Buying a house on a busy street?

[FIREseeker]

I've noticed houses in my area go for about $10,000 less if they are on busy streets. The neighborhoods are nice, they just face roads with heavy traffic. People are friendly where I live so there's not much hornhonking/road rage, etc. But I'm wondering what it would be like to live like that. Has anyone else been in that situation?

I've wondered this for awhile so on my last vacation, I rented a hotel room near an interstate. It didn't bother me.

[Fishindude77]

My brother lives in a nice house on a busy highway, as do a couple good friends. It's pretty nice, they just sit on the back porch instead of the front for a peaceful outdoor activities.
* You have to keep your place looking nice, because everyone can see it.
* Snow plows throw lots of gravel and salt in the yard and driveway.
* You have to pick up more litter.
* If you want to sell something, stick it out front with a sign and it goes quick.
* Be careful entering, exiting, and doing lawn work along the road.
* Loose cats and dogs won't last long.
* Every now and then someone knocks on the door with a broken down car, or one slides off in your lawn.
* It's easy for people to find your house.
* You get used to the road noise.

[greenskeeper]

$10k discount is nothing on the average 30 year mortgage....I'd go for the alternative.

[disneysteve]

When we were house hunting, we made a list of criteria that were absolutes for us. This was one of them - not on a main road. We pass those houses all the time and can't imagine having to back out of our driveway every day into traffic. That's just an accident waiting to happen. Or having a kid run out to chase a ball. Or cars zooming past at all hours of the night.

IMO it's not worth the 10K discount. I honestly don't know why anyone wants those homes.

[Drake3287]

Don't do it unless you fully realize the future financial impacts of your decision. That road is only going to get busier plus in most area's like where I live, all the house's on busy roads end up being turned into rentals simply because the house value doesn't go up like the others and the fact that almost no one will buy it when it comes time to sell.

I just noticed one in my area the other day and even mentioned to my wife that no one is going to buy that house. Once it does't sell it'll be turned into a rental like the rest.

Another thing is pets, almost suicide to have a dog or even more so, a cat on a busy street. (not to mention kids)

[snafu]

The 1st rule of real estate is location, location, location. You can change nearly any feature in a home but not it's location. If you ever need to sell, a problem location will take so much longer to sell for so much lower value than the others. The best advice we were given was to ignore all decorating and appliance. For value seek the least expensive in your preferred district based on dollars per square foot.

I figure we all have a different view of what constitutes 'heavy traffic.' I'd find a way to actually measure decibel sound and whether the community designated it as a 'major' roadway, 'truck route' or public transit roadway. Is it a road that requires traffic lights?

When our house wasn't ready on possession date, the frantic realtor rented a week-to-week two story rental for us. It was a lovely, furnished home but backed on to a busy roadway [a decade later it became a freeway off ramp]. The backyard was unusable during daylight hours due to traffic noise. It was out of the question to open the window in the back bedroom until 9 pm but never interfered with sleep so long as you were up by 7 AM.

[Bob B.]

Read Pet Sematary.

[scfr]

"Busy" is a relative term, and it depends on what kind of traffic you are talking about and who would be living there. A single person (might be just fine), or someone with a house full of really young children (heck no)?

If it would be a safety hazard to me or my loved ones I wouldn't do it.

A savings of $10K is also relative. If you are talking about $90K vs. $100K, that's a big deal. But if you are talking about $600K vs. $610K then it's probably not worth the savings.

[BudgetPronto]

Last time I was searching for a house, I was in a very similar situation. I had the choice between a place close to a highway or a house in a smaller community. The latter choice was $5,000 less.

In situations like this, I realize that quality of life is much more important than a dime saved. Of course, $5,000 is no "dime".

So I went with the home in a quite community and I definitely do not regret that decision!

[feh]

We live on a cul de sac and absolutely love the lack of traffic.

[ua_guy]

It all depends on your perspective. If you don't mind having people around and noise from cars, people, everything, all the time, then the cost savings is yours. If you're like me, then you pay a premium to be as far away from people as possible.

[Jovanny]

I wouldn’t buy such property, unless I couldn’t afford something else. I really dislike the noise of traffic. Having a home in reasonably quiet setting is what I prefer.

[FIREseeker]

It's hard to decide whether or not saving $10,000 is worth just a few more months of work before I retire. Probably is.

[disneysteve]

It's hard to decide whether or not saving $10,000 is worth just a few more months of work before I retire. Probably is.

I don't think this is a financial decision. It is very much a lifestyle, safety, and comfort decision. You can't put a price on that stuff. I wouldn't buy the house on the busy street if it was $100,000 cheaper.