Just last week, I met with an older couple planning on selling their home. They were wanting to downsize. As they were showing me around, they pointed out the upgrades they’d made and commented “And we have a corner lot. It cost us to get it, but it was well worth it.” In fact, they said that a couple times just to be sure I registered the point.
When we got around to talking about what they should price the house, the value of the corner lot came up again (with emphasis). In their minds, the corner lot added at least a couple thousand dollars (2% of the overall value) to the asking price.
I wasn’t sold on the idea, as I’ve had many buyers skip past houses located on corner lots. So, in these situations I make a list – – Pros and Cons – – asking myself “Do buyers prefer houses on corner lots or do they shy away from them?” Here’s what I came up with …
PROS
- Corner lots are larger
- Corner lots do not have a neighbor directly next door on one side (which can translate to having less noise from neighbors)
- Circular drives are more often possible
- If building, more flexibility on how to set the garage and driveway (side load or rear load)
- In many locales, existing homes on corner lots are less expensive than interior lots!
CONS
- Taxes may be slightly higher
- Builders may charge a premium for the larger lot
- Likely to have more traffic which parents are fearful of (and more traffic also means more traffic noise)
- Corner lots typically have very small back yards, which parents don’t like because it’s often a challenge to fence the side yard or to keep an eye on children playing there
And a TOSS-UP
- Because you only have a neighbor on one side, some people will say you have more privacy. On the other hand, you have a lot more people staring as they drive by.
So, who’s right and who’s wrong? Well, sometimes it just comes down to the lot itself. More often it comes down to personal preferences. But if you’re thinking about resale, and your potential buyer pool involves people with young children, then I suggest you keep looking.
When you are ready, give Indy’s Choice a call! – Bob (317) 625-0655
