Rent.com conducted a survey that found more than 2/3 of renters ain’t afraid of no ghosts, and would live with them as long as they got a hefty discount on rent.
From rent.com’s press release:
While the survey found 11 percent of renters believe they have lived in a home inhabited by ghosts, others would be willing to do so in order to save money. In fact, 69 percent of renters would be willing to crash with Casper for the right price. More than half (51 percent) of renters would share their home with a ghost in exchange for free rent, and over one quarter (27 percent) would do it for half-price.
Three in 10 people who have rented (30 percent) said they’d bunk with the boogeyman if they received free utilities, while nearly one in four (23 percent) would do it in exchange for a free flat-screen TV with cable.
Overall, 31 percent of renters said no deal. Nothing, “not even a million bucks,” would convince them to conquer their phasmophobia (fear of ghosts). However, a greater percentage of males than females are willing to live with ghosts for any given tradeoff (74 percent vs. 64 percent).
This data just goes to prove how much more daring women are than men. Judging from the Twilight phenomenon, a significant portion of women not only don’t fear vampires, they lust after them, so long as they’re metrosexual and sparkly.
So, Consumerists, let’s have it out — would you live with a ghost? Have you?
(Photo: MReder Design)
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Ghosts maybe, but I draw the line at bleeding walls.
@halcyondays: If you got no bleedin’ walls, what’s holding up the bleedin’ roof?
@floraposte: I lol’d, that’s a great zinger.
@floraposte: awesome
“bleeding walls” usually are found in older homes and are more likely to indicate water damage/moisture in the walls that is interacting with horse hair that was used in the construction of the walls. It still is a freaky experience but alas, not due to ghosts.
@halcyondays: It’s not so bad if the walls only bleed a few days out of the month, however. Not great, mind you, but bearable.
@Trai_Dep: But I HATE not being able to use my walls for those few days.
@Ursus Maritimus: Hey, the door isn’t bleeding.
@Trai_Dep: I wouldn’t trust them! You can’t trust anything that bleeds monthly and doesn’t die.
That was a shameful of me.
@Trai_Dep: It’s OK, I hear that after they hit the half-century mark or so, the walls stop bleeding altogether.
The heating and cooling system goes all to hell at that point, though.
If it was a friendly ghost. Sure. I’d chill out with him and play video games. I’d also let him morph into a balloon and help me to troll the world. Oh, that has already been done. My bad.
@SpiderPaintingDollarz in a 3DLAV: @mazzic1083: The shitty version of 13 Ghosts was on last night, wasn’t it? The REAL classic is the 1960 version.
@SpiderPaintingDollarz in a 3DLAV: /likes
Isn’t this how a lot of horror movies start out? “You must stay in your great-uncle’s mansion for one night in order to claim your inheritance! Includes heat, water, sewer and trash.”
@squinko: Hmm, Thirteen Ghosts and House on Haunted Hill come to mind. Mostly because Thirteen Ghosts was on AMC last night. I’m not an afficionado but I love this time of year!
@squinko: More places are haunted than most people are aware of (or would believe). The thing is, it takes a real superstar class ghost to register on most people’s awareness. Odds are, you’re being haunted right now, but it’s below the threshold for even your subconscious mind to take note.
“This data just goes to prove how much more more daring women are than men.”
“[A] greater percentage of males than females are willing to live with ghosts for any given tradeoff…”
… what?
@Aristeia: I’m stuck at this too…
@Aristeia: Was thinking the same thing!
@Aristeia: He must have meant that women wanting to pay higher prices every month at the expense of a little old ghost is a rebellious and dangerous route most men are not wont to take. I most certainly agree. I say bring on Billy Mays!
@Aristeia: Or women don’t need any payoff to live with ghosts?
As long as it wasn’t a Poltergeist, Amityville Horror or Entity type ghost, I’d be fine.
