It's really hard to tell from the picture. Is it the driveway/curb/street area? If the home is a fixer upper, it might not matter. Can you ask a realtor in your area?

Your post is currently under "home decorating, building a home and remodeling." It might be more helpful if you can change to "buying and selling."

It's the whole driveway that would be redone, the home will be move in ready and most wouldn't renovate it anymore, it has an older look inside but nicely done and clean. I plan on selling it my self and don't wont to use a realtor if I don't plan on using them. Thanks I didn't see buying and selling, so many to look through.

Maybe just get it seal coated? That's pretty inexpensive but would make it look nicer.

It would not stop me from looking at the home— But having two low clearance vehicles, I’d be looking to fix ASAP. I would mention somewhere that you will give them 5k “back” to do as they please OR just do it. It isn’t a big deal, but giving them a heads up it’s priced “as-is” should let me know you aren’t gonna negotiate because of the driveway.

For the price, if the rest of the home is good to go, i would spend the money and fix it.

Since you are FSBO ... take awesome pictures make sure everything is clean and spotless and not cluttered.

Good Luck!

I think it's way pass patching or just top coating, large root have done most of the damage.

It looks worst than the pictures are showing, lot of cracks are all the way through and in chunks.

I would address it in the listing...driveway needs repair but inside is immaculate. You've got to draw them inside somehow. Also, work on curb appeal. Then, if it's not selling and based on feedback, you'll know if you need to replace it.

That's good advice, since I have no time frame to sell it.

Is that a huge curb right in front of the garage doors?

Can normal height sedan even clear that? If not, that is a bigger problem than the driveway.

chispa, there is no curb at the garage door, just concrete slab, that's a shadow from the hangover of the house.

I don't know your market, but that driveway is really hurting the curb appeal of your home. it's literally the first experience a person will have when they come to view your home, it suggests deferred maintenance, and it detracts from your attractive exterior.

I think you should have it re-done so that when the potential buyer sees the inside, which you say is older but maintained, they won't already have ideas about the possible deferred maintenance in kitchen and bathrooms... some people just see the older and not the nicely done.

Unless you're going to replace it with concrete, and that's not going to be $5,000.00, let the new buyer decide what to do with the driveway, please.

I have a really small backyard which I have planted fig trees, I thought it might be best to cut all the tree down and maybe leave 1 and put new sod down? I also have to lower the septic tank lids. Should I sod or leave the fig trees and let the new owner decide? I also thought about cutting down the little trees and weeds going down to the creek so they can see the large wooded area in the back, although if I take out to many trees you start to see the houses in the back neighborhood across the creek.

Since, I drive a low car, if I couldnt get it in the drive without dragging, I would be passing by the house without even going inside.

I would not touch the trees- many people like lots of them. very easy for the buyer to remove some but many years to replace cut trees.

As for the driveway- I think you should skip the repairs- it doesn’t look bad and many first time buyers will prefer a lower price over a smooth driveway. Our last house purchase was a home that had a driveway that needed repair - but we didn’t really care, saw it as a straight forward project to do down the road. Ironically we only fixed it two years later when we were getting ready to sell. Kind of wish we hadn’t.

In my neighborhood (high end houses), all the driveways are asphalt. In fact, I can't remember when I last saw a concrete driveway in any of the more desirable neighborhoods in my town.

Your driveway sucks big time. Yes, replace with asphalt. Concrete is crap.

Fix the driveway; it's just a part of your property's upkeep. If you haven't kept up the driveway, what else haven't you kept up with? That is what a potential buyer is going to ask. Also depends on who you're marketing this to. First time buyers won't have an extra 5K to spend on a new driveway.

Remove the fig trees, pots, and junk on your deck. Keep it tidy. Don’t touch the creek area. It looks like you have a very nice natural backyard area.

