Author Topic: Buying a house on a main road  (Read 5327 times)

Engineer93

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Buying a house on a main road
« on: December 04, 2017, 08:43:03 AM »
I'm thinking about putting in an offer on a house that's on a main road.  The house is in the nicest area of town which is why I can only afford to live on the main road.  The noise isn't bad since the house is up on a hill.  I've looked at the cities future plans and there's no plans to widen this road in the 2050 plan.  There are even nicer houses off the road which would make widening it extremely expensive.  My biggest concern is the resale value but I know it will be less than others not on the main road because the prices right now show that.  The house behind this one is for sale for almost 2x the amount.  Anyone had any experience with this?

jviska89

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2017, 10:45:27 AM »
My wife and I currently live on a main road. We bought it as a foreclosure in 2015 and are fixing it up. It's not terrible (compared to when we lived in Chicago) noise/traffic wise, but there are a few things to note:

1) Make sure your driveway has room to turn a vehicle around. Ours does and it makes pulling out so much better.
2) General traffic isn't bad, but emergency vehicles utilize the road at all hours. Not the end of the world, but noticeable at 3am sometimes.
3) Trash ends up in our yard a lot more than on side street lawns. A combo of trash day blowing stuff around and littering.

I figure our house will sell for at least 10 and maybe 20% less than just around the corner from us. But since we bought it in foreclosure it shouldn't matter. Make sure to visit the house after dark, during rush hour, etc to see how bad/no bad it is.
 

sokoloff

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2017, 12:05:48 PM »
We live on a 4 lane, undivided parkway (speed limit is 35 mph, but it's a major commuting road). Our driveway is on the parkway, but we tend to park on the sidestreet rather than use the driveway.

To jviska's points, I'll add that you will learn whether or not it's raining by the difference in tire noise (wet roads are louder), and we had a motorcyclist Evil Kneivel wannabe crash into our fence, throwing fence debris throughout the front yard where the kids were playing 30 minutes earlier. We since rebuilt with a stone walled planting bed and set the fence back a few feet. It would take a dump truck crash to get into the yard now...

I don't mind it overall, and we love the house, intend to stay 25+ years. The amount of traffic in front is a bit annoying during commuting hours, but with a shiplap fence and double-glazed windows, the house and yard are able to be enjoyed without too much interference from noise.

Engineer93

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2017, 03:00:56 PM »
Awesome, thank you, that is exactly what I wanted/needed to hear.

Dave1442397

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2017, 05:52:19 AM »
I would check the street during rush hour (if there is a rush hour). We have roads in our area with some beautiful houses, but you could spend ten minutes getting out of your driveway from 3:30-6:30pm.

Engineer93

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2017, 06:03:00 AM »
I would check the street during rush hour (if there is a rush hour). We have roads in our area with some beautiful houses, but you could spend ten minutes getting out of your driveway from 3:30-6:30pm.

We did this the other day.  Yes there’s traffic but it took less than 10 seconds to turn right.  We wouldn’t be able to turn left during rush hour but that’s fine with us.  We also would be able to turn right out going to work and right in coming home from work.

There’s actually a bus stop in front of the house next door which I would take to work.  It would only add 5 minutes to my commute and allow me to sell my car.

YttriumNitrate

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #6 on: December 07, 2017, 08:56:50 AM »
My biggest concern is the resale value but I know it will be less than others not on the main road because the prices right now show that.  The house behind this one is for sale for almost 2x the amount.  Anyone had any experience with this?
I've never quite understood why people are concerned about an obvious existing feature's impact on future resale values. The impact is already baked into the price you are paying now, and it will be baked into the price when you sell later on.

As jviska89 pointed out, being able to turn around in your driveway is really nice if you live on a main road. Although there certainly are a lot of negatives to living on a main road, one nice thing is that during the winter the road will get plowed quickly (if you live in an area that gets snow). When I lived on a main road, during a snow storm a plow would often go by every 30-60 minutes. Also, being on a main road often means you are closer to commercial areas, so it can be easier to walk to things. At my old place, I was within walking distance of six grocery stores.

GetSmart

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #7 on: December 07, 2017, 09:10:30 AM »
We discovered that being on a main road puts us in a different tax structure than the houses immediately behind us.  Odd but works to our advantage - our property taxes are actually lower than than the surrounding neighborhood.  Could be to your benefit too.

marekstachura

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #8 on: December 18, 2017, 02:46:41 AM »
One huge benefit of buying a house on the main road is lower taxes than another neighborhood area. Make sure, when you decide to buy the house on the main road is, the road is not all time full of rush and traffic.

Linea_Norway

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #9 on: December 18, 2017, 03:51:49 AM »
You probably don't want to open a bedroom window when it is warm during a summer night, because of the noise. There are solutions for blowing fresh air into a room through a filter that blocks sound, pollen and pollution. We live in a silent area, but use such a filter in the bedroom, as DH is allergic to several types of pollen.

Look for soundproof ventilation. I couldn't find a direct link for a product though. And the company that sold the ventilator that we use at home is not there anymore.

srad

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Re: Buying a house on a main road
« Reply #10 on: December 19, 2017, 03:04:53 PM »
My first house was on a busier residential street, 30mph with a double yellow line down the middle.  It too was up off the street, by probably 15 steps and I put that sucker on the market as soon as I hit my 2nd year of ownership.  Noise wasn't terribly loud, but it was always there and i grew to hate it.  Buss's and trucks shook the windows, emergency sirens would wake you up, and yes rain made it so much louder.  I could of insulated the walls and put up better storm windows but i wanted to read the paper in the morning on my front porch drinking coffee or have a beer on it after work, you won't be doing that...

That being said i would buy (and have purchased) rental homes on busier streets.  They are slightly cheaper to buy and my rents really aren't much less than a block away. 

So i get why buying on a busy street is good for the first time, i was able to fix up the home and make a little bit of profit to put towards a better home on a quiet street.  It is a way to get into the housing market.  But would i choose to live on a busy street again?  nope... Glad i did live on a busy street?  i can't complain, i have several properties now and it all started with that one home on a busy street.