From the time a lender places an order to the time right before you start researching the property 9 times out of 10 nobody will realize the history behind the home. This means you may have just accepted the appraisal for a home that is considered a stigmatized property. These homes come in a wide variety, some being as simple as the environment to more sinister things like crime and murder. 

While these definitions may differ from state to state or city to city here is a list of ways stigmatized properties can be defined:

• Environmental: A property or properties that may already be contaminated or could potentially become contaminated due to close proximity to private or public facilities that house hazardous materials

• Debt: More than likely debt collectors will not know the person that is in debt has moved which means the new owners could be harassed. 

• Phenomena: Ghost sightings or hauntings have been seen there

• Public: The home is well known, a good example of this is the Amityville Horror property or the home where the Savopoulos murders took place. 

• Murder/Suicide: One or the other took place on the property. The law on disclosing this information will vary from state to state.

• Criminal: Illegal activity such as drug dealing took place there. The worry is that people who once visited the property for drugs or other illegal things will come back thinking the old home owner is still there. 

There is no tried and true way to account for all of these things and the amount of information that can be given, will again, vary state by state. These appraisals can easily take longer than expected due to the unusual circumstances.