@HFC: Yeah, that’s my thinking as well, though aside from the rent reduction, I just think it would be an interesting experience. I don’t know if ghosts are real, and I’m definitely a skeptic, but I am also fully aware that there are things that we don’t know about and that we can’t explain everything that happens in this world.
@HFC: Yup. So long as it didn’t try to harm or kill me or my family, I’m good.
I used to live in a house with a ghost. He would break stuff occasionally (the inside pane of the sliding glass door once), but mostly he just changed channels on the tv when I was asleep. Not bad at all.
If I could get a ghost to help lower my mortgage, I think I would be willing.
Depends on the ghost. If what I am going to see is some dude who got brutally stabbed to death and he walks around with the blood still running down his shirt, I may not want to stay there.
However, if it was some sexy coed who died in a tragic slip while showering, and she still wanders the halls in her underwear, sign me up.
@theblackdog_HalloweenHaunting: Moaning Myrtle is still technically a minor, you perv!
@Liam Kinkaid: Except she didn’t die in a shower accident.
@theblackdog_HalloweenHaunting: Damn. Also you said “sexy”. I just grabbed on to the ghost, coed, and bathroom aspects.
@theblackdog_HalloweenHaunting: But getting her diaphragm to stay in is SUCH a hassle!
@theblackdog_HalloweenHaunting: Is it sad that that is exactly what I wanted to say? Yeah, she died in the toilet stall. And no one wants to live in a house with a basilisk.
@Liam Kinkaid: That’s why everyone calls her Moaning Myrtle.
@theblackdog_HalloweenHaunting: Why would she be wearing her undies in the shower?
@secret_curse: She was a cute and legal coed who was about to finish undressing to shower and slipped on the tile because she didn’t have a bathroom rug?
If the ghost didn’t bother my stuff and maybe did some light dusting, sure, why not?
One of my coworker’s friends is living with a ghost right now and they’re trying their damnedest to get OUT of the place. While I’m trying my hardest to get our ghost investigation group in there before they leave.
@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: I have always, always wanted to be part of a ghost investigation club.
@pecan 3.14159265: I haven’t done much with them, one of the organizers was ill for a while, but we went to a cemetery and took pictures. Haven’t done much else.
But this apartment supposedly the ghost has been removing posters from the walls and levitating things and now someone is being scratched.
@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: Make sure they have film cameras. Ghosts run their noses up at digital cameras (having ceded those models to Gremlins and Poltergeists).
@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: has being in this group convinced you there is something to the ghostly realm other than leaky windows and noisy water pipes?
Or are you of the Amazing Randi stripe- looking to disprove it?
@zandar: I’ve always been convinced there is a ghostly realm. We used to see our cats all the time in our old house, plus I’ve been privy to other events that convinced me there is something after this life.
@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: Intriguing, I’d like to hear more. Too bad this is Consumerist and not a supernatural phenomena site..
@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: Sounds like rats.. not ghosts.
@pecan 3.14159265: Sounds like the beginning to a Hardy Boys story.
@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: That’s a bad idea. Just leave it alone. If they know that you know they’re there and try to communicate with it, they will return the favor and the activity will ramp up.
I’d prefer a ghost to my current roommate. Unless his ghost girlfriend moves in with us for 2 months without paying rent.
If the landlord knows that you are willing to stay on a haunted property, he has less incentive to lower your rent.
So for heavens/hells sake, if the place is haunted, don’t let on you’re not afraid, otherwise the landlord will try to take advantage of you.
@Blueskylaw: …And for Gods’ sake, do slip your crucifix out of its usual orifice resting place. Do not greet them with, “Your mother sucks c*cks in HELL! Your mother sucks c*cks in HELL!”
@Trai_Dep: So you’re saying that that’s not an appropriate greeting?
Hmm. No wonder the ex’s parents hated me.
@Trai_Dep: Also be careful about screaming “Lick me!”
