Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

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gbill2004
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

Post by gbill2004 »

gsp_ wrote:
Just a Guy wrote:Anyway, if you can, pull up the listing history and see how the price has changed over 5 years. If it's really been 5 years, that's a pretty good indicator that the house has been highly overpriced, regardless of any appraisals or assessments (unless they just dropped the price significantly).

My bet is, he price of the house may be a lot lower yet though. 5 years is a very long time. Heck, six months is a very long time and a sign it's priced to high.
He said 5 weeks, not years.
Exactly. Now going on 6 weeks.
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

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So a bit of an update. I'm living in an apartment temporarily near the same tracks; my apartment is actually close to the crossing where the horn goes off than that house we are considering would be (house is 1.2 kms from that crossing and the apartment is about 700 meters). Seems like the train goes by 3-4 times a day, at 9am, 1pm and 7pm on weekdays and 3pm on Sundays. Neighbors said it goes by at 4am but I am up at that time and have not heard it yet.

In addition they are building condos near the crossing where the horn goes off, so I wonder if eventually that crossing will be silenced, just like the crossing near the house we are looking at.
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

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Okay, here it is. It's a 5 minute video. I'd appreciate you watching at least the first 3-4 minutes to get a sense of the whistle in the distance and then the actual train passing. The video is taken from he driveway of the home we are considering. I definitely appreciate any and all thoughts.

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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

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gbill2004 wrote:get a sense of the whistle in the distance and then the actual train passing.
Oh man, that train is really close and it must have been a mile long.

The person sleeping in that back bedroom would not enjoy that.

I vote no.

ltr
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

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like_to_retire wrote:
gbill2004 wrote:get a sense of the whistle in the distance and then the actual train passing.
Oh man, that train is really close and it must have been a mile long.

The person sleeping in that back bedroom would not enjoy that.

I vote no.

ltr
Train took about 3-4 minutes to pass going 25 miles per hour.
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

Post by gobsmack »

like_to_retire wrote:I vote no.
It wouldn't work for me either.

As a side note, I never understood why houses in Winnipeg are so expensive. The city does not seem to offer much and the economy felt pretty stagnant when I was living there

Edit: I added that I lived in Winnipeg in the past
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

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gbill2004 wrote:Okay, here it is. It's a 5 minute video. I'd appreciate you watching at least the first 3-4 minutes to get a sense of the whistle in the distance and then the actual train passing. The video is taken from he driveway of the home we are considering. I definitely appreciate any and all thoughts.

I'm not sure why you are seeking the opinion of people you've never met about how noisy the train is on your video. On the video, the noise of the wind on the microphone is the main thing I hear. :D Are you trying to convince yourself, with the reaction of others, to buy the house or to walk away?

You have focused entirely on the noise of the train. This tells me you have misgivings about coping with it. You've overlooked, perhaps, the possibility of a train derailment. They do occur -- even in urban areas -- all too often. I notice that the freight train in your video pulled several chemical and gas tankers. My guess is that every time a derailment occurs, there is at least a temporary dampening of prices for houses near the tracks.

As Just a Guy suggested, you need to know the sales history of the house. You also need to find out the history of of house sales in this neighbourhood. You haven't mentioned how much of a turnover there is, how long it has taken owners to sell when they wanted to sell, the average price movement in the past 3 years, whether the sellers got close to asking price, etc. This is the research you need to do (an agent would have done this for you) to find out how the trains have affected resale value thus far. If you are serious about making an offer, it might be worthwhile to hire an agent for a set fee to provide you with this information (readily available to her/him).

I note that you are also minimizing the issue of how long your walk to a bus stop will take. You wrote 10 minutes was your limit but the new walk would be "approximately 12 - 15 minutes". Have you actually walked it a few times to get a feel for the difference? Has your girlfriend? If not, you both should. How safe would it be for your girlfriend to walk alone? Try walking after dark to see how much pedestrian traffic there is. If a 10 minute walk is your current comfort level, 15 minutes (or maybe more -- it sounds like you were estimating) in the dead of winter or on a rainy day could be a constant irritant at best and a hardship at worst. That, too, could affect resale value as well as your enjoyment of your new home.

It sounds like this is the first house you've seen that is in your price range and with some amenities you want. Don't let that pressure you. There will be others if you walk away or if your offer is rejected. Best of luck in your decision.
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

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Pickles wrote:
gbill2004 wrote:Okay, here it is. It's a 5 minute video. I'd appreciate you watching at least the first 3-4 minutes to get a sense of the whistle in the distance and then the actual train passing. The video is taken from he driveway of the home we are considering. I definitely appreciate any and all thoughts.

I'm not sure why you are seeking the opinion of people you've never met about how noisy the train is on your video. On the video, the noise of the wind on the microphone is the main thing I hear. :D Are you trying to convince yourself, with the reaction of others, to buy the house or to walk away?

