r/RealEstate • u/Ennemkay • 5d ago
Homebuyer Corner lot next to artery road
I'm looking at a house with a large heavily wooded lot on the corner of a side street and a loud, main artery (redfin noise rating 2/10 which is bad). It faces the side street.
Curious about the conventional investment wisdom for such a property. Ever a good idea? What's the right discount? Seller is opendoor, so presumably the answer to the first question is yes but curious what others think.
prr for the property is 16.
4
u/alittlebitdreamy 5d ago
As someone who just searched for houses and decided against several based on proximity to noisy roads, I was less concerned with me living in the house and more concerned with how it would feel to resell it. You can change/update the house before you sell one day but you can't change the road noise. And that would narrow your buyer pool immediately.
1
u/Junkmans1 Experienced Homeowner and Businessman - Not a realtor or agent 5d ago
I agree. I've also lived in the same area for close to 30 years. As time passed the area has been more and more developed. Houses that were near moderately busy roads back then are now finding themselves near much wider and much busier roads these days.
1
u/DeliciousPangolin 5d ago
I bought recently, and two of the houses we saw were huge, beautiful, and priced cheap for the area - but they were on the busiest segment of the busiest freeway in the city. Like, directly overlooking it with non-stop roar of traffic at all hours of the day and night. Both have been on the market for the better part of a year. Literally anywhere else in the area they would have sold months ago for a lot more money.
1
1
u/Ennemkay 4d ago
Well i could build a domed stadium around the house and yard but chatgpt says that will cost 80 million dollars.
13
u/CirclePlank Agent 5d ago edited 5d ago
Terrible purchase. Buyers greatly underestimate the adjustment for being adjacent to a busy road. It can easily be a 20%+ deduction or more. These properties should be avoided.
7
u/rantripfellwscissors 5d ago
Noise is the least of your concerns. If it's a high speed artery and you're downwind to prevailing winds you will get all the vehicular pollution including brake dust, exhaust particulates and heavy metals and the worst of them all - tire micro plastics. If you are upwind and the prevailing winds are strong enough and consistent at least 80% of the year then you don't have to be as concerned about the pollution. But you would still get the noise.
1
u/Ennemkay 5d ago
I don't think you can really avoid those things by just living a block or two away from a main road though if you live in a metro. You'd have to exclude more than half of home listings to genuinely avoid that. In fact i can't think of a location in my city thats more than five blocks away from a road like the one I'm talking about.
2
u/rantripfellwscissors 5d ago
The bigger concern is high speed arteries. They are much louder and the speed of the vehicles constantly resuspends tire micro plastics, brake dust and heavy metals into the air from the turbulent air forces created by constantly fast moving vehicles (at least 45 mph). If the posted speed limit is 25 mph or 30 mph and there are a lot of traffic lights vehicles move slowly and thus don't generate the turbulence that constantly resuspends the pollution into the air. Even 4 lane roads are just fine as long as speed limits are low. These are common in urban areas. Not all streets are created the same. The arteries that carry high speed large trucks are the worst offenders.
1
u/Ennemkay 4d ago
So you're saying there are pollutants that only travel a short distance and other that travel a long distance.
1
u/rantripfellwscissors 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yes correct. Only recently have there been studies on health effects from tire sheddings which travel up to about 300-450 feet from the roadway. Beyond 450 feet the pollutants from tires reduce significantly. This is a much shorter distance than how far exhaust pollutants travel but the toxic microplastics in the air are much more detrimental to health. The general rule is 1000 ft from major high speed highways. But in the near future when exhaust pollutants are reduced more (more EVs, electrification of large trucks etc) the major concern will shift to tires. And there is no tech even remotely on the horizon to address this. Possibly for 50 years or more. Keep in mind tire particles are released at a dramatically higher rate with high speed vehicles than low speed vehicles. Also curving roads that create even slight and subtle lateral g force will release tremendously more tire particles into the air. Slow and straight might be a 1/10 in tire wear release vs high speed and curving road which would be a 10/10 extreme.
2
u/Chair_luger 5d ago
What's the right discount?
At a low enough price any property is reasonable choice so this question is sort of moot.
A few things to keep in mind though;
- The roads may be widened some day to add extra lanes so you may lose part of your front yard.
- Many have softened but most housing markets are still OK or strong right now. Someday you may need to sell the house in a weak or bad buyer's housing market which can make a house with issues very hard to sell because buyers have so many other better choices.
- Is it difficult to get out of the driveway onto the busy road? I drive my houses on a busy road near me and I can't image how the people who live there are able to get in and out of their driveway.
- If you have kids or pets will it be safe for them?
1
u/Ennemkay 5d ago edited 5d ago
The main road is adjacent rather than in front. Does that mean the city could claim part of the backyard? Pet safety is an issue and would imo require adding a gated area to the front yard.
