dougless Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Before we married my wife owned a house that backed onto a London overground line. She'd been there a few years and was completely oblivious to the noise, at first I found it a bit intrusive but after a few weeks I also just tuned it out. My guess is that after a short while of living there you'll barely notice the trains. However, if there's any chance that you might want to sell in the near future, I'd be very wary about buying a property that backs onto a train line. I'm not expecting a property crash, but if one does occur then any property that is blighted to the slightest extent becomes virtually unsaleable. This is what I saw during the 1989/95 crash. In a boom we're all just grateful to have our offer accepted, but when the market turns sour we all become incredibly picky, and unless the market's booming no one will touch a house next to a railway line. If the market stumbles then the idyllic Edwardian rectory with the south facing garden will still find ready buyers at a relatively high price, but you'll be stuck with the kind of unsaleable white elephant that will carry the majority of any house price correction. This is very good advice. At the moment almost anything will sell. I also saw the difficulty some people had selling in the late 80's crash. One other thing I forgot to mention about living near a train track, the metallic fallout from steel wheels and tracks. I have known two people who lived near a railway and they both suffered the effect of this metallic dust embedding itself into the paintwork of their cars. It can be removed as long as you keep your car clean and regularly waxed but if you don't it will cause long term damage. Imagine what it does to your lungs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
“Nasty Piece of work” Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 My friend lived right by a train line, when a long freight train went past he used to loose his satellite signal. I exited the purchase of a house, because the line was being "upgraded" - I didn't like some muppet having the ability to do me over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timak Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33787881.html If you like living on railway tracks I can recommend this house. First saw it for sale about 18 months ago for £180k guide price, it sold for £250k at auction and us locals all laughed. Now back on the market for £375k! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen_out Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I live about 50 m away from the East Coast line and we get freight all through the night. First couple of months we lived in the house we used to wake up regurlarly. After that though, nothing. Can't remember the last time a train woke me up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wherebee Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Depends if you are a light sleeper. I had tove live near tracks for six months once and absolutely hated it - didn't get one single day of proper rest. Also, I would note the studies on those living under flight paths in terms of blood pressure, etc etc - I wonder if living by noise such as trains and major roads has the same impact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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