I would replace the driveway. It, rightly or wrongly, shows a deferred maintance attitude. Buyers will judge by its state of disrepair, that everything else also has deferred maintance issues. As to asphalt or concrete that is a regional thing. In my New England climate no one wants concrete due to heave and frost issues.

Is the $5000 an actual quote for your specific situation?

Is the existing driveway concrete?

Would the new driveway be asphalt?

I hope you don't have the kind of fig trees that smell like cat urine. We recently moved into a house and thought there must be a cat peeing around our fig tree because it smelled horrible. After doing some research, it turned out it was the tree. We put it on Craigslist (for free) if someone would dig it up. Sure enough, someone did.

If I was purchasing I would look at the driveway and just say no. Depending on your area you could ask to be allowed to have what is called a "curb cut" which would eliminate the problem with low vehicles when repaired. That portion would have to be concrete rather than asphalt.

Do you have a real estate agent for the sale? What does s/he recommend?

He said it will be for sale by owner.

In other words, you don't have a real estate agent and don't know what an experienced realtor would recommend...? You're doing this all on your own...?

Of course you should redo the drive way.

Assume the information you have is accurate. You said you would take $65/sqft in a mid priced $72/sqft market. So you get $13160.00 ($7.00 x 1880 sqft) less by not spending $5000.00 to fix the driveway.

If you research hard, you may find a better quote that is less than $5k.

Giving your house a nice cleaning and staging (you could do it yourself), doing great marketing job about the advantage of having a new drive way, such as it would be good year around especially in winter, kids could use it as play ground...etc., you may sell your house for a lot more than $72/sqft.

IMO.....that driveway is ugly. Do they allow gravel driveways in your neighborhood? 1450' is almost a 1/4 mile.

Fix it. Either with gravel or asphalt.

I am guessing that is 1,450 square feet?

To be honest, I think you need a real estate agent, and/ or an appraisal. Has the house been appraised? You said the median price in your neighborhood is $72 a sq/ft. Were those homes in good condition? Were the bathrooms and kitchen original or remodeled? What was the condition of their driveways? When you said that everything inside was original to the 70’s but that “ most people wouldn’t replace” it set off warning bells in my head. Your home doesn’t, as you say, just have an older look. It has fixtures straight outta the 70’s. They’re old.. Forgive me for being blunt, but I think you’re too close to this. You need an impartial party. When I hear “ driveway that is a danger to low cars” and “original 1970’s interior “ my head immediately says “fixer”. Buyers want to be able to pull into the garage. They don’t want gold or green ANYTHING, unless it was installed yesterday. They don’t want carpet. If you have any of the above things, your house is a fixer. If the bathtubs are anything other than white, your house is a MAJOR fixer. I’m afraid that you might need the advice and opinion of a local real estate agent and an appraiser to show you what needs to be done and what doesn’t, and a realistic price to be able to expect.

greg_2015, $5000 was a quote, the drive is concrete and will redo concrete since the quotes have been cheaper..

Virgil Carter Fine Art, No, I'll be selling myself since I can take my time, I don't have to sell but would like to in the next year if I can get $65 per sq ft, I have 4 rental properties I'm selling.

robin0919, The drive is 1450 sq ft not 1450' long.

Iloveto Cook, Home was renovated 4 years ago with new 3/4" hardwood floor, new tile in kitchen and both bathroom, all new ceiling fans, new water heater, new dishwasher and stove. When I say 70's look I mean blue shower in 1 bath and green tile tub and shower in the other bath and original cabinets. I agree I will need to at least fix the curb at the street so cars can come into the drive better. Totally renovated homes with white tile baths and new cabinets for this older home will bring in $75 sq ft, that is why I think I should be able to get 65 per ft. I might get an appraisal, he/she can get me some advice.

For the price of an agent I might as well just pay for a new drive and new backyard and still come out the same?

I'd fix the drive and it looks like the back deck could use some attention too (staining, replacing some boards, etc.).

