Buying a House- Opinions on Location, Location, Location...

So...Mrs. Volvoclearinghouse and I have moved to a different state, and are house seeking. The most recent property to come onto our radar looks promising- a bit of land, a substantial detached garage, a couple of other smaller outbuildings for storage, surrounded by trees, etc. More or less what we've been looking for. The price is reasonable, and the house doesn't appear to have been inhabited by a passel of raccoons for the past 6 years.

Soooo....

The other big consideration we have when choosing a house is location- more specifically, what's around it. I'm more concerned about what IS around it than what's not- don't really care if I'm 10 minutes from work, store, etc. but I do not like nosy neighbors, power lines, chemical plants, etc.

This place we're considering has 2 churches nearby- one is around the corner, and it's one of those fairly huge non-denominational mega churches. The building looks like one of those big metal buildings they advertise for the purpose, and there's a massive parking lot. It looks like services could be 1000+ people. You can't see the house from the church (or vice-versa), and when we went to see the house the church seemed to be empty. I'm thinking the inconvenience would be relatively minor- possibly snarled traffic on Sunday mornings, potentially with police directing traffic out front.

The other church is directly across the street, but is a smaller, United Methodist church. Looks like it might sit 200 people. Again, due to the placement of the house and trees, you can't really see the church from the house, though if you look directly down the driveway you can see it. There's also a cemetery behind the church, with possibly 200- 300 plots. So possibly I could see some funerals and such periodically, but it doesn't seem like the sort of thing that would be going on constantly- more like a private cemetery for members of the church only.

Neither the wife nor I really care one way or the other if there's a cemetery nearby, but I'm concerned this and the churches being there might affect the value of the property- how much is what I'm not sure of. Any thoughts?

With the distance, I would assume the impact upon house value would be minimal, but I have been wrong before. I don't really worry about resale value anyway. I don't plan on selling.

I wouldn't worry about it. In some area's, the location of the churches would be a selling point.

From what you've described I don't think there will be any issues, but if the house is for sale you know what the asking price is - does it seem in line?

As for the inconveniences, will Sunday morning traffic actually pass in front of the house or will people enter and exit from some other direction? Also, if you sleep in on Sunday mornings will there be church bells to contend with?

Personally, I think having churches nearby is a plus - they are occupying the space that would otherwise be filled with housing or industry, and most of the time they are pretty quiet neighbors.

My criteria:

• Can the garage accommodate more cars than I own and a lift?
• Walk out basement?
• Is there a scenic view?
• Can I fire a long rifle in any direction and guarantee the safety of my neighbors?
• Natural gas available?
• fast internet?
• decent pub within a reasonable walking distance (3-5 miles).
• The weather is always 75F, sunny and windless

I failed 3 of these, 1, 4 & 8. I have regretted it every time I have to shift cars around in the snow or wanted to run an angle grinder at 3AM. Make your list and do not compromise it because the kitchen is awesome or the view is spectacular.

They will be ringing berkeleying bells early Sunday.

No garage in any house we could afford will accommodate all of my cars. A fence will likely have to be constructed to cordon them off and prevent them from wandering off. But, the price is in line with going prices up here. Good point about churches as neighbors- at least no one is living there. And the road the house is on is not the major access road for either church.

I wouldn't be able to fire a weapon in any direction from the house, but there is some nice rifle range land there. Minor compromise. ;-)

We don't sleep in- ever. I think the latest I've gotten out of bed on a weekend was like 9AM. Usually 7 or 7:30 is about it. It's light by then, and I hate wasting daylight in bed.

Streetwiseguy wrote: They will be ringing berkeleying bells early Sunday.

I actually like this. Otherwise I sleep in too late.

I agree that I would actually see it as a selling point. 95% of the time, there's essentially nobody there, so it's a great neighbor. No industrial/chemical issues to worry about, and definitely nobody there at odd hours of the evening in the event you're doing late night garage work or something.

Non-denominational mega churches rarely have bells.

Traffic on Sun mornings and evenings and Wed nights possibly.

Might mean knocking on door if it is a church that prostelitizes. Best way to curb that is usually to join the church, whether or not you will be attending.

