how much would a backyard driveway easement decrease property value? (Austin: real estate, attorney)

[Austin97]

comps in the area are about 1.1 million for 4200 sq ft. Asking price is about 1.2 million, needs about 100K of remodeling. Neighborhood is very popular. We lost one comparable house requiring no remodeling to an all cash offer in 3 days.

house has an easement that is meant to be a driveway for two adjacent houses to the left and one house to the right running through the middle of the backyard. Houses to the left are not built (empty lots)

The driveway entrance to the garage is shared by the neighbor to the right and the two neighbors to the left. The easement through the backyard is 20 ft wide. The backyard cannot be fenced because it would block the easement. I think you wouldnt be able to park in the main driveway from the street because it would block the neighbors from using the easement.

How much of a discount from comps would something like this be? My agent thinks it is a huge negative because of the driveway through the backyard and thinks it drops the value to under 1M which would be 200K off their asking price. The house is not listed yet.

[centralaustinite]

I'd run the whole thing past a real estate attorney. I've never seen a driveway easement cut straight through a property like that, running between two houses, or to a "flagpole lot" yes, but cut in half?! No way. In my mind it definitely reduces the property value and might make resale more difficult. For me personally, it would be a deal killer.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by centralaustinite

I'd run the whole thing past a real estate attorney. I've never seen a driveway easement cut straight through a property like that, running between two houses, or to a "flagpole lot" yes, but cut in half?! No way. In my mind it definitely reduces the property value and might make resale more difficult. For me personally, it would be a deal killer.

what is there to ask the attorney? The easement is definitely valid.

It doesnt really bother me, and Im wondering how much it would discount the house. I think of it as a tiny backyard with a pool with access to yard on the other side.

It is good to hear that it is a deal breaker for you though, hopefully it is a deal breaker for a lot of people which would drop the price.

[North Beach Person]

The driveway is on your property. Who will maintain it?

I don't have a clue how much it would discount the value but I would hesitate to buy it, your property will have constant traffic right down through the middle of it.

At the far end would be a much better, and smarter, placement.

[janejanejanejanejane]

Which house is the one you are looking at?I ask because i dont understand why this has to do with your driveway- you said you cant park on the main one? this is the backyard right?

[hts]

you must really want to be in this neighborhood, lol. i'm guessing it's westlake, not that it matters. you can ask this question all day long and everyone will have an opinion, none of which will matter unless they're willing to write a contract on said property. fwiw, i wouldn't touch this house with a 10 foot pole either. that being said, sellers don't determine transactional prices, buyers do. they will guess at a reasonable starting asking price and the market will dictate what the property is worth. maybe it's worth $50k less than what they list it at. maybe it's worth $250k less than what they're asking. 4200 sf @ $1.1m is approx $262/sf. without more specific information, i'd probably launch an initial bid in the $222 sf range (approx 15% discount from comps) if i thought that was fair/reasonable and go from there, but again, i wouldn't touch this particular property for myself, as i have young kids. best of luck to you.

[riaelise]

That's a huge negative to me and a silly design. Was the architect/builder high

[1grin_g0]

Originally Posted by janejanejanejanejane

Which house is the one you are looking at?I ask because i dont understand why this has to do with your driveway- you said you cant park on the main one? this is the backyard right?

It looks like the OP is considering the house on the left. It looks like the house in question and the neighbor to the right have side entry garages. The driveway starts at the street and then goes on to wrap around the house, cutting through the backyard to a couple of lots on the left (not shown) which I assume don't have street frontage. I would be real interested in finding out who owns those empty lots on the left. I would almost be willing to bet that the owner of those lots is somehow connected, related or actually is the owner of the house in question. I wonder what their plans are for those lots.

I am not from Austin so I don't have a clue how much the easement impacts the price, but this post has been very eye-opening as to the craziness of the Austin market. Where I'm from no one at that price point would even consider such a property, at least not on a property less than a few acres.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by aeron

I am not from Austin so I don't have a clue how much the easement impacts the price, but this post has been very eye-opening as to the craziness of the Austin market. Where I'm from no one at that price point would even consider such a property, at least not on a property less than a few acres.

If it's indeed west lake, it's not the Austin market.


It's never been indicative of the market as a whole.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by aeron

It looks like the OP is considering the house on the left. It looks like the house in question and the neighbor to the right have side entry garages. The driveway starts at the street and then goes on to wrap around the house, cutting through the backyard to a couple of lots on the left (not shown) which I assume don't have street frontage. I would be real interested in finding out who owns those empty lots on the left. I would almost be willing to bet that the owner of those lots is somehow connected, related or actually is the owner of the house in question. I wonder what their plans are for those lots.

I am not from Austin so I don't have a clue how much the easement impacts the price, but this post has been very eye-opening as to the craziness of the Austin market. Where I'm from no one at that price point would even consider such a property, at least not on a property less than a few acres.

You are 100% correct in your analysis.

I know all the owners involved and the original developer. The two empty lots on the left do have street frontage but it is too steep for a driveway per city rules. The owner is not connected to the house in question and in fact they do not like each other.