Is it expensive to remove a drive way? Would it retain more value if I left it instead of fencing the property

Question

A house I may buy has a small front yard, and a slightly larger back yard if we removed the not-so-nice car port. We'd like to fence off the entire property (which isn't much aside from the house), w/a privacy fence. Is it going to be expensive to do this? In the end would either options affect the property value?

The car port has cement under it.

We would have to park on the street or on the alley behind it. We would all fight over who uses the car port so it may be less of a hassle to just remove it.

Answer 1

1. Well, removing a drive way is not cheap in that you need to jackhammer all that cement up and tear down the car port. It'll take several weeks (depending on how many people do it), plus the rental cost of the jackhammer/compressor and the removal bins, plus the cost of landscaping where the port used to be.

2. First, check to see if you can even remove the car port with your local planning commission. Sometimes there are covenants that prevent you from tearing structures down, especially if it alters the "style" of the neighborhood. Assuming you could tear it down, it is one of those things that will probably have no discernable impact on your property value (unless you live in a REALLY cheap neighborhood. Generally it's a risk to have a house feature that is out of line with the other houses in the neighborhood (e.g. a giant fish pond, no garage, a funky ceramic roof) because it narrows the pool of people to which your house might appeal.

3. Privacy fence costs are going to vary widely depending on the material that you use, where you live (labor costs) and how big your property is. Costs should start at about US$2,000 for a small, cheap fence. Sky's the limit for nicer, bigger fences. Get some quotes, which are usually free.

Bottom line is that major projects like this usually have negative net-present value on the house. Don't tear stuff up because you think it will improve the value of house. Tear stuff up because you like it, it's your castle and that's the way you want to use the house.

Answer 2

Is the driveway in good shape? Do you have off-street parking without the driveway? Concrete is expensive, and if it is good shape, I would leave it. But it is nearly impossible to give you a good answer without seeing a picture of the house.