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Possibly near a casino?
DH and I found a home that we are seriously considering putting an offer on. It's within our budget, it's beautiful, move-in condition. And here's the kicker: it's on a lake! We would love that! And we researched about flooding, and it seems like that's not a problem, and if it were, the house is on a hill. (We'd have an inspector look into that, obviously.) Basically, we're in love with the place. Absolutely gorgeous!
We have since done some research on the neighborhood, and evidently, the state is considering issuing 1 casino license in our region, and one proposed location is about 2-3 miles away on the opposite side of the lake. It would be a slots-only facility, but they would build a huge parking lot, likely with bright lights which would probably be visible above the trees. Assuming, of course, that they don't tear the trees down and ruin the view that way. It would also probably increase traffic and drunk driving on the roads around it. But it is only one of many bids to get the casino; the locations of the other bids would be no problem to us. One of the other bids, pretty far away, looks way stronger; better funded, already zoned commercial, really famous, powerful people behind the development, etc. The plot of land on that side of the lake actually looks like a swamp; we drove by it.
Would you take the chance? Buy your dream home and possibly have the neighborhood ruined by a casino, or pass it up? We have other options, but nowhere near as beautiful and well-cared-for.
TIA!
Re: Possibly near a casino?
Two things that would influence my decision:
- Would the casino be visible from your house? You mentioned it was on a lake, so if your beautiful lake view was suddenly ruined it would be bad for the value of the home.
- Would the casino change the neighborhood dynamic? Most of the areas near casinos that I've seen are kind of icky. Granted, I haven't seen that many as I am not a frequent casino dweller, but near Atlantic City there are very nice neighborhoods that get more and more dilapidated as they get close to downtown.
It's hard to say without knowing all of the factors involved, but you're smart to be taking that into account.
Thanks for the feedback!
For the 1st concern, we're not sure whether you'd be able to see the actual casino from the house, but we're pretty sure you'd be able to see the lights at night which would ruin the gorgeous sunsets over the lake that you get right now. (I know, horrible complaint, huh?) We've just done internet research so far because we just toured the house yesterday and today is Sunday, so nowhere is open that we could call. But I have a feeling that when we do call about the trees, we'll find that they are protected by some environmental or wildlife statute. Lots of areas are around here. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that it will stay behind the trees.
For the 2nd concern, I wish I knew! I called my mom about this, and she said she's heard about people's property value going up and areas improving around a casino because the area gets money and schools improve. But I've seen what you're talking about, too, where there are bad neighborhoods around casinos. I think it depends on developers' plans and how things play out. And that's what we're scared of. We can't predict the future and we don't want to put our life's savings into a home that absolutely drops in value in a few years! But it could go the opposite direction, too. The schools aren't terrible, but there is room for improvement, there. So if the schools got money and got better, that would improve our property value.
I know no one else can predict the future, either, but we're just so torn about this place because we love it so much!