perfect house but...

mummyemma

I have found my perfect house, however the trainline from birmingham to london runs past the end of the garden.

What are peoples thoughts about this. The house itself is perfect pick it up and put it half a mile away and you add ££££ to the price. However current owners havent made the most of the garden and I think with some big trees on the fence line you would hide the line.

The trains themselves you dont really notice once you are in the house. Current owners have been in house last 12years and very little comes up for sale in the area.

The area itself is lovely houses look neat and tidy and well cared for on the street. There is a park at end of the road which again looks well care for.

So would the trainline put you off if it was your dream house?

Sashk

It would put me off a bit yes. But then again I like sitting in the garden in summer. You need to ask yourself how much are you going to use/be in the garden. Do you like sitting outside in summer or having friends round for a barbecue. Would the noise be a constant nuisance to you when you are outside? How often do they run?? I'm guessing its quite frequent if its the London-Birmingham line.

ognum

Really it's down to how intrusive it is for you.

Anecdote
A friend has a house with a railway line close by, her comments is that every day she gives thanks for the train line! She says without it she could not have afforded the house she loves!

It's all about attitude!

movilogo

So would the trainline put you off if it was your dream house?

Only you can answer this. Surely this will put lots of buyers off come reselling time. Also, what will happen if Network Rail decides to lay another track over your garden?

VfM4meplse

Would you actually be phsyically overlooked by commuters? Whenever I'm in a train and looking into back gardens, I wonder how people manage w/o that sense of privacy.

Having said that, the Central Line runs past the botttom of my garden, but there is a fence, a wooded bank and a road in between my back garden and the line. The tube is frequent and audible (but blends into the background once you are used to it), and visible only from the first floor in the winter when there is no foliage on the trees. Before I bought I was concerned about who might be looking into my home, so did a test run on the line to confirm that all that could be seen were my first floor rear wiindows and no aspect of the garden, which is fine as I knew that I would be hanging voiles.

The big advantage is that I'm just 5 mins from the tube station, houses on my road don't stay on the market long for that reason. If I was a distance away from the station, the inconvenience of the proximity of the line would seriously bother me. HTH

Notmyrealname

When I was growing up we had a house with a rail line at the end of the garden. After a while you stopped noticing the trains going past.

mummyemma

I could live with it because it would get me my dream house. We both work full time and do like to be in the garden but with 3 kids am use to a lot of noise from them anyway.

My husband is worried about selling it afterwards but I pointed out if we loved it someone else will love it.

I need to look into if the are likely to anymore track work there. I dont think they will as they have put in high speed line already and with 100 plus houses backing onto it it would be very expensive plus the other side of track is open fields and countyside (another bonus to me)

When there are no trains it is blissfully quiet

I think with some nice big conifers it would hide the railway line so would block a bit more of the noise. and like peple have said i would get use to noise plue it stops at 11pm til 6 which is better than a main road or a motorway.

sirmosh

If you don't mind then it's not a problem, just make sure the price reflects the location for when you decide to sell.

sjlou

check the plans for the hs2 line, is that likely to impact on the property?

hazyjo

You might find there are freight trains running on the line during the night. They actually freak the hell out of me (strange phobia!) so would hate it. Awful slow droney or sometimes clanky kinda noise. Yuck.

Do you have cats/likely to have any? I definitely wouldn't buy anything backing onto a railway line with my 2 cats.

Jx

Strapped

I lived in a house that backed onto that very line for a year. Trains used to stop at a stop light there, and all the commuters would be looking into the upstairs back bedroom :eek: (Trains are higher than you think ) But the noise was never that much of an issue - you do get used to it (unlike the beep beep beep of a pedestrian crossing which was mentioned on another thread!) Make sure you get a huge discount though if you decide to go ahead, because it will be harder to sell on, especially in a weak market.