[SoCalGal]

Originally Posted by jimhoward

In the new sections there are a lot of power lines. The cut a huge swath thought the villages. Some of the best houses with the best views lots in, for example, Water's Edge, have power lines in them.

I'm surprised the TV developers haven't buried the power lines like in Irvine, CA, a planned unit development (PUD), probably due to cost. Southern California Edison has a program to bury power lines in Irvine and other high-fire-risk areas in Orange County to reduce wildfire risk. This is part of a larger initiative to underground distribution lines in targeted areas. SCE estimates it costs between $3 million and $5 million per mile to take a power line underground. To compare, it costs around $900,000 per mile to cover lines with fire-resistant material through Edison's “covered conductor” program. I love the landscape in Irvine.

[CybrSage]

Originally Posted by azcindy

Would you consider buying a house you like a lot with a great view plus in a location you desire, except it is close to the power lines? The power lines don't obstruct the view, but they are close to the house. I just don't know how safe it is to be near the large power lines so wondering what others think. Thanks.

Cindy

They are completely safe. The question to ask is, can you hear the lines buzzing? If not, then go for it. If so, you will be irritated forever.

[asianthree]

Our first thought before we buy a house is “how hard will it be to sell” power lines, a hard sell for us

[CybrSage]

Originally Posted by Mike123

i disagree there is danger near power lines its called lines of flux created by current passing thru the lines, these fields of energy are admittley within the area of the power lines . The fields have been known to cause cancer.

The electromagnetic field does exist around the lines. But unless you are close enough to touch the lines, they cannot affect you at all.

Hold up a fluorescent bulb. If it lights up without power, the EMF is too strong there.

[CybrSage]

Originally Posted by asianthree

Our first thought before we buy a house is “how hard will it be to sell” power lines, a hard sell for us

Compared to other houses you have sold, how much harder was the one by the power lines?

[BackintheVillage]

Wouldn’t happen to be the patio villas on Willy Way in waters edge would it? We toured those last week. Amazing views but the power lines are there. Not obstructed at all and with the villa design they put there (Garnet) the lanai views are incredible. Tempting but we thought of resale as well. I tried to get a family member to purchase and they said “radiation” as they spoke from their smart phone on their ear, Bluetooth and wireless radios active on it as well. I think we got lots more radiation around us than we realize.

[vintageogauge]

If you are not concerned about re-sale go for it as if you ever have to move it might be sitting on the market for a very long time.

[RobertScott]

When I ride my bike under the Citrus Grove power lines, and forget to keep my hands fully on the grips, meaning some portion of them are touching metal, I get zapped, every time.

So no I would not want a house close to the power lines.

[jim@jedward.com]

From an appraisal perspective, the situation you describe is called an "adverse extenal influence" or "external obsolescence". Typically, an AEI has a negative impact on marketability and value. If you love the house, you may still want to buy it. Just be aware of the external factors.

[HJBeck]

Safety issue should not concern you one bit. The electromagnetic fields you get from the power lines is substantial less than what you get from your electric appliances in your home. I was an electrical engineer for a power company for 40 years. The reasons for my statement above are somewhat technical and won’t bore you with the details.

[CybrSage]

Originally Posted by ithos

They can not rule out child leukemia.
ScienceDirect

I found it odd they measured the EMF so far away from people and then forgot the Earth and humans are 3D and not 2D.

They also considered other factors but failed to state how they mitigated them. They study is assuming correlation is causation, which is a bad assumption to make. I can show graphs that match ice cream sales to shark attacks and they almost perfectly line up. This means ice cream sales cause shark attacks, right? Nope, the factor which was not mitigated is that both items increase in the summer when more people are in the ocean. One must show the methods of mitigation of the other factors...the 'study" only mentioned they exist. Heck, one of the factors listed was having the literal high to residential power transformer in the basement of the residence!

A study's results are only as good as the study. That study is not very good, and is not even in the US, which has different height, voltage, frequency, etc, requirements.

A good layman's test is to hold one of those bar style flourescent bulbs in your hand, without power to it. If it glows, the EMF is too high. If not, no worries.

[CybrSage]

Originally Posted by RobertScott

When I ride my bike under the Citrus Grove power lines, and forget to keep my hands fully on the grips, meaning some portion of them are touching metal, I get zapped, every time.

So no I would not want a house close to the power lines.

Hold a flourescent light under the lines where you get shocked and take a pic of it being lit up for us. That is always a cool site to see. I have some of my from way back, cannot remember where those pictures are stored.

[Veracity]

My personal experience was in another state before moving here. We lived in a beautiful master-planned family community where a massive power line ran next to it through a field, much like here. During an EXTREMELY windy day, many homes on streets near the field caught on fire. We were told that the fire was due to the high winds causing the power lines to arc. At the time, we were experiencing drought conditions and the sparks from the arc ignited a fire in the dry vegetation below. The high winds also flamed the fire and caused it to rapidly move towards those homes, engulfing them in flames before firefighters could save them. Although many conditions contributed to those houses burning down, I can see it happening here, so I wouldn't buy a house near any of those power lines.

[La lamy]

I wouldn't live close to a bunch of power lines.

[MollyJo]

Originally Posted by azcindy

Would you consider buying a house you like a lot with a great view plus in a location you desire, except it is close to the power lines? The power lines don't obstruct the view, but they are close to the house. I just don't know how safe it is to be near the large power lines so wondering what others think. Thanks.

Cindy

I used to say never, but after looking for homes over the years & TV close proximity, I am now a YES. It is a ‘view lot’ which is maintained & if you love the house, even more reason.
If you stay until you croak, resale won’t matter to you…