Time to start a new series here on the blog, something that I am going to affectionately call Best and Worst. As the name indicates, we are going to examine both the “best” and the “worst” options of a given criteria, heavily based on my own opinion and experience in the real estate world.
Now, keep in mind that this is my own opinion and not the end all be all of things to live beside. I’m looking at this topic through this lens: you are going to live in this house for a long time and are more concerned about how your surroundings affect your day to day life and enjoyment of the property, rather than how these conditions affect resale value down the road.
To me, this is an important distinction to make because there are some things that kill resale value but don’t actually affect how you live in your new home. So let’s dive in to it, starting with the “worst” category.
#3 worst thing to live beside: highway or a busy road. Good luck enjoying your Sunday bbq with hundreds of cars whipping past at 100 km/h or more. The sound is a vibe killer and you can count highways as a top 3 eyesore of our built up population. This is something that you should be aware of before you purchase a home because roads are often in place before houses. So if you end up living beside a highway or a busy road, and dislike it, tough lesson to learn I suppose!
#2 worst: industrial/commercial land. Similar to the highway mentioned above, this is a big noise and eyesore double whammy. Add in the potential for dust clouds, heavy machinery coming and going, as well as a litany of shift workers, and this is not something I would want to be around very often. Again, this is something that you should be aware of before you decide to buy a house (and isn’t that common to begin with) but I think there is a very very slim chance that if you buy a house on the outskirts of a city or town that something like this could move in next door. Very slim. Municipalities do a pretty good job separating residential and industrial land uses.
#1 worst thing to live beside: an apartment building. Thousands of people looking into your backyard. Shade, all day. Traffic all the time. This is the worst thing by far in my mind. The worst part of this is, you might not know that your dream home will end up beside an apartment building. There are a few scenarios that could play out where you move into your home and then a developer starts knocking down homes beside you or within your community. It’s somewhat hard to predict where this may or may not happen in the future and I do feel for the people who have lived in a neighborhood for 30 years and then the municipality starts emphasizing density. Tough go, but the needs of the many outweigh the needs of a few NIMBY’s.
Honorable mention: bad neighbours. This is potentially the worst thing to live beside but its also next to impossible to determine what type of neighbours you might have until you move in. If this is a big concern for you or something that you would like to prioritize in your home search, rent a van and stake out the house for a couple days to get an idea of who lives next door. Obviously I’m kidding, but that’s what it would take to get an idea.
#3 best thing to live beside: Golf course. This would be #1 in my mind but I think it applies less to the general population than the other two. Living on a golf course would be a dream come true. No rear neighbours, quiet surroundings, nice scenery and for those that are bold enough, you can sneak out there with a few clubs at 6pm to sneak in a couple holes before bed time. Dream come true indeed.
#2 Best: green space. This is a broad category that includes things like a forest, a park, a ravine, a storm water pond, etc etc. Somewhat similar to a golf course, but I think a lot more people would rather have a nondescript open space that they might actually be able to use on a regular basis. The advantages are the same but these spaces are much more common.
#1 best: water. Water of any kind is the best neighbour you can ask for. Looking out over a lake at sunset is so desirable, there’s no wonder that waterfront properties are so in demand and have their own search criteria on the MLS. Now, not all waterfront properties are created equal, ocean front being head of the pack, but most any waterfront properties will command a premium and be in high demand. Unfortunately in London, we are limited to fronting on the Thames River which doesn’t do much for a lot of people, but even that will cost you if you want it.
So that’s the inaugural Best and Worst feature here on the blog. Shoot me any ideas you have for future editions and I will try to weigh in on them in the future. Also, if you want to argue any of the above points, I’m all ears. Specifically if you have a horror story of living next to a bar or gas station, those are always entertaining.
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