Should I buy a house with a shared driveway?
July 24, 2021 8:56 AM Subscribe
I'm interested in a house for sale that shares a driveway with the next door neighbor. It's a narrow driveway (one car), and the neighbor has a one-car garage at the end, but the house for sale does not (one could be built). More details inside.
The current neighbor is elderly and doesn't drive, and I'd like to live car-free. But I'm worried about what happens when someone else moves in, and if I eventually need to sell the house. The house for sale comes with a right to the driveway in the deed, but there's no written agreement about how the driveway is used (whether one neighbor could park in the middle and block the drive, how snow is shoveled, etc). In this neighborhood, most houses have driveways and garages. I'm wondering how hard this would be to resell. It has been on the market a fairly long time compared to other houses in the area, which are usually selling within days.
Have you ever had a situation like this? Do you think it's a bad idea? I do like the house otherwise, great neighborhood, etc., though it's at the higher end of my budget.
The current neighbor is elderly and doesn't drive, and I'd like to live car-free. But I'm worried about what happens when someone else moves in, and if I eventually need to sell the house. The house for sale comes with a right to the driveway in the deed, but there's no written agreement about how the driveway is used (whether one neighbor could park in the middle and block the drive, how snow is shoveled, etc). In this neighborhood, most houses have driveways and garages. I'm wondering how hard this would be to resell. It has been on the market a fairly long time compared to other houses in the area, which are usually selling within days.
Have you ever had a situation like this? Do you think it's a bad idea? I do like the house otherwise, great neighborhood, etc., though it's at the higher end of my budget.
Can you legally park on the street near or adjacent to the driveway? My in-law's house has a long driveway, and during family gatherings there's the inevitable "Can you move your car please, I need to leave, thanks" back and forth discussion at the end of the evening. I just park on the street to avoid all that. It's legal and about an 8 second further walk to do so.
I wouldn't buy the shared driveway. Some people use their car(s) (or truck(s)!) constantly, for everything, or have friends and family over a lot. Some people need to unload equipment or tools every day for work or whatever. You might end up with people like that sharing the driveway. It just sounds like a potential genuine hassle that there's no good remedy for.
posted by SoberHighland at 9:38 AM on July 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
I wouldn't buy the shared driveway. Some people use their car(s) (or truck(s)!) constantly, for everything, or have friends and family over a lot. Some people need to unload equipment or tools every day for work or whatever. You might end up with people like that sharing the driveway. It just sounds like a potential genuine hassle that there's no good remedy for.
posted by SoberHighland at 9:38 AM on July 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
My house, that I have lived in for 4 years, has a similar arrangement. A driveway between the two close together houses. Neighboring house has a garage in back while I do not. As a result I only very rarely use the driveway when needing to move something large from my car to the back yard. Driveway is gravel and has had some erosion issues. Neighbors (two different families) have mostly taken care of maintenance since they are almost exclusive users, though I would happily contribute if asked. There is a formal easement agreement, though it is old enough I have no idea if it is still in force. Neighbor house also has an parking spot adjacent to the driveway that is entirely on their property. Never had any issues with them blocking the driveway though both families have occasionally parked at the far end of the driveway with their cars mostly entirely on my side of the property line. Annoying but with no actual impact to me. The biggest downside from me is probably that my bedroom window is located directly adjacent to the driveway and the crunching of the gravel as they drive by is loud enough to wake me up occasionally.
This hasn't been a major issue from my experience but I would certainly prefer a non-shared driveway.
posted by Medw at 9:45 AM on July 24, 2021
This hasn't been a major issue from my experience but I would certainly prefer a non-shared driveway.
posted by Medw at 9:45 AM on July 24, 2021
I passed on buying a house once because it had a shared driveway. Having to negotiate over driveway access and maintenance just wasn't something I wanted to deal with.
posted by Dip Flash at 9:46 AM on July 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 9:46 AM on July 24, 2021 [6 favorites]
From your point of view as a car-free person, does this house own the right to use the driveway in the neighbor's yard, does the neighbor own the right to use the driveway in your yard, or is this a driveway that straddles the property line? If it's the first, I wouldn't worry too much about the next residents of the neighbor house. If you don't intend to use it anyway, then you just have a new neighbor who might use their driveway in ways that annoy you. Neighbors are like that, and using their driveway in ways that annoy you is still way better than screechy toddlers.
