Hi,
We are looking at a flat in Herts. The flat is on the second floor of a newly converted Victorian building of 10 flats. It looks great, under one minute's walk to the station in a lovely development with other two bigger converted Victorian buildings. It ticks all the boxes, apart from one: it faces the train line and is only 15 metres away from the tracks.
The Stansted Express and the London-Cambridge lines run there - from what I can see rather often. When viewing the house, the noise wasn't bad with the double-glazed windows being closed, but I am concerned about summertime when you'd want your windows open. You can also hear the station signal sound by the way. Besides that, I am wary of any pollution as well, radiation from the overhead wires and how easy it would be to re-sell later without losing money on the price. Since it is a brand new flat, there is already an extra 10-15% extra added to the price. The train proximity doesn't seem to be reflected in the price as flats nearby wouldn't sell for this much unless they are slightly bigger and refurbed. We are planning to sell in about 5 years, so it is not a forever home.
Am I overthinking the whole thing? There are other flats in the nearby block; the same distance from the track and I spoke to the neighbour above who said he is not bothered by the noise at all as he got used to it after 2 weeks. I know people always say it is hard to find a home that ticks all the boxes when you have a tight budget. I also had lived next to a tube line in London after uni - the same distance, so the noise wouldn't bother me likely. However, that was a rented property, not one which I paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for...and I am more worried about the pollution and the re-sale rather than the noise, to be frank.
Any advice is appreciated.