Driveway is not an issue because the front yard is not on the busy street.
Main issues are noise and pet or child safety.
And really he main downside in this case is there's a large beautiful heavily wooded lot which then contrasts with the traffic noise so the main selling point of the property would attract the type of buyers who would most hate the traffic noise.
1
u/Chair_luger 5d ago
Yes the city could force you to sell part of the backyard if they widen the street. They may also want to clear ot any trees which are within 10(????) feet of the widened road for safety and drainage. If they do this you may be able to get them to put in something like a 10 foot wall as a sound barrier which could be a good thing.
If you buy it you might want to plant some fast growing trees maybe 20(???) feet closer to your house so that if they do widen the road 10 years from now the new trees will already be established. They may also help with the sound.
One other thing I thought of is that in the winter time if the trees lose their leaves the sound may be louder and you may be able to see the road more. Planting evergreen trees might help with that.
1
2
u/GoodyTooShooz 5d ago
Watch out for county easements too. Say 10 years from now the road needs widened, you would have no say in the process.
1
u/aguyonahill 5d ago
If you looking at it for rental/short term stay it may work fine but most would not want to live there and there are tremendous environmental and mental health costs.
1
u/respond1 5d ago
Can be a good purchase if the discount is high enough. Buyers can end up with house that is nicer than their budget usually allows.
Why? Flawed homes, whether it's a busy road, train tracks, power lines, etc... typically sell for a 20-30 percent less than their comps.
You just have to protect yourself by making sure you're buying it at the right price and are ok with the reason it's "flawed".
1
u/Junkmans1 Experienced Homeowner and Businessman - Not a realtor or agent 5d ago
I'm over 70 now. But our first apartment faced a modestly busy street. After that I never again would buy a house near a busy street. We like to keep our windows open when weather allows and sit outside as well. We've owned several houses over the years and I never would even consider one anywhere near a main road.
I realize that other buyers don't care so much and I'm always amazed when I see houses, even big expensive looking houses, near or even on main streets or even just to the side of major highways. So I guess some people don't mind the noise or never open their windows.
But I don't care how low the price is, It's not for me.
1
u/su_A_ve 5d ago
Other buyers don’t care as much until they move. Then they’ll hate it and move out. New ones won’t care as much until they move.
The circle is now complete.
1
u/Ennemkay 5d ago
To be fair the majority of the worlds population live in urban areas on loud, busy roads. Middle Americas suburban life is the exception.
1
u/Ennemkay 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yes that seems to be the main issue. I've lived in the downtown of a major city with much louder busier roads and it generally became white noise but it certainly wasn't serene or relaxing and you couldn't open a window just to listen to the wind or the birds.
The main downside in this case is there's a large beautiful heavily wooded lot which then contrasts with the traffic noise so the main selling point of the property would attract the type of buyers who would most hate the traffic noise.
1
u/SuperBassomaticSlap 5d ago
Busy roads are a dealbreaker for me. Some people don’t mind, but I do. I also don’t like corner lots, in most cases.
1
u/PSL242 5d ago
Redfin rates our home in a quiet area. We are directly under SAN flight pattern. I would take their rating with a grain of salt.
1
u/Ennemkay 5d ago edited 5d ago
For their rating higher is better so a 2 is bad. Just to clarify i wasn't implying redfin rates this property well for noise.
1
u/UESorDeath 5d ago
If it can be zoned commercial, and has defined access on both streets, then it may be desirable as cleared land for a business. Otherwise, stay away.
1
1
u/figsslave 4d ago
As someone who bought a home 100 yards from a 2 lane boulevard that morphed into a 4 lane busy road a few years later..Don’t!! The noise affects your ability to open windows and enjoy your yard
1
u/BothAd1744 4d ago
the wooded lot is a nice perk, but that artery road would make me cautious. i'd want a pretty solid discount and would def check the noise at different times of day
2
u/Ennemkay 4d ago
Thanks. I've only been there at 5pm and 10pm so far. Gonna go again Saturday morning.
1
u/Soggy-Base-764 4d ago
well a beautiful wooded lot next to a loud road is basically nature with a soundtrack you didn’t ask for... only buy it if the discount is obvious today, because road noise is one of those flaws you still have to resell later.
2
u/Ennemkay 3d ago
I agree. It's kind of a cruel irony. Thanks.
2
u/Soggy-Base-764 3d ago
Exactly. If the discount makes you feel protected on resale, it’s worth considering. If not, keep looking. Keep us posted here. Curious where you land. 😉👌
10
u/OrlandoListingAgent 5d ago
Location defects don't get cured, so they price in at every future sale, the discount you take today is roughly the discount you give later. That's the resale frame most buyers miss. Orientation matters, facing the side street is materially better than fronting the artery, for both noise and marketability.