Say you buy it and go to sell it in 10 years, and not-car-free me is looking at it. I'd ask my realtor how hard it would be to get the permits for a driveway and how much it would cost. Assuming this isn't an area that just won't allow new curb cuts, it wouldn't bother me except that I'd subtract the cost of a driveway from what I'd be willing to pay, which I'd expect is like $5K.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:49 AM on July 24, 2021
Say you buy it and go to sell it in 10 years, and not-car-free me is looking at it. I'd ask my realtor how hard it would be to get the permits for a driveway and how much it would cost. Assuming this isn't an area that just won't allow new curb cuts, it wouldn't bother me except that I'd subtract the cost of a driveway from what I'd be willing to pay, which I'd expect is like $5K.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:49 AM on July 24, 2021
This is common in my (century old, Midwest) neighborhood. People are all used to it, I've never heard of any major problems, although most of them are more like 1.7 cars wide so total blockage is less of an issue.
The way I see it, this is a great way to make your car-less lifestyle into a (larger) financial benefit for you. If it had its own driveway and garage, you probably couldn't afford it. So this is a nice way to get into that nice neighborhood.
Someone bought the house before you, you are maybe willing to buy it, and someone will want to buy it in the future too. What's a deal-breaker for some is no big deal for others. I might not have been able to afford my house if it was a little bigger or had a garage etc, but I don't value those things as much as others do, so it was a good buy for me.
Anyway, I think it's worth using your own preferences to your advantage, and there's a potentially nice synergy here.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:50 AM on July 24, 2021
The way I see it, this is a great way to make your car-less lifestyle into a (larger) financial benefit for you. If it had its own driveway and garage, you probably couldn't afford it. So this is a nice way to get into that nice neighborhood.
Someone bought the house before you, you are maybe willing to buy it, and someone will want to buy it in the future too. What's a deal-breaker for some is no big deal for others. I might not have been able to afford my house if it was a little bigger or had a garage etc, but I don't value those things as much as others do, so it was a good buy for me.
Anyway, I think it's worth using your own preferences to your advantage, and there's a potentially nice synergy here.
posted by SaltySalticid at 9:50 AM on July 24, 2021
In spite of my experience above, I think this house might be a good house for you. You say that you like the house itself and the neighborhood, and since you want to be car-free, you're going to be one of the few people who is unaffected by a major disadvantage that the house has. It might even be the only way you can afford to buy into this neighborhood.
However:
- I think you're right to be concerned about resale etc., especially if the neighborhood standard is for each house to have its own driveway (less of a problem if all the houses in the neighborhood have this arrangement).
- Of course, anything will sell quickly at the right price. When you sell that house, I would expect a compelling asking price to be comparably lower than other houses in the neighborhood, since it effectively has only a semi-usable garage (and an unpredictably semi-usable garage, at that). This means that you need not to buy at a price higher than that, if you want to recoup your money. If you have a realtor that you trust, talk to him/her about what that means in terms of pricing. Since the house has been sitting on the market, it is by definition currently overpriced.
- If you have trouble determining fair pricing, you can always just put in a lowball offer and see what happens.
- Given that the house has been sitting on the market, you might be able to persuade the sellers to work with their neighbor to draft an agreement covering driveway access and maintenance (repaving, shoveling, raking, how long any vehicle can block the driveway without advance permission from the other neighbor, etc.). I think such an agreement would be financially beneficial both to the seller and to his neighbor, so it might be possible to get done. I would think this would help mitigate some part of some other people's concern about purchasing a house with a shared driveway. You would still need to get the money off too, though, since the shared driveway does lower the property value.
posted by ClaireBear at 9:54 AM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
However:
- I think you're right to be concerned about resale etc., especially if the neighborhood standard is for each house to have its own driveway (less of a problem if all the houses in the neighborhood have this arrangement).
- Of course, anything will sell quickly at the right price. When you sell that house, I would expect a compelling asking price to be comparably lower than other houses in the neighborhood, since it effectively has only a semi-usable garage (and an unpredictably semi-usable garage, at that). This means that you need not to buy at a price higher than that, if you want to recoup your money. If you have a realtor that you trust, talk to him/her about what that means in terms of pricing. Since the house has been sitting on the market, it is by definition currently overpriced.
