[QUOTE=Madelaine Amee;1669757]Our house backs onto one of the busier streets, and the only time we notice the noise is when it is cool enough to open the sliders, and even then it is not objectionable. NO odors at all, and we have LOTS of golf carts going by. We do notice the occasional speeder, accelerating from the nearby gate, but we have great view and lots of privacy.
As an aside, according to Zillow, we are up $150K or more in about 6 years!

[QUOTE=villagetinker;1669774]Good for you. :thumbup:
I'm glad to hear a positive comment from a trustworthy source and you are just that!

Mine was just an opinion but we all base what we've bought based upon what we think; yours is tried and true.

A word of caution, however . . . Don't rely on Zillow for the truth.

:agree: I follow five houses owned by family members. Zillow runs consistently from a little bit to quite high on four of them and below market on the fifth. Their valuations seem to have bounced up or down by a few thousand every time I check. It has crossed my mind that providing too high estimated values and running the evaluations up and down pulls people in to keep checking with Zillow. Frankly, it can be a bit addicting (just like TOTV) which may be Zillow's goal.

I went to a TV open house in a premier neighborhood a couple of years ago. The home next door had a very extensive filter system for the enormous pool and hot tub. The sound from this extensive filter system was so obnoxious. It was on the same side of the open house's master bedroom. I would not consider a home with all that noise so close next door.

That is a problem, before we bought in Fenney we found a home that we really liked but same situation so we walked.

Being downwind from a nearby smoker is a huge deal killer for me. Many now smoke outside on a lanai or patio which of course makes it even worse for their nearby downwind neighbors..

Zillow depends heavily on recent what it thinks are comparable sales. So depends on market.

My current home was 30% low for years. It is in a pocket surounded by lowered price homes and no resales since constructed.

The day after it mine was listed for sale, the Zillow price jumped up 40% to within 2% of the listing price.

[QUOTE=Madelaine Amee;1669757]
No, I wasn't being overly dramatic -- not even a little bit dramatic.
I simply cited the possibilities of what one could expect if your house backed up to a busy street in The Villages, not Times Square. You'd be hard-pressed to find a house that backed up to a busy street in Manhattan.

I would look at a corner lot with trepidation. You would have to maintain and landscape, if so desired, on a yard that is usually on the side of a garage, and have a lawn and landscaping that you probably couldn't see. A view for all driving by, but not for the owner, just the extra cost to maintain it.

Quite a bit of hyperbole there. I live in a house that backs up to Morse plus the MMP. Do I hear golf carts, yes. Intrusive, no. Do I hear people walking on the MMP, yes. Intrusive, no. Do I get the smell from golf carts, diesel trucks, no. Do I hear tires screeching, rarely. Do I have privacy, yes, but less than if I lived out in the country and more than with a home behind me. My lot was well worth the premium and not an insult or injury.

Sounds like the balcony discussions on the Cruise Critic forum. We are very lucky here in America that smoking is no longer the norm but pretty rare.