Buying by a Busy Road

malbert

Ok

We’ve had a nightmare of a time fining a house to suit us. Two adults and four young children; 5 and under.
Our list of “wants” includes:
Good area
Good schools
Quiet
Large House
Large Plot of land
Affordable!!

Like most people we are on a limited budget, but have actually offered on a total of six hours in as many months!!

1) We offered, on a big house on a good size plot - waited a week and then someone came in at the full asking price. Just as well though as it would have needed a lot of work, was right by a water course and would have had a lot of problems – boiler broken etc.
2) We loved this house- good size with a huge plot. We offered, it got accepted, we spent over £1000 and then the building survey came back with a multitude of problems including severe damp, wood worm and subsidence. Not to mention pointing work, old decor throughout. So we had to pull out.
3) We offered on a small house with a reasonable plot of land, below our max, but a builder friend came to have a look and told me to pull out due to again a multitude of problems and shoddy workmanship.
4) We found a large ex local authority house, on a decent size plot – location wasn’t ideal, but was so cheap –a repossession, we offered and got gazumped, we offered higher, and got gazumped again – was no longer a bargain so didn’t go any further.
5) We offered on a small house in a lovely quiet rural location on a good size plot, the vendors rejected our offer – but I was actually glad as the house wasn’t really big enough despite all the other pros.
6) This takes us to now – we offered last week on a house that has the following:
Cons:
1) Small front garden (where we’d have to park the cars on) and a small court yard area to the side – no rear garden away from the road as the neighbours own this and aren’t willing to sell it.

2) By a busy ‘b’ road, in the day time cars fly past at 50-60mph (even though the limit turns to 40 by the house), it’s constant with an average of a five second gap between cars. Night times not so bad – I drove there the other day at 9.30pm and sat in the car – waited 8 minutes for the first car to drive past.
3) Not in a good catchment area for high school – although most children get into a better high school outside the catchment area – no guarantees for this, although our oldest is only 5 so won’t have to worry to five more years!
Pros:
1) The house is huge – four reception rooms, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and a loft conversion, plus conservatory
2) The house is immaculate – done to a really nice standard, recently rewired, new boiler, new luxury bathroom, needs nothing doing (lol apart from painting two pink bedrooms another colour for our boys!)
3) The Village it is in is meant to be a good area
4) The primary school has a really good reputation – recent ofstead report was outstanding – plus they actually have a space for our 5 years old.

So the issue:
The busy road is niggling away at me, I’ve got a knot in my stomach at the thought of the constant traffic, and the small noisy garden is also a concern.
The house is great and after all our experiences I know we are not going to find a house that ticks all the boxes. The noise shouldn’t be a big issue inside the house (double glazed), I also appreciate that we spend most of our lives in the house and not in the garden.

People tell me that we’ll get used to the noise in no time and won’t even be aware of the traffic noise after a short while.

This house has more pros than cons, we realise we won’t get a big plot of land in a quite location with a house of this size and calibre.
Plus we offered £16,000 below the asking price as this was our max we can afford and the vendors accepted.

Am I justified in worrying about the road noise when there are so many other pros and we will never find a house to tick all the boxes?

For the record my other half loves the house and feels this is right, more so than the other houses that were more like rundown projects that would cost a lot to put right on top of maximising the budget for the mortgage.

She isn’t bothered by the road noise and I don’t want to let her down by pulling out – although I’m not saying I want to pull out - Suppose I just want reassurance that we're realistically doing the right thing!

Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated.
:T

AbbieCadabra

it's very personal & i can only comment on the road noise. i suppose you would get used to it over time, but i know i wouldn't consider a house on a busy road. i know someone who lives on a busy road & i'm always so aware of the traffic noise when i'm there (especially sirens from ambulances/police etc. as it's a main through road). it doesn't seem to be only day time either, i've stopped over a couple of times & the noise is constant through the night. it's also a pain in the neck & quite dangerous getting the car in & out too.

jamesperrett

I've lived in a few houses on A or B roads but I've always had at least 15 feet between the front of the house and the road. I found that I could easily ignore the cars but you could feel the rumble of the large lorries through the whole house. It isn't something that would put me off buying a house if everything else felt right.

Unfortunately, I think your decision has to be totally personal. Only you can decide whether the noise is going to be too annoying or not. Can you arrange to view the house again when the road is at its busiest and really think about how bad it is?

pimento

We live on the busiest B road in the country (apparently). Between 6.30am and 8pm it's a car every few seconds. Between 10.30 and 6am it's one car every few minutes.