- If you have trouble determining fair pricing, you can always just put in a lowball offer and see what happens.
- Given that the house has been sitting on the market, you might be able to persuade the sellers to work with their neighbor to draft an agreement covering driveway access and maintenance (repaving, shoveling, raking, how long any vehicle can block the driveway without advance permission from the other neighbor, etc.). I think such an agreement would be financially beneficial both to the seller and to his neighbor, so it might be possible to get done. I would think this would help mitigate some part of some other people's concern about purchasing a house with a shared driveway. You would still need to get the money off too, though, since the shared driveway does lower the property value.
posted by ClaireBear at 9:54 AM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I did this. I thought it would be fine. It was not.
Is there enough land for you to make your own separate driveway?
posted by sageleaf at 9:55 AM on July 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
Is there enough land for you to make your own separate driveway?
posted by sageleaf at 9:55 AM on July 24, 2021 [3 favorites]
I live at the end of a shared driveway. It’s fine for us, and it’s rare for it to be blocked. But when we bought, we did so with the expectation that we’d likely be responsible for maintenance of the whole driveway. Not necessarily legally, but practically. And that’s the way it’s worked out, for the most part. So we view it as a bonus when our neighbor helps with snow shoveling, but we’ve never asked for help or any financial contribution, and so we’ve never been disappointed when we didn’t get it. Unless you have a written agreement with your new neighbor, you probably need to honestly evaluate your expectations about responsibility for the driveway, and how unhappy you will be if they are not met.
posted by hovizette at 10:18 AM on July 24, 2021
posted by hovizette at 10:18 AM on July 24, 2021
This is so dependent on what your neighbors are like that I wouldn’t chance it. An acquaintance had many complaints about his shared driveway and his neighbor who had very strong opinions about how he was allowed to shovel snow (in Michigan). You have no control over who moves in.
posted by FencingGal at 10:18 AM on July 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by FencingGal at 10:18 AM on July 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
I'm just one data point here, but I grew up in a house without a driveway, and I (as a potential buyer) couldn't care less about whether a house has a driveway or not. I'd only see this as a problem if you live near a commercial area with very limited street parking.
posted by coffeecat at 11:28 AM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by coffeecat at 11:28 AM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
No way would I do it - I live in a show-shoveling region and it sounds like a nightmare.
Maaaaaaybe I'd do it if all of the maintenance was farmed out (like, hiring a local kid to shovel and splitting all repair work 50/50) and if there was a rock-solid agreement that neither household would ever park in the driveway or use it for anything other than garage access.
Man even then I wouldn't do it.
posted by Gray Duck at 11:31 AM on July 24, 2021
Maaaaaaybe I'd do it if all of the maintenance was farmed out (like, hiring a local kid to shovel and splitting all repair work 50/50) and if there was a rock-solid agreement that neither household would ever park in the driveway or use it for anything other than garage access.
Man even then I wouldn't do it.
posted by Gray Duck at 11:31 AM on July 24, 2021
Yeah it just sounds like a drama ticket to me, and I'd pass.
posted by wintersweet at 12:06 PM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by wintersweet at 12:06 PM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I had a client who lived in a house with a shared drive. It want back to a single structure with two garage openings so the property line was right down the middle and bisected the garage. My client was contemplating converting his part of the garage into an office space for himself. But his neighbor was contemplating turning her side into an AirBnB. There were lots of chit chats about who would be responsible for what and how that would work and it seemed like a real PITA. Ultimately, my client decided to move so that put that issue to bed. But it certainly made me think about the potential entanglements that can come up with shared property which this effectively is.
posted by amanda at 1:29 PM on July 24, 2021
posted by amanda at 1:29 PM on July 24, 2021
One other thing to be aware of if you do buy the house is that it's not just your neighbor using the driveway, it can be your neighbor's friends/family, with no way to contact them. I'm just a renter but I pay for access to a shared driveway/walkway and the friction comes from a family member of another renter who is just "parking for a few minutes to drop something off" but really just leaves their car for hours blocking my car, has no relationship to me and can be hard to reach. It's deeply annoying and I have to choose between being "neighborly" and going for the nuclear option of towing.
