Orlando, FL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 282 votes
At the house I am interested in, there is a brick wall near the house and then the railroad tracks are about 100 feet outside the brick wall. Is this an automatic "no" for a potential rental? (I haven't been there when the train was actually passing by)
Real Estate Investor · StL, MO · Member since 2008 · 294 posts · 152 votes
14y
Find out if the tracks are still in use. With the consolidation of railroad companies over the years and the move to inter-modal shipping, there are a number of tracks that are no longer in use. If they are in use, follow Jon's advice and research the area very well.
Real Estate Broker · Northwest Indiana, IN · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
14y
There are plenty of houses by railroad tracks in the US. If there are not enough reasons someone would say "yes", it seems you already know what the answer is.
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
14y
You should do some research on rents and property values and determine the effect of the tracks. There almost certainly is an effect on both. But if its still a deal after accounting for those effects, proceed.
Real Estate Investor · StL, MO · Member since 2008 · 294 posts · 152 votes
14y
Find out if the tracks are still in use. With the consolidation of railroad companies over the years and the move to inter-modal shipping, there are a number of tracks that are no longer in use. If they are in use, follow Jon's advice and research the area very well.
Real Estate Investor · NY · Member since 2008 · 313 posts · 87 votes
14y
Even if they are not in use currently base your decision on if they are in use. Just because they are not in use now does not mean they will not be in use in the near or far future.
Orlando, FL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 282 votes
14y
Originally posted by Michael R.:
Even if they are not in use currently base your decision on if they are in use. Just because they are not in use now does not mean they will not be in use in the near or far future.
Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking.
If possible, I'm going to try and find out what times the train comes by that area, and try to be in the development at that time to see how loud it is.
Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
14y
Frequency of use needs to be considered. In my area, being a major rail terminal, there are homes in all price ranges "near" tracks. From an appriasal view, the tracks are only considered as an external obsolessence within that neighborhood and often it is not something that can be factored due to the lack of comparables. The amount of train traffic is something to inquire about with the RR people who use or own the tracks. A train going by once a week for ten minutes in the afternoon is hardly a problem. In fact, it could be a plus as nothing can be built close to the tracks. I have been in many homes where you can't really see the RR tracks that might be 500 feet away and it appears to be a wide open space which would be a plus. While I would stay away from a high traffic area, the fact that RR tracks are near by would not keep from investing in a property, but again, depends on traffic.
Electrical Contractor · both, Maine & Florida · Member since 2011 · 129 posts · 53 votes
14y
I bought my own house near RR tracks without knowing it, I never notice the trains anymore. That said, the thing that makes a big difference is if they have lights and gates at the road crossings, without them they blow the whistle a long time approaching, thats worse than the train!!
Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
14y
Looking at the tracks will give you a pretty good idea. If the tracks are very shiny on the top, are welded (i.e., the individual sections of track are welded into on long continuous piece), and the ballast (gravel) is neat and weed free, they probably see a lot of use. If they are jointed rails (individual sections of track bolted together with plates on the sides), uneven, and the ballast has weeds, probably not.
Some tracks are seasonal. We have a number of tracks around here that only get used during harvests.
There are quite a few tracks that don't get used any more, but the ones that are used are used very heavily. Rail traffic has dropped off with the economy, but is trending back up. I've seen construction of new lines occurring here in some busy areas.
Flipper · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2009 · 973 posts · 679 votes
14y
I owned a 6 unit building right next to not only a busy track, but a road crossing. And by right next to, I mean the tracks were no more than 30 feet from one of the entrances. The train traffic was at least one an hour during the day, slightly less frequently at night. This building was in a MAJOR train hub in southern Indiana, so residents tended to be used to trains, and also less than 2 blocks from a college campus. With those two factors, it made it very easy to keep rented.
The residents told me that after about a week they didn't even notice the trains anymore. I've heard this from several people who have lived near tracks. If your tracks aren't super busy, or you aren't super close to a street crossing, I don't think I'd worry too much. Like everyone else says though, make sure you comp it against properties that are equa-distant to the track.
Investor · Omaha, NE · Member since 2011 · 475 posts · 211 votes
14y
My experience agrees with Marc's. I have an apartment next to a UP track that's used daily and have no problem keeping it rented. There is no crossing nearby and the trains can't go more than 15 MPH at that location so that makes a difference on noise.