@Blueskylaw: Very sound advice Blueskylaw
Maybe it just goes to show that 69% of the people don’t believe in ghosts and are happy to get a discount because of other peoples paranoia?
@friendlynerd: Yeah, doesn’t sound like there was a choice of “there is no such thing as ghosts”
and what about…
“However, a greater percentage of males than females are willing to live with ghosts for any given tradeoff (74 percent vs. 64 percent).”
adds up to 138% WTF?
@stickystyle: 74% of males vs. 64% of females. Since the population is about 50-50, 37% of respondents were male and would live with ghosts and 32% of respondents were female and would live with ghosts. These percentages add up to 69%.
@friendlynerd: exactly what I was thinking
Wanted: Ghost to reduce my monthly rent.
Home includes creaky doors, walls and windows. Plentiful shadows and ugly wallpapered walls to creep about in, large attic spaces for lurking, hollow floorboards to hide heirlooms describing your horrific fate.
2 bedrooms, 2 baths.
Poltergeists welcome, but need to demonstrate ability to re-arrange furniture/DVDs/books with good ecto-plasmic mobility. Those who fall slightly short may compensate by demonstrating good cleanup and organizational skills.
Ghost dog and cat friendly, but living owners not responsible for ecto-plasmic poo or damage to the furniture.
All emotional baggage will be evaluated by living owners. Immediate disqualifications: Ghosts who met their fate after killing other people or pets.
@pecan 3.14159265: WIN!
@pecan 3.14159265: Comment of the day!
@pecan 3.14159265: True brilliance.
@pecan 3.14159265: Haha nicely done Pecan
@pecan 3.14159265: Wow thats awesome, if I was a ghost I’d be like sweet a new place to crash for the next century.
@pecan 3.14159265: Sweet! As perhaps the only ghost who posts on consumerist, where can I sign up?
One of the previous tenants in our old apartment was a symphony conductor who committed suicide. Friends asked if we thought he’d haunt the place. I said “What’s gonna happen? I’ll get up in the night and find him going though my CD collection saying ‘Sh*t’, ‘Sh*t’ ‘How can you listen to this cr*p?’”
@Julius Seizure – Canuck: Well, he could start conducting music. Or he could rifle through your iTunes account and buy a ton of Mozart and listen to that at 3 am.
@pecan 3.14159265:
egads, and I thought it was the cat buying Britney Spears tracks in the middle of the night.
@pecan 3.14159265: Well, unless his symphony ALSO committed suicide in the house, who would he be conducting?
Yes. I’d also be willing to live with Bunbury, Godot, and a six-foot-tall rabbit named Harvey.
@floraposte: Brilliant. Living with ghosts?
As Pecan Pi said – living with creaks and groans in a house, and perhaps an overactive imagination. And lower rent. Yes, I’d like lower rent, please.
You know, if it saves me money, they can claim to have a portal to a hellish, lovecraftian nightmare realm in the closet. I have no problem letting someone else’s delusions save me money.
@8one6: Ah but that’s where they get you. First you’re all “you’re full of crap” on them and then after a few weeks/months/years you start to believe them.
At least that’s how it works in scary movies
@8one6: I would not be okay with the portal. I’m really clumsy and forgetful. One minute I’d be all “Okay, self, don’t open that door” and the next, my spare shipping boxes have gone to another dimension because I forgot and tossed them in the closet.
@h3llc4t has a slow work day: That’s why I would just hang a sign: “Caution: Hell portal closet. Only store fruitcake” That and if it really did have a hell portal, I would save a ton on waste disposal.
@8one6: Please help keep Hell clean: Don’t dump unwanted garbage in portal closets.
@8one6: Ok, I’m sorry, Cthulhu is a dealbreaker on housemates.
I grew up in a haunted house/property. It’s not that bad. I wouldn’t mind unless the ghost kept me awake a lot, or hid stuff. Then I’d have a little talk with him/her/it.
