exnzpat buys a rental!

[Bob Kane]

the dog has got rabies....and there's a maze in the back yard....
in the basement there's a coffin....and a humming noise coming from the furnace...
a clown just walked past the carport...

[drelly]

This is sounding like an "ancient lost maori canoe" story!

[exnzpat]

Day 3

I got a good night sleep last night – no noisy neighbors. Perhaps yesterday’s introduction to my neighbor Jim put him on notice.

See – no ghosts. Perhaps the scream I heard the night before was Matt Gilligan, seeing the Sponge Bay thread back up atop the pile – you never know.

Anyway…

I had a slight headache but that was probably due to the polyurethane coat I put on the Master bedroom floor last night -- dust and chemical -- a recipe for pain.

The Master Bedroom is complete except for the final coat of paint. Mrs. Exnzpat and the kids will be up on Saturday and will decide on the colors for the house interior. So, I’ll continue sleeping in the dining room for now.

Wallpaper is a curious substance. Why do people use it? Who was the first guy to say, “I think this red rum swizzle of a floral arrangement is going to look real good plastered onto all four walls of this room.” It’s sticky and is a difficult to remove once up. I wonder; do people have regrets after putting it up? Some people like wallpaper, others do not. I am definitely in the latter camp. So, because of the cost for the rental of the wall-paper remover (approx $30USD a day which if I remember correctly, in New Zealand, when I did a house down there was approx $30NZD per day) I decided to do nothing but strip wallpaper -- until it’s all off.

At 9am the Furnace and Air-conditioning man showed up! Thank goodness. He seemed a little skittish but apparently ten years ago he had actually installed the unit himself. I followed him down into the basement where the furnace and water heater is. He went to work removing panels and cleaning. He was not very talkative but I offered him some coffee and he seemed grateful for the offer so I turned to go back upstairs to the kitchen and he said something very strange. “You’re not going to leave me are you?”

“I’m just going to make the coffee.” He seemed to ponder this and then said “I had hoped you would wait until I was done down here – I’ll only be a few minutes.”

OK…

He took about twenty minutes. Finally, after looking over the gas hot water heater, which he said would need to be replaced in less than two years; we went upstairs into the kitchen. While I made the coffee he went out the backdoor and began the inspection of the air-conditioning unit. I took his coffee out to him. In the light of the day he became quite chatty.

“Sorry, I acted a little weird down in the basement just now. But, I had a bad experience at this house when I originally installed the unit ten or so years back.” He paused. “You know about the murders, right?”

“Murders?”

“You’re kidding? You bought this place and don’t know about the murders?” He said it a little too incredulously.

“About thirty years ago. A few years after this place, and this whole neighborhood was built, the guy who owned this place went crazy and took an axe and killed his wife and kid here. Everyone knows about it.”

Apparently, everyone but me.

“Is that’s why you couldn’t get anyone over here for the last few days?” I asked.

“Yeah, this place creeps most people out – none of my guys wanted to come here. Man, I bet you got a good price on this place.”

He went on. “Yeah, the last time I was here I had to go up into the attic to work on some ducting up there and I swear to God that as I was climbing down from the ceiling access I felt something grab my ankle and a voice yelled “Oh, no you don’t!” at me. There was no one there, of course. It scared the crap out of me and I’ve never been back…well, until now.” He said this last part reflectively looking up at the back-side of the house.

He finished his coffee and handed me his cup. “Thanks for the coffee I’ll send you the bill.” He made his way out to the street through the side yard. I sat down on the deck and rubbed Lincoln’s ears and thought about what he said. All of a sudden the house took on a different look, a bias if you like. Isn’t that an odd thing – how a house can almost have a personality. Damn!

I spent the rest of the day stripping wallpaper. I finished late. I’m too tired to worry about superstitious Furnace and Air-conditioning men and disembodied voices!

Well, what do you think? What advice can one give to someone who may have just purchased a blighted house? I did not say haunted. That was BlueKiwi. I don’t believe in all that nonsense. But, I do believe in “history” and the way people “talk.” A house is merely a house – sticks and stones; where are the bones? It’s people who put the bones in them. A story of a haunting has the very practical nature of lowering the equity and value of my house (investment). This is about money -- not the gabbing of silly Furnace and Air Conditioning Men.

[Austrokiwi]

NOw I am finding this one a bit hard to believe................but assuming its all true................... I used to be cynical about things like Tapu lifting and exorcisms.............. Leaving the supernatural behind and just looking at peoples behaviour places where bad things have happened give people the creeps.............. It s just their perception........... If you were in NZ I would suggest you go to the local Maori and ask to have a Tapu lifted Make it nice and public............. As your not in NZ then the next best thing is go to the local native american group tell them the problem and ask them to perform a ceremony.......... Invite the furnace guy realestate agent and neighbours especially the gossipy ones.

[eri]

strange that you are so reluctant to take any pictures, normally renovators are keen to record their before and after efforts

[Davo36]

Ok, nice story expat.

[rueben]

I think NZexpat hasn't bought a house at all and is just pulling our leg, BUT I will say I'm probably going to get laughed at BUT I totally believe there are energies in a house that can effect people. Some people are just more sensitive to feeling this stuff than others. When you have experienced things like this since you were a child you would know what I mean.

It doesn't matter whether you believe in ghosts or not, a lot of other people do and this will affect resale/renting it out.

about 10 years ago when I moved to the area I am in now I was looking through an old villa with my partner. I went into a side room off the kitchen and felt really cold. I just blurted out - there's something going on in this house- and the feeling was even stronger upstairs. The Real Estate agent thought I was nuts but the locals confirmed my thoughts. The house was known locally as "the haunted house". This is just a minor experience from a big list throughout my life.

OK - laugh away people - :-) I don't mind telling people that I'm female (clarifying from earlier on in the thread) and that I hear and see "spooky stuff" - and invest in property

[CJ]

NOw I am finding this one a bit hard to believe......

It took you this long. Still, I am waiting on further updates as I am between (fiction) books at the moment, though I am not normally into supernatural.

[Austrokiwi]

It took you this long. Still, I am waiting on further updates as I am between (fiction) books at the moment, though I am not normally into supernatural.

Whaddaya mean took me a little long\? first time I read this thread was today . Its great entertainment. I hope NZxpat adds to the story

[tpr2]

Happy for a small fee to come over and "stamp the house", that's our maori way of getting those ghosties out.

[calmone]

It does happen, we have just released some spirits from a house and allowed them to pass in peace. The temperature in the room they were settled in has risen about 4 degrees since the passing.

If you do feel things, let it happen it is a gift you have been given.

[whitt]

CAn you give us an adress of the Property so we can google map it and check it out? I guess you wont mind since you wont be taking photos inside of it.

[Bluekiwi]

Okay thanks for the ride Expat, just keep using us for your mews, should be a good book when it comes out.

Now what about the toxic nuclear waste dump idea, maybe number 5 is still alive and making terminators under your back yard ?

[Davo36]

To all those who believe in haunted houses, I am an accredited spirit mover.

Fo the small sum of $2000 per house, I can rid you of your problem.

You'll be so much warmer and cosier. And people will want to pay more for it. It'll easily cover the cost.

DGB

[Austrokiwi]

To all those who believe in haunted houses, I am an accredited spirit mover.

Fo the small sum of $2000 per house, I can rid you of your problem.

You'll be so much warmer and cosier. And people will want to pay more for it. It'll easily cover the cost.

DGB

Have you considered running training seminars and setting up a franchise? "Spirit mastery" perchance?