Would You Buy a House That Backs up to a Main Road?

I wouldn't.

That's just me.

I'm pretty picky about noise, smog, and general busyness behind the house. It would bother me.

It would depend on the characteristics of the main road. Are we talking a 4 lane highway or the main street of a small town. A lot of local traffic or a lot of through traffic including large trucks and trailers. I would not buy a house that backed up onto a multi-lane highway.

I am like you and would at least take a look at it...

.....my husband on the other hand, would veto it. Period. End of story.

No main roads.
No power lines.

Sure. Everything has a price and as you said, this house should be less expensive than the same house not on a main road. I grew up at a fairly busy intersection and the traffic never bothered me. It wasn't ideal but my parents got a bigger, nicer house with a great yard than they would have been able to afford otherwise. It's all tradeoffs. I'd much prefer the main road at the back of the house. I see beautiful houses in beautiful towns facing main roads and am not sure if I'd do that. But obviously people do. Crappy houses on main roads sell too. So it depends on your traffic noise tolerance. My husband has zero. Because of how I grew up, even though I'm a light sleeper, traffic is one thing that doesn't bother me. So seems to be a personal choice/issue.

I probably wouldn't... it's not just because of the noise factor but also the smog.. Have you noticed (on a hot day) how the air seems around there? as they say in real-estate... location, location , location... I once heard a realtor say, don't just check out property during the day, go at night and during other times.. this way, you can get a really good idea of what you are in for.. Maybe go during rush hour.. notice, do you hear excess noise, like say horns... there is a lot to take into consideration...

Nah, I wouldnt. I think your husband is right, and it is good that he is thinking long term. I know you are not planning on selling till you are old, but you never know. 5 years down the line you may have to sell. Houses in our neighberhood are selling fairly quickly right now EXCEPT the ones backing to roads, and they are not even that busy of roads. Other houses are selling in a month or so and the ones backing to the roads, well, havent seen one sell yet except for one forclosure house.

If its behind be, I would. As long as I don't live on it I would ok to buy a house around that main road. If the schools are awesome and the price is right, why not. You'll get used to the noise.

I wouldn't want to live on a main road or back out of a drive way onto a main road that could get backed up.

I would go over to the house in the evening and on weekends. If the main road is also an ambulance route the noise might disturb your sleep.

I live on what many might consider a main road, leads to a very popular park in my city. The only two issues I have are July 4th, everybody parks on my street for the fireworks, and boaters who park their cars and trailers in front of my house all day on weekends. My neighborhood is very quiet and nice.

Even if the main road is an ambulance route the noise will disturb your sleep at first but you will get used to it and be able to sleep through it after a while.

I probably would not buy it.

My SIL's house backs up to a main road and her house has been broken into before. Luckily, she wasn't at home when it happened. Her backyard is also fenced, but it still makes for an easy getaway without anybody seeing anything.

We passed on just such a house.
And we passed on an undeveloped lot in the same neighborhood for similar reasons.

In our current neighborhood, the 4 lots that back up to the main road (the road you turn off of into our neighborhood) are all still unsold. The rest of the lots, even though they aren't all built out, were all sold to secondary buyers.

Everyone is different and if you are happy with it, then that makes it a good deal for you. The problem (it seems to me) is that your husband is NOT happy with it. And that makes it a deal killer in my book.

Our house backs up to the main road in our city. We're at a corner where there's a light, so there honestly isn't that much noise. We have the largest lot in the development, with a nice wall in back. You can hear cars, but you stop hearing them over time.

I would prefer to hear the cars than neighbors behind us blasting music or making other noise. I've talked to others further inside our development and they hear everything. We have no complaints about our location and it's done nothing to depreciate the value of our home. The house two doors down just had 18 bids on it and it has the same street behind it. If you're in a neighborhood with great schools, your home will always sell.

You have to go what is right for you and what you can handle.

For me, I would not.

We buile our first house in a golf course community, high end. We were on one of the main roads in the neighborhood and I hated it because of noise, speeders, etc. We had pets and a daughter. We ended up feeling confined to the back yard which was beautiful and overlooking the golf course but it got real old real fast for me because of the cat calls and whistles from golfers, not to mention the crude golfers who would urinate by by fence when a bathroom was less then 100 ft away.UGH

Stipulations for the next build was no busy road. We also do not care for alleyways and they have a lot of those here.

