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We went to an open house today and really liked the house. However, it's on a street that backs to the Fairfax County Water Authority treatment plant in Herndon, which treats drinking water from the Potomac River. It is a massive facility as you can see from this image: 11903 Crayton Ct, Herndon, VA 20170 - Google Maps, but the back of the house is beautifully landscaped and there is no indication that the plant is behind it. The agent and neighbors said the plant's operations are extremely quiet and cannot be heard from the house. How much would the location impact the value of this $900k+ house, and could there be potential health effects from being so close to a facility like this?
Your agent can best answer that for you. My opinion on location is that the impact on the propery is probably already factored into the price (would it be $1M+ if somewhere else?). You;ll have to do your research on health affects and or sound/smell from the plant. Remember the agent at the open house represents the seller. Get a buyers agent to give you some advice on that point.
I would hang out around the house on different days and times to see how quiet operations really are. I would think the state water quality department would be the people to ask about your health concerns.
Honestly I wouldnt even consider it. But that is my opinion and what matters is what you think. Will you be able to live with that in your backyard? I rented a condo in Centreville that was on top of I-66 and I said oh this will be fine but man was it noisy. I was glad I was not commited to it because the noise level was unbearable. I think for $900k you can find something that is not near a large facility like that. And resale value would be a huge factor for me as well especially with all of the houses that are on the market around here.
Actually, the big thing to remember is that you will have no backyard neighbors! That's almost as good as having a cemetery behind you.
I'm not sure I would qualify having a cemetery behind your house as a good thing. There are many cultures in the world where cemeteries are a serious negative and those people won't even look at a house close to one. Any time you eliminate a good chunk of possible buyers, you lower the demand for your property and therefore its value. For resale purposes, I discourage my clients from buying homes next to commercial property, cemetaries, water towers, high tension wires, industrial facilities, etc. whenever possible.
I'm not sure what real estate values are like in VA, but I imagine $900K buys you a lot of house and is considered pretty high end. If you're buying in the upper end of your market, I would definitely avoid a house with question marks like this. With your budget, I can't imagine you have to make this kind of compromise.
It is possible that you can go to the door of the water treatment plant, knock on the door, and get a lot of questions answered about the plant.
My experience has always been that if I am pleasant and smiley, the workers there are bored and really pleased to have an excuse to stop work for a few minutes to talk about themselves and what they do. I have never yet had an unwelcoming response.
Well, there's drinking water treatment and waste water treatment and I'd rather live close to the former rather than the latter.
Seriously, if you're worried about odors, check it out on a day when there's a strong wind from the south.
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