Greetings! Found awesome house in a very desirable neighborhood! ALMOST wanted to put offer in sight unseen. I drive by and the highway is in backyard only separated by lots large trees n ferns...

i Google this idea of living with hiway in rear and received unexpected feedback about pollution and it taking a toll on kids and older folk, health risks, lung issues etc. I hadn't thought about the physical and health implications. I know rhe noise could be a nuisance. I would surmise the distance from rear yard is about 500 to 700 feet or so. Also from an aerial view online i saw wach neighbor on either side have cut some trees down to allow for a larger back yard. The house in question has minimal rear yard because of the trees/woods.

Another issue to contemplate is being so close to woods would permit lots of privacy except for a lot of vermin like mice and much more.

Any insight is appreciated.

Thank you.

I own a house that is about 1200 feet from a heavily-traveled interstate (a block away.) When the wind is blowing from that direction, it is pretty loud. Other times, the noise blends into the background enough not to really notice it. It is not an issue at all when looking for renters.

As far as vermin, we also have a thick stand of trees - about 1/2 acre - and have no problems with vermin. Lots of squirrels - but no mice/rats. The trees are nice, because they attract a lot of birds and the bird chirping completely drowns out the road noise on some days.

A rich friend with a double master's degree earning 1/4 million a year purchased a wonder house in a much desirable neighborhood of Los Angeles where property is expensive. Behind her home sat the on-ramp to the 405 San Diego Freeway. A steep on-ramp.

So when troubled vehicles struggled to make it up the on-ramp, the noise was unbearable at all hours of the night.

So she had to install sound proof windows and have insulation blown into the walls if she planed to sleep during the night.

Then when it was hot, she now needed central air conditioning -- adding to her underline cost of the property.

Then the Freeway was widened for diamond lanes and other special features -- moving the on-ramp closer to her property boundary.

Finally it got so bad that I had to redesign the house so the front living room (furthest from the freeway) was now her master bedroom. And a center bedroom was not the new living room.

With her windows closed and the central air running, she could sleep through the night.

But on days, like 5 days a week, when the freeway is bumper to bumper traffic, the air quality is so bad, you want to choke to death.

She saved 150K buying this house next to the freeway but in the end it cost more that that just to upgrade her house so that she could sleep through the night.

Completely agree with Robert J.

Unless it's for a rental and steeply discounted, I'd pass on it.

I lived on the NJ turnpike since first grade, until after I was married for 5 years. "It's amazing what you get used to" I do believe you adjust to about anything. After marriage, we had some great parties there and it never bothered us at all.

I don't know anything about the pollution effects that you mention. Other than that I'd say go for it. You do get nice privacy in your backyard with no neighbors behind you and I'm sure you get an awesome discount for the house.

500 feet is 1 2/3 football fields away.

700 feet is 2 1/3 football fields away.

500 feet is about a tenth of a mile.

700 feet is usually over two blocks long.

It takes about 3 minutes to walk .1 miles.

My family lived in a house where the back property line was against the railroad tracks, with a highway (not the interstate kind of highway, a highway) running along on the other side. The highway was never an issue at all; we had to make an effort to notice the trains after the first month or two.

Went by the house after work. I went to rear yard was alarmed at the noise and proximity to highway. I had previously only saw the house at night and online.

The house is a little closer to highway than i thought id guess abt 300 or 400 ft. Houses are flying off the market in right now so i know it wont last long.

But as much as i love the home and the subdivision i would not be happy. I saw another house a month ago anf when i arrived iy also was near highway and i was completely turned off when i realized the freeway proximity. But this current home was a real consideration.

Went by the house after work. I went to rear yard was alarmed at the noise and proximity to highway. I had previously only saw the house at night and online.

The house is a little closer to highway than i thought id guess abt 300 or 400 ft. Houses are flying off the market in right now so i know it wont last long.

But as much as i love the home and the subdivision i would not be happy. I saw another house a month ago anf when i arrived iy also was near highway and i was completely turned off when i realized the freeway proximity. But this current home was a real consideration.

Lola,if the price is right,buy it.The first house I bought when I immigrated here was backed up to the New Haven and Hartford Rail Line.The Montreal Metro-Liner zoomed by every morning at 4A.M. Coming from the North of Ireland,where we lived,out in the country,a train wasn't even in our thoughts.After we lived here for six months,everyone woke up one morning, couldn't figure out why? The 6 o'clock news on the radio.The Railroad Engineers had voted a strike.We're back on the job after a couple of days,what a frightening experience. So buy it if the price is right