Buying a house next to a dual carriageway

JingleJangle

I wouldn't. When I buy property I buy the whole package, and that includes location. You can change everything else within reason if it is not perfect, but you cannot change where the house actually is so that would be key factor for me.

paulsad

JingleJangle wrote: »

I wouldn't. When I buy property I buy the whole package, and that includes location. You can change everything else within reason if it is not perfect, but you cannot change where the house actually is so that would be key factor for me.

Yes in a perfect world with loads of cash you can. Not everyone has that luxury.

JingleJangle

paulsad wrote: »

Yes in a perfect world with loads of cash you can. Not everyone has that luxury.

Agreed. Which is where you decide which aspect you would compromise on. For me, I would never compromise on location, as you can change everything else. I would rather buy somewhere smaller but in a better area, that I could improve/extend in time, than somewhere bigger but in a worse location. I appreciate others may have different ideas. I don't think I stated otherwise did I?

VfM4meplse

As jingle-jangle has alluded to, the location is critical.

If you do decide to buy, the obvious problem willl most definitely be when you come to sell it. Potential buyers will have the same thoughts as you are having now, and why would you want to sell on at a bargain price? I personally would not wish to buy a property that I could not offload quickly at it's maxximum value if need be, family home or not.

Snuggles

As a couple of others have said, I would much rather be near a road or a train line than have close neighbours. With the road, you know exactly what you are getting. With neighbours, it is a complete lottery...

MariaTc

Thanks JingleJangle and VfM4melpse for your valuable observations.
I don't doubt for one moment that location is very important. But within our budget and the area we need to be in for work, we have to learn to compromise. At the moment, my husband and I own two flats, in both of which the neighbours are slowly driving us insane. Hence the need of a detached home, that is something we can't see ourselves compromising on. We also would prefer to stay clear of housing estates and newly built houses. So all that was left apart from this house, were cottages in rural locations. And with those the situation is the exact opposite, you pay top dollar for the secluded rural location. But for the same money you get half the space, rooms are generally much smaller and you can't even knock down walls as most are Grade 2 listed or in a conservation area and within the same budget we found that most needed so much work doing that we may not get back our original investment. Hence we were delighted to have come across this home, with the obvious reservations.
In terms of being able to resell the place, it's a question of finding people who would compromise on the same things we would.

devotee

Can you plant tall trees, shrubs in front? That would help reduce the noise.

MariaTc

Planting evergreens all across the front of the house is the first thing we'll do if we decide to go a head with it, it shouldn't be too expensive. I am not sure as to whether or not it would realistically reduce any noise, but it should definitely improve the views outside the front windows and isolate us a little bit from the road.

Amanita_2

Utter deal breaker for me - done the living by the railway line thing and never got used to the noise. I wouldn't even consider a house by a dual carriageway no matter how many other boxes it ticked.

devotee

MariaTc wrote: »

Planting evergreens all across the front of the house is the first thing we'll do if we decide to go a head with it, it shouldn't be too expensive. I am not sure as to whether or not it would realistically reduce any noise, but it should definitely improve the views outside the front windows and isolate us a little bit from the road.

It will help for sure! Was visiting this little island on Thames - it was just off a very busy A road. On the bridge towards the island the noise was still strong, once on the island it was very quiet! Loads of trees on it!