Resale Value Question (houses, storage, contract)

[Briolat21]

I'm building a house ( I hope! ) and can only afford so many upgrades.

One of the choices is a solarium (19'x12', heated and cooled indoor space with basement beneath) - or a 3rd car garage. I can't afford both.

Which one will help with resale down the road? I personally would prefer the solarium, because its actual LIVING space. My husband also doesn't think we need more than a 2 car garage..

But if you were looking at the house to buy in the future, would you rather have another finished room on the first floor, or a 3rd car garage?

Thanks for your answers, I appreciate the wisdom of the forum...

[jonjlong]

As I like old cars, I would want an extra garage space. But I'm just a single guy. Probably most people would want extra living space.

[Pathwalker]

I personally think the solarium would add more resale value to the home. A three-car garage is generally unnecessary. Most people would rather have extra living space.

[Ohiogirl81]

I'd prefer the solarium as well, but what do the other houses in your neighborhood have? How big is your house already? Do they have bonus rooms (what a stupid name for a room ... LOL), etc., or do they have the extra garage space? I'm assuming you'll have a basement; although, even with a basement, so many people tend to keep so much junk (or junk cars ), kids toys, etc. in their garages that the third bay might be a good selling point. How big is the two-car garage? Does it have space on the sides or the front for lawnmowers, etc.?

Either one would make your house stand out from the pack, I would think.

[wastina]

I took a valuation course at UC and the value calculation for a garage was different from living space. Once you have a garage, the additional value of an additional space is of comparatively nominal value. You are correct, however, in that living space (and note that this does not include finished basements) is of greater value.

Have fun building your house!

[homeschool513]

I vote for the finished room!

[Briolat21]

Thanks everyone!! We signed a sales contract last night, and we went for the solarium, not the 3rd car garage. We are allowed to build a HUGE shed (architecturally not terrible, of course), so we figure we can always do that to add more storage space for lawn equipment or toys. Plus, the land is big enough (1 acre) and we are allowed to build a detached garage -- so if someone in the future HAD to have more space, they could fairly easily add it.

But it would have been more difficult (and expensive) to add additional living space in the future, so we decided to max that out now. And the fact that it comes with basement (unfinished, of course) space is a huge bonus because it will make our basement really huge -- so if we did finish some of it in the future, we'd still have a significant amount of storage space.

Thanks so much everyone, I wanted to see what the local take on it was.

[Ohiogirl81]

Whee!! Good luck with your house. May the building go smoothly ...