Our neighborhood is old and the lines aren't buried. Without a power line running through our backyard we'd have no electricity to the house. If it's just lines for the local houses, I wouldn't worry about it at all.
It wouldn't be an issue for me. (But our house is 130 years old, and pretty much all the powerlines in our town are above ground because off the age off most the houses in town.)
I personally wouldn't not buy a house because of that.
Post by Captain Serious on Oct 3, 2015 14:41:37 GMT -5
I think it depends. Regular, local power lines, or the massive lines designed to deliver power from local power stations to entire regions? The first are no problem and the norm in many places, the second can be a long-term health risk.
The link between power lines & cancer has been proven incorrect I thought.
So they say, but I knew a guy who worked on the lines and in the substations, and everyone he worked with died at a young age from cancer or heart complications.
I would totally buy that house. I grew up with a meadow/field behind the house with the power lines like in the picture someone else posted above. I had no issues with it then, and would still not discount a house because of them, as long as they weren't in my personal backyard (I would need a fenced backyard for my pups anyway, but wouldn't care if the lines were on the other side of the fenced yard).
Normal power lines? Yes. Any nieghborhood where the lines haven't been buried will have them somewhere around the house. We have above-ground lines and we've definitely lost power, but it's been fewer than 10 times in 7 years.
The missing garage is a bigger issue for me and it doesn't look like there is room to add a garage either. No garage is an issue for me and not a single car garage like the neighbors. 2 car garage or I'm not even going to look at it.
My development has some houses with powerlines behind it. We are across the street, and on the side where they are barely visible, but some houses literally have the big jawn posted upthread in their yard.
On one hand, there are the (legitimate or not) health concerns associated with the lines. On the other hand, you almost can guarantee more open space and less encroachment.
To be honest, they don't bother me too much. I feel like they are everywhere around here and there are multiple developments right along them, some with houses that cost $800,000+. It's not ideal, but it's not a dealbreaker.
If you like birds, hawks and falcons love them and we have lots of opportunities to watch them. It's pretty cool.
Post by speckledfrog on Oct 3, 2015 15:04:49 GMT -5
I would imagine most of that entire area has power lines in it, right? I don't think it's that big of a deal. The house I grew up in had power lines. All of the older neighborhoods do.
Regular power lines are fine, I've always lived in older neighborhoods with above ground lines, but I would hesitate if they're high voltage power lines. We have friends who have a house near high voltage power lines, and at times you can hear them hum when you're outdoors. The lines are in a large field behind their house. I would be concerned with resale too down the road.
I'd say it has two major strikes against it. One that you can do nothing about, one that you might be able to change (garage). I'd be VERY picky when looking at everything else, and the location would have to be perfect.
That house is beautiful. I didn't look at all of the pictures before but wow. I say buy it. Those power lines seem fairly normal for a slightly older neighborhood with above ground lines.
Regular power lines are fine, I've always lived in older neighborhoods with above ground lines, but I would hesitate if they're high voltage power lines. We have friends who have a house near high voltage power lines, and at times you can hear them hum when you're outdoors. The lines are in a large field behind their house. I would be concerned with resale too down the road.
You can absolutely hear them hum and they are also REALLY creaky and noisy in high winds.
Serious question, are you planning to live in this area for a long time? I would think about looking in some other areas, just to see what you can get, before moving down there. Our friends lost a ton of money on their house. Just something to think about as native to this area.
I would have never even thought about this. We have always had above ground power lines. We even have a pole in the backyard of the house we're renting right now.
Post by decemberwedding07 on Oct 3, 2015 16:53:56 GMT -5
This was on the home page on the app and I feel like chiming in. Ditto the PPs who say if it's just residential lines, they'd be fine. Our neighborhood is very old and our lines are above ground. In the 11 years we've lived here, we've only had about two power outages. My parents live a mile away in a newer neighborhood and their lines are buried. They lose power ALL the time. The tiniest storm and their power is gone. No idea what the deal is there!
Post by cabbagecabbage on Oct 3, 2015 17:22:28 GMT -5
All the houses have power lines to the house in my area. I did veto a house next to the huge humming kind with metal towers in a field next door but the regular lines on a wooden pole are the norm in my area and we'd have to pay thousands to have buried lines installed.