Hi All, I just wanted to get some feedback if a steep driveway would deter renters/prospective tenants? The area that I have bought in is generally hilly (Chapel Hill QLD) but wanted to know if it would be an issue to rent it out? Note the driveway also finishes at a t junction, but it’s not a busy intersection Happy to pm the property if it helps! Thanks in advance!
I'm increasingly noticing that tennants prefer shiny convenience over everything. So I'd say yes, a steep driveway is off putting. Our driveway isn't steep, but the wife struggles to open the car passenger door most everytime we go out/get home
Nah I don’t like them. I’ve seen a driveway so steep I was too scared to drive my car up. When I tried my back wheels just kept spinning. And it was a chore walking up. Coming down when you’re plastered could mean slipping over and rolling to the gutter. Probably great for building leg muscles but I’m sure most tenants wouldn’t like it.
I hate to play the devil’s advocate, but what’s the point in asking if you’ve already bought it? Unless you’re looking to undertake some major (and costly) changes to the property to make the driveway less steep? Chapel Hill is a terrific suburb and unless there’s a glut of available rentals, a steep driveway shouldn’t make much of a difference in ability to rent it out. When you’ve chosen a property manager, they’ll be able to let you know if it’s a dealbreaker for the rental market, though I suspect there’ll be other things about the property that a prospective tenant will care about: air-conditioning, dishwasher, security screens, etc etc
We had a steep driveway in Fig Tree Pocket / Indooroopilly and visitors were always spinning their wheels! If we had stayed there we probably would have moved the garage eventually
Driveways need the old fashioned 'blizzard lines' for when Ur plastered. Useful in blizzards and cyclones as well
All things being equal, most people would choose a property with easier access than a steep driveway. Apart from car access, putting the bins out would be a pain.
I've rented two different properties like that. The properties sat below the road level. Both also had very narrow driveways with no manoeuvring room at the bottom. One was also a delicate act getting out of in the wet. Its a nightmare dealing with taxis, couriers, visitors, and especially removalists. Its made worse if you cant see the property from the road. All that said however, it certainly wouldn't be a deal breaker, or even something that would weigh on my decison to rent it. Its an inconvenience for sure, but every rental has some bug bear. The property itself, amenities and location is far more important.
I made our LL cut and level the top of the driveway so I could get my illegally low race car down if we signed a 12mth lease. It sucked and we vowed never to buy anything that wasn't flat. Forever thankful for the experience for 2 years to learn the lesson. Even a good view would be inadequate for me to ever deal with the inconvenience of reversing cars, trailers etc. I like being able to push cars/boats etc around with no worry of them running away.
Thanks all for your responses very helpful! The property was not unconditional yet and there were a few issues that came up on the property so was thinking about pulling out (driveway was a concern, but not a major decision driver) - we have decided to go ahead and request a reduction in purchase price as they weren’t significant structural issues. I do plan to make cosmetic renovations inside the house to make it more appealing - a lot of rental houses in the area are quite old, so I’m hoping this will be a key point of differentiation and counteract the steep driveway to some extent (note the house is at the top, and the drive steeps down towards the road)
Congratulations and good luck. I tried requesting a reduction (based on non-structural stuff) on an IP a couple of weeks back and they told me to go jump. I think they worked out how much the market had moved between contract signing and BP report coming back. Was worth a shot, I still went ahead
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