Would you live near a small airport?

[carmenere]

Update: We decided we wanted to see the house and texted our realtor to set up a showing. But we were too late and the sellers decided to rent it instead 😭


We’re looking to buy a house. There’s one that has pretty much everything we want - beautiful house and yard, move in ready, quiet street, great schools - and it’s near the top of our price range but could probably be negotiated down. We had written it off because it’s near a small airport (Peachtree DeKalb in Atlanta/Chamblee). The airport sits on a main toad, and the house is on a side street off of the other side of the road, 1-2 blocks down. I think it’s about 1/4 mile away.

Last night our realtor flagged the listing in our MLS search and said it’s a great house in a great neighborhood and we should see it. I asked her about the airport but she hasn’t answered yet.

So, would you buy this house? What issues would we need to consider? Would it totally kill our property value?

[Deleted]

I can't see this bothering me at all. Of course, I grew up 5 miles from the Philadelphia airport, and never even noticed the planes, I guess you get used to the noise. When I first started dating H he always commented on how loud the planes were, but I mostly never heard them.

[goldengirlz]

Would you be in any flight paths?

The other thing to consider is that in the summer you might notice the jet fuel smell — but if it’s a really tiny airport, that might be less of an issue.

[bigoleworm]

I live in the flight path of three major airports (Newark, LaGuardia and JFK) and 1small airport(teterboro). When they switched the flight patterns a few years back, I noticed for about a week. Now I don’t notice at all.

[wambam]

I would. But I also live in a city with a big Air Force base and seeing/hearing enormous planes doesn't phase me at all.

[FastHands]

I'd just look into whether there is the room/possibility of extending the runway to allow fullsize jets at any point. I lived abt 2mi from a small airport and it was nbd but they were in a panic when we moved, because talks had begun about expanding to allow for jets. Being 0.25mi from *that* would be a dealbreaker both from a noise perspective and also resale value.

[tracita]

How small is small? I live near a small airport and the only issue I have is fear of a plane landing on my car (the runway is RIGHT next to the main road), or crashing into our neighborhood. There are no nighttime flights and no jets - only propeller planes.

I would not live so close to an airport with jets constantly flying by.

[sarahbear]

We live in between 2 small airports. Probably 5 miles in either direction. Not an issue. The planes are small, so they aren't noisy. Every once in awhile there will be someone flying lower than they should over our house, but that's so rare....like once a year rare. We have no issues, and the only time it bothers me is when I hear news of a plane crash somewhere else (recent Yorba Linda crash as an example).

[Jalapeñomel]

I grew up military, so this wouldn’t even give me a second thought.

[carmenere]

Feb 6, 2019 11:34:27 GMT -5 wambam said:

I would. But I also live in a city with a big Air Force base and seeing/hearing enormous planes doesn't phase me at all.

I work near an Air Force Base in an old building, and the planes rattle my office windows when they fly over (which isn't frequent).

My grandma's house is in a flight path for St. Louis airport and I always liked seeing the occasional plane fly over and was never bothered by the noise, but those planes were at a higher altitude.

[penelope]

We live 1/2 mile away from a small airport and never even know it's there. I *think* for the first day or two we may have heard something but now it's a non-issue.

[dancingirl21]

We live in a flight path of O'Hare airport (but live about 25 miles away). The planes are flying pretty high by the time they get near us and we will occasionally hear a loud jet, but for the most part, don't notice the planes much. It's fun to watch them when we are sitting outside at night. They are going one after another. 

If it's a small airport, I would think you'd be ok, but would also want to see it for myself. Can you go stalk the neighborhood during the day or evening to see how many are taking off/landing?

[krystee]

This is like my H’s dream (he has his private pilot’s license and would love to sit in the backyard and watch planes all day). I would go see it at a time where you’d expect some air traffic (so like 9 am instead of 8 pm) and see what the noise level is.

[Pom]

We lived in an apartment for a year within the flight path of the San Antonio, TX airport. Planes were flying low late in the evening and early morning That was rough.

I don't however think I would automatically rule out a home I really liked, without doing due diligence.

[carmenere]

Feb 6, 2019 11:38:44 GMT -5 tracita said:

How small is small? I live near a small airport and the only issue I have is fear of a plane landing on my car (the runway is RIGHT next to the main road), or crashing into our neighborhood. There are no nighttime flights and no jets - only propeller planes.

I would not live so close to an airport with jets constantly flying by.

I'm not sure how to quantify the size. It has three runways (I think) and serves primarily small planes, but we saw quite a few larger private jets parked there ahead of the Super Bowl. Their website says 730 acres, home to 25+ businesses and 12 flight schools.

Since the house is less than a quarter mile away, I'm thinking about everyday issues as well as possible worst-case scenarios. A small plane crashed near our neighborhood (nowhere near an airport) when I was a kid and I still think about that. 

[gummybear]

Feb 6, 2019 11:29:17 GMT -5 @sameoldstory said:

I can't see this bothering me at all. Of course, I grew up 5 miles from the Philadelphia airport, and never even noticed the planes, I guess you get used to the noise. When I first started dating H he always commented on how loud the planes were, but I mostly never heard them.

