Does Living on a Main Road Affect Your Property Value? | Home Guides | SF Gate

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LOCATION LOCATION  does Living on a Main Road Affect Your Property Value?

ng and selling homes can be tricky business. As if it isn’t difficult enough finding an affordable house that fits your needs, it needs to be on the right piece of property. That property needs to be located in a safe, well-maintained neighborhood that’s a reasonable distance from employment centers, and the house needs to be attractive to other buyers so it can be easily resold in the future.


Buyers who pass on homes located on well-traveled roadways generally have one of two concerns: the safety of their children or the constant noise generated by passing vehicles. Additionally, it could affect the view. Obviously, not every home buyer has children young enough to haphazardly wander into the paths of oncoming vehicles, and the traffic flow on even the busiest streets usually thins out to just an occasional car or two during overnight hours. Nevertheless, this can still be a factor. Like any other product, when the public’s interest wanes, the price drops.




That’s not to say you’re completely out of luck if you want to sell a home located on a major thoroughfare -- although it may require some extra effort. Since there’s nothing you can do about the street, do everything you can to make the house more attractive to buyers. Make all repairs in advance, keep the yard well manicured and put all clutter and unnecessary furniture in storage. Brush up on information about community events, organizations and public amenities so you can talk up the location to prospective buyers. And, perhaps most importantly, be realistic when setting a price. Nuisances like busy streets usually don’t look as unattractive to buyers when they feel they’re getting a good deal.

Neal Paskvan is a full time Realtor specializing in Downers grove, Darien,Woodridge, Westmont and Du page county Real Estate