And if you do stay car-free, assume that your neighbor will feel entitled to full access to all of the driveway because you "don't need it" even for taking out your bicycle, maintaining your bike, bringing groceries in, etc. I didn't own a car until a few months ago, but was paying for shared driveway access and using it for crafts/bicycle access/etc and it was astounding how car owners thought I just didn't need any access at all since I wasn't on four wheels.
posted by rogerroger at 1:36 PM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
And if you do stay car-free, assume that your neighbor will feel entitled to full access to all of the driveway because you "don't need it" even for taking out your bicycle, maintaining your bike, bringing groceries in, etc. I didn't own a car until a few months ago, but was paying for shared driveway access and using it for crafts/bicycle access/etc and it was astounding how car owners thought I just didn't need any access at all since I wasn't on four wheels.
posted by rogerroger at 1:36 PM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I housesit across the street from two houses that had a years-long yelling, police-called, crazy feud over the use of their shared driveway. At one point, I think one of them drove spikes down the middle. One neighbor had like four big trucks and the others were normal people. It sounded and looked VERY stressful. Would not recommend.
posted by RedEmma at 1:38 PM on July 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by RedEmma at 1:38 PM on July 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
As someone who bought a house on a shared private road, I would approach this with extreme caution. Dealing with other people in this way can be extremely stressful. Additionally, I do think will make it difficult to sell the house later on.
posted by WalkerWestridge at 1:49 PM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by WalkerWestridge at 1:49 PM on July 24, 2021 [2 favorites]
I live at the end of a shared driveway and it's almost always fine. One house owns the driveway and the other houses have an easement saying we have access to it. While there has been the occasional problem, they've all been minor and resolved eventually.
Your potential setup sounds good to me, with just one other house. I would be very surprised if, legally, future owners could do anything that would prevent your use of the shared driveay.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:24 PM on July 24, 2021
Your potential setup sounds good to me, with just one other house. I would be very surprised if, legally, future owners could do anything that would prevent your use of the shared driveay.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:24 PM on July 24, 2021
Driveways, like bedrooms for cars, are going the way of the dinosaur. Expect to see fewer personal driveways in the future. It's fine to get the house.
posted by aniola at 7:03 PM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 7:03 PM on July 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
I had a shared (2 car wide) driveway and it was never really a problem except for snow shoveling (insert eye rolling emoji). If you don't have a car, all you need to do is shovel a walkway to the door and mailbox, and to get the garbage out. I don't think the shared driveway had an impact on resale value when I sold my house. I was very pleased with my sale price last year. I would be more concerned about the current housing bubble than the shared driveway, or more specifically how the housing bubble is affecting the current value of a house with a shared driveway. In my experience with my and my friends shared driveways, the people using the driveway understood that it was shared and they had to park in a manner to let the other people who owned the driveway have access to it. If we had friends over, we made sure they didn't block the driveways with their cars.
If the house has been on the market for a while, you could make an offer that takes the driveway situation into consideration. And ask your realtor about the survey. Somewhere, someone has the official property lines, probably the assessor for the municipality. Access to the driveway should be included in your contract. Don't finalize the purchase without getting the driveway usage rights in writing.
TL;DR: I don't think a shared driveway should preclude you from buying a house especially if you don't plan on owning a car while you live there, but make sure your access to said driveway is in writing and that you don't over pay for the property.
posted by DEiBnL13 at 9:42 PM on July 24, 2021
If the house has been on the market for a while, you could make an offer that takes the driveway situation into consideration. And ask your realtor about the survey. Somewhere, someone has the official property lines, probably the assessor for the municipality. Access to the driveway should be included in your contract. Don't finalize the purchase without getting the driveway usage rights in writing.
TL;DR: I don't think a shared driveway should preclude you from buying a house especially if you don't plan on owning a car while you live there, but make sure your access to said driveway is in writing and that you don't over pay for the property.
posted by DEiBnL13 at 9:42 PM on July 24, 2021
A house with a shared driveway should be dramatically cheaper than other houses in the neighborhood because it is a dispute waiting to happen. A neighbor dispute over a shared driveway is not the kind of dispute that can be resolved by litigation, either. It just goes on and on until one neighbor stabs the other with a barbecue fork.
