View Full Version : Would you buy a house without a driveway?
I am looking at a little house to buy as a rental near my elderly parents. It's tiny but has great bones. But it doesn't seem to have a driveway. I have to check--maybe it shares a driveway with a neighbor? They are two tiny houses on very narrow lots.
I can deal with the one bedroom aspect because it's such a cute little cottage and a promising rental. It is in a college town and walkable to everything. But there doesn't seem to be an alley, and on street parking looks annoying.
Would lack of driveway or shared driveway be a dealbreaker for you?
From my experiences with driveways:
a) The urban parking issue: My son lived in an apartment on the Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. It was amazing. But going to visit him was a real PIA in terms of on-street parking. Does your place look like it's just hard to park, or impossible? At night, do you see most of the street lined with cars? Are there a lot of signs indicating parking violations in "no parking" areas?
b) The historical parking issue: I got a seasonal rental in Ocean Grove one year and there are VERY few driveways because of its historic landmark status. Very, very few garages. No big deal at all to park on the street, and I'd happily park on the street to maintain the historic integrity of that neighborhood.
c) The shared parking issue: My MIL's house in White Plains was an old house in an old neighborhood. She shared a driveway with her next-door neighbor. They made it work, but of course every now and then someone would have to ask someone to move the car. If there were more than 3 cars back to back, the other person couldn't get out (the bottom of the driveway widened out for access to a two-car garage, split between neighbors.
I would see how crowded the streets are, how restrictive on-street parking is in terms of potential violations (do you have to find some place for the car for snow plow clearance?). If everyone parks on the street, that probably won't hurt resale value. If it's a short walk to the house from the street, it probably won't be hard to transport groceries, etc.
Those are some of the things I'd consider before considering it a deal breaker.
thanks, Catherine, these are really good ideas! I will now have much better questions when I talk to the realtor to see if I want to go scope this one out.
The one thing that might increase the parking "traffic" is that it is a college town. It does look like a quiet little street, though, and I think it is one way. I wonder if that makes it better or worse.
thanks, Catherine, these are really good ideas! I will now have much better questions when I talk to the realtor to see if I want to go scope this one out.
The one thing that might increase the parking "traffic" is that it is a college town. It does look like a quiet little street, though, and I think it is one way. I wonder if that makes it better or worse.
Makes me think of Princeton, then. If you want to park really close to the main street, it's harder to find a parking space, but on the whole, I don't think parking on the side streets is a big issue there.
Good luck! Sounds like a great opportunity!
No. I looked at a house like this, but street parking bans in the winter during snowstorms made it a dealbreaker for me.
Would lack of driveway or shared driveway be a dealbreaker for you?
If you're in a area that gets significant snow in the winter, this would be a deal breaker for me. If if on street parking only, you are likely to have parking bans, so where do you put your car? If its a shared driveway, you have to hope they are as ambitious as you in shoveling or that you jointly hire a service to plow, and even then where do you put all the snow?
I have lived here for 27 years and have never parked anywhere but on the street. We dont have curb cuts and driveways in our historic district. 99% of the time there is a parking space right in front of our house.
About a dozen years ao we built a garage in back,with alley access, so DH parks his two vehicles there.
Now, the downside: crime is a problem in this neighborhood and cars get hit often. Insurance rates go down when there is a garage to park in. Probably the OP wont have this problem of crim, though.
OP, have you run the numbers on this potential remtal property? I like the basic assessment from the Mr. Money Mustache group:if the property wont bring in 1%-2% per month of the purchase price, walk way from it without doing further analysis.
So, a $150,000 property should bring in $1,500 per month, for example.
Great points about the snow; they do get some snow there, so I will have to ask the agent aboutparking bans. Thanks!!
Good thinking IL, that was my next step--you are right, if the basic numbers aren't there, walk way without putting any more energy into it.
I did this on a possible rental near my son in Indiana and it showed I would be doing all this work for 125 dollars a month. Needless to say, I did not pursue it.
sweetana3
6-24-17, 10:49am
someone here (not NYC or Chicago) just paid $450,000 for a renovated townhouse with zero parking. We can get lots of snow and I would not want my car on the busy street.
Edited to add that I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska and we never ever had a garage. We put a blanket on the windshield, plugged in the car to keep the oil warm and scraped/warmed up the car for at least 20 minutes to get started. My brother finally built a house with a garage. He loves it. Maybe we are all getting soft?
Wow, Sweetana, I think that is amazing. This is making me think about the parking on the street issue with weather issues. Hmm. I would not buy something in a really cold climate with no parking.
Catherine, tried to pm you but your in box is full.
catherine
6-24-17, 11:29am
I should be good now!
Would not be a deal breaker for me. I like older neighborhoods and current neighborhood has many homes built in the 1920s (mine was built in 1926) and most do not have garages & driveways.
I love houses from the 20's Reyes; it is my favorite era because of my grandparents' bungalow. The front porch was the best; they had a glider and you could read out there in the rain.
ToomuchStuff
6-24-17, 12:07pm
In some area's, the parking isn't view-able from the front. A friends house, it looks like street parking, but there is an alley that runs behind multiple homes, to the backside of a business that sits beside the other end of the alley.
