WATTS’ HOUSE IN FREDERICK GOING TO AUCTION
One year after the murders of Shanann, Bella and Celeste Watts, their Frederick house sits empty, waiting for a public auction in September.
Abandoned house notices are taped to a front door surrounded by stuffed animals, flowers and balloons placed there in recent days as the one-year anniversary of their deaths approached.
The five-bedroom, four-bathroom house, built in 2013, will go up for auction at 10 a.m. Sept. 18 in Greeley, according to Weld County Trustee records. The home is in default, records show.
Neighbors have tried to move on, though some say they think often about the killings.
Several neighbors were afraid to talk to The Denver Post for fear of harassment from supporters of Christopher Watts, who killed his wife inside the home on Aug. 13, 2018 and then later that day smothered his two daughters in a rural Weld County oil field.
Others who live close to the house at 2825 Saratoga Trail worried about their property values, including one who is planning to retire and put his house on the market in a couple of weeks. Others still were struggling to comprehend the killings and how someone they thought they knew could carry out something so heinous.
Several neighbors, including
Joanie Wakeman, suggested the Watts’ house be torn down and turned into a park and memorial for Shanann Watts and her daughters, Celeste, 3, and Bella, 4.
The intense activity from media trucks and visitors to the neighborhood has died down, or as Wakeman, a self-proclaimed news junkie, called it: the ever-present chaos. And even though Wakeman doesn’t drive by the Watts’ house, the murders weigh on her.
“There probably is a sense of being a little more guarded,” Wakeman said.
Although Wakeman isn’t worried about her own home’s value — she lives a street over from the Watts’ house — she knows that neighbors who are closer have those concerns. On her street, a family moved into the neighborhood a couple of months ago.
The Watts bought the 4,177 square foot house in April 2013 with a $392,709 loan, according to real estate records. The outstanding balance on the loan is $349,938. The home is valued at $583,500, according to realtor.com.
The house went into default in December, and JPMorgan Chase Bank, the lender, has 12 months to sell it, Weld County Public Trustee Suzie Velasquez said. If the house went into bankruptcy, the timeline to sell would be extended.
So far, Velasquez said she hasn’t received any inquiries from potential buyers. She holds sales until a house is sold, and sometimes, houses sell within minutes, while others take longer. Foreclosure homes are routinely continued, she said.
The house would be considered psychologically-impacted or stigmatized property, and Colorado law protects real estate agents from disclosing crimes that occurred in the house, or even potential ghosts, unless the seller chooses to do so, said HomeSmart Cherry Creek Properties realtor Tara King.
King acknowledged that in a case as highly-publicized as this one, potential buyers likely will know about the murders or will find out in a Google search.
“It may be in a seller’s best interest to disclose up front, but some choose not to do that,” she said. While it creates anxiety for buyers, it does not give buyers a right to terminate a contract.