Never Buy a Home Next to This Type of Property.

Searching for a home can be both exciting and frustrating. Finding and purchasing a home can take anywhere from four weeks to six months (or longer!), and there will likely be some compromises along the way. Your wish list will fit your budget , your patience will reach its limit, and before you know it, you’ll happily make an offer on a home that doesn’t have what you initially thought was a must-have.

One aspect of a home that people sometimes overlook is what’s next door. While you may not always know which neighbors live in the houses next to yours, there are other types of properties that may seem innocuous or even cool at first glance, but are not. If you’re thinking about buying a home with one of these six properties in the neighborhood, think twice; they have flaws that you may not notice right away.

Park

Living next to a park may seem wonderful at first – like having a huge backyard that someone else takes care of. But living next to a large public space has a long list of potential disadvantages:

• Confidentiality. There may be a large number of people around your property at all times making noise or even invading your space.

• Safety. There is some evidence that crime rates are higher in areas near public parks in urban areas .

• Wildlife. Parks, even those located in densely populated urban areas, attract and support a wide range of animals . And that’s great until these critters start invading your property in search of food, shelter, or just out of curiosity.

If you have young children, easy access to a park may be enough of an advantage to change your thinking, but be aware of the disadvantages as well.

gas station

When I was a kid, my family lived a few doors from a gas station that leaked gasoline from underground tanks for years, eventually forcing the entire neighborhood to move while they dug up our backyards and pumped out all the fuel. Living next door to a gas station may not result in such a disaster , but you will likely encounter a variety of other problems:

• Smoke. Gasoline, oil, and other byproducts of fueling and repairing cars will definitely affect the air quality around your home—and those fumes, as you can imagine, are bad for you .

• Traffic. Hope you enjoy the traffic because gas stations often generate a lot of it .

• Noise. Gasoline doesn’t magically grow in these underground reservoirs, and deliveries usually occur late at night when they don’t interfere with peak service hours, which could disturb your sleep or peace.

Empty lot

An empty lot may not seem like such a big deal. After all, no neighbors means no arguing or noise, and if you’re buying a home in a residential area, the worst-case scenario is probably a new house and new neighbors. But there are a few reasons why you should think twice before moving to a vacant lot :

• Resale value. An empty lot is one thing, but if you don’t know what’s going to be built there, you can’t predict how it might affect the value of your home. If something unwanted is built there, you may pay for it when you try to sell it.

• Construction. An empty lot represents the likelihood that you will be living next door to a construction site for a long time – perhaps much longer than you think . This means noise, dust, debris, potential damage to your home , and a long list of other annoyances and inconveniences.

• Non-residential projects. If you’re thinking about taking a chance on a home with an empty lot next door, check the zoning. Don’t assume that a house will be built there – it could be a business that could potentially negatively impact your quality of life.

• Maintenance (or lack thereof). Empty lots can become a source of frustration if they become overgrown and encroach on your side of the property line, or if they are left unattended and become a haven for animals or illegal activity.

Church

Living next to a church means having godly people as neighbors, right? What could go wrong?

A lot actually. Besides the traffic and noise issues that arise from regular large gatherings such as services and special occasions such as weddings (which don’t seem that special if you live at least one of them every weekend), churches like They are usually very noisy neighbors . There are bells; Live music is often heard during services; and churches often run community programs, such as homeless shelters or kitchens, that you may support but don’t like living near. If you like to sleep in on the weekends, don’t buy a house next to a church of any denomination, that’s what I’m saying.

Coffee shop

Living next door to a cute coffee shop may seem like an advantage: you can roll out of bed and have a hot cup of coffee and a muffin in your hands in seconds! But be careful: if the coffee shop roasts its own beans, the smell of roasted coffee can be overwhelming .

Even if the store doesn’t actually roast the beans on site, you’ll smell the coffee all day, every day, as long as you live in the house. It may not seem so bad at first, but ask yourself if you might ever get sick of it and not be able to get rid of it.

School

If you have children, finding a home close to local schools is often a priority. But “nearby” does not necessarily mean “next door.” It’s easy to imagine the problems that could arise if several hundred children are walked in your area several times a day , including:

• Traffic. Dropping off and picking up children impedes traffic flow and encourages parents to do a lot of dodgy things with their cars , like parking in blatantly illegal ways or even in the driveway.

• Noise. Several hundred children. What else do you need to know?

• Littering and trespassing. Large groups of children can pose a threat to any area. Kids will sit on your front porch, hang out with friends, invade your yard, and leave trash behind .

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