The Ghost in the Old Colonial farmhouse

I remember one of my very first open houses was in on old colonial home from the 1700s in Holyoke MA.

Things were going well; people were walking through the house and enjoying the grounds when a woman approached me and said, “There’s an old man in the rocking chair—do you see him?”

I did not, so I politely answered that I did not but I fully entertained the possibility that a ghost might be sitting there.

“I don’t have the gift,” I said.

She replied: “I think his name is Charlie.”

There was a Charles that had owned the house and died in it.

I told the woman that in Europe some people believe that a spirit might be connected to an object, not necessarily to the house, and that I would be glad to move the chair out to see if Charles would leave. She agreed it was worth a try. I moved the chair outside and came back in. She nodded: “He is still there!”

After the open house I closed down and said goodbye to Charles.

When it comes to the supernatural, I want to believe, and I have always loved a good ghost story.

At the company meeting the next day a few senior colleagues told me that there are people who check the deeds for names and then go around pulling pranks on agents. We will never know whether the woman who saw Charles was genuine or not.

If you are concerned about presences in a house that you may potentially buy, know that real estate law in Massachusetts says that an agent doesn’t have to disclose if a house is haunted unless they are asked directly. So don’t be afraid to be judged, and ask! The answer you get might be inconclusive. One time a seller agent simply replied to one of my clients by stating that there was a couple living in the house; the husband believed that there was a ghost, but the wife did not.

It is interesting that there are clients who would prefer to find a home with a spirit. I can’t say that I would, but after all, can you really imagine a respectable Victorian mansion without one?