I grew up right by PHL too and it actually took years for me to get used to not having the noise of jets overhead!

It would not bother me at all. We lived near a small airport before and it was not an issue at all. I actually liked seeing the planes.

[litskispeciality]

We live close to a tiny airport (private planes only). Other than more traffic in the summer (mostly on weekends) it's not bad at all. It didn't come up when looking at the house, although again it's not a big airport. In theory for re-sale value I could see a traveling medical professional or business professional who travels a lot not mind being that close as they'd always be flying in or out.

Good luck on the hunt!

[mel]

I live within 10 miles of 3 small airports, ~20 miles of a military base (Reserves) and ~30 miles of a major international airport. I live ~15 miles from where the Goodyear Blimp is stored and I also live near a downtown area with 3 major hospitals (helicopters). I only notice planes/helicopters if they're flying low (which is pretty rare). I wouldn't give it a second thought if this house checks all of your boxes.

[Susie]

I don't know the area, so not sure what you mean by "small" airport.  I wouldn't want to live really near our city's "small" airport that is small in the sense that it's hard to get direct flights to places that are not hubs, but is served by American, Southwest, JetBlue, Delta, etc.  

I do live about 2 miles from a "small" muni airport whose activities are much smaller scale.  It has 1 runway, and 1 parallel taxiway.  There's an air ambulance that operates service from there, national guard, state police aviation unit, fixed wing aircraft, flying lessons, that sort of thing.  That I find to be NBD, after owning a house under the flight path for about 10 years now.

[lolalolalola]

I think I’d have to stake it out couple times to know for sure but I don’t think it would really bother me.

[demelza]

One thing to consider is pfas chemical, which is a flame retardant used to put out fires. In michigan we are discovering lots of contamination around airports. If you will be on a city water system this is less of a concern than a well.

[msmerymac]

I live near the commuter train, so I think you can assess what my answer will be, lol.

[isabel]

Feb 6, 2019 11:48:12 GMT -5 krystee said:

This is like my H’s dream (he has his private pilot’s license and would love to sit in the backyard and watch planes all day). I would go see it at a time where you’d expect some air traffic (so like 9 am instead of 8 pm) and see what the noise level is.

I agree with going to see it when there might be some air traffic. Or even just walking over to the air park separately on another visit. 

I have a hard time seeing this bothering me if it's just a little municipal airport. We are near a smaller commercial airport and our house is under the flight path. I don't find it bothersome at all.

[megstoo]

I live about 1/2 mile from a commuter train during the day which doubles as a freight line at night. Honestly you'll get used to it. At first it bothered me when the train would go through since the house might shake but I've gotten used to it.

[circa1978]

We live in the flight path of a small airport (mostly corporate jets). Like some PP, it's not exactly in our back yard (actually about 10 minutes away via city streets then highway)but we hear a fair amount of noise depending on the day. We also live near a hospital so have helicopter traffic. It's been several years so we are used to it but some days, especially when I work from home or there is an air show, it's noticeable. FWIW, my kid and dogs are totally used to the noises and don't even look up.

[calmcosmo]

We have lived in flight paths a bunch. Some for military bases (H is a navy pilot) and some for civilian. One neighborhood was both (the final approach for each basically made an X over our neighborhood).

The only reason I could see it really mattering would be for noise. In the military, some bases will have noise ordinances (for jets, large helos). Around Virginia Beach homes that have a certain decibel level have to declare that before sale and buyers need to accept it.

If I was concerned about noise but there wasn't any data about decibel level or hours (many airports don't allow landing after a certain hour or takeoff before a certain hour) I would go sit in the house house for a few hours. Obviously this is only if you see it and love it.

FWIW, airport noise has never really bothered me, personally. We own a house in Norfolk and have C-5s and Super Stallions (and occasionally super hornets) fly over regularly. A private airport is probably single engine planes, cessnas, and occasionally a corporate jet. You won't even notice that.

[aliciabella]

I lived a couple of blocks from a naval military base and rarely heard planes. We live near a small airbase now that has private planes and skyjumping and I don't notice it. During the summer we will sit outside and watch the skyjumpers which is really cool and they have airshows and such. I would have no problem with the location.

[frlcb]

We live near PDK (the airport you are talking about) and it doesn't bother us at all. If it is cloudy or weather is bad we may hear the planes more often but generally don't hear them at all.

[frlcb]

Also, it won't kill your property value at all. This area is super hot and prices are going up, not down, even near PDK. Also, 57th fighter group is so much fun to go dancing at on a friday or saturday night. And if you have young kids the playground at the airport is awesome.

[gummybear]

Feb 6, 2019 12:02:31 GMT -5 demelza said:

One thing to consider is pfas chemical, which is a flame retardant used to put out fires. In michigan we are discovering lots of contamination around airports. If you will be on a city water system this is less of a concern than a well.

We are dealing with this here now too, bc of a Navy base that had an air base. It’s some Erin Brokovich level fuckery and a huge scandalous mess.