The right home – the wrong street.

right house wrong road

If you’ve heard it once you’ve heard it a hundred times. “In real estate it’s all about location, location, location.” Don’t fall in love with a home before you take a good look at its surroundings. Not just the backyard, but the actual street the house is sitting on. Skipping this assessment could end up costing you in future resale value.

The Dirt Road –

If you’re looking for a place in the country, you may have expectations of a dirt road. You might even see it as charming. If you don’t ever plan to move – this is not a problem. If you purchase a home with its potential resale value in mind – it might be. You will exclude a lot of potential future buyers. Many people are put off by the idea that the dirt from the road ends up on their car, if the windows are open, the dirt ends up in the car. The same is true of the house. Now if it has recently rained – there’s a significant reduction in dirt. It is often offset by the increase in mud…

Busy City Street –

On the flip side of the dirt road, is the very busy city street. Even a very busy suburban street can be deterrent the resale value of your home. Busy roads turn people off for a few reasons. The first is that high traffic can make it difficult to get into or out of the driveway. Secondly, in most homes on high traffic streets, you will be able to hear traffic inside. Even very well insulated homes with multi-pane windows will still hear the sound of the street.

A home on road with a double yellow line, frequently accompanied by a close proximity to a traffic light is going to be more difficult to sell. You may not have noticed the traffic the first time you toured this house. It may have lulls in the traffic flow. But – pay attention to whether or not the house is on a road with a double yellow line. These markings are used to indicate dangerous two way traffic. The traffic light implies enough traffic to warrant controlling the flow. This might not be an ideal situation for a buyer with children, pets or both.

Cul du sac –

Believe it or not, a home on a cul du sac is the most desirable location. One road in and one road out allows for minimal traffic. Minimal traffic means safety for kids and pets. The noise from traffic is virtually non-existent. As long as the cul du sac isn’t close to train tracks, or in the line of sight of a highway – it’s a pretty safe purchase!