I know this because I used to prosecute these cases. I had multiple different sets of neighbors with shared driveways getting in these disputes and eventually drawing criminal charges. I decided then that I would never own a house with a shared driveway. Or a barbecue fork.
By the way, once you have a dispute going, it is very hard to sell your house.
posted by KayQuestions at 11:27 PM on July 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
I know this because I used to prosecute these cases. I had multiple different sets of neighbors with shared driveways getting in these disputes and eventually drawing criminal charges. I decided then that I would never own a house with a shared driveway. Or a barbecue fork.
By the way, once you have a dispute going, it is very hard to sell your house.
posted by KayQuestions at 11:27 PM on July 24, 2021 [5 favorites]
I live in a house with a shared driveway. It's been totally drama free.
Our driveway easement is a permissive and descriptive written easement, there are other types that can lead to disputes, like prescriptive, implied or adversarial. The terms of ours define the boundaries, and ensure the driveway has to be kept clear of obstructions. Usually these things are phrased negatively, so that means that you or your neighbors can't prohibit the other from using the driveway. The rules around easements vary by state - there are many around here, several on my block and I've yet to even hear about it being an issue.
Before we made an offer we had a good idea of the prior arrangements, we talked to the neighbors and established that they were reasonable folks. And they have been. When we moved in we verbally agreed on how we would handle the smaller details going forward.
For example, I got a snowblower and take care of the entire shared driveway and the parking spaces, even theirs. Sometimes I am rewarded with cookies. These are folks who once have called the cops cause our dog was barking, so there's been the regular sort of neighbor issues. We talk about when there is going to be guests, or house painting or deliveries and in all the years it's been me who's blocked the driveway twice. They rang my cell.
There are some things you need to anticipate:
posted by zenon at 1:06 AM on July 25, 2021
Our driveway easement is a permissive and descriptive written easement, there are other types that can lead to disputes, like prescriptive, implied or adversarial. The terms of ours define the boundaries, and ensure the driveway has to be kept clear of obstructions. Usually these things are phrased negatively, so that means that you or your neighbors can't prohibit the other from using the driveway. The rules around easements vary by state - there are many around here, several on my block and I've yet to even hear about it being an issue.
Before we made an offer we had a good idea of the prior arrangements, we talked to the neighbors and established that they were reasonable folks. And they have been. When we moved in we verbally agreed on how we would handle the smaller details going forward.
For example, I got a snowblower and take care of the entire shared driveway and the parking spaces, even theirs. Sometimes I am rewarded with cookies. These are folks who once have called the cops cause our dog was barking, so there's been the regular sort of neighbor issues. We talk about when there is going to be guests, or house painting or deliveries and in all the years it's been me who's blocked the driveway twice. They rang my cell.
There are some things you need to anticipate:
- water run off - water is going somewhere and the driveway will have a big impact on that issue
- maintenance and replacement - a proper cement drive way won't last much more than 30 years, and are often poorly made so anticipate/budget that. If we needed to replace the driveway we would split the cost 50-50.
- where is the water and sewer lines? What if the driveway needs to be dug up to fix one house?
posted by zenon at 1:06 AM on July 25, 2021
Only a few of the houses in my neighborhood have shared driveways anymore. Mostly it alternates every other house whether it's a fully owned driveway or on-street parking only. The on-street parking houses cost a little less and are mostly rentals, but they're constantly rented out.
If the current neighbor would be interested in buying the whole driveway, and if I didn't have a car, I think I'd want to sell it to them (after getting a lawyer to help nail down the details). And then I'd plan to eventually sell the house to a landlord.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 6:12 AM on July 25, 2021
If the current neighbor would be interested in buying the whole driveway, and if I didn't have a car, I think I'd want to sell it to them (after getting a lawyer to help nail down the details). And then I'd plan to eventually sell the house to a landlord.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 6:12 AM on July 25, 2021
I have a shared driveway situation. It was a bit of a mess to figure it out. The driveway is on my lot, but the neighbor has a right-of-way to a parking spot in the back. Only when I bought the house, the title company couldn't find the legal record of the right-of-way, so I thought I didn't exist. I tore up the gigantic paved parking space in the small backyard (whoever put that in must have parked 3 or more cars back there) and fenced in the yard, thinking I could use the bottom part of the driveway, near the road... then the neighbor (who was renting out their house at the time) hired a title company who did find the legal record.
