Classic Rant #262 (May 25, 2010): Wanna Buy a House?

In today's screwed-up housing market, a nice house is pretty hard to find.

Well, I have one for you, if you can afford the asking price.

Let me act as a broker, and maybe I can get a commission when this is sold.

The listing says that 108 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York, is up for sale. It is being listed at $1.15 million, so this isn't a foreclosure or anything like that. But it is available.

Do you want it?

Let me tell you the history of the house.

The house used to be at 112 Ocean Avenue, but previous owners changed the address of the house to protect their privacy. People used to come and gawk at the house for years. Sure it was a nice looking house, but that is not why people came to look at it ...

... they came to look at it because it is the infamous Amityville Horror house.

Yes, although the address is changed and it has been refurbished so that it looks nothing like the original home of the DeFeo family, it is THE house.

You might remember, that the DeFeos, including Ronald, lived in the house in the early 1970s. This is the house that was the site for the brutal murders of six family members by Ronald.

That would be bad enough, but you remember the story: George and Kathleen Lutz ended up buying the home, and supposedly spent 28 days being haunted out of their minds, as described in the book "The Amityville Horror: A True Story" by Jay Anson. The book was a bestseller, spawned several top-grossing (literally) movies, and thus, a legend was born.

Well, now the house is for sale. Want it?

I remember that when this mania was at its fiercest, people used to drive to the house at all hours, gawking, throwing garbage and beer cans at it, and generally making themselves nuisances.

Even though I live near the house, I never had such an interest in this site. I think I drove by it once for some reason, but I didn't go there intentionally to see it.

But oh, so many other people did.

I remember once, I was walking on Merrick Road to go to my doctor. A car pulled up with an older man and he asked if he was going in the right direction to see the house. Even though he was going in the wrong direction, I told him that he was going the right way.

I guess I didn't have time for this type of nonsense.

I knew people who knew Ronald DeFeo when they were in high school together. I remember them telling me that if anybody could do something like he did, he would be the one. He was nuts even before the murders.

Anyway, the house is now for sale, and I ask again:

Want it?

I guess you can have it, if you can scare up the cash.