A new driveway or not?

dinofabio

Thanks for all the responses.

hazyjo wrote: »

I think people's tastes vary so much with things like this. Can't you just put a car/cars on the drive and let people see the house first? If they love the house, they'll probably forgive the drive. It will give them some bargaining power, yes, but seeing as everyone's making offers these days, it might not be a bad thing - you'd save the cost of actually getting it done plus taking a drop in price.

Not saying 'be sneaky', btw... A driveway's for parking on, so don't think it would be wrong having a car/cars on it. It's not like having a whacking great big hole in a carpet and me saying stick a rug over it and nobody'll know! If someone appears to love the house, you might even want to point out the driveway and say you realise that the driveway needs some work but other than that it's a hassle-free property. Do you have a recently fitted roof or anything that's been done that you can mention?

Tricky one... I'd be tempted not to get it done, or at least to test the market first. Depends how quickly things are selling in the area. Not sure you'll get that money back on a sale, but, as mentioned, it will make it more attractive to buyers.

Let us know what you decide to do.

I am minded to do this.

In today's market, people will be making offers anyway, and want to haggle the price down. They will do this irrespective of whether the drive is done or not.

A hypothetical scenario : I get the drive done - haggled down 10k, if I don't do the drive would I be haggled down an extra 3K? I'm not sure I would.

The bottom line for me is how much I walk away with. However, if I kept getting feedback from the estate agents that the drive was the stumbling block, and the reason why it wasn't selling, then I'd have no option but to get it done.

silvercar

I think the drive is more likely to affect how quickly the property sells rather than the price. A smart tidy drive will get people through the door, whether it is tarmac or block it needs to be tidy.

SpeedSouth

I had the house I'm in (renting off parents) valued last year with the intent to sell. Asking the EA whether having a drive put down (no drive at all then) the EA said it wouldn't add value to the property as there is generally no issues parking on the street.

I blocked it myself in the end (cost of £630), and whilst it may not add the value you spend on it, I'm convinced it will help sell the property quicker maybe for the same value, and give them one less thing to pick up on. In your situation I would probably look at maybe a cheap re tarmac if its really as bad as you say.

dinofabio

silvercar wrote: »

I think the drive is more likely to affect how quickly the property sells rather than the price

I agree, it probably will have an impact on how quickly it sells. I can imagine a % of people will walk away from a property where the drive needs replacing because they don't want the hassle. Most people will drive past the house to give it a 'once over' before booking an appointment to view. I could lose a few interested people at this stage.

But, even though I want to sell the house asap (like everyone does), I'm not desperate to sell, so a quick sale, although nice, is not essential.

I'm hoping that if I can get people through the door, I can explain the situation and it won't put them off. I mean, when I moved in a few years back, the place was a right tip, no DG; soffits, facias guttering falling off, new kitchen needed, etc etc. I knew this when I bought it, and it was discounted accordingly. The reason I bought it was because I was right up to my max borrowing limit, so couldn't buy anything else on the same estate for anywhere near the same money. As I got more flush, I started doing the jobs that needed doing. Hopefully, some buyers may see things the same way as what I did.

DaftyDuck

Have you considered gravel? It'd be a cheaper option, looks very smart to start with (before the weeds arrive!), and you can probably do the work yourself. Crumbly tarmac gives in to a pickaxe if you are keen enough. Obviously, depends if it'd suit the property.

I do think that, if the rest of the property is smart, a scruffy drive will let it down. One option I tried with stone walling that was well past its best was the "work in progress" gambit (makes it sound more impressive than it is). I got many quotes in, and selected the lowest two. I began the dismantling, making it obvious that the job was only started, then showed the quotes to prospective purchasers, saying I hadn't continued, as that'd leave the purchaser the choice of how the job was done. It worked, and the purchaser went ahead with the job once I'd moved out.

However, if your drive is bad enough to put off the passing viewer, I'd think of getting it done.