Would you buy a home that backs a busy road? (square footage, price)

[Snow-Flake]

So, I have a question for my CD experts - would you buy a house that backs Lebanon Road in west Frisco, TX? My sister is contemplating buying her first home and as objective as I'd like to be, I just can't because I know how much she loves this home and how perfect it is for her family's needs at this time. As a realtor, I have an opinion, but as a sister, I have another. The house is a great deal for the square footage, area, and upgrades, good sized backyard, but it backs up to Lebanon Rd. You can hear some noise in the backyard, but none at all inside the home. Would the location deter you from buying??

[thatswanlady]

Not at all familiar with this specific area -- can you perhaps give us some generalities about the area? I mapped it, and it seems to be a split highway with several businesses.

Personally, I wouldn't buy a house that backed up/faced a busy road, especially if I had small children or plans to have them. If the price was really right, my emphatic "NO" would get a bit weaker, especially if the rest of the house really is as perfect as you say, but I would still prefer to live in a slightly smaller/less updated house on a quiet street. There might not be any noise in the house on a regular day, but bigger roads/highways tend to have a lot more accidents and emergency vehicles blasting through at all hours of the night. Not a fan of that idea. We live near the end of a cul de sac now, in the back part of a medium-sized neighborhood, and I love the quiet at night. I also appreciate that I've been able to get to know the cars of the neighbors, and it's relatively easy to spot a visitor's car.

[OuttatheRain]

Personally, I would not buy a house that backed to a major road. The traffic noise would bother me, and I would think that it would be harder to resell later.

[JONOV]

Hard to say...Does it have a fence? Does it have other noise remediation in place? I mean, if it backs up to the road but has a berm and a fence and some pine trees in the back, that's different than an empty yard that spills out to the road. Every property is unique. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it isn't right for your sister.

[Okey Dokie]

There's a reason why it's a "good deal" and the reason is that road behind it.

[chaotix]

I would not. No way. No how. She can change any home and make it lovely, however, she cannot change the road noise. She would probably tolerate it for a while, but when the novelty of that first lovely home sets in, that noise could become a nuisance long term not to mention all the exhaust fumes from the trucks and cars along that road.

[Snow-Flake]

There is a brick fence for the neighborhood, then a 8 foot board on board fence that wraps around the entire backyard. Thanks for all the input!

[Blue-skies]

I would not. It might not be a nuisance for the short time you are there to see the house but faced with the same noise all the time is totally different story.

[SunBeachFun]

In my recent house search, the 2 homes I found that were the most "me" backed to a busy road. I loved both these homes, and the only reason I could afford them was the noise from the road. All the fencing and pine trees couldn't cover that up. Even though I couldn't hear the noise in the house, the outdoor spaces in both homes were unusable due to the noise. So it became a hard "no".

I once rented a home that backed up to a busy road. Another side effect in addition to the noise was the soot from buses and trucks that made use of the road. My windows always had a grimey film.

[lv2trvl]

I would not worry about living there, BUT, I would worry about resale so I would not buy it.