Strange Bedfellows: Realtors Stalk Psychopaths

                                   1333 Page Blvd. Springfield (source: MassLive)

Opportunity Knocks !!! proclaims Springfield, Massachusetts-based Sears Real Estate. Cozy and Roomy Two Bedroom Bungalow is Ready for its New Owner(s)... Spacious finished area of basement for wintertime play or hobby activity.

While the price ($137,500) of that recent listing might be right, do consider that as recently as spring of last year, the basement housed  the decomposing  body of a woman allegedly murdered by the former owner’s son.  (That family scion, Stewart Weldon, 40, awaits trial next year.)

And there is more. According to the Springfield Republican’s website MassLive, the case against Weldon kicked off when the homeowner—Weldon’s mother—reported  “a rancid smell and unusual amount of flies,” to 911.  The remains of two other women turned up in and around the home.

Nice enclosed porch for morning coffee and covered patio for outside summer living. Spacious finished area of basement for wintertime play or hobby activity. Rough Plumbing in Basement for Additional Bath.

Economists (and others), please weigh in!

Is it irrational to resist the house’s bargain-basement sticker price? After all, the house was no doubt meticulously scoured within an inch of its life. Of course, if you believe in the lingering miasma of bad vibes, meticulous physical cleanup may prove insufficient. But why would a truly rational human being embrace that irrational stuff? More to the point—as a rational economist would you buy a (more upscale) house recently graced by a body in the basement and two in the yard?