Read this book by Richard Peck (children’s/young adult author): Ghosts I Have Been. The part about Minerva the ghostly servant is actually creepy, but kind of awesome too.
@HogwartsAlum: I would totally live with a ghost. Unless they refused to reload the toilet paper, then I’m not so sure.
@HogwartsAlum: Exactly. If it just float around a bit and walks through walls, I’m fine. I’d even tolerate a little re-arranging of things, especially if its Poltergeist-like.
@ArcanaJ: Or if they didn’t refill the ice tray, or if they have loud, drunk sex with their ghost boyfriend/girlfriend.
Already do – her name is Angela, but she’s pretty benign. House was built in the 1830s, but no break on rent though. I have come across a number of landlords that just want them gone, as they have gone through too many tenants where the spirits try and get them to leave. Just purged four of them with my group from a house on Saturday – sheets kept getting pulled down on the bed, touching on the shoulder, etc.
@ohmcno: Did you purge it by having Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd coerce the ghost into a trap?
@ohmcno: Uh huh, OK…
I can 100% guarantee you that if I were to spend a night in your ‘haunted’ house, the ghost would not make an appearance.
Well, as ghosts don’t exist, I’d gladly live with one to save money. Unicorns, the Loch Ness monster and Jesus would also be acceptable.
@Radi0logy: Jesus would be a great housemate. He’d help with the grocery bill by multiplying food and turning water into wine whenever you had a party.
@samurailynn: I dunno. Bread and fish get old after a while. He’d better be able to at least make tuna for some sushi from time to time. Water into wine, though, that’s the kicker for me.
@Radi0logy: Yeah, I read the article as 69% of people aren’t retarded and superstitious.
@AirIntake: Agreed.
And those roommates would make for one kick ass party
@mazzic1083: You’ve never had to clean up after a party with unicorns.
@samurailynn: Do tell. Trying to wash out happy-sprinkles and rainbow strands out from your carpet is the worst.
It. Takes. HOURS!
@samurailynn: You forget the shat rainbows. Rainbows are tricky, in that as you get near them, the base moves away from you.
@Radi0logy: Whenever I take a hot bath, Nessie appears, cresting the surface like a long, sinewy serpent. Does that count?
@Radi0logy: wait, what? I mean, even if you’re an atheist, Jesus of Nazareth was a well-documented historical figure. It’s like saying Julius Caesar doesn’t exist. he might not be doing the lambada on thursday nights, but i’m sure some of his remains are still occupying space somewhere.
@lpranal: “Jesus of Nazareth was a well-documented historical figure”
Well documented? How do you figure, exactly? The only records of his Christian incarnation come from three books of the bible that were originally written between 40 and 120 years after the supposed death of the supposed Jesus Christ. That is hardly compelling argument, and comparing it to someone like Julius Caesar, with dozens of accounts from his peers, money with his face on it, a well documented lineage, etc, is more than ridiculous.
I guess you could listen to the Koran, that describes him as a spell-caster and illusionist.. but that probably doesn’t jive with your image of him. Or go to the original source, ancient Egypt. Of course, he was called Horus back then, and looked a little different (that beak was wack!).
@Radi0logy: You have a new applicant for tenant:
How does “a greater percentage of males than females are willing to live with ghosts for any given tradeoff” manage to “prove how much more daring women are than men”? Assuming that living with ghosts is more daring than not living with them, it seems like men are more willing to do the daring thing.
Wow! I wish I would have thought to get a rent reduction for the ghosts!
Obviously everyone afraid of living with a ghost or two has never lived on the Hellmouth. If you survive that, you can live anywhere.
@pecan 3.14159265: A rather big if there.
That reminds me of this one time that my parents bought a house and it turns out there were two ghosts living up in the attic. The ghosts were kinda cool, but then my parents found out about them. Then the ghosts hired a real dick of a ghost who basically terrorized me and my family. I don’t really care much for my parents because they’re lameo spazoids, but turning the staircase banister into a giant python? Pardon me, but that’s just too much.