So, when this lot became available, we jumped on it. Hardly any traffic, higher end neighborhood, back up to an 85 acre park that will not be built on. Loads of privacy, houses on the park property where we are are not as close together so no looking in the neighbor's window because you are 10 ft away.

We have wildlife and love it... bobcats, coyotes, and all the other little animals.

We had an opportunity to move across town to a reall really high end neighborhood and we looked at the house. It had been on the market over a year and was a very nice house. However, when we stepped outside, you could see the tollway and hear the traffic. This was on a Saturday afternoon so we knew it would be worse on regular traffic days.

We loved the house but said no thank you because of the noise.

Fortunately, we are in a good school area and have great schools available.

Just my two cents.

I'm noise sensitive so no, I wouldn't.
Where we lived in norther Va for 17 year, the county was gradually paved over and roads were widened and widened again.
Even though we were several blocks from the main road, we were hearing truck noise and could see neon lights shining through the trees in the back yard.
One of my son's first sentences was 'Darn traffic' because he heard me cussing it out all the time.
So when we moved, we looked for wide open spaces, little traffic, made sure we were far enough away from the Navy base (the jets do touch down practice there - if the wind is right you get an earful of jet noise on occasion).
So now we hear birds, frogs, crickets and a rooster now with an occasional bleat of a sheep.
The most traffic we get is when the farm machines are either planting or harvesting.
We love it out here in the middle of a soybean field!

I don't have issue backing up to a main road, provided by "main" you're not talking about an interstate or state highway. Just a regular thoroughfare, sure. However, people like you and me are in the minority. So, yes resale will be slightly more difficult, but there are enough people who don't care about the main road issue that is not impossible. My last house just sold that backed up to a main-ish road, and while we had 3 people not bid on it because of that, the 4th person didn't care and bought it.

No I would not. I believe the risk to my son and my pets would be too great.

We live in NYC, everything is on a "main road." If you and your husband agree it is the right space for you, do it.

Everyone has different factors in mind in choosing the "right" house for them. When we were shopping for an apt, we knew we wanted 2 bedrooms, to be in walking distance of the express line of the subway, the railroad, to have garage space in the building, an elevator, and be in walking distance to my parents. A refurbed bath and kitchen would have been nice as would some outdoor space (but neither were dealbreakers). It just so happened that the first place we saw had all of what we thought we "needed" and also what we thought we "wanted."

If I were to do it again, I would add good natural light, an eat in kitchen, and a pre-war building to my needs list.

We've been here for 2 years, and anticipate being here for another 5 or more. We'll see what's available when we're next on the market.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

If the house is the right price and size and has the right schools and is otherwise in the right place, I would probably buy it and plant some trees as a further noise barrier. The level of noise would also be a factor for me. If it was really loud, then I would likely pass on the house. But everyone has their own limits. Our neighborhood is pretty quiet - but you do hear the planes slowing down for a nearby airport all the time. It might bother someone else but it doesn't bother me. Or my grandmother lives across from train tracks. Once a day at least a train goes through. After a bit you don't even notice. Our neighborhood has a fairly high resale value in part because it's established and there is more than the min. 15 ft between houses. People like the space. New development is hard to come by here, especially with some elbow room. Is that true where you are? Also, if the house faced a quieter road, that would be a big plus for me. I would not want a house where I had to punch into traffic every morning from my driveway. Traffic behind you is less of an issue. You can also market the house later as close to x highway for commuting. Just thoughts to consider.

If you have a brick fence and don't mind the noise and don't care that your friends homes elsewhere will appreciate more than yours so you will not reap the same financial rewards as they do, then it won't make any difference.

If you like to sleep with the windows open during the very nice times of the year in Mound, TX and the sound of a diesel tractor applying his engine brakes doesn't bother you because you are an very sound sleeper, then it won't make any difference. If you are always up wind from the exhaust fumes coming from the main road and don't mind the polluntants landing on your childrens outside toys or your BBQ grill or your garden vegetables, then it won't make any difference.

