Houses On Main Roads, Good Idea?

Question

I was just curious what other house flippers here on BP think of houses located on main roads? Are they still worth considering, or are they generally too hard to sell? There are promising looking properties in my area located on main roads and I don't want to just rule them out because of this. What are your thoughts?

Mike Bolen · Answer

@Mindy Jensen LOL love that movie! @Brandon Walason I have purchased many properties on main roads with heavy traffic. ANY location can be a deal so long as you are buying the property at a discount. If a surrounding property of similar floor plans are selling and the property you are researching is discounted significantly for the road noise factor and you can fix & flip and still offer the property at a discount to those located on quiet side streets you should be good. I have found some exceptional deals on main streets simply because you can offer a rehabbed home in a great zip code for a big discount. As always the deal is all in the buy not the sell!

Mindy Jensen · Answer

@Brandon Walason , great advice already here. Just want to throw my opinion in as well. Don't do it. Read Stephen King's Pet Sematary. That turned me off busy streets for good.

Jackson Carr · Answer

Like everyone else said. Very dependent. My house in Napa is on a main street and I had 1-2 potentials not rent because of that, but because of the Napa market, I had 5 more lined up. It all comes down to how saturated your market it.

Jack

Jeff B. · Answer

Go in with your eyes open and reasonable expectations.  We bought our personal like this and it sold about 40k under the area FMV.  Our refi appraisals have been lower too.  But the FMV of this property is just fine and when a neighbor goes up for sale, they're scooped up like candy.

As stated above - - it all depends.

Forgot to mention:  Don't insult someone with a 40% discount offer; it discloses how cheap you are.  That 40k was a 13% discount and already shown in the MLS listing price.

Jim Adrian · Answer

@Brandon Walason

I have a rental (2/1) on a main road, which I lived in for 5 years.  It depends what type of busy road you live on.  It will have a lower resale value which is why its now a rental.  Its easier to rent due to higher visibility.   Its not an ideal buy in my book.

Background.... The road has 4 lanes (2 each way) and its just steps up to 35mph in front of the house.  My lot has an alley on the back of it which makes access to the property easier.  My neighborhood amenities help sell the house.  Best school district in the metro area,  elementary within 5 blocks, middle school with in 3 blocks, 2 city parks with 6 blocks.  Its 6 blocks from the old history downtown area.  The towns population is like 17k but is part of a large metro area. My house sits far back from the street so it feel safe.  In 5 minutes I can get everywhere important.

Brian Pulaski · Answer

This is very dependent on actual house/street.

I own two houses on what would be considered "main" streets. Both are daily heavily travelled. I think there is less appeal than the same house on a culdesac, however if the ARV takes into account the street, and the deal still works, clearly I would do it!

John Thedford · Answer

IMO, difficult to sell or rent. I would expect a 40% discount to purchase one because only a give-a-way price might be the way to get out of it. Remember: in RE, it can be EASY to get into something but if you made a bad move it could be very hard to get OUT of something (just like a marriage:))

Christopher B. · Answer

Depends. In my city there are areas that were once soley residential but have now become so busy the houses have been converted into businesses. There are still residential properties there and they're in desirable areas but I wouldn't rehab one to sell as I feel the buyer pool would be small. On the flip side there are residential streets that have heavy traffic that are very desirable to live on. So I guess the answer is, it depends. I stay sway from houses that are in viewing distance of commercial buildings as a general rule of thumb. Local sales data can give you the answer though.

Houses On Main Roads, Good Idea?

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