@Liam Kinkaid: My friends are having a similar experience (no pythons though). The ghost living in their apartment has escalated. They don’t know if its the same ghost or a different one, but it went from taking posters off the walls to scratching people. They’re trying to move ASAP.
@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: The commenter is talking about Beetlejuice.
@Anathema777: Oh fail. I haven’t seen the movie recently enough to get the reference.
@Liam Kinkaid: Wow, your comment read like stereo. I notice you don’t mention the calypso music….
I have never seen/heard/felt a ghost, though I have plenty of friends and family who have. So, I do believe in them. Would I live with one? Sure, as long as he/she didn’t rearrange my books, or harass the cat too much (it would be okay to harass him a bit, he needs the exercise).
@InsertPithyNicknameHere: Our cats used to come back to us occasionally. Unfortunately for me, my one dear kitty who recently passed has not shown herself.
Perhaps she did once just to let me know she was ok (I think I felt her once about a month after) but I haven’t seen her recently.
@Oranges w/ Cheese wants it to be winter already: She’s fine. She’s Home playing with my kitty and dog.
I would love to see them again. I’ll have to wait until I go Home.
Yes, because ghosts aren’t real.
I had a pretty sweet rental, a 2BR two story plus basement house for less than a studio apartment cost in that same area. The house had been abandoned for years after the former owner died in the living room, and there was still blood on the carpet when I took my first walk around. There were a few times where I woke up to the sound of power tools being used in the basement, which stopped when I touched the basement door (the basement had no exit, nor any power tools anymore.)
It was totally worth the every penny.
After about a year, I got a roommate, and from there on we just assumed any random weird noises or misplaced items were the other person’s fault and not ghostly in nature. la la la la la
I would live in any “haunted house” so long as my contract forced the Ghost Hunter guys from TV to come to the house every week…so I can punch them in the face for being asshats.
@YouDidWhatNow?: I prefer the Ghost Facers anyway.
@pecan 3.14159265: Ghostfacers FTW!
@pecan 3.14159265: @valueofaloonie:
I had never heard of those guys before – took a quick peek on their website. Looks pretty funny!
@YouDidWhatNow?: I hope you also saw: [www.imdb.com]
GhostFacers.com is a pretty awesome site, but it’s just tie-in marketing for Supernatural.
@pecan 3.14159265:
Actually I didn’t…was in a hurry and just glanced at the site and watched the first 15 seconds of a video to make sure they weren’t dumbasses who actually believe in ghosts.
Since I’m dead certain, pun intended, the house I grew up in, and recently had to move back into, is haunted I’d have no problem moving into another haunted place. And if there was a reduction in the rent or free/reduced utilities you can sign me up right now.
Are we talking kindly poltergeist or vindictive mother who didn’t want her son to move out and walled him inside the residence “Cask of Amontillado” style?
When you buy a house in CT, the people you are buying it from have to verify that the house does not have any ghosts in it. It is an actual legal document. Found this out because one of my friends bought a new house about a year ago and actually showed it to me.
@madfrog: Is that the amityville clause?
I wouldn’t mind living with a ghost.
I wouldn’t mind bunking with the Easter Bunny or the Lucky Charms leprechaun either.
@edosan: The Lucky Charms leprechaun is probably a paranoid schizophrenic because he’s always going on and on about people trying to get his lucky charms.
@pecan 3.14159265: But they’re magically delicious!
Should compare these results with the percentages of people that don’t believe in ghosts. I think that would be more telling about the results. If the numbers match up then we know that people willing to stay with ghosts probably don’t believe in them.
If it’s a friendly ghost, I wouldn’t mind, but if it’s a poltergeist kind ghost that’s wrecking havoc, hell fucking no.
But in the end, I really would care, cause
Just as long as Casper doesn’t touch the hash, everything’s groovy!