Our house is about 40 feet from the road and we have double glazing. I don't hear the traffic. Even in the summer when we have the window open all night, it's quiet. It took me about eight weeks to get used to it and now I don't hear it at all. The double glazing is a must though.

Our garden is 100' long and north facing, so our patio is down the end and although you can hear the traffic, it isn't so loud that you can't hear what you're saying.

If the house is perfect, you will probably get used to the noise.

Cannon_Fodder

Can't believe that in that long post you have mostly worried about the noise...

Would you not also worry about your under 5s and their safety ? A side garden...to be "invaded" by a poorly driven vehicle...doesn't bear thinking about.

Or getting your car out safely (with your kids in it) ?

Small garden - 4 kids with limited outside space to play..? Might seem doable when under 5s, but when they are 11 and boisterous..?

As for getting it £16k under asking. Do not get sucked into thinking you have got a bargain. Plenty have vendors put 10% on the price during this year, knowing they would need to be seen to drop the price to make buyers happy. You are probably just paying the going rate.

You would have to pay me a lot of money to even consider living in a location such as you describe.

Do not allow your impatience with buying cloud your judgement - "act in haste repent at leisure".

hazyjo

We so nearly bought on a busier than normal road. Quietish at night (I too sat in my car counting how many others went past), but busier throughout the day. It was like a normal side turning where the house was, but about 75 yards up the road, it went into a country lane with a 60mph speed limit. They never accepted our offer and I'm so grateful. We have since found a wonderful house in a different area (not in yet though...) and I don't have any of those horrible niggles. I don't have kids, but do have 2 cats and I was absolutely worried sick about living on a road like that. Plus there was a park opposite - good and bad as there had been a problem with kids. The noise wasn't really an issue for me, although I'd never buy on a main road. Harder to sell on, usually - might be a problem for you later. Guess I'm saying go with your heart. One compromise can be one too many. It might be that something else turns up which doesn't tick as many boxes, but is perfect in your eyes. Wish I could say it'll all be fine - well, it probably will noise-wise - but I'd worry about the safety aspects, future sale, garden and the parking.

Jx

malbert

Thank you for all your comments.
The noise is the biggest issue to us. The front garden is fully fenced off and finished with large gates – so we must make sure we always keep them closed and locked, but if we do the children will be safe.
While the road is busy, it should be easy enough to find a big enough gap to pull out, although backing into the garden may pose a challenge for my other half!
Mentally I reckon we could fit eight cars in the front garden - squashed in - to give you a rough idea of size), so with two cars there is still SOME space for the children to play – just not lots of room. There is also a small court yard area to the side which is quite private and gated off from the front – again not massive but the children could ride their toy cars etc around it and we would have the occasional BBQ. It’s Just nowhere near the half acre plots (with either small or rundown houses) we’ve been looking at.
If the garden was quiet and at the back it would be an average size garden, sadly its at the front by a noisy road – which means the house isn’t right on the road, but the garden is noisy.
Lol daren’t pull out due to the upset it’ll cause my other half, and not convinced I want to.

malbert

Good point about future selling- valuation is tomorrow, will see how that comes back - hmm wish I knew what my heart was saying - is it my head worrying or my heart?

Catatonia

I currently rent next to a busy road and wouldn't buy near one. I have double glazing and am set back quite a bit but it's still very noisy.

I note one of the pros is that it's nicely done up. Any house's interior can be changed over time, but you can't change the location!

ToasterScheme

I can only comment about the noise.

We found a house that we really liked and bought it May 2009. It is a Victorian terrace and is right on the A5 (path right outside the door, about 10 feet wide). In fact it is a converted shop with a huge bay window.

We still love it and, as others have said, got used to the noise very quickly. The kids (tweenage) have the front bedrooms and it doesn't seems to bother them. The only work we did was to get some "studio grade" acoustic seals for the ill-fitting old front door (£20 from Screwfix). We were more bothered in the early days about people walking down the street right past our window, but even that doesn't bother us now.

You are right to check out what happens at night because this is key. Our town is pretty dead after 6:30. Check also on Friday afternoon, this is the worst time for traffic for us.

You must realise that you are making a compromise that you must be happy with - and doubtless it reduces the number of people you can sell on to because some will rule out the location. But so long as the other factors, including the cost, all make sense, noise alone wouldn't be enough to break the deal for me.

hazyjo

I wouldn't be happy with the kids playing in a front 'garden' on a main road, but maybe that's just me!

Jx