House near rail line

Postik

A relative lives near a railway line, it doesn't seem to bother him.  I'm not sure if the trains stop overnight but I never seem to hear them if I am there in the evening.  I don't think it would really bother me, I'd probably get used to it.  I'd worry about resale value in years to come and limiting potential buyers.  However there are so many things now that supposedly "limit resale value" if you worried about every single one you would probably never buy a house.

Sistergold

I would not personally worry too much about resale value. Look more into quality of life while living in the property. Think seriously about how sensitive you are to sound in general. For me light, noise, vibrations or anything like that no matter how long I am subjected to it will always keep me awake so I will not be able to buy a house backing a railway line due to sensitivity. For some I can see how it will be “nice” to have a railway line at the back 🤷‍♀️ nice to know that there are people out there I guess? 🤔

SallyDucati

As others have said you get used to it.  The worst I had was when the line was getting maintenance in the middle of the night - workmen shouting to each other was the worst as we are predisposed to notice speech.  That didn't happen very often though.   The trains themselves didn't bother me.

When I moved to a semi rural village it took me a while to get used to the quiet!

TadleyBaggie

If the OP said which line it is, it would be easier to gauge the amount or traffic and the normal hours of operation.

Postik

Sistergold said:

I would not personally worry too much about resale value. Look more into quality of life while living in the property.

I agonised over a few details regarding the house that I bought recently, all down to resale value. Since moving in those "details" haven't bothered me in the slightest and I don't give them a second thought, but all of the important things have made a massive difference to our lifestyle and happiness.

nicmyles

I live just over the road from a train line and have previously had a station just at the end of the garden. The station was worse, as others have said.

You do get used to the trains very quickly. The issues tend to be when there are works on the line, some of which happen at night, but generally these don't tend to be for long periods. And obviously the noise is a bit worse in the summer when you have the windows open.

But it wouldn't put me off in and of itself, presuming you have privacy etc (we have trees between us and the line).

BMTH

Just an update (for those who care)

We viewed the house yesterday and came out a little underwhelmed. The big issue for me was the train track was level with the garden. I thought it was dipped down so you couldn't see it, only hear it. The house also needs alot of redecorating (which we were happy to do).

However, in a turn of events we viewed another property yesterday which only came on the market on Friday. We left with that feeling people have told me you know when a house is for you. We are going to make an offer tomorrow but we've got a thousand thoughts running though our mind. The house is on the market for 'offers over 250k'. We are going to offer 250k but obviously dubious what the sellers intentions will be seeing as it only went on Friday. Sounds like they had a few more viewings booked this week too.

TheJP

I live 2 miles from the trainline in my town, i occasionally hear the train and its a bonus when i do. My in-laws live close to a trainline and albeit you hear the train when outside which lasts less than a minute and you cant hear it from inside.

Personally i like the sound of a train passing by far more than a car/motorbike/boy/girl racer noise that i hear as my house backs onto a road.

If the house is an absolute steal at £220k then go in a bit lower as another posted suggested, they may bite your hand off!

BMTH

Didn't want to start a new thread for what could be a simple answer but,

We are about to offer asking on an 'offers over' property. However, I'm thinking of going in 2-5k under to begin with but is this pointless seeing as the property only went up last Friday? I don't want to risk losing the house but at the same time don't think its's worth more than what they're asking for. It's actually quite tricky to guage whether this will even sell quickly (judging from previous sales in the area which their isn't many)

Yorkie1

Just for those who might want to review trains on any particular line, the website realtimetrains.co.uk is helpful