I would argue that a corner unit would give you MORE privacy, not less, since I don't think having an abutting neighbor on both sides is a great definition of privacy.

I think the issue is more complicated issue than the question posed permits. In some places, corner units are prime - e.g. in some townhomes/condos, the corner unit has only one shared wall and may have a significantly larger greenspace or more curbs for parking which is an advantage to some. If the intersection is in a quiet, low-traffic neighborhood, then it may not matter much one way or the other. If the intersection is busy, dangerous and loud and you have small children/pets, then the corner location may be unacceptable as being too hazardous. I think there are many other significant, confounding variables to answer this with a simple yes or no.

Sorry. The first line of my post should read:

I think the issue is more complicated than the question posed suggests.

I would actually prefer a corner unit, especially in an apartment or on a tightly packed street, as the corner units get much more ventilation and light, and that's critical to a good home.

The house I grew up in was on a corner lot, so a corner unit/lot seems preferable to me. You can't beat it for extra light and ventilation.

In my current building, the corner units are definitely at a premium price, selling for about $40k more, even though they are only very slightly bigger.

In cold weather areas a corner lot means more sidewalk to shovel. I'm kind of lazy in that regard but otherwise like corner lots & units because they can have more light.

i actually prefer corner units, for all the reasons suggested above.

When we started looking for our first home, I told the agent that I didn't want a house on a corner or on a busy street (in fact the only other stipulation is that the house should have a pool). Guess what? In December we bought a corner house on a relatively busy street with no pool. So you should never say never.

I like the corner house; because we have an alley, we only have one shared neighbor, plus lots of natural light. I live in the greater L.A. area so I don't have to worry about shoveling snow, just an additional cost to my landscaping budget because the yard is bigger.

If I had it to do all over again, I'd do it the same way.

when thinking about city apartments, the corner is another wall of potential for windows.

I currently live in a corner unit and my living room which has a HUGE slider leading to the balcony and a fairly decent sized north facing window that opens and thus get great ventilation and light, my bedroom also faces north and the closest neighbors are across the street and while we "could" see in, we are far enough away to hopefully avoid too many details of what the other is doing inside their respected units. :-)

Heck, even our middle units get decent ventilation for they have a bedroom on the back side with a window and the front has the living/kitchen arrangement as the center of our building is one unit deep and the 2 bedrooms have 2 corners for additional ventilation but they also get a western and to some extent a southern exposure to deal with as well as the north side where their balconies are but they get the most unobtrusive views of any of us.

Let's see:

Neighbors on two sides vs. three?
Windows on at least two sides instead of just one?

What was the question again?

My house is on the corner and I love it. I live in a valley in Northern California in an old farmhouse in the city. Homes were built around mine in the 30's and 40's. I have a fantastic view of the hills. One of the reasons that I bought my house is because it is on the corner. No matter how high (city only allows 3 stories) my neighbors build, I will always have an open view of my corner. The house behind me is at most 10 feet away from my kitchen, but because of a little privacy film on my window and all my windows that are open to the corner on the other side, I never feel squeezed in. The other advantage of having a corner lot is that you are able to see what is happening in your neighborhood.

Isn't the corner office the ubiquitous term for the best office? I would think the same would hold true for houses.

I grew up in a house on a corner lot and it was great because the bus stop was right there and you didn't have to drive down a long alley to get to your garage (it also felt safer to have an exposed garage). On the downside, one night some teenagers drove their car down our side lawn (no trees).

Corner units in apartment buildings generally get more light and have better ventilation since you can open windows in opposing walls for a cross-breeze. It's also cooler in the summer (and winter) because it's not sandwiched between other units. Corner units also offer more privacy. My current apartment is a corner unit and I only share one wall with my neighbors. Sometimes I barely know they're there.

I'm not sure what the downside would be, even for a house on the corner.

I loved my first and third apartments, both corner units, for all the above reasons. The cross-ventilation alone was worth it. Actually, I also had a corner dorm room that I loved too, esp since I scored an extra bonus window. Put me down for more corners!