I think they'd be great neighbors. Look at the bright side... They could be a sneezy bar, or a pig farm, or an adult bookstore, or a trucker's massage parlor, or a chemical plant, or...

Plus, the congregation will make sure none of those undesirables move into any other nearby property.

Church would be a great neighbor and in most rural counties, there are many things that cannot locate near a church ie adult bookstores, retail beer or alcohol, etc to protect the morals of the church goers.

SVreX wrote: They could be a sneezy bar,

Dwarves are a menace but they come in six other types you have to watch out for too. Focusing on just the sneezy is shortsighted.

Sounds like a buy! No one here cares about having a cemetery nearby either? ;-) Guess we're all pretty comfortable with our own mortality.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: Sounds like a buy! No one here cares about having a cemetery nearby either? ;-) Guess we're all pretty comfortable with our own mortality.

A cemetery is the best kind of neighbors. That is a win.

Funny thing though, all the locals here are up in arms about the construction of a crematorium in a commercial zone.

Think about weddings and funerals too. I can't stand either, so being around that would be a challenge.

I just re-read your post and realized you already considered funerals, but maybe not weddings so much.

I think a church is desirable.
Some difficulty such as traffic is possible but it is very predictable what times that would be and likely easy to work around. (15 minutes before and 15 minutes after.)
As mentioned by other above, the zoning for a church will often keep undesirables away. If there is a school attached, that will keep registered sex offenders away.
As for the weddings and funerals...dressed up people being near your house for an hour is not the worst thing that you could experience.

JohnRW1621 wrote: As mentioned by other above, the zoning for a church will often keep undesirables away. If there is a school attached, that will keep registered sex offenders away.

Except for the unregistered church staff...

Just trollin'...but something to consider if one thinks church really keeps undesirable elements away.

Streetwiseguy wrote: They will be ringing berkeleying bells early Sunday.

This. I once rented a duplex across from a church. The first Sunday I was in the place, I heard what sounded like static at ~7AM. Could not figure out what it was, then BONG BONG BONG it was recorded bells! Being the living for/in sin type, this was hard on a young woofie chaser after a loooonggg Saturday night.

Well, the seller apparently won't budge on his highly unrealistic price, so it's looking like a non-starter anyway. Which is a a shame. Although no, I hadn't thought of the possibility of weddings, now that you mention it. shrug

The search continues...

Oh man. And I was going to offer you might be extra careful securing your chickens, goats, livestock, and small children they might steal for sacrificial offerings

And it might be tough to run an abortion clinic from your basement in that location

Good grief

You people have got to be kidding me?

Oh man. And I was going to offer you might be extra careful securing your chickens, goats, livestock, and small children they might steal for sacrificial offerings

And it might be tough to run an abortion clinic from your basement in that location

Good grief

You have got to be kidding me?

It's people living in their homes that call me at work to complain about other people, or call in complaints about me and my home (too many cars, livestock, etc). I've never had a complaint lodged by a business, or a church.

Personally, I'd leap at the chance these days to live next to an industrial park, just so I could peaceably do what I want, without headaches.

Commercial type neighbors go silent at night, and pretty generally on the weekends. They reserve their noise and activity for weekdays, business hours generally. It's residential neighbors who have late night parties and weekend rowdiness.

foxtrapper wrote: Personally, I'd leap at the chance these days to live next to an industrial park, just so I could peaceably do what I want, without headaches.

As a person with a non-legal race care car with open exhaust and a megasquirt... I concur. Dyno time is expensive... but a freight depot parking lot on a Sunday is a test/tune track. It would be nice not to have to trailer to one.

volvoclearinghouse wrote: Well, the seller apparently won't budge on his highly unrealistic price, so it's looking like a non-starter anyway. Which is a a shame. Although no, I hadn't thought of the possibility of weddings, now that you mention it. *shrug* The search continues...

how far from Baltimore are you willing to live? My sister has a house in Rohrersville (~20 min west of frederick) that they're currently renting out but might be looking to sell. 13 acres IIRC, no garage but plenty of room to build. and bro-in-law is builder!