a material defect and can reduce the value of the
home and it must be disclosed if it occurred within three years. Technically, if the property was the location
of a mass murder in 1975, the seller, lessor, agent or broker does not legally
have to volunteer the information. So the older the homes, the greater
likelihood of unsettled spirits that remain unknown. According to the National Association of
Realtors, every real estate practitioner has had at least one paranormal encounter in their career. In personal
conversations with fellow colleagues, they've shared with me ghost stories ranging from the bizarre to downright frightening. I've even heard strange unexplained events witnessed from contractors, developers and construction crews. I’ve definitely had my
share and it usually involves old homes and buildings. Here are my real life experiences:
1. HAUNTED STAIRWELL
My scariest experience as a realtor happened when I was hosting an open house in an old two-story estate in Hollywood Hills with a fellow realtor. Around 4 pm, we closed down. My colleague and I walked through the entire estate to make sure there were no straggling visitors. The house was quiet and secured so we locked the doors. I then proceeded to the kitchen and began cleaning. Suddenly, I heard slow heavy footsteps up and down the wooden stairwell. Thinking it was my colleague, I thought maybe she was sweeping the stairwell and didn't think anything of it. Yet I had a tinge of doubt since she's thin and of medium height. The footsteps resembled the stride of a more tall and heavier set man. I ignored it and continued tidying up the kitchen.
After I was done cleaning, I walked towards the front of the house while
the footsteps ascended up the stairs behind me.
I thought it was my colleague walking up the stairwell to check on the
second floor. So I continued walking
towards the front of the house and happened to peer out the window and I was
surprised to see my colleague standing outside rearranging her car. She emptied out her entire trunk and car and
was vacuuming where she had been all along. From
what I gather, there was no way she could have been walking up and down the stairs
all that time. So who was walking
up and down the stairwell? Suddenly, a chill
overcame me and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I couldn't believe it! While I was cleaning the kitchen, someone or some thing other than my colleague was walking and up and down the stairs! Unbelievable! I slowly turned to look and there was no one! If I was clairvoyant or had super psychic abilities, I might have been able to see who was haunting the stairwell.
2. OLD WOMAN
I was co-hosting an open house in
a mansion that was built during the early 1900’s in a nice affluent
neighborhood with old money. Another
realtor and I arrived an hour early to set up the home for open house. We walked around the empty mansion and began
turning on lights, opening the windows and preparing the place to welcome
visitors. Since I was on the first
floor, I passed by a door and opened it.
It was dark and I saw stairs leading down towards a dimly lit room. Suddenly, I felt a cold draft that whisked
right by me and I got this very strange and fearful notion that stopped me dead
cold in my feet. My instincts told me
not to go downstairs so I quickly closed the door and walked away.
If I give you a dollar, would you go down there?
A few hours later during the open
house, one of our fellow realtor friends came by to take a look at the
house. She decided to look around the
house by herself and leave us to the many potential buyers walking around the
mansion. No more than 20 minutes later,
she came running down the stairwell with a shocked look on her face and ran out
the front door without closing it behind her.
She got in her car quickly and drove off like a speed racer without
saying goodbye to us. It was peculiarly
strange. I looked at my colleague and
joked, “Gosh, you think she saw a ghost or something” and we laughed and
continued on with our work. Unbeknownst
to us, that’s exactly what happened! On
Monday afternoon, she contacted me to inform me that she had gone upstairs to
peruse the bedrooms and saw an image of an old woman with white hair and long
earrings. However, she was completely
see through like smoke. This insanely
scary apparition approached her and told her to leave in a mean and scathing
way.
Our realtor friend didn't want to divulge of this secret while we were hosting the open house that weekend to
distract us. We later learned that the
home was originally designed and owned by a wealthy old woman during the early
1900’s who had died in that home. Since
her death, the home had underwent a succession of realtors to sell that home
and each attempt had been unsuccessful.
Strangely, that home garnered plenty of visitors and potential buyers
during our listing but it never sold and remains empty to this day.
