While buying a haunted house may be a dream for some paranormal enthusiasts with the means and the mettle, actually acquiring a genuine ghostly site is not as easy as it may seem.
Ghost hunter and paranormal adventurer Dana Matthews has put together a handy guide for would-be buyers to ensure that their future abode is a real haunted house.
As one might expect, the initial steps involve quite a bit of background research, not only of the alleged haunting but also the people who have put it up for sale and the general location of the home.
This, she says, can help separate fact from fiction and establish what is urban legend about the home versus what can be documented about its past.
Once those details have been learned, Matthews advises buyers to have the home investigated by paranormal researchers in order to delineate between what could be ghosts and what may be a faulty water heater.
Perhaps the most enlightening advice imparted by Matthews concerns some serious introspection, since once you've made the leap and bought a haunted house, you are pretty much stuck with it.
We suspect that this may be the step where many fanciful dreams of presiding over one's own haunted house begin to crumble.
And, of course, future haunted house owners are urged to have an emergency place to live in case your new ghostly housemates aren't thrilled with your choice of décor or avid Real Housewives fandom.
For additional steps and more insights into what it takes to actually buy your very own haunted house, check out Matthews' complete guide over at Week in Weird.
Coast Insiders can also check out Dana Matthews' previous appearance on Coast to Coast from 9/13/2015, where she and her husband Greg Newkirk discussed various haunted locations around America
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