Why the JonBenet Ramsey Murder House Won’t Fetch the $7M the Sellers Are Seeking

Realtor.com

The Colorado Tudor at the center of one of the most infamous, unsolved crimes of the 1990s is on the market for nearly $7 million. But the sellers are unlikely to get that much for the spacious residence where the body of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey was discovered in 1996.

The current owners have struggled to sell the Boulder home in the past, listing it several times over the past 15 years. The last time they listed the property was in 2014 for a relatively modest $2 million—and they couldn’t find a buyer. So why they are attempting to sell it for more than triple that amount today, given the property’s tragic history, is another mystery.

“I don’t think it’s going to be an easy sale,” says real estate agent and true-crime podcaster Christina Van De Water. She’s based in New Milford, CT, and co-hosts the REal Crime Podcast. “The price is astronomical for the history of the home. It’s going to take a very special person to comfortably move into that home.”

The five-bedroom, 5.5-bathroom estate went back up for sale in mid-November of last year, then taken off the market the week before Christmas. The 7,240-square-foot residence was relisted on March 1 for $6.95 million after undergoing a $300,000 price cut.

The gated home, built in 1927 on a quarter of an acre, features a “luxurious” kitchen plus a separate catering kitchen, a game room, a wet bar, a wine cellar, and a brick patio, according to the listing. The property also has a top-floor penthouse with two full bathrooms.

The home’s address has since been changed, and the appearance of the property has been altered with trees and fencing to dissuade looky-loos. But true-crime aficionados can still find the house where JonBenét’s parents discovered a ransom note demanding $118,000 to get their daughter back on the day after Christmas in 1996.

For more than a decade, her parents, Patsy and John Ramsey, were engulfed in suspicion before prosecutors cleared the family in 2008.

The child’s bound body was soon found with a broken skull and a garrote tied around her neck in the wine cellar near the basement. Her murder remains under investigation.

Homes where someone was murdered often sell for a discount, about 10% to 25% depending on the severity of the crime and how much publicity it received. These properties also typically take longer to attract buyers as many would-be homeowners are squeamish about living someplace where someone was killed, particularly if the tragedy involved young children.

As this is one of the most famous unsolved mysteries of the past few decades, that could make it even harder to find a buyer—especially one who can afford a multimillion-dollar home.

The current owners, Tim and Carol Schuller Milner, purchased the house for $1.05 million in 2004. (Carol is the daughter of “Hour of Power” televangelist Robert Schuller.) They put the home up for sale numerous times, first in 2008 for $2.68 million and then in 2009 for $2.29 million, according to the Denver Post. It was relisted in 2011 for $2.3 million.

“It’s not just your standard run-of-the-mill $7 million home,” says Van De Water.

People are still fascinated by the case—and the house where the crime unfolded. So whoever purchases it is going to be deluged by looky-loos and interview requests.

“You have to be willing to take on the harassment of the public,” she says.

Most buyers with that kind of cash would prefer privacy instead of dealing with that sort of hassle.

The Ramseys purchased the home for $500,000 in 1991. After the death of their daughter, the Ramseys sold the home to a group of investors for $650,000 in 1998, according to the Post.

Owner Carol Schuller Milner told Inside Edition in 2016 that the home had become a “dark monument” and “a constant reminder of something horrible that happened” and she wanted to undo that stigma when she purchased it.

“It is a wonderful place to live, it is home,” she told Inside Edition.

But that hasn’t helped her to sell the property, which is still closely identified with the tragedy that occurred within its walls.

“We all want to find out exactly what happened to [JonBenét]. It’s one of those dark mysteries we all struggle with. And that house is the only real, tangible thing we all have left of what happened to her,” says Van De Water. “It’s always going to be tied to her life and her death.”

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