Resting In Peace
The Wall Street Journal reports that there has been an upswing in the sales of cemetery plots. As peoples’ financial situations worsen, they are turning to their assets for the hereafter to pay their bills for the here-and-now.
There is little likelihood that you’d be able to sell your plot directly back to a private cemetery, but municipal cemeteries and brokerages are more easily able to turn them around for resale. There is also the option of unloading the plots on the secondary market. A number of websites aid the direct sale of cemetery real estate. The crypt above Marilyn Monroe recently got bids as high as $4,602,100 on eBay, for example.
However, if you’re going to be buying or selling on the secondary market, I’d like to highlight the precautionary measures advised by the WSJ article.
Sellers need to be sure their cemetery allows them to sell on the secondary market. It’s also worth checking with the cemetery to see if they will in fact buy back the plot.
Buyers should make sure the seller is the owner on record with the cemetery to ease the transfer of ownership. And, check with both the seller and the cemetery to see if ancillary costs, such as headstones or burial services, are included in the purchase price.
If you are thinking about buying or selling a plot, check out this website http://plotexchange.com/.
James D. Perry
Tags: Financial Planning
