Advice for living on a busy street

Dear Kari: My husband and I have been looking at homes for months and either we cannot afford it, it is in a bad area or it is a heck of a wreck. We are ready to give up and sign up for another year at our apartment. Then we stumbled upon an open house, and much to our surprise, it was the perfect home for us. The only problem is it's on a busy road. Our friends highly recommend that we do not buy this house due to the busy road. My husband is dead set about getting this place because it has everything he has ever wanted and the price is what we can afford. What should we do? Answer: Wow, that is a good question. When buying a home on a busy street or a quiet street, you will find you'll get a lot of personal opinions from everyone. Keep in mind the opinions are very well intended, but remember, you are the ones who must make the final decision and the ones living in the home. Not only that, you are the ones making the payments. Let's remember the number one rule in real estate is location, location, location. However, there are other factors and components in each individual home purchase case. Life on a busy road is not for everyone, yet along with the obvious disadvantages come the possible advantages. Here are some advantages to owning a home on a busy road: · Less money: Usually, pricing will be 7 to 20 percent less than the other homes in the same area (depending on what type of traffic). · May offer a better school district. · It could possibly afford a better neighborhood option. · Typically, the home's square footage is more or lot sizes are larger or the overall conditions are nicer. · Traffic: The road may be its busiest during the commuting times, while during the off times and weekends, the road may not be very busy. · Having quicker access to public transportation or highways. · One may argue as far as children go, with a busy road there is no sense of security. Some folks who would not consider buying a home on a busy road may also not consider it an option to purchase a home under the airplane paths. Some folks won't mind any of these, as they can adjust to noise and tune it out or it is just not a big deal for them. Others may find adding an outdoor fountain, fence or large trees will aid with the noise reduction. One important subject to pay close attention to is the resale factor. The home you buy into is the home you will sell out of. Therefore, when you go to sell your home it should be priced less than other homes in your comparable area that are not on a busy street. Selling a home on a busy street may take a longer marketing period, as there will be a percentage of buyers who would not even consider viewing it. Rest assured someone will buy your home because it is more home than they could get on "a road less traveled." There are always tradeoffs. Find out what you can live with and what you cannot live without. Complete your due diligence, such as what will happen to the road in the future? Will the road be turned into more lanes? Find out any other factors that may have a changing effect on the property. Stand in the house with all the windows closed and see if you can hear the noise during rush hour. Take time to sit down, take a piece of paper out and draw a line down the middle of the page to list the pro and cons. This way, you will have a sense of what you really want. If you are serious about considering making an offer on the house, have your Realtor show comparisons of similar sold homes where some are on busy roads and some are not. The bottom line is if the house suits your needs and you can get it for a good price, then maybe it is the best buy for you. Ask your Realtor for their advice and make a well-informed offer. Kari McCoy owns the Kari McCoy Group, 916-933-5274 or sold@karimccoygroup.com. #00841588