
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 12, 1995                   TAG: 9507130007
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: STACY JONES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

IN WESTERN VA., BUYERS AREN'T EASILY FRIGHTENED

The Bedford County house where Nancy and Derek Haysom were stabbed to death in 1985 was bought a few months later by a man who said he was unconcerned about its past.

"It didn't bother me a bit," said W. Clay Thomson.

Nor was the home's market value diminished by its having been at the center of one of the region's most sensational murder cases.

"The price wasn't affected at all," said real estate man Samuel W. Patterson. He said the dwelling sold for a figure comparable to its pre-murder valuation of $285,000.

Patterson said a handful of prospective buyers were interested in the house before Thomson. They declined to buy, but it wasn't because of what had happened in the house.

"The feeling was not because a crime had been committed, but more because the daughter was coming up for parole and the parties didn't want to get tangled up in that," he said.

Elizabeth Haysom was convicted of plotting to kill her parents. Her then-lover, Jens Soering, was convicted of the murders. Both are in prison.

Area real estate professionals say the Haysom sell was more the rule than the exception when homes are notorious for crimes or other reasons.

``The effect [on market value] is unmeasurable,'' said Don Davis, president of Appraisal Consultants Association. ``It makes marketing the house tougher because it eliminates many prospective buyers, but someone eventually comes along.''

If the person involved in a crime is well known, he added, it can even increase the value of a house.

Dick Davis, director of member services for the Roanoke Valley Association of Realtors, said he hasn't run across many properties that are ``stigmatized,'' but he doesn't think it has to have a negative effect on the property.

``Some buyers may think that, some may not,'' he said, ``just like some may think big trees in the backyard is nice and some may not like it. So much depends on the psyche of the individual.''

by CNB