Personally I would not buy a corner house because it lacks privacy. You have traffic on both sides, if there's a sidewalk you have twice as much to shovel and depending on your driveway it could be difficult to come and go.

But, I think the fact that it's behind a hospital is even worse. The noise and traffic on a daily basis, especially at night would be a negative. Right now in my town the hospital is trying to build a new complex and the neighbors are livid.

In this current market, where you have your pick of homes at good prices, you would make a better investment in a quiet residential neighborhood preferably in the middle of the block, not the corner.

Thanks for your advice. The thing is it is not really a corner lot with 2 streets by it. Just one side has a street. The other side has an open field and then a not so busy tiny hospital at a fair distance. So, there is traffic on only one side actually. It is on a cul de sac and fenced community so driveways and sidewalks are not an issue. The house is in immaculate condition. You would still say it is a NO?

Look at the location relative to the 30 houses that are nearest.

Here's what I mean. I drive along a highway and see a development of 30 large houses that all in sight and sound of the highway. I don't think the ones nearest the highway sell for much less than the ones 2 streets in.

But I lived in a historic neighborhood of a wealthy town and my house was one of the sentinal or border houses on the larger road. It "protected" the "inner" houses. The houses behind me and off the main road were costlier by a facter of at least 30%.

I would consider the immediate neighborhod and determine whether other houses very nearby are better located. Are all the nearby locations unfavorable to one degree or another? If so, then I don't think the hospital will affect your price more than the guy next door's gas station affects his. On the other hand, do some neighbors have no traffic, or much less traffic? Do some have no glare of streetlights? If so, then the price differential might be high.

View can be a factor, too. Does the field seem messy or raggedy compared to the groomed look that the neighbors see when they look our their own windows? Or is it a pleasant green buffer?

I grew up in a house on a block that had a park at the end of the block. At the end of the park was a small hospital.

Now it's 40 yrs later and our family is long gone. The hospital bought the park and built built built. Homes declined in value because of the hospital.

Check the zoning privileges this little hospital has on it's side.

Zoning can be changed, and an empty field could become anything.

Anne

A home that backs to a busy street is less desirable that one that doesn't. It certainly will affect resale value.

Of course, it should also affect your purchase price. You should expect to get it for significantly less than the homes on the other side of the cul-de-sac.

As for difficulty in selling: almost everything is difficult in a down market. In a normal market, if you price appropriately, you should have no issue selling. You just need to remember that "appropriately" is going to be less then some of your neighbors.

I see a house being close to a hospital as a big positive. Obviously the closer you are to a hospital, the greater your chances of survival should something happen. The only negative thing I could see would be the ambulance sirens, but you get used to that after a while. You eventually zone them out and they're not as big of a deal as you think. Lots of doctors, dentists, pharmacies, churches, etc are usually located near hospitals. Lots of older people will want to be near all this. Older people are generally better at maintaining their property, therefore property values are generally better. Lots of doctors and other hospital employees will also be very interested in living close to the hospital. It should be extremely easy to re-sell your house. Our house is located 2 miles from a hospital, and that was one of our big selling points. We sold in 6 weeks.

As for the busy road on the side - you can plant leland cypress trees or other evergreens along the wall, which will reduce traffic noise, and give you more privacy. Being on that road also means more people will see the "for sale" sign. If the house itself is nice, and you like the yard, to me, the proximity of the hospital only increases the value.

"The only negative thing I could see would be the ambulance sirens, but you get used to that after a while."

No one runs sirens right up to the hospital.

Depending on how close you actually are you may no have any being run.

A little further away they will likely be run.

"No one runs sirens right up to the hospital. "

I don't know where you get your information, but they most certainly do. My daughter's daycare is directly across from the emergency room entrance to the hospital and the ambulances ALWAYS have the sirens and lights going right through that intersection. The toddlers think it is very exciting.

Real estate is all about location, location, location.
The fact that you are questioning this location is a big red flag, especially since it sounds like you're looking for an investment rather than a home.
I'd worry about the busy street and the empty land before the sirens.

But I don't understand what you're saying that it's not a corner lot, but has a busy street on one side. Generally a house has a front, a back, and left & right sides. So I can't tell if you're saying the busy street is on a left or right side, in which case I don't understand how it's not a corner lot. So then it must be in front? Isn't anybody else confused by this?

"I don't know where you get your information, but they most certainly do."

Definitely NOT in my area.
There is a quiet zone for a half mile around the hospital. Even if the sirens approach blaring, they are turned OFF in the quiet zone.

"I don't know where you get your information..."

Lights yes, sirens no.

I bet the patients just LOVE the sirens.

Used to drive a rescue as a paramedic.

Someone needs to get off their a** and put in light controls.

