Buying a house close to a freeway: Yay or Nay?

[MotleyCrew]

Milgard makes a noise buffer window for freeway homes. It is a bit more than the regular window, but we did use them once upon a time and what a difference they made. I am not sure they still have them, but maybe worth looking into.

[Great Joy]

We would never buy a home near a highway because:
1) lower appreciation increase (if at all in some areas)
2) negative noise level inside home and outside in yard
3) harder to re-sell (Most people won't buy near a highway. This is important because even though a person may buy w/ a plan to stay a long time; however, situations can change requiring to sell home sooner than originally desired)

[foma]

Interesting points Great Joy. So, let's say if your neighborhood is visible but you can't really pinpoint your home? Or, what if there's a good "buffer" between your home and the hwy, like there's empty land that won't get built on or there is a park? What if the neighborhood is hardly visible, which I know is a little vague but I'll let you presume the "degree" of the word hardly? I'm very curious b'c we will be buying a home next year and we want to live near the hwy. How close is "too close"?

[Great Joy]

First, to help reply to your question, I think it would be best to explain my definition of "near a highway". It would be:
1) seeing the highway from your house (or visa versa)
and/or
2) hearing the road noise when outside the home. In my opinion, it would be really bad if a person can hear the road noise inside the house.

Choosing a home that has one (bad) or both (really bad) of the two points above are "too close to the highway" in my opinion.

If there's a park between the road and the home, then the park would have to be huge. (And, we wouldn't want to see or hear according to both points above.)

If there's empty land, I wouldn't buy even if "they" say it won't get built on because the property owner's mind can change and then who knows what you will have next to your home/neighborhood. We've seen that happen.

I believe it all comes down to most people will be much less likely to buy a home with a "negative". "Negatives" are road noise, airport noise, power lines, cell towers, bad odors from manufacturers or farms, poorly maintained homes or buildings nearby, high crime area, poor school rating area, etc.

If you're considering a home or neighborhood that you can't see or hear the highway, then I think you're fine.

[foma]

Originally Posted by Great Joy

bad odors from manufacturers or farms

Thank goodness we are renting but this is the first time we've ever moved to an area where this is an issue. Buckeye has some major stink! I like the seclusion but holy cow does the cow manuer and chicken farm smell awful. When DH searched for a home to rent, I asked him to look at the cars parked outside, if there were power lines near the house and a host of other questions but I never thought to ask about the "smell" of the neighborhood. We've gotten "used to it" by now but the new car smell sure went away fast. *shucks*

Great advice - thanks!

[BillyBaroo]

Originally Posted by foma

T I like the seclusion but holy cow does the cow manuer and chicken farm smell awful.

I love the smell of a farm. Kind of weird, but there's just something about that rich earthy smell that I like. I definitely like it better than the smell of car exhaust.

[Great Joy]

foma, yes it is disappointing how quickly the new car smell vanishes!

Also, just to help clarify my comment about empty land, I was referring to empty land between a neighborhood and a highway if it is not owned by the developer because over time empty land next to a highway in/near a city is most often sold and developed.

When we've househunted in the past, we've always asked questions about empty land and the future plans with that regardless of location (even if it's not near a highway). We feel most comfortable when the same developer who is building the neighborhood also owns the empty land because they normally have set future plans for the empty land (future park, school, retail complex, nature preserve, etc). City websites also provide great map info of their future land development.

Best wishes to you in your search!