Buying a house close to a main road, thoughts?

[jeebuss31]

Hi everyone!

Does anyone here live close to a main road? What are some of the advantages and disadvantages?

The reason I'm asking is because we're going to build a home on a cul de sac. The front of the house is facing the road, however there are lots available across my street that haven't been built yet. These houses would have there backyard against the main road. There are also fences and "Christmas looking" trees planted behind the fence.

Now, my other question is:
Once the houses are built in front of us, will this reduce the traffic noise?

I'm not so bother by the noise, but rather the privacy. People can drive by and see the front yard. Will these "Christmas looking" trees grow taller? Also, I want to make sure this lot will have a good resale value because it's in a cul de sac.

I also forgot to add the homes between us are atleast $100k more than ours.

Thanks!

[bjl584]

Being that you are on a cul de sac you probably won't have much traffic except your neighbors coming and going, the mailman, and the occassional UPS truck or repair man. Anything blocking the road will reduce noise somewhat whether it is a built structure like a fence or a house or a natural stucture like a hill or vegitation. It's hard to say howmuch though. It depends how far away the main road is and how much traffic is on it. I have about 100 yards of dense forest seperating me from the main street where I live, and I can't hear road traffic much at all. Of course, its a rural road and doesn't have much traffic to begin with.

[ScrimpAndSave]

i would be concerned about the resale value of the home.

[maat55]

Too many minuses and not enough pluses in my thinking. Depends alot on how busy the street is. What's the speed limit?

[jeebuss31]

The speed limit is 35mph 2 lanes. We're about 200-250 feet from the road. I'm not exact on my measurements.

[maat55]

Originally Posted by jeebuss31

The speed limit is 35mph 2 lanes. We're about 200-250 feet from the road. I'm not exact on my measurements.

It's easy to fall in love with a house, but after the honeymoon, the negatives can become bigger than you expect. You might try parking outside the home for awhile and walking down the street a few times just for heck of it, to see if it annoys you. My big concern would be entering and leaving being a challenge. I assume you don't have kids or plan to.

[jeebuss31]

Hey Maat, thanks for the feedback. Entering and leaving shouldn't be a challenge because our house will be a cul de sac. If the kids play it'll be a secure area. I'm just afraid of the privacy and traffic noise because there arent homes build across our street yet. The "christmas looking" tree havent mature. I have a feeling the lots across my street will be harder to sell because their backyard will be against the main road.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by jeebuss31

Hey Maat, thanks for the feedback. Entering and leaving shouldn't be a challenge because our house will be a cul de sac. If the kids play it'll be a secure area. I'm just afraid of the privacy and traffic noise because there arent homes build across our street yet. The "christmas looking" tree havent mature. I have a feeling the lots across my street will be harder to sell because their backyard will be against the main road.

One other factor I have not seen mentioned is the dust factor. Living next to a busy roadway is not a good place to be for numerous reasons: (1) noise, (2) dust and (3) safety are major in my book and I personally would not want to live there even without children.

When your pine trees mature (if they are pine tress) it'll help somewhat, but I've known some areas that they've actually constructed layers of retaining walls to cut down noise levels from traffic.

I don't know what state you're in nor whether your kids are sensitive to the external environment... you might want to think about that too. Houses next to main roads always have more dust.... and I'd personally stay away from them.

[jeebuss31]

Originally Posted by Seeker

One other factor I have not seen mentioned is the dust factor. Living next to a busy roadway is not a good place to be for numerous reasons: (1) noise, (2) dust and (3) safety are major in my book and I personally would not want to live there even without children.

When your pine trees mature (if they are pine tress) it'll help somewhat, but I've known some areas that they've actually constructed layers of retaining walls to cut down noise levels from traffic.

I don't know what state you're in nor whether your kids are sensitive to the external environment... you might want to think about that too. Houses next to main roads always have more dust.... and I'd personally stay away from them.

They do look like pine trees and did you mean it'll help reduce the noise once mature?