A sensor detects a particular flash pattern from a strobe mounted on emergency vehicles and turns the light green for them and red every other way.

Thanks for the insights guys. Have more perspectives to look at. Based on all your feed back, I would give the follwoing details that can clarify stuff...
-The lot is a pentagon structure, with the front to a cul de sac and houses on the left and right sides. The rear is angular with one part on the street and another backing to a well groomed huge garden of a children's hospital.
-The side backing to the street has a concrete wall built by the community and tall trees planted outside, so privacy is not an issue.
-We are looking for a house not an investment property but it should not be a non-seller in case we have to move in a few years time.

Light controls are great, but they don't move the cars backed up in each direction. The one I see every day is a divided road with 2 lanes in each direction plus 2 left turn lanes and 1 right turn lane. I can't imagine them trying to make a left turn into the hospital without a siren. Most of the time, they would be trying to swing outside 3 lanes of traffic and then cutting across 4 more (including a right turn lane)

The issue with the street is the noise. Stand in the backyard at rush hour to get an idea.Also, a busy street could be anything from 2 to 8 lanes. What is it?

It probably will be harder to sell down the road but it should sell if priced right. As for now, it should cost less then the same house that didn't back to a busy street.

It is a 2 lane road.

Sandeep-
Your new description sounds much better than what I was thinking. This house is on the edge of a subdivision/community, basically pie-shaped lot found at the end (or in a curved part) of the cul-de-sac?
About the road - is it one lane in each direction?
What's across the street? (I'm trying to envision if the street would eventually be widened).
And where does the road go? Is there more building in the future down the road so that traffic will be increasing? Or is it an established area where the traffic patterns are pretty much set?
The reason I said "investment" is that you pretty much only asked about selling points rather than how you and your family might make this house into your home. I understand, of course, that you must always take resale value under consideration, but if you're going to live there, your needs come first.

Are you up- or downwind of the hospital and the road? Check the noise levels and put in the 'things change' factor.

I'd be concerned that the open field could become a big box store or a grocery, with beep-beep-beep trucks at loading docks 24/7 and light pollution.

Hospitals are a growth industry. The one that is small today WILL get bigger.

We owned a home on a cul de sac that backed to a churchyard. There was an expressway in the distance, beyond a small mall. It was quiet for years until the church started a daycare that used the yard for playtime and the state rebuilt and widened the expressway. Before we moved, we couldn't open our bedroom windows at night for the noise from the road. (We were downwind.)

This may still be a good house for you...at the right price.

If the home is priced less than the interior neighbors, then it's probably priced according to it's "defects" and if you had to sell, you'd also price it less than it's interior neighbors. If they are asking the same for it as the comps with a better location, then you have some negotiating power in it's location defects.

Personally, it sounds lovely. Backing up to a large maintained garden is a big plus. All of the viewing pleasure with none of the work! And any of the children that would frequent the spot won't be of the noisy run around shrieking type that a park might have. A brick wall with foliage is usually a pretty good sound barrier except right at rush hour, so make sure to visit the home at the times you would actually be outside enjoying the yard, as well as rush hour to see if the noise migrates into the home's interior. If the noise is a mostly non issue, then negotiate hard, and you will probably love living in such a spot for many years.

"I can't imagine them trying to make a left turn into the hospital without a siren. "

You set up the control to turn the left turn light green to empty the lane ad allow the emergency vehicle ready access while everybody else gets a red light.

If you want to sit at a green light with a rescue vehilce behind you and not move, some tickets need to be issued.

The idea is to get out of the way, not just stop and block traffic, especially the emergency vehicle(s).

And if the highway engineering setting it up knows what they are doing, the sensors are used to activate the lights based on what sensor 'tripped.'

One direction turns on the left turn lights, another clears out the traffic in the lane allowing aright turn dependent on the direction of the approaching emergency vehicle.

Like many things it depends on drivers paying attention and trying to get out of the way.

Nothing can help the fool who just stops in a lane and waits.

Traffic backs up well beyond where the left turn lanes starts. Just flipping that light won't provide access.

Anyway, yes, getting out of the way certainly requires that people pay attention. I'm sure that is why they run their sirens through a potentially dangerous intersection. Siren's have a way of getting people's attention well beyond what flashing lights provide.

"I'm sure that is why they run their sirens through a potentially dangerous intersection. Siren's have a way of getting people's attention well beyond what flashing lights provide. "

and waking up the hospital patients over and over, often when they most need to sleep.

Time for a traffic pattern change/adjustment in the area.

Air horns are even better than sirens at getting reluctance drivers to move.
Many emergency vehicles now use them at intersections.
Of course they are even louder than the sirens.

Fewer drivers are not wiling to move out of the way when the emergency vehilce behind them is standing on their air horn.

It seems to convey the 'move' command a little better (at least for now).