To place an obituary, please include the information from the obituary checklist below in an email to [email protected]. There is no option to place obituaries through our website. Feel free to contact our obituary desk at 651-228-5263 with any questions.
**General Information:**
– Your full name
– Address (City, State, Zip Code)
– Phone number
– An alternate phone number (if any)
**Obituary Specifications:**
– Name of Deceased
– Obituary Text
– A photo in JPEG or PDF format is preferable; TIF and other files are accepted. We will contact you if there are any issues with the photo.
– Ad Run Dates
There is a discount for running the obituary more than one day, but this must be scheduled on the first run date to apply. If a photo is used, it must be used for both days for the discount to apply. Contact us for more information.
**Policies:**
*Verification of Death:*
To publish obituaries, a name and phone number of the funeral home or cremation society is required. We must contact them during business hours to verify the death.
If the deceased’s body has been donated to the University of Minnesota Anatomy Bequest Program or a similar program, their phone number is required for verification. Please allow enough time, especially during their limited weekend hours.
A death certificate is also acceptable for this purpose—only one of these two options is necessary.
*Guestbook and Outside Websites:*
We are not allowed to reference other media sources with a guestbook or an obituary placed elsewhere when placing an obituary in print and online. We may place a website for a funeral home or a family email for contact instead. Contact us with any questions regarding this matter.
**Obituary Process:**
Once your submission is complete, we will fax or email a proof for review prior to publication in the newspaper. This proof includes price and the scheduled days the notice will appear. Please review the proof carefully.
We must be notified of errors or changes before the notice appears in the Pioneer Press, based on each day’s deadlines. After publication, we will not be responsible for errors that occur after final proofing.
**Online:**
Changes to an online obituary can be handled through the obituary desk. Call us with further questions.
**Payment Procedure:**
Pre-payment is required for all obituary notices prior to publication by the deadline specified below in our deadline schedule. Please call 651-228-5263 with your payment information after you have received the proof and approved its contents.
– Credit Card: Payment accepted by phone only due to PCI (Payment Card Industry) regulations.
– EFT: Check by phone. Please provide your routing number and account number.
– Cash: Accepted at our front counter Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM.
**Rates:**
– Minimum charge is $162 for the first 10 lines.
– Every line after the first 10 is $12.20.
– If the ad is under 10 lines, it will be charged the minimum rate of $162.
– On a second run date, lines are $8.20 per line, starting with the first line.
– Each photo published is $125 per day. For example, 2 photos in the paper on 2 days would be 4 photo charges totaling $500.
**Deadlines:**
Please follow deadline times to ensure your obituary is published on the day requested.
| Hours | Deadline (no exceptions) | Ad Photos |
|————–|————————–|————–|
*(Note: Specific deadline times were not provided in the source.)*
—
### MEMORIAM (NON-OBITUARY) REQUEST
Unlike an obituary, memoriam submissions are remembrances of a loved one who has passed. Rates for memoriam ads differ from obituaries. Please call or email us for more information.
– Phone: 651-228-5280
– Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Closed weekends and holidays)
– Email: [email protected]
—
### Surreal Estate: How Hauntings Affect Home Sales
You visit an open house for a stately old Victorian on a quiet street. It has a wraparound front porch and all kinds of vintage charm. But you can’t help but wonder if that sudden cold draft is the result of poor insulation, or a past occupant dropping by.
And the lights on that stunning chandelier are flickering in a way that might foretell an expensive visit from an electrician—or an exorcist.
You want to ask the listing agent if they’ve heard about any paranormal activity on the property. But do they actually have to tell you? That depends on where you’re house hunting.
In most states, the seller doesn’t have to disclose anything. For example, according to Massachusetts state law, whether the home “has been the site of an alleged parapsychological or supernatural phenomenon” is not a material fact that has to be mentioned in a real estate transaction.
However, the seller or agent are also not allowed to lie about it.
Minnesota has a similar code, which says that sellers don’t have a duty to disclose whether the home “was the site of a suicide, accidental death, natural death, or perceived paranormal activity.”
Still, a disturbing history like murder can affect the value of a home, said Ryan Dossey, co-founder of the house-buying service SoldFast in San Diego, in an online exchange. He points to search services like DiedInHouse as an example of how prospective buyers can research a home’s past, uncovering details that a seller might have chosen not to divulge.
—
### A Gruesome Case of Buyer’s Remorse
One such incident led to the 1983 court case *Reed v. King*. Dorris Reed purchased her California house from Robert King, who did not disclose that a woman and her four children were murdered in the home ten years prior. King had even requested that a neighbor not tell Reed about the killings.
Reed’s attorneys claimed that while she had paid $76,000 for the home, it was really worth $65,000 because its history seriously damaged its value and desirability.
The courts ruled in Reed’s favor, finding that the home’s reputation affected its property value.
Such homes are sometimes called “stigmatized properties.”
—
### For Some, a Colorful History Is a Selling Point
Not every buyer feels as Reed did.
While an oversized skeleton decoration in the front yard is about as creepy as some home buyers are willing to get, others are drawn to the novelty and mystique of certain listings.
“A lot of buyers I’ve worked with love when there’s a deep or haunting history,” said Joe Luciano, a Massachusetts Realtor who has shown historic homes in Salem.
For instance, one couple bought a house next to a funeral home. “They pretty much always wore all black, and the first thing they did when they moved in was paint the inside a deep purple color. This home was also right near the Salem Witch House, which, truthfully, was a selling point.”
—
### So You Bought a “Haunted” House. Now What?
Let’s say you’re not afraid of things that go bump in the night and bought a stigmatized property. Even if you’re not worried about poltergeists, you still may have to contend with human reactions.
“Unbeknownst to me, I bought a ‘murder’ house back in 2021 as a flip that was the site of a homicide inside the property,” Ryan Dossey said. “We encountered issues with the contractors,” he said, after neighbors mentioned the home’s history. From that point on, the contractors refused to be alone at the property.
“It took considerable effort to persuade them to complete the renovation.”
Believer or skeptic, home buyer or seller, it’s important to know your rights when it comes to marketing a stigmatized home, as well as your legal responsibilities.
Talk with your real estate agent, be honest with all parties involved, and check your state’s laws if relevant.
It’s perfectly reasonable to worry about the effect such a history could have on your home’s value, but don’t be too discouraged.
While some would never dream of buying a home that has a creepy past (real or imagined), you never know when Gomez Addams is prowling the market.
—
Taylor Getler writes for NerdWallet.
Email: [email protected]
*The article “Surreal Estate: How Hauntings Affect Home Sales” originally appeared on NerdWallet.*
https://www.twincities.com/2025/10/25/haunted-home-sales/
