Buying next to lane way

Hey all,

Just wondering peoples opinions on buying next to a small lane way. The house is in a cul-de-sac and has a small lane way running beside it through to a main road. Its probably only 30-40metres long. Is this a problem? Graffiti etc? Also there is a vacant block of land owned by council in the cul-de-sac that currently just has a footpath running around it. Am i able to find out what they are planning for this or is it likely they will just leave it as is.

Cheers
 
Being next to a laneway can attract undesirable people, graffiti and the like. It probably depends on the location (suburb) and the surroundings. Ie close to shops, station etc.
 
Its in Hassle Grove (Western Sydney). Its not close to a train station. Shops are probably half a kilometre aaway. The only reason i thought it might be okay was because it is quite short with houses on either side and connects a quiet cul-de-sac with a more busy road (but although i said main road it is just a more busy road in the suburb, not main as such). There is already a tiny bit of graffiti on one fence.

Will its location affect resale value in the future do you think?
 
Its in Hassle Grove (Western Sydney). Its not close to a train station. Shops are probably half a kilometre aaway. The only reason i thought it might be okay was because it is quite short with houses on either side and connects a quiet cul-de-sac with a more busy road (but although i said main road it is just a more busy road in the suburb, not main as such). There is already a tiny bit of graffiti on one fence.

Will its location affect resale value in the future do you think?

Where abouts in Hassle Grove? I used to live just down the road from there, and a few friends live there. There are areas better than others in Hassle Grove, but personally i wouldn't be touching a house near a lane way, that also has a council owned block in any areas near 2770.
 
personally i wouldn't be touching a house near a lane way, that also has a council owned block in any areas near 2770.

She says this, yet we own one at Willmot next to a laneway. No trouble at all. Yet another we had in the same suburb, but different area was always a problem and this one was not next to a laneway.

It depends on who the people are that use the laneway and the immediate neighbours. Some would be no problem and others will be an absolute nightmare.

I would suggest going there at different times of the day, walking around and taking note of the surroundings. Take particular note of how many youngsters are wandering around aimlessly. Don't go at meal times or in the morning (they need their beauty sleep, you know). Take note of how many homes look unkept and how much grafitti there is.
 
She says this, yet we own one at Willmot next to a laneway. No trouble at all. Yet another we had in the same suburb, but different area was always a problem and this one was not next to a laneway.

Yes, but i also said it depends where it is.

And the one not next to the laneway is one house away..?

At this point in time (school holidays) you'd be less likely to see the teens wondering around, they're all shoplifting.
 
Yes, but i also said it depends where it is.

And the one not next to the laneway is one house away..? NO.....but it did have some interesting neighbours. That is why we sold it.
At this point in time (school holidays) you'd be less likely to see the teens wondering around, they're all shoplifting.

:rolleyes:
 
Located in Allard Street Pretty close to the school. Doesn't seem like a bad area from what i have observed. Any advice Skater?

Thanks!

Not without me physically going there & looking around. I'll leave that to you. You should have plenty of time to do that at this time of year.
 
Also, why is it bad to purchse near council owned land? Looks tgo me like they will either just leave as is or put a playground there?

Vacant land could mean that it is a convenient hang out for the local louts. Again, check out the area. You only need one scummy family to turn a nice area into a dodgy one.
 
There are a few laneways near my ppor and I'd just like to share some observations I have made about them over the years.

One lane linked a circular quietish road with my busier road. It is a useful laneway because you can use it to cut through to the beach. At various times in the earlier days it did attract strife and there was the odd congregation of noisy party goers gathered there on weekend nights.

Sometimes on Sundays we would wake to see the ugly tags on the laneway fencing. The owner of the fencing never cleaned up the tags and a couple of her kids were usually enjoying the saturday night antics anyway and I think they liked the tags.

Later, once the house was sold, the new owner took ownership of the lanway by mulching the council land and she always painted out any tagging as soon as she saw it. When the taggers didn't get the satisfaction of seeing their vandalism on display for long they lost interest in tagging.

Owners bordering the lane did try to get the lane closed by offering to buy the land from council but too many objections were lodged as it is a through path to the beach. If they had been successful, one house in particular would have experienced a significant value increase because their property would effectively have ended up cul-de sacced one street from the beach.

Another laneway nearby was closed when the adjoining owners decided to offer to buy the land from council. In that case there were no objections as it was simply a short cut for school kids and they had alternative routes they could take.

I don't think I would be put off unless a laneway is a short cut to a deli. Then I might hesitate a bit.
 
Ring council about the land if unsure about future usage- this would be more important to me rather than the actual laneway. As others have pointed out, it depends on what the laneway is used for, who uses it and how private/exposed it is.
 
I used to rent a few doors down from a laneway in an area the posters above have pegged as all the 'bad' things (Elizabeth, SA). My biggest issue was just that I had a pram, and the lane often had broken glass in it. It was a cut-through between a shopping centre and the train station, and didn't collect much graffiti as it was too highly trafficked. Little-used laneways would be more problematic.

My end of the street was full of immaculate houses with little old ladies in it pruning their topiary - this end had the laneway. The far end was where all the 'fun' was, housing commission houses where people would get shot, houses got burnt down in revenge, lots of cars on blocks, horrible gardens, car seat lounges out the front of every house, broken windows with tape on, lots of bored children just kind of hovering around breaking things. This is the stuff you need to watch out for. Have a nice stroll around the area. The laneway might be the least of your worries, or the whole area might be wonderful and the laneway is the biggest issue :)
 
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