Is it dumb to buy a house on a busy road?

[underwaterrhymes]

H and I found a house we love.

It's in a great community.

It has a ton of space.

It's beautiful.

It has a great backyard.

It has a rental space that has a tenant at will right now, but could be used as an in-law property down the road.

It needs deleading, but we could handle that fairly easily.

Only downside? It's on a fairly busy road. Not a major highway... just busy.

Is it dumb to buy it?

[underwaterrhymes]

Pretty busy - like 35 / 40 mph and well-traveled.

Fencing is definitely an option.

You can hear road noise indoors.

[Deleted]

1. how new are the windows? i.e., how noisy is it inside.

2. how is the light? i.e., if you're watching TV at night will you be constantly blinded by headlights.

3. how much will you curse all that is holy trying to make a left turn out of or into your driveway in the morning/evening during rush hour?

ETA 4:  will you have to back out of your driveway?  will you have to tandem park? 

[Deleted]

What is the parking and driveway situation like? Does the driveway allow for multiple cars and turnarounds?

[margotmacomber]

I think it's a lot about personal preference.  Personally I wouldn't.  One of the many selling points for the house we bought was the fact that it was in the center of a cul de sac; to even drive by our house you are either turning around or coming to us specifically.  It is a very safe are for DD to play in, and that was important to us.  I also hate pulling out of driveways into a traffic heavy area.  

That is not to say you shouldn't buy it.  If it wouldn't bother you, then go for it.  

[eddy]

Our house is on a residential busy street. Does that make sense?

We always said we wouldn't live on a busy street. The reason we decided to jump on this house was that it was perfect. All the houses around it were really freaking nice. We also got more for our money because of the busy street factor. And it is set far enough off the road that we didn't feel like we were on the road. We have a huge front lawn. We also have a side alley and our garage is in the back so no backing up into the busy street.

[dana2006]

How bad is the traffic noise?

We passed on a house that was perfect in everyway except the fact that it's next to a busy road. We could not fully relax in the yard with the traffic noise.

[evynsmama]

we live on a road that people use to avoid the main road in the neighborhood, it's not super busy, but people are a-holes they fly down the street and don't stop at the stop signs. I will never feel comfortable with DD playing in the front yard or riding her bike around the neighborhood so hopefully we can move to a house on a cul-de-sac or in a more quiet neighborhood in the next 4 years.
Before we got double paned windows, it was so loud, now we don't notice the traffic too much

[bcv513]

My aunt and uncle live on Route 1 in Lynnfield. Like, on it. You get used to the road noise after awhile. They still have a nice backyard and with the fence it's very quiet. The only thing I don't like is having to pull out onto a major road like that every time I leave the house.

[snipsnsnails]

I wouldn't because I would be afraid of what happens when it's time to resale.

[underwaterrhymes]

These are all really great things to think about that I wouldn't have thought of. I've never bought a house before, so I knew this would be the place to ask.

We'd have to visit again to answer some of them, but the parking situation is pretty great.

It's an older house (like 1890s - the 8 and the 9 are not reversed) but I think the windows are newer.

The yard is huge in the back and pretty big in the front.

[sonrisa]

I'll add a few to cville's questions

5. What does rush hour /school drop off time look like? (visit and find out)

6. Are there sidewalks? Can you /would you walk to things from that house?

7. Is that the route police and fire take? How close to those stations?

8. Smell? Dirt? Fumes?

[Captain Serious]

For me, I'd consider safety for my kids, if they play near the road, run after a ball, etc., or as they grow older and want to bike out there.

It would also depend on how much the noise would bother you, personally. My parents live off a busy road, but down a long, steep driveway. Although you can hear the trucks going by outside, it's mellowed because of the terrain and all the trees in between, and it's not bothersome. Inside, you rarely hear the road at all.

[Deleted]

May 23, 2013 11:34:40 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

These are all really great things to think about that I wouldn't have thought of. I've never bought a house before, so I knew this would be the place to ask.

We'd have to visit again to answer some of them, but the parking situation is pretty great.

It's an older house (like 1890s - the 8 and the 9 are not reversed) but I think the windows are newer.

The yard is huge in the back and pretty big in the front.

You just described our current house exactly. (1890, new windows, updated, large backyard, pretty big front yard, busy residential street).

We are trying to sell right now.  The road is a factor for us because of our young children and fear that they will run into the road. We have condos next door and we hate that more though, LOL.  Plus our house is tiny.

I think that the street factor is not as important as overall location (close to transit, etc), for most people at least.

I think maybe make out a list of pros and cons and weight them?  That's what we should have done.  It was the first house we looked at and we were stupid.

[ECB]

I live in a neighborhood that the main street to get to it sounds like what you're describing.  Honestly - no, I probably wouldn't buy.  i actually didn't even bother to look at houses that were on that kind of street (that I knew about).   I VERY much wanted a quieter street. 

[KKD]

May 23, 2013 11:29:09 GMT -5 margotmacomber said:

I think it's a lot about personal preference.  Personally I wouldn't.  One of the many selling points for the house we bought was the fact that it was in the center of a cul de sac; to even drive by our house you are either turning around or coming to us specifically.  It is a very safe are for DD to play in, and that was important to us.  I also hate pulling out of driveways into a traffic heavy area.  

That is not to say you shouldn't buy it.  If it wouldn't bother you, then go for it.  

This is exactly what I was going to say, right down to the center of the cul-de-sac. Living in a neighborhood, away from busy streets, was one of our top priorities.

[wowhead]

I'm an eminent domain appraiser and I would never ever buy a house on a busy road or a State Route. I've worked on way too many projects that have taken huge chunks of yards, residences have lost parking, lost tree buffers and the road has moved closer to the house.

[MrsAxilla]

The side of our house is on a busy road. Traffic noise is a bonus for us - we can be loud in our yard at all hours (as in play basketball with music blaring at 1 am) and no one can hear us.

[papie]

I wouldn't.  I like to be able to let the kids play outside without stressing too much.

[eddy]

Also consider where the bedrooms are. Ours are in the back of the house so even though we rarely can hear the street noise we definitely can not hear it in the bedrooms.

[rex]

I grew up in a house on a busy road. It was never a problem.

My parents had good windows because we could never hear road noise. The house wasn't right on the street though.

[TrickyBob]

I swore I'd NEVER live near a busy road. Yup, we live with one. It's truly not that bad. I would suggest visiting the house and standing inside, with the windows closed and listening to the traffic. Then open the windows and listen. See if it bothers you.

The only thing I truly dislike about living near a busy road is that, around here, the tractor trailers can use their jake breaks so you hear the "thudthudthudthud" of the air breaks going down the hill. But...I live on a hill.

[demelza]

I live on a busy road but it has a 30 mph speed limit. I passed over a substantially newer remodeled home because it was a busy 55 mph road. I think the speed limit makes a difference in my feeling of safety with future children and noise level.

[gretchenindisguise]

Unless you plan on staying there for a very long time, don't buy it.

Our house is on a 'busy' road. It's really not even that busy, but it's 4 lanes in front of our house. We have a sidewalk, never had issues, had a fenced backyard, great deck, etc.

The #1 feedback we got when it was for sale last year, "we love the house! but won't buy it because of the road" Consistently. Probably 95% of the people who saw it.

[demelza]

gretchen are you going try to list it again? that would stink to not be able to sell.

[underwaterrhymes]

OMG, you guys. This is so helpful. Thank you!

[pittsmcgee]

We live on a busy road right now and hate it. It's going to be impossible to sell our house. I would really think about it.
We can't take the dog for walks on it, I can't jog or take walks, DS can't ride his bike. It blows.