Would you buy a house on main road? (inexpensive, commercial, states)

[Brave Stranger]

Never, ever. I grew up on a major city street. You are exposed to constant auto traffic. Constant foot traffic. Lack of privacy. Constant noise. Difficulty pulling your car on to the street & into traffic. The list of drawbacks goes on & on. I now live on a dead end street & I'm spoiled.....can't ever imagine living on a main street again.

[AlaskaErik]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is the effect of vehicle exhaust gases. Busy streets have elevated levels that can be harmful, especially to young children.

[phetaroi]

Just a reminder to those who imply such houses would never sell. They're all being lived in.

[cp102]

I would not buy it, I prefer quiet, I can't sleep with road noise, traffic. It wouldn't matter how they priced it. I dont want the extra smog the cars will add. I live on a road where there are only 5 houses. We are inside a sub division. But custom built homes have a separate street. So there is no speeding, no noise. Its perfect for us. I have lived all over the world I can't stand noise at bed time I am a very light sleeper. Good luck.

[Spottednikes]

Originally Posted by phetaroi

Just a reminder to those who imply such houses would never sell. They're all being lived in.

Here, it is mostly by people that bought when the rd wasn't a main rd, and had little traffic. Now they can't sell.

[FCNova]

That's a hard sell for me. I can overlook things I don't like about a house if I know I can improve or fix them down the road. Being on a busy street is a characteristic that you could never change and I'd fear I would grow to really hate it.

[H0mebuyer]

I have and bought it at a great price. I liked hussle bustle and direct access to the road. There was no other way for us to afford a house like that in that neighborhood but to pick that one. I sold it last year and though it took 6 weeks to sell and selling price was lower than the COMPS, I still made some money as I bought it at a lower price than COMPS as well.

[Sunshine Rules]

As a long time real estate agent, my take on buying a home on a busy road is this:

First, they are more difficult to sell, many buyers won't be interested because of all of the reasons already given in this thread

Second, because they are more difficult to sell, you'll generally see a lower sales price vs similar homes in the area not on a busy road

In our area the buyers of homes on busy roads are generally investors, buying for rental purposes,so again, lower sales prices.

Homes on busy roads, for the reasons above, tend to appreciate less than homes not on busy roads in the same area.

You have to consider the potential of road widening, which could cut significantly into the front yard.


For all of the above reasons, I would suggest thinking long and hard before buying a home on a busy street if you will need to resell in just a few years.

[keraT]

I didn't get the house. It was HUD house, I put in my offer at 20K lower based on the work that needed to be done (some cosmetic work) & being on busy road. I went with my realtor suggestion, she is usually right on money. I am sure I would have gotten the house if I went up 10K but my heart wasn't really into it & after reading most of the comments it sounds like it was a good thing.


If I got the house at the price I asked for, I would have been happy living there and then renting it out after until I found another owner.

[cargoman]

While looking for homes I utilized google maps of course. Some amazing looking homes on the MLS page proved to be non contenders when google maps revealed that they were on a main road. Two features of my current home stood out to me. The awesome view of the valley and the fact that the entire neighberhood consists of a double cul de sac with one way in and out to the main road. I hear the occasional Harley or monster truck but it lasts for a few seconds and is still very muted.