So, at this point, I had removed parking spaces and fenced in my back yard such that I couldn't park in the back, but I am still obligated to not block the driveway so that they can access their parking spot.
And yet, with all this, it's mostly fine. The only thing that's really a pain is that I can't park in my driveway, but that's because I fenced my yard thinking I didn't need to maintain a backyard parking spot. (I park on the street; I could move the fence and add a parking spot.)
I think you're an ideal person to buy this house. In fact, I think you might see your lack of car ownership as an advantage you have over others concerned about this situation.
You say you are worried about negotiating access. But, you have a right-of-way; if they block the driveway, they are blocking your right-of-way.
It sounds like this won't be a problem with your elderly neighbor, or for you, ever, if you don't have a car. If you someday get a new neighbor who moves in, then you have conversations with them where you let them know you don't want to give up your access.
The only thing I did do: I told my neighbor that even though I wasn't parking in the driveway, they needed to pull to the back and park in their parking spot. I wasn't going to risk giving up some claim to part of my property.
posted by bluedaisy at 4:38 PM on July 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
So, at this point, I had removed parking spaces and fenced in my back yard such that I couldn't park in the back, but I am still obligated to not block the driveway so that they can access their parking spot.
And yet, with all this, it's mostly fine. The only thing that's really a pain is that I can't park in my driveway, but that's because I fenced my yard thinking I didn't need to maintain a backyard parking spot. (I park on the street; I could move the fence and add a parking spot.)
I think you're an ideal person to buy this house. In fact, I think you might see your lack of car ownership as an advantage you have over others concerned about this situation.
You say you are worried about negotiating access. But, you have a right-of-way; if they block the driveway, they are blocking your right-of-way.
It sounds like this won't be a problem with your elderly neighbor, or for you, ever, if you don't have a car. If you someday get a new neighbor who moves in, then you have conversations with them where you let them know you don't want to give up your access.
The only thing I did do: I told my neighbor that even though I wasn't parking in the driveway, they needed to pull to the back and park in their parking spot. I wasn't going to risk giving up some claim to part of my property.
posted by bluedaisy at 4:38 PM on July 25, 2021 [3 favorites]
1. Get a copy of the easement and read it. If it isn't completely clear what the deal is, pay some money to talk with a real estate lawyer.
2. Recognize that you are getting a better deal (given that the house has been on the market for a while, you should be getting a lower price than you would for the same house with a normal driveway. However, that is intrinsic to the house -when you go to sell, the house will not fetch as much as you might think looking at comparables because the problem will still be there. It might be a problem in a really slow buyer's market but otherwise, just expect to give the next buyer the same discount that you got and it won't be problem.
posted by metahawk at 6:36 PM on July 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
2. Recognize that you are getting a better deal (given that the house has been on the market for a while, you should be getting a lower price than you would for the same house with a normal driveway. However, that is intrinsic to the house -when you go to sell, the house will not fetch as much as you might think looking at comparables because the problem will still be there. It might be a problem in a really slow buyer's market but otherwise, just expect to give the next buyer the same discount that you got and it won't be problem.
posted by metahawk at 6:36 PM on July 25, 2021 [1 favorite]
I had a house once with a shared driveway. The driveway was "ours", but the neighbors (a three apartment building) had an easement so they could take their garbage cans out, etc. (They all had access to the yard - the three apartments were stack atop one another and each had a backdoor/stairs). This was in a neighborhood with limited street parking (mostly former summer homes turned full time houses). It got very old, very quickly not being able to park in our driveway at all and trying to juggle for parking along with everyone else. And our neighbors, for the most part, were all great people (it's been 30 years and I'm still friends with one family).
Never again. If I ever buy another house (currently living in a manufactured home with on-street parking and AGAIN I've had to fight for my allotted spaces)it WILL have it's own driveway.
posted by annieb at 5:08 PM on July 26, 2021 [1 favorite]
Never again. If I ever buy another house (currently living in a manufactured home with on-street parking and AGAIN I've had to fight for my allotted spaces)it WILL have it's own driveway.
posted by annieb at 5:08 PM on July 26, 2021 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by ClaireBear at 9:31 AM on July 24, 2021 [15 favorites]