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Original poster

Perfect House but on busy road

37 replies

Houseyhousey · 08/05/2020 10:03

We have been trying to downsize financially for the past year & found 2 houses we like but can't agree or decide! Both similar price and fit the minimum requirements brief (ie beds/bath, parking) but very different.

House 1:
Detached 10 year old small estate
Modern so assume lower running costs
Lovely village 2 mins walk
No character
Easy bus route to DC school
estate - not sure how I feel about this Confused! Noisy neighbours/kids, lack of privacy vs lovely community
Small slightly overlooked but functional garden
House 2:
Character semi (old workers cottage I assume) - v. pretty but likely higher maintenance costs.
beautiful garden overlooking fields to rear
On a main road (think A road but in the country)
Has a workshop where DH could run his business so potential cost and time saving for him
Further from main town for schools/shops

Any thoughts?

OP posts:
Original poster
Houseyhousey · 08/05/2020 10:05

Just realised title doesn't really bare any resemblance to the message but house 2 is amazing and more than we ever expected but with the big question mark over it's position (hence it's price)

OP posts:
UnmightyBoosh · 08/05/2020 10:15

I think ‘on a main road’ can mean different things.

Is there a front garden or does the house open onto the street or even the road?

How much quiet are you used to? What disturbs you more - traffic or people?

Neverending2020 · 08/05/2020 10:19

With option 1 do you know if there are estate fees or any other financial commitments embedded within the deeds?
When you're looking for a home and setting a maximum budget, you will inevitably need to choose what matters most to you - size, area/location, condition of property. Unless you have mega bucks there will always be compromises to be made and these are personal preferences.
How busy is the road? How far back is house set it? How noisy is it?

Magicbabywaves · 08/05/2020 10:20

How would children get to school?

And how far back is the house from the road?

Reginabambina · 08/05/2020 10:24

How busy is the main road though? Will you have trucks driving past day and night or just traffic from surrounding villages?

superram · 08/05/2020 10:27

I would choose one simply because I would want to be near a village. I’ve no desire to live away from a shop to buy milk-would you have to ferry the kids around? Decide what is important to you. And visit to see how busy the road is at different times of day.

Mummiepig · 08/05/2020 10:30

I live right by a slip road to a dual carriageway, doesn’t bother me at all, previous house was on a modern estate surrounded by other people’s gardens, kids screaming, trampolines, noisy barbecues were far more annoying than the dual carriageway

Pinksaffire · 08/05/2020 10:53

You could be describing my house and search.
We decided to buy a house on a main road.
The house and garden was much larger than any new builds we looked at and I didn’t want to live on an estate.
It’s perfect and ticked all of our boxes but the compromise was it’s on an B road.
It’s also in the country so isn’t overly busy except for rush hour and has a 30mph speed limit trough the village.
The deciding factor for us was that it has a large drive and then a path before the road.
The kids are safe and never too close to the road. If we didn’t have the drive I’m not sure we would have bought it.

AnnofPeeves · 08/05/2020 10:59

'Think A road but in the country' doesn't help really. How busy is the road? How near the house is it? And how intrusive is the noise? We are temporarily living near a busy road and cant wait to leave.

missionalmostimpossible · 08/05/2020 11:04

I would wait until I found another House 2 located on a side road, if I was you.

We live in a place that sounds like the description of your House 2 on a similar main road. We have a driveway that fits our car lengthways, then it's the pavement, then the road. I wouldn't have bought a house that I couldn't park my car directly outside.

I hate living on a main road. We have DS3.5 and DD2.5, and fear of one of them figuring out how to open the front door, even though we always keep it double locked with the key, and latched up high.

We bought the house after we'd been looking for a year, and were living with my parents with a one year old and a newborn, so our list of non-negotiables had dwindled somewhat. Living away from a main road should have remained on the list.

Seeline · 08/05/2020 11:06

Busy road is not necessarily a problem. You quickly get used to noise. But
will you be able to access/exit your property easily - speed of traffic, sight lines, queuing traffic?

How old are your DCs - will they be able to cycle on it as they get older, will they be able to get to places independently or wil you always have to be a taxi?

How noisy is it at night, in the back garden etc?

PerspicaciaTick · 08/05/2020 11:09

I'd go for property one unless the workshop facilities at property two were going to massively enhance your DH's life and business.

Solina · 08/05/2020 11:10

When we were looking we saw a gorgeous period property well within our budget. It had a huge garden with green space behind the garden so not overlooked, 2 parking spaces at the front of it and the house had a lot of original features in it. But it was on a busy road right by a junction with traffic lights and you could hear the noise everywhere, even at the end of the massive garden. We viewed twice at different times of the day and decided it was not for us simply because of the noise. Didn't realise how bad it could be before viewing.

Eventually we went with a boring 70s house on a quiet dead end road with a fraction of the garden size and I love the peace and quiet we have.

