Good news if you hate the name of the street you live on
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Here's the good news if you live on a street with an odd name: It probably isn't bringing down your property values.There's good reason to wonder, since there are some pretty weird street names out there, like Psycho Path near Traverse City, Michigan, and Shades of Death Road, New Jersey. (Those streets I found on blogs and then confirmed them on Google Maps. You can also find weird street signs at the web site, FunnySign.com). And then last year, the question inadvertently came up after a reverend made some news when he tried to get Whitewood, South Dakota to change the name of Hooker Street. (It was named after General Joseph Hooker, in the Union army. The town ultimately voted to keep the name.)
I interviewed a few real estate experts, asking if a street sign could negatively or positively affect one's property value, and the consensus among them was: No.
But they agree that a street name can make selling a home a little harder or easier.
"Theoretically, I think it can hurt you, but I don't think it's going to hurt you," suggests Andy Sachs, a real estate agent in Newtown, Connecticut. He gives the example of a street called Poorhouse Road in Newtown. "There are some great houses, but do people want to live on a street called Poorhouse?"
For instance, if you live on a Park Avenue street near New York but not in New York, you might say, "22 minutes from the real Park Avenue is this special house on Park Avenue..."
But the fact that you live on a Park Avenue? Don't plan to be raking in extra thousands, or even hundreds.
On the other side of the country, in Scottsdale, Arizona, commercial and residential real estate agent Richard Bazinet, agrees. "I wouldn't say that names bring down the property values, but the street name definitely makes an impact in the appeal, feel and desirability of the property. In the southwest, we have great street names related to the southwest's history and events that may have taken place. Home buyers like it--names like Ironwood Pass, Stagecoach Pass... we even have a street name called Bloody Basin Trail, as a result of historical events that took place in the late 1880s. I find that residents like it very much despite its negative implication. All of this is part of packaging. It sounds better, feels better. You can't really measure it, but it sure does make an impact."
And Jonathan D. Nicholas, national president for the Council of Real Estate Brokerage Managers, also says that it's unlikely a lousy street name would bring down your property values. "I can't think of why it would," says Nicholas, "unless it was profane."
And if you really dislike your street's name? Nicholas has the most logical advice, which is the route that Reverend David J. Baer attempted last year: "You can always try to go to the city council and get it changed."
Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist and the author of C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America (Rodale).




Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
10-09-2008 @ 8:54PM
Lexi said...
And why is that Vicki?
10-09-2008 @ 6:50PM
NorsKenR said...
The oddest street name I've ever seen was in Pennsylvania, (on an e-mailed Internet mortgage lead): "Hades Church Road." I don't have the name of the town immediately available.
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10-09-2008 @ 8:44PM
JPuzzleWhiz said...
You don't suppose it was "Hell-ena, Montana," do you?
10-09-2008 @ 8:16PM
TLC said...
I fell in love with a house but couldn't get over the street name: Golden Streams.
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10-09-2008 @ 8:33PM
triple r said...
IN South deerfield mass there a street name bloody brook dr. thats where the indains choped of the heads mof the first settlerws.
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10-09-2008 @ 8:50PM
JPuzzleWhiz said...
A bit of advice: slow down when you type.
10-09-2008 @ 8:34PM
Greg said...
Well... I beg to differ on the street name issue.
I've personally looked at some pretty weird and or odd names that I wouldn't want to own a house on. Hey!.. thats just me.
I want a decent name to go with my home address so... here I am living on PortRoyal Ave and like'n it.
The only thing is... There's no port, no homeside gangway to a yacht, and no water. Only when it rains, do I wish I had a waterway shuttle service, like Venice does. Oh well, can't have everything... but, a good street name is a start.......ha ha.
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10-09-2008 @ 9:00PM
BELLCORD said...
" PAINFUL RECTAL ITCH LANE " WAS CLEARLY ILL CONSIDERED...
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10-09-2008 @ 9:01PM
lexilegsryan said...
triple r...or maybe try reading what you type before hitting "add comment". Also, you might want to invest in a dictionary.
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10-09-2008 @ 9:20PM
Andrea said...
In Ellicott City, Maryland there is a "Cemetary Lane" which is, of course, the lane to a very old cemetary. The kicker is the sign below the street sign reads "Dead End." This is a sign that has been photographed a lot and has even appeared on "America's Funniest Videos"
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10-09-2008 @ 9:22PM
Mary said...
Shades OF Death Road is In Allamuchy ( Warren County ) New Jersey. I was born and raised there and it is so nice that every Halloween some on posts this name as well as some photos of home... great Memories...
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10-09-2008 @ 10:12PM
Tom Barlow said...
Rudy Vallee's neighbors protested, successfully, when he petitioned to have his street renamed Rue D'Valli
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10-12-2008 @ 6:46AM
CC said...
.....GRATIOT is actually pronounced "gray-shot".
It's also a town in Ohio.
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10-12-2008 @ 6:48AM
Nancy said...
North Bend, WA has a street called Ballarat.
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10-12-2008 @ 6:48AM
AZGirl28 said...
GRATIOT is actually pronounced "gray-shot".
It's also a town in Ohio.....
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10-12-2008 @ 9:52AM
JayThunder said...
Gratiot, in Michigan... i.e. Gratiot Ave. in Detroit, or Gratiot County, is pronounced with a short a sound. it's more like "Gra - shut" though, rather than anything obscene sounding.
10-12-2008 @ 6:54AM
Marlene Isaac said...
Ross County and Pike County, Ohio, have a few odd names for roads: Hackleshin, Beaver's Ridge, Greenbriar, Turkey Run, Buzzard's Glory, Knockemstiff, Rainbow Trail, Gooseneck Hill, Possum Trot.
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10-12-2008 @ 6:58AM
ant. said...
We live on Opossum Dr. off Red Squirel Ln. and Muskrat Rd.
in Chester N.H. , now thats bad.
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10-12-2008 @ 7:08AM
Dave said...
This always seemed an odd name for a road:
10053 Lickinghole Road, Ashland, VA 23005
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10-12-2008 @ 7:25AM
Dizzy said...
You want a weird name for a street? Try the one I lived on for most of my life: Paerdegat. It's pronounced "Pad-eh-gate" but only the true long lived residents will know how to pronounce it. The name was for the Dutch farmer who owned the land there. The neighborhood was called Canarsie, for the Native Americans who lived there (and some still do, I last heard-at least there's an ancient burial ground), in Brooklyn, NY. My favorite story is when I got into a taxi and told him to take me to the Paerdegats and the driver asked "Where's that?" I told him it was in Canarsie, and he asked "Where's that?" I had to direct him, turn by turn, how to get there. And the driver swore he lived in Brooklyn all his life. Now, that's sad...
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