I agree with you about the dust thing and i hoping the houses on our street will block some of that.

Although, I don't understand how it would be unsafe for the kids? We're not going to be directly on the main road. There are still houses to be built across the street from us/ There backyard will be up against the main road.

But thanks for the feedbacks! Keep them coming!

[ScrimpAndSave]

I guess in case they wander off...

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by jeebuss31

we're going to build a home on a cul de sac. The front of the house is facing the road, however there are lots available across my street that haven't been built yet. These houses would have there backyard against the main road. There are also fences and "Christmas looking" trees planted behind the fence.

I confused by your description. If your house is on a cul-de-sac, how does it face the road? Doesn't it face another house across the cul-de-sac? Or is it only facing the road until the house across the street gets built? So it would be your house, the street, the house across the street, their back yard, fence and trees between you and the main road, correct? I don't see the problem with that.

One thing I'd want to know is what is the entry and exit from your cul-de-sac like? Does your street open onto the main road? Is there a traffic light at that intersection? I would not want to live on a street that intersected a main road without a traffic light.

[gamecock43]

From what I know of the housing market, quiet street trumps busy street. But busy street allows you to get into an area, size of house that quiet street will not allow you to afford.
If its in your heart, and you will get good use of it then go for it and good luck.

[jeebuss31]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I confused by your description. If your house is on a cul-de-sac, how does it face the road? Doesn't it face another house across the cul-de-sac? Or is it only facing the road until the house across the street gets built? So it would be your house, the street, the house across the street, their back yard, fence and trees between you and the main road, correct? I don't see the problem with that.

One thing I'd want to know is what is the entry and exit from your cul-de-sac like? Does your street open onto the main road? Is there a traffic light at that intersection? I would not want to live on a street that intersected a main road without a traffic light.

You're correct on the placement. It's our house, the street, the house across the street, their backyard, pine trees, fence and main road. We're about 60- 70 yards from the main road. Now, if you were standing in front of our house looking at main road(being 12:00), about 10:00 is a pond. The houses across from mine will be built at 11:00, 12:00,1:00 and so on. The openess comes from 9:00-10:00 because there is a intersection on that main road. That will be our only exist out of the subdivision. Our street does not open to the main road. We would have to go around the subdivison to get out.

Don't get me wrong the benefits of living there are:
Cul-de-sac
and building between 2 homes that are 100k-150k more than ours. I'm just hoping they will build homes across from us soon and the trees mature. So this can protect some of the traffic noise and possible dust.

[Exile]

jeebus31, you say that you're not so bothered by the noise, but have you lived near a near a main road before? How do you feel about the ear-splitting racket of a passing souped-up motorcycle for example?

Our previous residence was an apartment that overlooked a freeway which was not yet open when we moved in, but we knew it was coming. When it did, we could still go about our business inside the unit, but our balcony was no longer usable.

These are factors that you need to consider before stating that you are not bothered by noise.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by jeebuss31

They do look like pine trees and did you mean it'll help reduce the noise once mature?

I agree with you about the dust thing and i hoping the houses on our street will block some of that.

Although, I don't understand how it would be unsafe for the kids? We're not going to be directly on the main road. There are still houses to be built across the street from us/ There backyard will be up against the main road.

But thanks for the feedbacks! Keep them coming!

Safety is an all-inclusive word. Not only children, but adult-wise.

Yes, a main street offers easy get-away. That's both a plus and a minus.

My folks used to live in a similar situation.

House
Residential Street
Houses across that street
Brick wall
Train tracks

I cannot count the times that the houses across the street were robbed. And I can tell you that if I were to drive back to that old neighborhood, that all of these houses have bars over the windows and a jail-bar backyard enclosures. They were beginning to do that some 35 years ago. This has happened along freeways in California too.

I know similar things happen on busy streets too; there are honest reasons for pulling over on a main street, but there are also dishonest ones. And trucks can make themselves look like they are having a mechanical issue just by opening their engine cabin. Your house across the street will probably not have to contend with this, but the people who buy those houses not yet made, might have to deal with these issues.

