Value Of Home-fire Station Being Built

[tom gordon]

I recently just purchased a home in an neighborhood of 900-1100K homes. We are at the top of a hill(fire hazard zone) and never had anything commerical or industrial nearby. What generally happens to home values when a fire station gets built? This station is about 9 homes away from our locale.

Should this proposed fire station have been disclosed when we bought the home(CA)? We did not know anything of this and did not find out until after close.

I am having trouble finding info related to the home value reaction to this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Walter Kirk]

It's hard to generalize about a use like a fire station. If the station is very busy the typical buyer may not want to put up with the noise and traffic. If the station isn't very busy or is unmanned neighbors may object to the design or look of the station.

In other areas a fire station is a community center. I know that today in Philadelphia neighbors are protesting the closure and retasking of fire stations. The neighbors feel more secure with a fire station nearby.

 

[Wendy]

Are you located where the threat of fire is very real? If it is and the fire station is not an obvious eyesore, this may not be too bad of a thing.

Maybe some of the CA appraisers could chime in.

 

[Randy Beigh]

Wendy is going in the same direction as me. Police and fire are 2 of the primary reasons for the existence of government, which is to say, the protection of the people.

No fire station would sound like more of a value issue, to me. I think you should check with your homeowners insurance to see if there is a price break, since one will be so close to you. And then you should walk to that fire station and thank them for being there to protect you and yours.

Just my opinion.

 

[Restrain]

I did an appraisal of a home that backed onto the fire station. I also live 1 block from one. I have not been able to prove a loss in value, even with the one that backed onto the residence. This is because the fire department would get out onto the main street before firing up the sirens, etc. so the noise, etc was not a problem. There were sufficient sales data to prove this. So, if you are 9 houses away, I wouldn't worry about it.

What I would do is take a cake down there when they open and welcome them to the neighborhood. After all, you might need them some day.

 

[Dee Dee]

I'm with Walter on this one. It depends on how busy the station is.

The closest station to my house is about 2 miles away as the crow flies, but they do more than just fire-related work. They also cover a big area with rescue service that includes EMT's, rescue trucks and a "Flight for Life" helicopter pad to get people out of the mountains and down to Denver hospitals more rapidly than by ambulance. It gets pretty loud down there, especially when there's a bad accident.

Homes that are located near the station tend to sit on the market longer and don't sell for as much as they would if they were further away, but you won't find anyone complaining that they're here. We love our firefighters and rescue teams!