Does a Garage Add Value to Your Home?

Real estate agents, buyers, and constructers all have to take into account the space a garage could add to a home, the space a buyer has to pay for, and the space a buyer wants to pay for. The simple fact is, a garage adds value to a home. However, the value is determined by the location and which buyer is interested.

The rough numbers

For buyers and real estate agents, the value of a garage is often estimated to be between 5 and 10 percent of the value of a home. This value is often at a premium in locations that have little to no affordable off-street parking, while suburbs with little real estate congestion have less value and garages are valued less. Conversely, garages in real estate congested suburbs are valued more and add more to the value of a home. There are a plethora of average values. This combined with the local market conditions results in a lot of numbers. Regardless, buyers value the ability of a garage to offer the potential of private, lockable storage for the car.Who does it concern?

Garages are a beneficial investment for most customers as it serves the driver best. The vehicles are sheltered and protected from the weather and the dirt and gravel of the driveway. Also, some insurance companies give discounts when the car is stored in a garage. Other uses for the garage include storing items that won’t fit in the house, and for a workspace, garage. The garage can even make it onto the list of work from home top spaces. The garage could also make it on the list for top spaces to work from home, especially for those who are looking for a workshop or a quiet area to store tools and bicycles.

Even for buyers that can’t use it or prefer to keep the driveway free, it is a positive feature. It may not be a selling feature for everyone, but overall it is a selling feature for the majority.

Are you considering changing that?

There are a lot of reasons to do garage conversions, and most of them are simple. They can offer a cost effective way to add a bedroom, home office, or utility room. Usually, it is possible to do internal work without needing to go through the whole process of obtaining planning permission.

However, it’s important to keep in mind that in locations where parking is more valuable, a transformed garage can work against you when it’s time to sell. For example, when a buyer drives to the house and the only parking is on the road, it changes the conversation if they see that the garage was turned into a snug or a second bedroom. What is convenient to you now may not be convenient to the next buyer and this may be reflected in the offer price.

Be careful with new build garages

Garages in newer developments have been getting smaller and smaller. Most are not even wide enough to fit a standard modern car, so while they are technically a garage, they wouldn’t ever actually be used for parking. Most buyers have woken up to this fact and now see smaller integral garages on new builds as more of a place to store things instead of an actual parking spot.

If you are selling and you have a garage that is actually large enough to fit a car in, it is worth stating this. It’s more buyer’s garages are not large enough, and if your’s is it is to sell.

Quick summary

Garage space continues to add value to your home (and to your daily life). And it all comes down to usable — a garage that works as a garage is worth significantly more than one that doesn’t. If your garage is in between, it is mostly the effort you put in to make it work that determines what it is worth.