Read up on your state's laws to find out if you need to tell buyers about the eerie happenings at your home.

Step 1: Don't Get Spooked by the Law

If you believe your house is haunted, you probably should talk it over with your real estate agent, especially if you believe a new owner would be in danger. (Some snarky people might also say you should take up a conversation with your family doctor, but never mind them.) If you believe your home is haunted but the ghosts are friendly, and you really don't want the hassle of buyers being afraid to make a purchase, you should first check to see what laws are on the books, because every state is different.

More than 20 states, such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey, have laws that say agents and sellers won't be held liable for failing to mention that 20 years earlier a wife stabbed her husband in the home's master bedroom. In some cases, like in Oklahoma, it gets complicated because you have to ask in writing if the house is haunted or psychologically affected in another way, and then in writing, the seller is required to furnish the facts of the matter. Other states, however, do have laws that require that potential prospects be notified.

Basically, there are two scenarios:

• You may be legally required to say something about your haunted house and subject to a possible lawsuit down the road if you don't;
• you may be able to say and do absolutely nothing.

The latter may sound rather creepy or unethical on the surface, but if someone once died in your bedroom of a heart attack or at the end of a gun 15 years ago, does that really have any bearing on the structural integrity of your house? Is that history going to affect the quality of your sump pump? Or another way to look at it: Nobody ever complains that nurses aren't telling patients, upon being admitted to a hospital room, "By the way, your bed might be haunted. We've had 12 deaths in your bed over the last five years."

But at least one real estate agent cautions against not saying anything if your house has a well-known reputation of being haunted or if it has a gory history that's well known.

"We've had one murder in Newtown," says Andy Sachs, a Connecticut real estate consultant with Coldwell Banker. "It was some gruesome story where some guy freezes his wife and puts her in a wood chipper. If everyone in the community knows about it, and you're selling your house to some out-of-towner, don't be the guy to hide it."

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