On the Wrong Side of the Tracks? Sell Direct and Leave Noisy Oceanside Behind

Looking for a quiet place to lay your head at night? One where you can sleep peacefully, far from the hustle and bustle of the city? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, you’ll want to stay far away from Oceanside. Between two local commuter lines, an Amtrak line, and the BNSF freight trains that pass through, the city has a pretty notorious reputation for loud, constant train traffic, and locals aren’t happy about it. Countless scientific studies have shown time and time again that getting quality sleep each night is crucial to physical and psychological well-being—there is only so much disruption you can take before getting to the end of your rope and deciding that you need to move.

Oceanside’s Solution: “Quiet Corridor,” Due in 2018

In response to years of complaints from hoteliers and homeowners, the city finally voted in March to put funding towards a major rail reconstruction project, one that would revamp all of the city’s five major train crossings in order to implement a new “quiet zone.” It’s great news for homeowners living close to the tracks, but it’ll take until 2018 to finish the project, and two years is a long time to wait for a good night’s sleep. If you already own a home in Oceanside, you might be wondering whether you can wait it out, and, if you can’t, how hard it may be to sell a home in a place as infamously noisy as Oceanside.

Why Homes Near the Tracks are Worth Less to New Buyers

Though one study on rail transit and home values shows that having a track nearby generally increases home value, it also shows that the value of homes “within the immediate station area” consistently drops, and interestingly, it isn’t just because of noise. According to the study, there are a handful of other reasons for this decrease in value, and if you own a home near the tracks, it’s good to be aware of them:

• Living next to a railroad track increases the likelihood of living near a heavily industrial area. It may not be the rail line proper that pulls housing value down, but the fact that industries for whom the line is essential will want to be as close to it as possible. Homes in these areas might be surrounded by warehouses and stockyards rather than playgrounds and parks, and that can be a big drawback for families or anyone who’s looking for a more community-based place to land.
• Rail lines can bring increased traffic into an area. If the rail line is part of a commuter train system, this will increase the number of buses, cars, and foot traffic that the area sees, especially if the nearest train station has a parking lot where commuters can leave their cars. This may not be an issue for city folks, but it won’t be ideal for people who prefer more strictly suburban communities.
• People often think that crime is higher in areas near rail lines, even though some studies show that isn’t true. In this case, it’s the perception of higher crime rates, rather than the crime rates themselves, that bring housing values down.
• Visual intrusion. In other words, living next to a railroad track just doesn’t give homeowners very much to look at, and if they have the flexibility (i.e., the cash) to find a home that does, they’re likely to do so.

Whatever the reasons, homes in close proximity to rail transit will likely have lower resale values, especially in a place like Oceanside, where hotels near the rails regularly leave earplugs on the bedside tables in each of their rooms. If you want to sell your house in Oceanside because you’re tired of living on the wrong side of the tracks, consider Sell Your House Direct. We can take your home off your hands in as little as a week, and we’ll do it without the hassle and waiting that often comes standard in the traditional real estate game.

How We Can Help Homeowners Sell Fast in Oceanside

• We’ll make a cash offer on your house within 24 hours of your first phone call (or online submission).
• If you accept our offer, we’ll close on the date of your choice.
• We won’t pressure you or use gimmicky sales tactics to get you to take our offer—if it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work for us, either.
• We take houses as-is, so you don’t have to worry about costly repairs, renovations, cleaning, or junk removal. We take care of it all.
• We don’t work with real estate agents, so there are no commissions and no hidden fees. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

In our five years of doing this, we’ve handled over 5000 of these transactions, and along the way, we’ve helped homeowners get out of some really tough situations. Selling a home can be a frustrating and complicated process, and sometimes it’s easiest to let the experts do the hard work for you. If that’s where you are with your house in Oceanside, give us a call—we’d be more than happy to walk you through our process personally so you can get back to peaceful sleep in no time.