Will Nearby Development Decrease Home Value

[Kyle Nield]

Hey, I'm considering buying a home. It's a nice brick home, but outdated. We were hoping to buy it and do some updating while we live in it for the next few years, and then sell.  The house is located in a rural area a few miles outside of town in the middle of a lot of farm land and pretty farm houses.  However, I just found out that the adjacent 115 acres have been purchased for a housing development of 20  upscale single family homes and 13 town homes, all $500,000 and above. This development will likely be entered by using the same road the house is on, will probably increase traffic, and turn the adjacent rolling hills/farm land into high end homes.  My fear is that this will decrease the home value when we go to sell.  Does anybody have any thoughts or advice on how this may affect the home value?

[Bonnie Low]

Of course talk to your Realtor to see what he/she has to say. But my gut reaction is that this would not decrease your home value. While it doesn't sound like your older home is necessarily going to be comparable to the new homes (IOW their sales price won't get used as a comp for your future appraisal because the properties aren't similar enough) it still seems like you're buying a property that is in the path of progress and that makes the value go up. You're clearly buying in an area where people want to be.