The big reason being is there is probably going to be a home inspection. And each item on the report that the inspector says needs attention is an item used to renegotiate the price. Sure, in theory the price reduction should roughly reflect the cost to fix everything but, having bought and sold 20 houses over the years, it somehow never seems to work out that way and I've been on both sides of that discussion. It's always higher. Best to work now to keep the "needs fixing" list to a minimum.

And aside from that, there's a reason realtors talk a lot about the importance of "first impressions" and "curb appeal". The deck needs attention but it doesn't have anywhere near the "first impression factor", be it negative or positive, that the driveway has. Make it shiny, flat and new, throw some impations and merigolds in small beds in some areas next to it and you're SWEEET! And oh yeah, put up an American flag in a bracket and a rocker on the porch for good measure.

“Would the drive possibly stop people from even wanting to look at the home since that's the first impression?”

Yes. I wouldn’t even bother looking at the rest of the place unless I was looking to purchase a home for pennies on the dollar because I’d either be: 1. completely remodeling before moving in; or 2. razing it altogether.

edited to add 1. and 2.

Yes; I wouldn’t even bother looking at the rest of the place...unless I was looking to purchase a home for pennies on the dollar.

I actually had another paragraph in my post above about that, sometimes unless the listing price is VERY attractive, I don't even get out of the car after looking at the front of a house.

Architectrunnerguy, I was planning on pressure washing the deck and sealing. I'm starting to think it's best to redo the drive as well along with a little more to the yard, thanks.

Why don't you post photos? There are many experienced realtors, home owners, property investors on this forum, they could give you invaluable advices and suggestions.

azmom, I have 4 photos of the drive and 3 photos of the backyard already on this thread, the condition of the drive and backyard were my only questions I had.

You might want to also post photos of the interior for advice so you can possibly get top dollar.

cpartist, I think I'm good for the inside, only thing not done is to change the green tile tub and blue tile shower in each bathroom and to change out the kitchen cabinet and I really don't think doing these things will make me more money but only help sell my house faster which I'm not in a hurry to sell so I'm better off spending that money on the drive, septic and yard. When I asked people about if I should redo baths and kitchen I got a 50/50 response. I like the kitchen cabinets but hate the tile in the baths but at $65 per sq ft it should sell, I will start out at $75 at first but $141,000 is high for a home in the area. Here are some photos.

Those pictures have helped me make a decision between two tile. Although I was liking the ones that you have in your kitchen the picture makes them appear to be dirty. If you do decide to sell perhaps a professional photographer can light them so that they do not appear to be dingy.

Edited to add the shower surround is the same way. I do realize that the house is not ready for sale but that is something needs to be worked on.

As a follow up to my post, upon seeing the photo of the whole front, I'd put in some landscaping along the brick front. Perfect time of year to do that is coming up too as many nursery's put their stuff on sale and planting some Japanese hollies or some junipers is an easy DIY task.

And as far as the stuff listed on the inspection report that "needs fixing" (and there's always something...LOL), best to just arrive at a dollar amount for fixing and let the new owner fix it (or not) in lieu of you fixing it. That way, you won't be getting a call six months later claiming you hired a low ball contractor and it's a poor job. They'll have the money to hire a guy and if the job is poor, it's their problem, not yours.

The house doesn't look bad inside considering the age.

In the bathroom I'd consider changing out the light fixture over the mirror to something a bit more updated but that's about it.

I would not change out the tile or the tub. Not going to get you a better price or sell it faster. What I would do with all the rooms is stage them to look as nice as possible.

I would change out the boob light in the kitchen to something a bit nicer.

Honestly while the house is quite dated, it appears the bones are good, it's clean looking and it looks like it's been kept updated in terms of the important stuff.

Agree with CP. Sure the house is dated but the inside looks fine for the house. Forget about the tile and the kitchen cabinets. Just be sure everything is clean inside and there's no "musty" smell, raise all the blinds to get as much light in there as possible and you're good to go.