3. WINDOW POLTERGEIST
Pine Avenue, downtown Long Beach, circa 1928
I once met an owner of an old
commercial building on Pine Ave. in downtown Long Beach, California that has
since been renovated for office spaces on the upper levels and retail stores
and restaurants on the bottom two floors.
The old buildings along Pine Avenue were originally built in the early
1900’s and have undergone much gentrification in reshaping the neighborhood
into an entertainment spot for popular bars and restaurants.
Pine Avenue today, downtown Long Beach, CA
We went to an empty banquet room
on the second floor to discuss selling the building. When I walked in, I noticed the room had at
least 15 feet high ceilings with small rectangular shaped windows in hopper
style lining the top to let in the cool ocean breeze. Since there was no one using the room, all
the hopper windows were closed and can only be opened by twisting and opening a
latch.
Hopper style windows
Five minutes after we sat down
and began discussing the process to sell the owner’s commercial building, one
of the windows above us twisted itself open very abruptly and opened and
slammed itself shut about four to five times violently. As I looked up, it looked like an invisible
force was opening and closing the window angrily. The motion caused loud slamming sounds and it
startled the both of us. We both stared
at the window in silence and bewilderment.
There was no strong wind that would cause the windows to suddenly open
and close by itself. It felt surreal and
I thought I was watching a movie. It was
bizarre and we sat in shock and silence for a few seconds. Stunned, the owner said, “And this building
comes with a ghost" and chuckled to ease the tension. I asked him, “Is your building haunted?” to
which he didn’t reply. I suddenly got
this ill feeling that the ghost didn't want me there. I’ve heard of ghosts scaring realtors to
prevent a change in ownership and this one was falling into that category of
the poltergeist kind. If it can open and
close windows on its own with that much force, I wondered what else it can do
to me or moving objects. I feared for my
own physical safety. It appears that
this ghost became attached to this old building and was not letting go of it to
maintain its keepsake. As frightening as
incidents like these can be, it’s better that I become aware of dangerous and
sometimes pesky spirits upfront rather than after the listing agreement is
signed when it requires legal maneuvering to get out of selling the
property. I never went back after that
afternoon since I didn't know how far that ghost would have gone to make sure
there are no new owners.
Speaking of haunted bars and restaurants, I once visited the notoriously famous Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop and Bar in New Orleans. It is reportedly one of the most haunted bars in America.
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop and Bar built during the late 1700's
According to legend, buccaneer pirate Jean Lafitte used the bar to run his shady business. Some say there is buried treasured in the ancient bricks.
4. CASINO SALOON
A broker in Nevada once contacted me regarding an old casino saloon built in the late 1800's he had listed for sale. It was about 100+ miles north of Las Vegas. The old casino saloon had a long history of seedy gamblers, outlaws and people of ill repute who didn't want the watchful eye of the Las Vegas Strip. Eventually, it was finally cleaned up by the Nevada gaming regulation years later. I asked him to send me some photos and it appears that the casino saloon had retained most of its original design on the exterior and renovated most of the interior. However, in practically every room, there were orbs floating everywhere. Some paranormal experts suggest that the orbs are spirits. Maybe they were people who died unwillingly.
Orbs over a cemetery in Indiana
Since these occurrences, I’ve read some interesting books about why
ghosts haunt homes out of curiosity.
I’ve since learned that many ghosts haunt due to unfinished
business. Sometimes their lives ended abruptly and they feel that their lives were cut short. Or maybe it was a dream or a passion never pursued, message never relayed when they were alive or fear of letting go of loved ones. In turn, they become attached to a place, home and maybe even a person or object well after their earthly existence has perished. So
I’ve learned from my encounters to live life fully and never put off tomorrow
what you can do today. Everyone is given 24 hours in a day and how you spend it is entirely up to you. Time spent on earth can never be replenished so embrace it!
-Written by Gina Tang, author of The Beijing Family book series, www.thebeijingfamily.blogspot.com
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