Shared driveway - thoughts?

Am considering an investment in a house (for a rental property and long-term investment) which shares a driveway with the house next door.  Looking to hear from people who currently have this arrangement or have had it in the past - how it has worked out, pitfalls, what it meant for re-sale value etc.  TIA.


I would never do it.  Even if you are supposed to share in the cost of repair/snow removal/leaf removal, you need to be prepared to fully pay the cost yourself if the neighbor won't...or go to court and deal with hostility.   You have to be concerned that one person will be inconsiderate (even your tenant) and block the driveway.


Even if the current neighbor is considerate, they could sell/move at at anytime.


lanky said:
Am considering an investment in a house (for a rental property and long-term investment) which shares a driveway with the house next door.  Looking to hear from people who currently have this arrangement or have had it in the past - how it has worked out, pitfalls, what it meant for re-sale value etc.  TIA.

 

jmitw said:
I would never do it.  Even if you are supposed to share in the cost of repair/snow removal/leaf removal, you need to be prepared to fully pay the cost yourself if the neighbor won't...or go to court and deal with hostility.   You have to be concerned that one person will be inconsiderate (even your tenant) and block the driveway.


Even if the current neighbor is considerate, they could sell/move at at anytime.

 Make sure there is a "Shared Driveway  Agreement" and that it has been recorded with the Deeds to both properties.


even with an agreement, there could still be a fight.  people violate agreements all the time...could even be they insist on repaving the driveway when it doesn't need it and expect you to pay.


can you ask the sellers if the neighbor has been a responsible party?


See how much of the driveway you will own.   I own enough to potentially become independent.  I have lived here 50 years with various neighbors....no problems so far.



To echo some previous posters - only do it if you are prepared to be solely responsible for maintenance.   

In my experience we were both renters and there was no written agreement.  When I first moved in, there were no problems.  We both believed in shoveling the snow before driving over it.  Whoever left first or came home first cleared the entrance and we often shoveled out each other's parking area.

The next family was a different story.  They never shoveled and more than once parked their cars so that my access was blocked.


I had a shared driveway with my first house.  When we moved in there was an older woman who shared the driveway with us and she didn't drive so there was no problem.  When she passed, a young single man moved in, still no problem.


When he moved out and rented the house is when the problems started.  The renters didn't feel they were obligated to do anything with the driveway (could have stated that in the lease, I don't know).  But they would block access to my driveway by parking between the houses where there was no way to get around their car.  That was the most frustrating, they knew what they were doing but they were to lazy to come back out to move the car.  


If you are getting a good deal on the property I wouldn't let this stop you, especially if you are going to be renting it out.  Find out the current agreement and if that works... then keep it.  If it doesn't...then try to work out a deal and get it in writing.  Also, in your lease I would specify that the tenants are to maintain landscaping and snow shoveling, and whatever else you want them to be responsible for. 


a house with a shared driveway would be an immediate deal breaker for me. I,wouldn’t even look at it. So, definitely consider it from a re-sale perspective. If I were a renter, I probably wouldn’t care much but I’d definitely spell,it out in a lease so there’s no fighting.


I share a driveway with my neighbor. He shovels his half, my landlord shovels my half. It’s big enough that it can fit 2 cars side by side so figuring out the middle is easy. Never had an issue. 


I have a shared driveway with no problems with two different neighbors. I split the cost of a snowblower with my neighbor. Whoever is able clears the shared part, doing both non-shared parts  is optional. I try to do it, so they will for me, but can't always.

That said, you'd be stuck in the middle with little control over the two parties. (Just remembered: Actually had some work vans block my neighbor in and she yelled at them. So, that's three parties.)

It seems like a liability for the landlord. It could go either way, but you have to be prepared for trouble, and willing to deal with it.

If it were me, I'd contract with a professional snow removal company, and bake that into the overhead and rental fee - just to avoid the dynamic of the two having different attitudes about snow removal. It would also be a nice cushion for any conflicts going forward with the other driveway sharer.

"It isn't great having renters next door, but . . . free snow clearing."


Thanks all, very compelling.  Ameliorating the situation is that the town grants a permit for street parking.  So in theory no need to actually utilize the driveway for vehicle access but many things to ponder nonetheless.


lanky said:
Thanks all, very compelling.  Ameliorating the situation is that the town grants a permit for street parking.  So in theory no need to actually utilize the driveway for vehicle access but many things to ponder nonetheless.

 Check what the town does during snow or weather emergencies.  Some allow cars to stay on the road, and just plow them in.  But some towns do revoke permit privileges during weather emergencies.

If the town allows on street parking with a permit, and if they town will also allow permitted parking during weather emergencies, then a blocked driveway becomes less on an issue and the house is a better deal



We have a shared driveway with amiable neighbors who were already in the house next door before we moved in over 20 years ago.   We do more than half the snow removal, but we're OK with that. (It's no more than we would have done with a separate driveway and we are more "picky" about snow removal than they are, so more likely to get to it first.  We/they have never had any problem with vehicles blocking anyone in or out and have always cooperated on maintenance (resealing every few years) as well as on a major repaving we did jointly about ten years ago.  We've never had any problems with the arrangement, and do not have any formal agreement, but perhaps we've been lucky.  Sooner or later, one of us will sell first and hopefully whichever of us does that can cooperate to put some kind of agreement in place with the next owners to ensure that the situation continues to be positive. 


A relative of mine had a home with a shared driveway in Brooklyn. Depending on who was living in the other house, it was a problem at some times, not at others. There was one neighbor who would use the driveway to work on his car, there were oil spills, blocked access for her car and other issues. There were times when the then-owner was fine and there were no issues. But, for myself, I would not want to deal with the possible problems and wouldn't buy a home with a shared driveway. Just my own opinion.


We've done both. Our first S.O. house had a large shared driveway. Two different families living next to us and never an issue. 

The downside: a property we have in B'klyn has a shared driveway that is narrow and opens up wide at the end. Our tenants are not allowed access to the driveway or back property and the same for the adjacent building BUT... there's a tenant in adjacent building who constantly parks his car in the middle of the driveway. We've put up no parking signs stating violators will be towed and our property manager had to call 311 and have him towed twice because workers hired could not get to the back yard with equipment Finally, we installed security cameras on our property and put up signage stating that property was under surveillance and took screenshots of the days he had lied about parking in the driveway and sent them to his landlord. It only stopped when the cameras were installed. 


I would not pass up a house that you otherwise love because of it, but some of the descriptions here certainly argue for a formal written agreement that is binding for future owners as well as the current ones.  I would think that the realtors/attorneys assisting with the purchase/sale should be able to set something like that up (?)  Has anyone had experience with owning a home with shared driveway with such an agreement and how it worked out?


Renting the property with a shared driveway can be problematic. 

If you were going to live there it's different. Not a good idea. 


Be aware that properties with shared driveways sell for less and rent for less so be sure to take that into account. 


sarahzm said:
Be aware that properties with shared driveways sell for less and rent for less so be sure to take that into account. 

When our house sold, it sold for more than we thought it would. The shared driveway was not an issue. That was several years ago so maybe things have changed, but we didn't suffer. 


We love our shared driveway. Our realtor warned us that it could be an issue for resale, but we've had only lovely neighbors, and it's awesome to have another family to share the shoveling with. We feel like it's a little two house mini-community.



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