Imagine finding your dream retirement home. Beautiful garden, gorgeous kitchen, lovely neighbours and just the right price.
Then you notice the street number… 666.
Would you laugh it off, or suddenly find yourself wondering what else the agent hasn’t told you? And what if the house had an even darker secret? A murder, a notorious former occupant, a bitter divorce or perhaps something that supposedly goes bump in the night?
According to Stewart Bunn, from First National Real Estate, a property’s history can be just as important to some buyers as its bricks and mortar.
And with Halloween approaching, he has shared some tales about the things that can haunt a house sale.
One of Australia’s most notorious property disclosure cases involved a house in North Ryde, Sydney, where Sef Gonzales murdered his parents and sister in 2001.
Three years later, a family agreed to purchase the property for $800,000, unaware of its gruesome history.
When they discovered what had happened, they refused to proceed. The dispute eventually resulted in the buyers being released from the contract, with the real estate agency arranging an $80,000 payment equivalent to their deposit.
The case became a landmark example of why a property’s history can matter enormously to prospective purchasers.
Bunn says two otherwise identical homes can attract very different reactions once buyers discover what happened inside one of them.
In New South Wales, agents are now expressly required to disclose if a property was the scene of a murder or manslaughter within the previous five years. Other states have different requirements, with broader rules around material facts and misleading conduct.
Of course, not every unsettling property story involves a crime. Bunn recalls hearing about a Victorian renter who became convinced she was sharing her home with a ghost cat.
Despite owning no feline companion, the woman reportedly noticed what appeared to be paw prints and mysterious indentations on her couch.
Occasionally, she believed she could even see a cat sitting in the front window. The experience apparently became so frightening that she eventually gave notice and moved out.
Then there’s the tale of a vacant Melbourne mansion.
According to Bunn, an agent conducting a routine property check arrived to discover the previously empty house had somehow been repaired and furnished with antique furniture and family photographs.
Upstairs, a man wearing a robe and slippers appeared, claiming he had permission to be there from a mysterious gentleman in a suit.
Who the mysterious man was, and how he’d come to be living in the supposedly vacant mansion, remained a mystery.
And in Western Australia, an agent conducting an open inspection at a deceased estate reportedly saw the vivid image of an elderly woman directly in front of her face. Terrified, she fled outside, and months after the property sold the new owner reportedly made a passing reference to “the old lady”.
Whether coincidence, imagination or something more mysterious, these are stories agents have recounted to Bunn, rather than verified supernatural events.
Surprisingly, the question has even reached the courts.
In a famous 1991 American case, sometimes called the Ghostbusters ruling, a buyer sought to escape a property contract after discovering the house had a widely publicised reputation for being haunted.
A New York appeals court allowed the buyer to pursue cancellation of the contract, recognising the potential effect of the property’s reputation.
That doesn’t mean ghosts were proven to exist, nor does the ruling apply in Australia, but it illustrates how even an alleged haunting can become a very real property problem.
Not all troublesome property histories are supernatural.
Bunn recalls selling a house where the owners had endured an especially bitter divorce, with neighbours witnessing unpleasant incidents. He chose to tell prospective buyers about the history.
Other properties can come with equally unwelcome baggage.
A house formerly used to manufacture illegal drugs could raise serious health and safety concerns, while a property previously operating as a brothel might attract unwanted visitors long after the business has closed.
Bunn remembers hearing about a buyer who discovered the latter problem when people continued turning up at the front door, and sometimes the trouble isn’t inside the house at all.
He recalls a Western Australian dispute involving a townhouse buyer who discovered that a neighbouring resident had a history of abusive behaviour, documented in strata meeting minutes. According to Bunn, the buyer challenged the purchase, with the dispute becoming a lengthy legal process.
It’s a reminder that when buying an apartment or townhouse, the strata records may reveal more than the freshly painted walls.
For some buyers, even a street number can be enough to raise an eyebrow, take number 666, for example. Perfectly harmless to many people, but hardly everyone’s idea of a comforting address for their forever home.
Bunn says cultural traditions and feng shui can also influence property decisions.
In some buildings, the number four is avoided because of its association with death in certain Chinese languages. And a front door directly opposite a back door may be considered undesirable under some feng shui traditions, symbolising wealth flowing straight through the home and out again.
While such beliefs aren’t shared by everyone, they demonstrate how personal and emotional a property purchase can be.
Then there are the secrets hidden beneath floors, behind walls and inside dusty attics.
In one extraordinary Perth cold case, the remains of Cariad Anderson-Slater, who disappeared in 1992, were discovered nearly 19 years later during deep excavation at a demolition site in the suburb of Woodlands.
The discovery in February 2011 reopened the investigation into her disappearance and led police to charge an 81-year-old former teacher who had previously lived at the property.
Imagine the shock of discovering that a seemingly ordinary suburban block had concealed such a terrible secret for almost two decades.
Thankfully, not every unexpected discovery is quite so grim.
Bunn also knows of an agent who uncovered wartime relics during renovations, with the former owner’s family eventually coming forward after the discovery appeared on Facebook.
Bunn himself once found old tax records in the attic of a house he’d purchased. Not long afterwards, the former owner contacted him to ask whether he’d discovered them.
Some houses, it seems, have a remarkable habit of holding onto their secrets.
Australian property disclosure laws vary between states and territories. In Victoria, sellers and agents must not knowingly conceal material facts that could influence a purchaser’s decision. Western Australian rules also require agents to disclose relevant material information, which can include serious crimes associated with a property.
Queensland introduced a mandatory seller disclosure scheme in 2025, although deaths and criminal histories are not automatically included among its prescribed disclosures.
Across Australia, consumer laws also prohibit misleading or deceptive conduct.
Importantly, an ordinary death in a home does not automatically trigger the same disclosure requirements as a murder, and an unverified ghost story is not necessarily a material fact. If buyers discover significant undisclosed information after signing a contract, their legal options depend on the circumstances and the applicable state laws.
Bunn believes transparency is the best protection for everyone involved.
“Honesty is the best course,” he says. “Concealing something can create a legal nightmare, damage reputations and cause distress for both buyers and sellers.”
For older Australians downsizing, relocating or purchasing what they hope will be their final home, Bunn recommends asking the selling agent one straightforward question:
“Is there anything I ought to know about this property that could affect my decision?”
He also suggests asking about the neighbours, the street, the property’s history and anything unusual that might not be obvious during an inspection.
Getting important answers in writing, checking relevant strata records and obtaining independent legal advice can provide additional protection.
Buying a home should be the beginning of a wonderful new chapter, not the start of a horror story. And if your perfect property happens to be number 666? Well, perhaps just ask a few extra questions before signing on the dotted line.
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