You have focused entirely on the noise of the train. This tells me you have misgivings about coping with it. You've overlooked, perhaps, the possibility of a train derailment. They do occur -- even in urban areas -- all too often. I notice that the freight train in your video pulled several chemical and gas tankers. My guess is that every time a derailment occurs, there is at least a temporary dampening of prices for houses near the tracks.

As Just a Guy suggested, you need to know the sales history of the house. You also need to find out the history of of house sales in this neighbourhood. You haven't mentioned how much of a turnover there is, how long it has taken owners to sell when they wanted to sell, the average price movement in the past 3 years, whether the sellers got close to asking price, etc. This is the research you need to do (an agent would have done this for you) to find out how the trains have affected resale value thus far. If you are serious about making an offer, it might be worthwhile to hire an agent for a set fee to provide you with this information (readily available to her/him).

I note that you are also minimizing the issue of how long your walk to a bus stop will take. You wrote 10 minutes was your limit but the new walk would be "approximately 12 - 15 minutes". Have you actually walked it a few times to get a feel for the difference? Has your girlfriend? If not, you both should. How safe would it be for your girlfriend to walk alone? Try walking after dark to see how much pedestrian traffic there is. If a 10 minute walk is your current comfort level, 15 minutes (or maybe more -- it sounds like you were estimating) in the dead of winter or on a rainy day could be a constant irritant at best and a hardship at worst. That, too, could affect resale value as well as your enjoyment of your new home.

It sounds like this is the first house you've seen that is in your price range and with some amenities you want. Don't let that pressure you. There will be others if you walk away or if your offer is rejected. Best of luck in your decision.
Thanks for your perspective. Yes I have access to all the comparables and time to sell in this neighbourhood. Houses typically sell quickly (within 2 weeks) and for around asking price. Some that needed lots of work sold for a little less. I also have the sales history for the home. Sold in 2009 for $410, asking was $429. Home sale prices are available from the city's website.

The reason I want other people's opinions is to get a resale perspective. Personally I'm comfortable with the train noise. I'd like others opinions so I know what people would think when I eventually sell.

Very good point on the resale being negatively affected whenever there's a train derailment in the media.

We've probably looked at 40-50 houses. We really like this one. The huge backyard is almost impossible to get. It's in a very quiet tucked away area.

Regarding the walk, yes both my girlfriend and I have walked it. It's a very safe neighbourhood. Lots of light on the walk. Right now my girlfriend walks about 7 minutes to the bus so this is 5 more minutes. We talked to my dad who used to walk about the same distance to/from the bus and he said it didn't bother him.
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Pickles
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

Post by Pickles »

Sounds like you are doing the right research and planning. After that, go with your instinct.

A personal note: we bought my current house after concerns about new neighbours pushed us to leave my home of 7 years. We drove around the new neighbourhood at night -- listening for noise -- and talking to people about transit, crime, etc. A year to the day after we moved, our former neighbours torched their house, our former house and four others in a massive fire.

My instinct led me to buy a house I could not afford. Thank God I did. Message? Pay attention to your instincts but do the research!
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

Post by gbill2004 »

Pickles wrote:Sounds like you are doing the right research and planning. After that, go with your instinct.

A personal note: we bought my current house after concerns about new neighbours pushed us to leave my home of 7 years. We drove around the new neighbourhood at night -- listening for noise -- and talking to people about transit, crime, etc. A year to the day after we moved, our former neighbours torched their house, our former house and four others in a massive fire.

My instinct led me to buy a house I could not afford. Thank God I did. Message? Pay attention to your instincts but do the research!
I think I'm going to have another discussion with my girlfriend on the 12 minute walk to ensure she's comfortable with that in winter and late at night when it's dark out. If she is, I'm leaning towards making an offer of what I think the house is worth, maybe a little less to allow for some negotiating.
Last edited by gbill2004 on 12 Sep 2016 10:58, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

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like_to_retire wrote:
gbill2004 wrote:get a sense of the whistle in the distance and then the actual train passing.
Oh man, that train is really close and it must have been a mile long.

The person sleeping in that back bedroom would not enjoy that.

I vote no.

ltr
The houses you see in the video are across the street from the home we are looking at. The video is taken from the driveway.
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

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Well after doing some research, looking at the city's long range plan for rapid transit, I just discovered that in 2031, there may be a rapid transit corridor built where the current train tracks are located.
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

Post by gbill2004 »

I was able to get some data on this area and specific street:

Average time to sell in this community: 17 days

Average time to sell on this street: 39 days

Four homes have sold recently on this street. One for asking price and it had significant upgrades. The other three sold $5,000-$40,000 below asking price.
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Re: Buying home near train tracks in Winnipeg?

Post by BRIAN5000 »

Is this the house your interested in 47 Burke Bay, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3X2G8 $459,900 ?
http://www.royallepage.ca/en/property/m ... ls1620423/
walk score "10" out of 100

What about this new one 65 Bonaventure Drive East , Winnipeg, Manitoba R3X0N1 $465,900
http://www.century21.ca/Property/MB/R3X ... re_Drive_E
If your going to live with this nuisance for many years you better get a big reduction in price.
This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed
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