Real Estate Investor · Ottawa, Ontario · Member since 2011 · 217 posts · 14 votes
14y
According to my experience, it is the horn that a train makes when approaching a cross that intolerable.
Originally posted by Dennis Tierney:
My experience agrees with Marc's. I have an apartment next to a UP track that's used daily and have no problem keeping it rented. There is no crossing nearby and the trains can't go more than 15 MPH at that location so that makes a difference on noise.
Orlando, FL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 282 votes
14y
I went to speak to a neighbor (and another person) and not only are the trains frequent and noisy, apparently there are a lot of break-ins in that subdivision. I guess you can learn a lot from the neighbors.
Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
14y
Bienes, I would have to disagree with much that has been said thus far. I think you did the right thing speaking to neighbors. Due to the info u received from them on the crimes, I would pass just on that basis alone. As for railroad tracks, you shouldtreat homes lije that similar to those on major streets, which in my experience, bring values down by an average of 10%. U would factor in a 15% reduction for railroads.
One of the key factors to flipping is getting oyt quickly and negative factors affecting a home cause difficulties in finding buyers. That said, u must factor exit values lower to stay profitable.
Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
14y
My bad, just realized this is a prospective rental, not a flip. So advice to check rental rates and values would be accurate, however, on the other hand, u may want to sell spmeday and then my advice comes into play. I personally would pass on any units near tracks simply because I would not want to deal with negative factors when there are Si nany other better choices.
San Juan Capistrano, CA · Member since 2011 · 114 posts · 34 votes
14y
I used to live next to train tracks and it was a nightmare. These weren't passenger trains, but industrial (20 or so carts) trains. The whole house would literally shake and at all hours of the day. The train would also blast their horn, which was even worse. People would actually come over and say, "God, how can you live here?" Well, the reason was the rent was about 30% cheaper than everywhere else and I was in college.
Now I live about a quarter mile from a train track and don't even notice it. That's because these trains are light passenger trains (Amtrak). The don't honk their horns either.
So like with everything else, the answer is: "it depends".
Orlando, FL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 282 votes
14y
I decided not to make the offer. Maybe the crime would have been okay but combined with the track noise issue, it's just too much. And since it's a short sale I don't know if they have a lot of wiggle room for a super lowball offer.
Real Estate Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2010 · 449 posts · 173 votes
14y
Good choice to pass, I think. The concern I would have would be the effect on the duration of vacancies. When trying to get it filled, you'd have this immediate turn-off factor - and not one you can address like replacing a front door that's shabby or modernizing a kitchen. And even if it's not loud from where the house is, you have to worry about the problem as it would be perceived by a prospective tenant, versus how much of a problem it actually is. I can see many prospective tenants saying "oh, it's by railroad tracks, next!".
You could somewhat address this by reducing the asking rent accordingly (and factoring that into your offer), but still in filling vacancies you would be limiting yourself to the subset of tenants that want to rent more house than they could otherwise afford and are willing to put up with noise in order to do so.
Orlando, FL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 282 votes
14y
Originally posted by Harry M.:
Good choice to pass, I think. The concern I would have would be the effect on the duration of vacancies. When trying to get it filled, you'd have this immediate turn-off factor - and not one you can address like replacing a front door that's shabby or modernizing a kitchen. And even if it's not loud from where the house is, you have to worry about the problem as it would be perceived by a prospective tenant, versus how much of a problem it actually is. I can see many prospective tenants saying "oh, it's by railroad tracks, next!".
You could somewhat address this by reducing the asking rent accordingly (and factoring that into your offer), but still in filling vacancies you would be limiting yourself to the subset of tenants that want to rent more house than they could otherwise afford and are willing to put up with noise in order to do so.
Thanks Harry. That's exactly what I was thinking. Even if the trains didn't come by often (or at all), there's no reason for the applicants to believe me when I tell them that.
Flipper · Chicago, IL · Member since 2012 · 24 posts · 8 votes
14y
Living in a home near tracks, I found like most things you tend to not even notice it after a few days.
I grew up near an airport as well. Planes flew low enough where you could see the people in the windows. Regardless - it was just part of the scene and didn't really bother you unless you were on the phone.