I can tell you with certainty that my wife would not have bought our current house if the previous owner died in it. The reason why I know this is that the husband did in fact die from a very aggressive cancer, and she wanted to make sure he didn’t actually pass in the house. My wife is Laotian and in her culture this would indeed be a very bad thing to happen in a house that you wanted to buy. She would be looking for his spirit everywhere.
On a similar note, when I was stationed in Japan I bought a Samurai sword, but I had to buy a newer one that was made in the traditional way. My wife forbid the purchase of an old original one (and I had my eye on a real nice one in Kamakura) because in Japanese culture when the Samurai warrior dies his soul passes into his sword, and my wife didn’t want the spirit of the dead warrior in the house.
You never quite know what beliefs you’re going to run into when you marry into another culture.