Health-wise: breathing dust, carbon monoxide, etc. this stuff is not good for you. Nor your kids. I was a sickly kid and very sensitive to my environment; though I did not have allergies nor asthma, I did contend with flu/colds and pneumonia that pretty much left me when we left that area.

Noise: everything is much more noisy in the middle of the night. When the world is quiet and sleeping, the traffic noise will seem much louder than in the daytime. The pine trees can help when fully grown yes, but if they are in people's backyards, then those people can cut those trees down; if they are on city land, then people cannot control those either.

Again, I do not know the area and only you can judge. If this is a "growth" area, what happens if the city decides to expand that 2 lane two-way (4 lanes total?) to be 3 lanes each way? They can buy those properties across the street and expand the roadway if they determine there's need. How might you feel if this roadway was incorporated or expanded to include your cul-de-sac?

[money2009]

My sister and her husband purchased a home next to a busy street. Prior to moving into the home they were very vocal about how the road noise wouldn't bother them.

Three years later they moved and now they claim they would never do that again. Just some food for though.

[ithaca]

I live directly on a major road, but our house does not face the road. My house and driveway both face the side street. The major road is 5 lanes, the speed limit is 30 mph, our house is 200 feet away from the road, and we have a wooden fence and some trees as a buffer to the road. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into before I bought the house, and my house costs approx. 20% less than the other houses down the street.

We've lived here almost 5 years and have really liked it. While in the house, you can't even hear a peep from the major road. Obviously a loud motorcycle or semi can be heard throughout the entire neighborhood. I am really glad that our driveway faces our side street because that just makes it a lot easier on us. When our dog gets loose, she runs away from the major road and towards the neighborhood (thankfully). We don't have any kids yet but I don't think we'll be raising them this close to a major road. As they are learning to ride a bike or playing with other kids, I would be constantly worried about them ending up in traffic. When I was trying to decide whether or not to buy the house, I knew that my future potential buyers would not include families with small children. That's part of the reason my house is worth less than the rest of the houses on the block. When I'm doing yardwork or sitting on my deck having a drink, there is a decent amount of traffic noise but I think I've learned to ignore it. When I go to my parents' house in a small town and sit out on their deck, I can't believe how quiet it is. The quiet is very nice.

Anyway, I tried to give you a full picture of how it works for me. We are planning to start a family soon so we'll also be looking to move soon. For as much as I like this house and have been fine living near traffic, I can guarantee we will not buy a house this close to a major road. Let me know if you have any specific questions!

[creditcardfree]

My back yard backs up to a main road. It's two lanes and 35 mph speed limit. There is a fence. Well, it's like this.

Main Road
Grass
Sidewalk
Grass
Fence
Back Yard
House
Front Yard/Driveway
Side Street

Pluses, close to main road...easy access, easy to locate house, bus stop (school and city) are close.

Minuses, some noise, need to shovel back sidewalk, need to mow yard beyond the fence.

I would buy another house close to a main road because I love the convenience...just depends on what you want. There is a buyer for every house. Keep yours in pristine condition and you won't have to worry about a buyer.

[disneysteve]

I didn't mention earlier that I live very close to the interstate, speed limit 55, typical driving speed 65-70. My backyard does not border the highway, but the houses down the street do. When we first moved here, there were trees between here and the road. Then they built a sound barrier wall which honestly doesn't do a whole lot more than the trees did.

We hear road sounds all day long. It has never been a problem. It is generally white noise to us.

[cschin4]

Personally, I like living closer to town. The house is all about location, location. If you really like the location and the convenience then that is what to think about. However, I wouldn't just assume that other houses would be built or that trees will grow, etc. It may never happen. Do you like the location and placement of the lot as is? If so, then it may be the thing for you.
As for noise, I like some noise. I couldn't stand living out in the country. I would feel very isolated. Not everyone wants to live in the woods.