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Old 03-22-2008, 02:06 PM
 
Location: Bellingham, WA
464 posts, read 1,039,683 times
Reputation: 1062

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If you liked everything about a house, would your decision to buy it be affected by the possibility of a road being built nearby?

I'm interested in a house that's in a cul-de-sac, though not at the very end of it. This isn't an internal road in the subdivision; more like a perimeter road. So, on one side of this road, the backs of the homes have yards facing an undeveloped wooded area.

There's a possibility that this wooded area may have a road going through it which will parallel the cul-de-sac road. It wouldn't be a major road, but it would be connecting two different neighborhoods. I believe there is going to be a fifteen foot buffer of woods between the back yards and the sidewalk/road.

So, would this make you reconsider your decision? For what it's worth, there are plenty of other people who bought homes on this cul-de-sac road so it doesn't seem to have scared them away, but still...

Also, if you're concerned about a problem like this, are you every really truly safe from having a road built near your property if it borders a so-called green-belt?
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Old 03-22-2008, 06:12 PM
 
27,206 posts, read 46,547,726 times
Reputation: 15661
The only thing that would prevent me from buying is how much trafic will come through that road. We have in our area a great community and lots of people are eager to buy over there and I own a home my self in that community. There has been a sub community build that backs up in the end near the cul-de-sac to a main road with lots of trafic, probable way more than what you are describing but now people want to move out either because of the noise and others because of the finacial mortgage problems. None of these homes even in short sales are very much looked at because of the busy road. Where I live there is a road with trafic and the noise is okay (I live further from the road and don't hear anything), but the County is going to widen the road in the near future and many home owners are getting the road closer to their back yard and are facing decrease in their property value. So it all depends on what the plans for the road are and how much trafic it will attrack.
I have also seen people living on conservation lots with lots of trees backing up their yard and now they are starting to build a new community back there. Of cause they still have the conservation but so many trees have been taken away that they will see the whole community so well that it's a huge difference from what was once a beautiful conservation view is now reduced to half as beautiful. As long as you aware of that you have no surprises.
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Old 03-25-2008, 01:48 PM
 
Location: Bellingham, WA
464 posts, read 1,039,683 times
Reputation: 1062
UPDATE:

I've learned that this road will in fact be an arterial and should be completed in 2010 or so. Predicted traffic flow on the road will be about 1100 cars an hour at peak traffic flow. By 2035, that flow is predicted to increase to 1550 cars an hour.

I like this house, the area and the price, but don't know what to think of this road that will be behind it in the near future.

Should this be a deal-breaker?
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Old 03-25-2008, 02:09 PM
 
Location: Houston, Texas
10,447 posts, read 49,527,050 times
Reputation: 10614
Not a good idea. Realtors call this condition "functional obsolescence" which means you have a problem that can not be corrected.

Your other neighbors bought because either they have no idea about the future road or they just dont care or can not think that far ahead. It may be nice and quite now but when those cars and trucks come booming down that new road do you really want to hear it? Will a future buyer want to hear it? The difference is you can not hear it now, a future buyer will.

There is another flip side to it. Most people who have to put up with road noise, in time never even hear it anymore. They just drown it out. Recently where I am now the FAA changed the flight patterns and these planes fly right over our heads. At first we call complained and ranted at meetings to no avail but months later we dont even hear it anymore unless some one points it out.

I think you said there will be a 15' buffer of trees between the new road and you. That really does little to drown the noise. I can promise you that. The fact that you would not be able to see the road and you look out your back door to trees is a plus though.

Weigh everything and think it out. Are the interior homes already sold out? If so then obviously the builder listed them first for good reason. Think about that one. Builders typicly list the best lots first because as they are sold the neighborhood looks more livable. Then they list the least desirable ones last and sometimes even discount them just to unload them. But also because even being less desirable, potential buyers get to drive around the sold out area and see how nice it is. That gets buyers thinking positively and sways their thinking to liking the whole rather then a section.

Oh....and dont tell anyone I told you some trade secrets.....................

Good luck !
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Old 03-25-2008, 03:03 PM
 
Location: Bellingham, WA
464 posts, read 1,039,683 times
Reputation: 1062
Thank you very much for the insight. I never thought much about the order in which houses are built and sold in subdivisions, but what you are saying makes a lot of sense.

I compared the traffic count on this proposed road to existing roads to get a real-world idea of what the situation would be like. I have to say, I don't like the idea of this at all. So I guess it's back to looking...
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Old 03-25-2008, 09:34 PM
 
Location: Cary, NC
2,407 posts, read 10,656,128 times
Reputation: 1380
I suppose this is a case of incurable functional obsolescence. Personally, it wouldn't bother me that the house backs up to a road--I prefer that to staring into someone elses backyard.
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Old 03-26-2008, 08:00 AM
 
1,408 posts, read 8,002,922 times
Reputation: 676
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoastieTX View Post
UPDATE:

I've learned that this road will in fact be an arterial and should be completed in 2010 or so. Predicted traffic flow on the road will be about 1100 cars an hour at peak traffic flow. By 2035, that flow is predicted to increase to 1550 cars an hour.

I like this house, the area and the price, but don't know what to think of this road that will be behind it in the near future.

Should this be a deal-breaker?

That sounds like an aweful lot of cars to me and personally speaking it would be a deal breaker. good luck to you in your search.
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Old 03-26-2008, 08:44 AM
 
Location: Chaos Central
1,122 posts, read 4,095,621 times
Reputation: 902
I know people who moved to a home on a major road to get away from their subdivision neighbors who drove motorcycles and ATVs around their yard all day long.
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