As a citydweller, I only want to live in a corner unit. A house squished between two neighbors a dealkiller for me.

With rowhouses, a corner is a godsend. You don't just get another wall of windows, you get a looooong extra wall of window upon window upon window, and the windows get actual light because they're not wedged up against another building. If you're lucky, you have trees planted outside along the street, and that means you get all that light plus the chance to look out your bedroom window to see something other than a depressing cement brick wall two feet away.

I suppose if you want to live on a cul-de-sac in the suburbs, more power to you, but give me a corner house in the city any day.

My house is on a corner and while it's nice to not have neighbors on both sides, it's a pain having to shovel twice as many walks in the winter.

Corner units have the best amenity possible: more light.

To echo most of the above posters that the original post seems not to have been written by someone with real estate knowledge. Corner lots, unless they are at a busy intersection, are prime properties. They tend to be larger than standard lots, have more light and more privacy with the appropriate landscaping.

I prefer them, however I remember a neighbor of mine who had a corner lot adjacent to an alley on a quiet residential street, who had 3 incidents of cars/service trucks crashing into his yard within 5 years.

I live in a single-family house on a corner lot. Our street is extremely quiet, the cross street is a bit less quiet but still very quiet. I prefer the corner lot by far. Longer views, and more privacy than a regular lot. Much better than any other option.

On a corner provides more views. And I want this house!

YESSSS! ive always wondered what this house looks like inside!!!

i used to live on the corner. i loved it. no complaints whatsoever. i actually liked that we had more freedom when arranging the yard because there was no one on the other side to complain about trees and rosebushes

we live on a corner lot & have a big bay window, which traffic can sometimes see in. People know when we're sitting on the couch watching TV, but really nobody can get terribly close, so I dont have any problems with it. We get a nice view of the neighborhood though, which is nice. Downside is definitely more traffic

I recently moved from a house (11 years) on a corner and I loved it.

I had a neighbor on one side and one behind. I much preferred not being stacked up side by side and behind; the fence had an opening on the side so a vehicle or a roll-off garbage bin could fit in the back yard if needed (for pulling out carpeting, major yard work and such).

It's more sidewalk to shovel but overall, it didn't feel cramped like so many other suburban lots can feel.

My yard also became the neighborhood "park" for my neighbor's kids. The parents could keep an eye on them easily from their homes, the yard was big enough to play football in and the kids would play in the snow there. It was quite a communal space which helped bring neighbors together as friends and I miss that.

Having always lived in cities, I'd naturally prefer a corner home because of the extra light and less interference from neighbors. The only real downside I can think of would be a very heavily trafficked road, but that's true of any house (whether on a corner or not).

This is a California post and if I lived in CA the answer would be: sure, why not? BUT I live in New England and a corner lot means way too much snow shoveling if you want to be a good neighbor. Of course there are the lazybones who only shovel a path to the driveway, but that is really not acceptable behavior.

Traffic near my dwelling is a factor for me because I have two cats and fear what may happen if they accidentally get out. I prefer not to live on corners because it's twice as much traffic. Second only to safety, is the view, so it really depends on the area.

I grew up in a corner house that, until I became a teen and we moved, had vacant lots on either side.

Lots of corner lots seem to have large "exposed" yards, but little in the way of roomy back yards. I prefer to have less front yard and more back yard.

So, for a single family dwelling my preference would be for an "interior" lot. The posts about condos and apartments are well taken though.

Thanks for providing photos of the interior of this house! I drive by this amazing home twice each day on my way to and from work, and have always loved it. This place is a nice visual change from the ridiculously monstrous new construction homes popping up along the street.

In this particular case (along san vicente blvd), I would absolutely live on a corner lot. Most of the homes in the area (this ehrlich home included) seem to have sufficient privacy. Then again, I would also take a shack in the middle of the street if I meant that I was finally allowed my own space... Ah, apartment life in Los Angeles.