It does however depend how busy the road is.

KonTikki · 08/05/2020 11:13

We rented a house on a main road.
You can never escape the traffic noise, plus the pollution when hanging laundry out.
Would never live on a main road again.

amyboo · 08/05/2020 11:20

We live on a main road. The house is amazing, we're set back from the road with a nice drive a front garden. When you're in the back garden you don't really hear the noise, and we put new double glazed windows in so you don't hear much noise inside either.

The only downside for me is that we don't have a close relationship with the surrounding neighbours because there isn't really the same community feel you'd get in a small close/estate. And the kids can't play in the street like some of their friends do.

UnmightyBoosh · 08/05/2020 11:26

I think I might actually keep looking.

Keepyourginup · 08/05/2020 11:28

I agree you should keep looking...you have identified problems with both. Every time we have bought a house, we have 'known' straight away. If you are sending a significant amount of money on something, you should be sure about it.

justanotherneighinparadise · 08/05/2020 11:31

Just be aware with main roads it’s not just the noise, it’s the vibrations. I once house sat in a beautiful house on a HGV rat run. I can clearly remember being vibrated out of bed in the middle of the night and grabbing at the mattress. I honestly thought it was an earthquake. So for that reason I would never buy on a main road.

tentative3 · 08/05/2020 11:32

I wouldn't buy either, which I realise is unhelpful. If I had to choose, I'd lean towards House 2 but it very much depends on the exact nature of the road (how busy, what type of traffic) and how far back the house is set from the road. I'd be very wary of it though, location and the fact it's a semi (last house was semi, this is a terrace and I would sacrifice a lot to have detached now, but proper detached, not a foot away from its neighbour).

I'd keep looking OP.

NOTANUM · 08/05/2020 11:36

For me it would depend on whether the kids can't get to school without getting in a car (depending on age of course). As they become teens, this is really important.

Poorlyweasels · 08/05/2020 11:53

Not enough information from what you've given.
How old are your DC?

FWIW, we lived on a new estate, but ours had zero facilities. We had to get in the car to go to the shops, to school, even just to get a pint of milk. Don't underestimate the inconvenience of having to use the car all the time if there are no shops anywhere near (house 2).

The estate we lived on had zero community and lots and lots of noise, all the time. Friends lived on a different estate and had street parties every weekend, with all the neighbours on a "school run" rota.

Aunt lived in a cottage on the main road in the country and had lorries blasting past every day. You couldn't walk anywhere because there were no pavements and although there was a school bus she couldn't let her DD walk to the bus stop on her own.

We now live in a 1930s semi in a built up area. DD can walk to the bus stop for school and it's an easy route. There are shops a couple of minutes walk in any direction. We can get to the park, the dentist, restaurants etc (usually) in a couple of minutes walk. I don't ever need to use the car if I don't want to.

It depends what's important to you, how old the DCs are, what the set up around each house is. But I agree with pp that we looked at hundreds of houses and it was only when we walked into this house that we both said "this is the one". Sounds like you haven't found it yet.

Original poster
Houseyhousey · 08/05/2020 12:03

Lots to think about and to answer a few questions:
DC are young teens. Both houses are served by buses to school but I would need to consider distance to bus stop & ease of crossing the road for house 2 (& us being able to get out day to day)

House 2 has a gate, big drive and high hedge but is probably only 12-15ft from the road.

Hard to say how busy the road is at the moment. We saw it in the evening just before lockdown (cars passing but we managed to pull out easily and didn't notice the noise in the house) and since then roads are so much quieter so hard to gauge. It is definitely a road that would see lorries/HGV passing as it links to largish towns.

We currently live in an extremely quiet no through road, not overlooked and detached with big garden. But we can't afford to live here hence the move and will need to compromise somewhere.

OP posts:
Original poster
Houseyhousey · 08/05/2020 12:06

I think a big deciding factor for house will be the main road and whether DC can walk to a bus stop and I can still leave the house for a run (I run 4-5 times a week and would HATE to have to get in my car) .

OP posts:
Original poster
Houseyhousey · 08/05/2020 12:14

To answer those that say you need to keep looking until you find 'the one' I agree to an extent, but this is a practical move that will require compromise as we are trying to reduce our mortgage so less likely to find the perfect house.

OP posts:
tentative3 · 08/05/2020 12:37

I understand the need to compromise and we may be in a similar position to you in the not too distant future in terms of trying to reduce housing costs. I guess you have to decide which are the biggest priorities for you. One thing you might want to think about is resale - would either of them be particularly easy or difficult to sell on? It sounds like they both have negatives that other buyers would pick up on too, House 1 potentially less so.

Is yours sold? If not do you think it will sell quickly? If we can't afford detached when we do end up able to look we will go for a bog standard semi, 1930s or 1960s, with schools and shops (or a shop at least) easily accessible because we think the market for those will always be there compared to more niche houses.

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