In the three blocks that includes mine, two sets of bungalow's have shared driveways, mine being one of them. When 33's cousin moved, a young couple of lawyers/dog lovers moved in. They moved after their adopted dog attacked (no one knew it had training). Since that time the next owners and their renters have trashed the place. I've had problems with them blocking me in (long driveway, goes property length with parking in back), no help shoveling since I was 14, and some other garbage (renters whose pits went after me in my own driveway). I would not do it again.
If I were to get one with no driveway, I would consider those two wheel concrete strips, that allow water run off to absorb in the ground, maybe a full concrete pad where I was to park, or grasspavers/grass plugged driveway.
The houses have been much harder to appraise as well, since there aren't that many around.
In some area's, the parking isn't view-able from the front. A friends house, it looks like street parking, but there is an alley that runs behind multiple homes, to the backside of a business that sits beside the other end of the alley.
In the three blocks that includes mine, two sets of bungalow's have shared driveways, mine being one of them. When 33's cousin moved, a young couple of lawyers/dog lovers moved in. They moved after their adopted dog attacked (no one knew it had training). Since that time the next owners and their renters have trashed the place. I've had problems with them blocking me in (long driveway, goes property length with parking in back), no help shoveling since I was 14, and some other garbage (renters whose pits went after me in my own driveway). I would not do it again.
If I were to get one with no driveway, I would consider those two wheel concrete strips, that allow water run off to absorb in the ground, maybe a full concrete pad where I was to park, or grasspavers/grass plugged driveway.
The houses have been much harder to appraise as well, since there aren't that many around.
Good points, toomuchstuff. Gee, that is a lot of dog problems. It is making me rethink my idea of a house in the city!
Our home in California did not have a driveway, or a garage. It was a pre-car neighborhood. There was an alley in the back, and a very small carriage house (not big enough for most modern cars). It was quite pleasant, and you could generally park in front of the house, even though it was a busy neighborhood, or in the alley in the back. About the time I moved, people were advocating for widening the alley, and were tearing down their nice old carriage houses and putting up huge garages so that they could get their SUVs into the alley and park them.
I wish there was an alley. I think alleys are very sensible.
frugal-one
6-24-17, 5:38pm
Great points about the snow; they do get some snow there, so I will have to ask the agent aboutparking bans. Thanks!!
The plus side is they would not have to shovel a driveway???
SteveinMN
6-25-17, 11:18am
Before I bought our current house, I lived in a great neighborhood in an apartment building in that had all of three parking spaces in the alley behind the building and which always seemed to be occuped. Loved the neighborhood, loved the apartment, and was OK with parking on the street (bonus: I got really good at parallel parking) -- until winter. Then digging out of the plow leftovers and scraping windows just to go anywhere became a chore. I also contributed too much to the city coffers in tickets for not moving my car during snow emergencies (thank goodness the car was never towed -- that is expensive!). In addition, every Tuesday morning without snow the city swept that street, so the car had to be elsewhere by 7 am those days.
I knew the arrangement was not forever so I endured it. But, when I went house-shopping, street-only parking took a property off my list and having no garage moved it well down the list. It's a hassle to coordinate where one can park. I always had to make sure there was nothing "attractive" visible through the car windows lest someone decide to take it. Parking outside is tough on cars (getting it out of the wind helps a lot when warming up). It would have to be a dream home for me to deal with that again.
My brother finally built a house with a garage. He loves it. Maybe we are all getting soft?
DW and I discuss that kind of thing periodically. Garage door openers -- who needs them? Get out and open or close the door; takes 30 seconds Now that we have one, though, it sure is unpleasant to get all cold and/or wet just to close a door. Power windows in the car -- who needs 'em? Now that we have them, though, reaching across the interior to operate a window seems archaic?
Maybe we are getting soft.
I am starting to think that the parking issue may be more important to me than I originally realized. We shared a driveway one time and somehow I did all the shoveling, too, now that I think about it.
I live in Boston - there are many areas where the houses have only on street parking. I have a driveway, but that's mainly because the street I'm on are largely post WWII tickey tackey houses. Lots of other places have driveways that were added in some time after the houses were built, but many have no room for that.
I'm not sure what some people do during snow emergencies (all cars required to be off the street). Some public garages are made available, but that's only in some places. Other than that (and dealing with street cleaning), it's workable. We were in Cambridge 20 years ago and made it work (don't remember the details, but I did get really good at parallel parking). Some streets are also permitted only to local residents.
ToomuchStuff
6-27-17, 12:11pm
The original garages left around my area, were built for model T's and early model A's. Not tall enough for garage doors, let alone today's bigger vehicles. Carriage doors on them and most are used as lawn and garden sheds.
I've been off for a few days, due to breathing problems. Someone was trying to squat in the vacant house next door and had stolen some stuff from a few peoples porches and the local officers chased them off once. Neighbor asked me to watch the door while they went in and recovered property, and the mold that hit me with the door open, caused all kinds of breathing issues.
The original garages left around my area, were built for model T's and early model A's. Not tall enough for garage doors, let alone today's bigger vehicles. Carriage doors on them and most are used as lawn and garden sheds.
I've been off for a few days, due to breathing problems. Someone was trying to squat in the vacant house next door and had stolen some stuff from a few peoples porches and the local officers chased them off once. Neighbor asked me to watch the door while they went in and recovered property, and the mold that hit me with the door open, caused all kinds of breathing issues.
That is terrible, toomuchstuff, and I am glad you are feeling somewhat better.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.