How to handicap presence of train thru back yard (Newton: cul-de-sac, rental)

[495neighbor]

Get the train schedule for that commuter line and request a showing during one of the times the train goes by. In your situation I would want to experience the train noise and vibration and find out if it was something I could live with, before signing on the line. Since your original issue with Marblehead was the amount of time you spent commuting to Chelmsford I would also do a test run of the commute and compare it with the one you are doing from Groton, so you aren't in the situation of selling next year due to unforeseen factors you didn't consider about the new place.

[goyguy]

Originally Posted by goyguy

So long as street-level crossings are nearby, the engineer rarely has to blow the whistle OR slow down.

I meant to open that sentence with, "So long as NO street-level crossings..." My bad!

[mdinmass]

I would also note that many commuter rail lines (especially the Fitchburg Line) also carry freight. There is a heavy freight train presence on this line west of Littleton, and some (but not particularly heavy) freight traffic east of Littleton. A few years ago, there was a proposal to run 100-car freight trains carrying ethanol from Littleton east, through the "fake Mayberrys" of Concord, Lincoln etc and then over to a petroleum facility in Revere where it would be blended with gasoline and hauled out by rail over the same route (including the Fitchburg Line). NIMBYs and community opposition fought it, but I have some acquaintences in the business and they feel its only a matter of time before the plan goes forward again. They think the freight railroad is waiting for the MBTA to finish the upgrades on the Fitchburg Line before the trains start rolling. Interstate Commerce Laws protect the railroad from all local laws/ordinances regarding freight traffic and it will go through as planned, probably in the next few years.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by traffic_lover

I like a house that has commuter rail tracks right there in back yard maybe 200 ft from house. How the heck do I factor that into market analysis if making offer.
What percentage of ppl would this be a deal breaker?? I know it's personal tolerance but if I turn around & hafta sell....

I don't know what the answer is, but here's how I'd do it:

Find recently sold comps near commuter rail tracks. There may not be that many in the particular town you're looking for, so if you have to expand out to other, similar towns. Find recently sold comps in the same town not near the commuter rail. With enough comps you should be able to regress on your data and get an approximate trend that should answer your question. You can run a similar regression on time on market to answer your question of how much longer the property takes to sell.

Once you have your answer, you should compare to what your discount would be in a similar situation. If it's more than the market discount it's a good deal for you. I've never lived right on a train line but I lived across the street. It didn't really bother me, but I was further away. There was a station very close by, which actually helped because I could walk to the commuter rail and the trains generally slowed down to stop at the station.

[bohemka]

We lived in a condo in Chicago right on a metra line. Like 10 feet away. We're now married so I guess I wasn't that much of a jerk about it, but I wondered audibly what the heck my now-wife was thinking when she bought that condo. Then I moved in and forgot about the trains after a month. Didn't even notice them.

That said, the perception that it's a big deal is there, and if you do want the option of a quick sell, maybe that's not right for you (after all, you did say that was a life lesson).

Instead of looking at other houses on the line, I'd look at other houses that match your house: schools, floor plan preferences, condition, size, proximity to conveniences, etc., and see how the price stacks up. See what discount (if any) has been built in. Think about what kind of discount you'd be comfortable with.

With all the data available you could run comps from every angle and have a decent idea of what the market thinks. In the end, though, it's what you're comfortable with.

[Cape Cod Todd]

My Mom lives about half a mile from commuter tracks and a mile from a crossing. When I'm on the phone with her I can hear the rumble through the woods and the blast of the horn at the crossing. I'm a train nut but I wouldn't want to live too close to that crossing and the horn noise several times a day.

Like MikePru wrote there is no equation that will give you a price to offer. You and your buyers agent need to look at the comparable homes in the area and take those into consideration. If you are not happy with the tracks being so close you probably shouldn't buy the house.

[SandyJet]

Near me a good commuter train line if you can walk to station and folks commute to work adds value to a home even if you can hear the train.


If you are smack against the tracks between stations and you get train noise and still have to drive to station it hurts value.

Also how many times a day does train run? Lesser not much of an impact. I rented a house against tracks in the sticks where train ran every 2-4 hours and it was nice and peaceful. As I had no neighbor behind house.

In Queens NY under the Elevator Train of 7 line where trains run every three minutes 24 hours a day you would shoot your self

[SandyJet]

MapQuest Maps - Driving Directions - Map

[traffic_lover]

THANKS EVERYBODY for great input. Another life lesson i learned (my wife did NOT want to move to groton...I'm gonna leave it up to my wife.

[Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by SandyJet

In Queens NY under the Elevator Train of 7 line where trains run every three minutes 24 hours a day you would shoot your self

Lol I lived in Astoria next to the RR for a time....you could see the people in the train :-)

It is like anything else, some people won't mind the trains, some will. It's like anything that is in proximity to your house, for some a positive, for others a negative.