As for me and mine, I wouldn't live next to a major road if I could avoid it.

Good luck to you and yours.

No, I wouldn't buy it. Same reason as your H. You don't know the future and for some unforeseen reason you had to leave your house you want to do it quickly. We bought our 1st house on a main road and had to move out of state. Lost money on that one.

If it's priced right, I would absolutely consider buying it.

In fact, we DID buy a house that backs to a busy road (for our township, not really busy by other standards). I LOVE the house, phenomenal school district, the neighborhood is AWESOME and, because it was a total fixer-upper, we got it at a fabulous price. The occasional noise doesn't bother me (I grew up in a large city). It did bother my husband, who grew up in what HE calls the suburbs - I call it "rural". He is getting used to it and it doesn't bother him as much anymore.

In any case, we still have to do the major remodel on this house, but once that's done, this WILL be my dream house. And, I'll say it again, we got it for a steal because of all its issues (including the backing to a busy road one).

Your husband is right. And if you stay in this house for a very long time, your resale value will be less AND you'll lose a lot of potential buyers because of the location, which means a double whammy.

It's location, location, location. A great house in a great school district just isn't enough...

Dawn

It's all about what you are ok with. We had similar discussions before purchasing our house. Around here, the big deal is backing up to open space. It's somewhat more desirable. We actually don't like backing to the open space, too many critters, don't like people on the trails looking into our back yard, etc. So our house does not back to it, we know it will sell slightly less than the other homes that do, but as you mention, we got it for less money as well. We are quite happy. Also like you, we are here for the long haul. I wasn't going to live in a house I didn't like as well for 20 years just for resale purposes.

The difference is that you and hubby don't agree. Maybe he will fall in love with the house as you have. Everything sounds different on paper. But if he is hesitant, I don't know.... I would hate to think of him complaining about this for the next couple of decades!

So to answer your question, I would buy a home that backed to a main road if I really loved the house. As long as it's not a highway, and as long as the price reflects this, I'd be fine. It's not as if every house in your neighborhood will be for sale when you move either, and yours would be the last to go. People look for homes based on what is up for sale. Of course there were homes we might have bought instead, but they weren't for sale!!

Good luck.

Nope, I wouldn't, but if you and husband can handle the noise, then I don't see why not.

I don't know why resale value is an issue -- you might sell lower, but you're buying lower, for the same reason.

However, if your husband doesn't agree, then I guess you can't buy it.

i would as long as there was a fence, which u say there is.. i see no problem with that... now if it was a highway thatd b another story.. iv seen houses lik that and thought, god that has to be annoying

I wouldn't because I have outside cats. Distance from a main road was a dealbreaker when we were shopping. We saw several that were great deals but there was too much traffic for the cats.

I would plant cedars or evergreens very thickly along the back wall to help the sound. They are very dense and the sound just doesn't make it through them very loud.

We almost did. You couldnt see the road they were a lot of trees and shrubbery behind it. It was a highway actually and the noise wasn't bad. It was almost soothing.
We didnt buy it because it didnt have a basement. We loved it though, and it did sell quickly for a good price. You just need to weigh the pros and cons. You could have what you feel is a perfect house, and have a hard time selling. Just like there are houses you see go up for sale and think it will sit on the market for a long time and it sells quickly. You really just never know!

Depends on what you mean by "main" road. The main road off our neighborhood, that gets the most traffic, is backed by another neighborhood, so it is residential traffic. I wouldnt mind that so much, but if you are talking commercial traffic, such as big trucks and major traffic, I would for sure pass on it.
We moved from a main road, I think the best part was when fire trucks would fly down the street going 60mph with sirens, I swear it felt like it shook my house. Ugh, I do not miss it for a second!

I bought a house that FRONTS on a main road... Because its what we could afford, in the area we wanted to be in.

Unlike you, though, I/we were only planning on living here for 3-5 years. (Finish my school, add on... The neighborhood we're in would support up to a half million in improvements). It's become, maybe not my 'forever' house... But there won't be the quick ish turnaround.

I would NOT have bought this house if I knew we'd be here 10+ years... But life does that.