Brrr…
If the cheap apartment has this kind of ghost, I’m getting the fruck out.
[www.ghost-pictures.info]
We’re cool as long as they help my kids with their homework and play calypso music to reward them.
Can I get the ghost that haunts Dr. Raymond Stantz? please.
@The Porkchop Express: or, does Ghost Faced Killah count? bet he can still throw a party.
This would be acceptable to me if the ghost was:
1. benign
2. adult (random child ghosts would creep me out)
3. prone to communication only at reasonable hours
4. unlikely to drink my alcohol
5. nice to the cats
It’d actually be pretty interesting. If a ghost had all these qualities, I might even be more prone to inhabiting a building that had one. We could be friends, I’d leave it a Snuggie on cold nights and everything. Presuming ghosts have cold nights, that is.
@h3llc4t has a slow work day: I think all of their nights are cold.
@The Porkchop Express: That was kind of my thought, what with the “no circulation” thing and all. Maybe they’ve come to terms with it and it no longer bothers them any more though.
One of my all-time favorite SNL skits was with host John Laroquette as Bob Villa in the Amityville horror house. “Well, what we have over here is a hellpit. There’s really no way to eliminate that, so we’ll just build a nice stone wall around it, maybe some plants, make it a highlight of the room.”
My wife and I have both heard footsteps in our kitchen while we are downstairs in the den. Sometimes our doors close for no reason, even if they have been wide open for weeks prior. Even our dog seems to see something, barking like crazy at the hanging light in the kitchen once in a while.
Anyway, we’ve never seen anything and never felt in danger so yep, I’d live with a ghost. Ours has been nicknamed “Charlie”.
I would live with a sexy ghost maid if possible.
I have before, and will again willingly live in a house with ghosts. However, I REFUSE to accept sparkly vampires!!! Those suckers are gettin fed to da pit bull!
My landlord wanted to get rid of a difficult Catholic tenant who wouldn’t move. I told them (the truth) that the previous tenant, a Freemason, died in his sleep. We found him stone cold in bed (I poked him) even though we swore we heard shuffling and noises when we knocked on his door to check on him. The tenants freaked & wished that someone had told them that before they moved in – and moved out by the end of the month.
My girlfriend was convinced at one point that the house she lived in last year was haunted. She was saying she heard all this various shaking in the walls. I noticed it too, except my explanation was much simpler.
Me: Ok babe. When did you start noticing this noise?
Her: At the beginning of November.
Me: Ok. Now, when did you turn on the heat?
Her: At the beginning of November.
Me: Exactly.
It was just the old pipes for the radiators shaking.
@bonzombiekitty: That’s one thing I like about the Ghost Hunters; they work day jobs for Roto-Rooter, so they know about pipes and basements and such, and can debunk something like that pretty quickly.
I’m with Radi0logy on this one.
We grew up with a ghost. Little things used to go missing all the time, only to turn up in weird places…car keys in the freezer, TV remote in the breadbox, that sort of thing. There were also several occasions where everything was removed from our kitchen cabinets and stacked on the dining room table. I also (vividly) remember hearing footsteps upstairs, while I was home alone.
I can’t say how I would react if those things were to start happening now, but I would be open to finding out for a rent decrease.
My friend and her husband live with a ghost cat…that wouldn’t bother me. He’s black and wears a red bandana. He only shows up when her cats are sick or he’s checking out the treatment of their cats (living, real cats).
@MartaMyrrha: AWW!
BOO!
wait, is the ghost paying the rest of the rent?
Ever since my daughter was born, we’ve lived in nothing but haunted houses…some much more active than others. We’ve only had one that wanted to bother us, but I think that was my fault and that I offended him. I don’t mind it at all, and have gotten pretty used to it, so if something that I consider ‘normal’ would save me money, then I’m all for it!
WAIT A SECOND. Back up.
…Some people believe in ghosts?
Really?
@Fist-oâ„¢: At least 31% of people, obviously.