[nep321]

I was speaking with my mother last night on the phone about potentially buying a house in the coming months. Both of my parents have been in the real estate business for decades, so I try not to take their advice lightly. But I was curious as to what others think on this issue.

No garage. Is it really that bad? And to what extent does it harm the property/resale value?

Obviously, I would prefer to have a garage than to not have one. It would be very useful in the winter so that I don't have to scrape ice or remove snow from my car. But my mother mentioned something that I never would have thought. She said that a house with no garage is essentially an open invitation for a burglar, because it's so easy to tell if you're not home (with no car in the driveway). Lol...wow, I never thought of it that way.

What are all you're thoughts on a lack of a garage for considering a home?

Other things that I have seen are houses with huge power line transmission towers in the backyard, or houses that are too close to a major highway (which brings noise pollution). My mother also strongly recommended me against corner lots, because of the nuisance of hearing cars stop a the stop sign, then rev up to accelerate. Also, living in a house at the end of a T-shaped intersection is not good, because of the headlights constantly projecting into the house, as well as vehicle acceleration noise. I will admit, all of these things are a turn off for me and I can't imagine plunking down thousands and thousands of dollars for something like this.

Does anyone have an opinion on these things and their impact on a property/resale value?

Thanks

[jimazee]

I would consider each thing you mentioned a negative and so reduce (or fully eliminate) my interest in houses with one or more of these attributes. As such, if many others felt that way, property value could be reduced.

However, sometimes people don't mind and will get 'a lot more house' for their money by buying one with some of these characteristics. In doing so they take more of a gamble on resale.

I would not buy a house without a garage unless I planned to build one. I have seen this done very nicely.

[AnonChick]

The last burglary in our area, occurred in a senior housing complex. There was no way of knowing who was - and was not - home that day in that complex, and it was a 50" flat-screen TV that was walked rather boldly out the front door of the building. By someone who wasn't a senior, and wasn't in a TV delivery truck. The building was occupied at the time and there were lots of cars in the parking lot.

So burglary shouldn't really be on your top priority list regarding a garage. What should be considered, is storage for things like - a lawnmower. Gardening tools. Bicycles. Do you have a place for all these things? If not, then you'll need to build one. Remember, many homes in Connecticut were built before the advent of powertools. Lawnmowers were little more than poles with rotary blades attached to the ends that you'd push back and forth to make the blade turn. They didn't need the kind of space that gas and electric mowers need now, and they were lightweight enough that they could easily be stored in the cellar for the winter and carried up the stairs when the grass started to grow the next spring.

Does your home have a walk-out basement? That would eliminate the storage problem entirely. Or a sturdy lockable shed. It's pretty common, in fact, for people to not park their cars in their garages, unless they have a 2-car (or bigger) garage. They really are very convenient for storing stuff that doesn't belong in the house, especially lawn tractors and the like.

As for location, it's EVERYTHING. There's a house in town that's for sale at least once every 2 years. People keep buying it because it's dirt cheap, and then realize the reason it's dirt cheap:

It's across the street but one house to the left of a T-intersection. There is a light AT the intersection. So if you're coming from that east-west road, onto the north-south road, you have to take a right, and then a left to get into your driveway. Which is impossible, if there is a line of cars at the red light waiting for it to turn green. Or during rush hour traffic when no one will stop and let you into your driveway. In the meantime, you're blocking traffic from both the northern side of the north-south road, AND the people on the east-west road who have just taken a right to continue to their own homes.

To get OUT of your driveway, you really can't take a right and a left, because you'd have to cross traffic at a very low speed to get to the left-turn lane. You can't really take a left, because you'd have to cross the road where people are lined up at a red light, or blocking your driveway during rush hour traffic. So they only way you can really go to leave, is right. And right is a great direction, but there's a lot of stuff you might want to get to, on the left. Or the gas station immediately across the street from your driveway.

So people who live in that house have to contend with being blocked in their driveways and not able to leave at all during rush hour, and not be able to get home during rush hour, and having to deal with trucks taking wide turns ending up with their front wheels on your lawn...and the traffic from the gas station..

and so on and so forth and most people just won't put up with it for more than a couple of years before they give up and move out.

So yes. Location matters. Location is everything. Anything else can be adjusted. But once you're in your home, you're stuck with the location til you move out.

[CTGirlNoMore]

After living in my current apartment that comes with a garage, I find I will not even put a place on my list if there is no garage.

The other things you mentioned would deter me also. But as the above poster said, some people don't mind.

Me, I do.

[CTGirlNoMore]

I missed the part about burglary. My grandmother and aunt lived in a 2 family home that had no garage. Neither drove, but never had an issue with burglary due to no car being seen in the driveway.

[jjinla]

I find that people in newer areas freak out about the 'no garage' thing far more than some of the locals in older established areas (since some of the homes in our areas were built before cars even). And as our agent properly pointed out, most people in my area at least don't even use their garages for their cars, and before a snowstorm, you are more likely to park at the edge of your driveway to minimize the plowing needed.

With that said, it is still a negative, and we ended up with an attached 2-car one - the best of all worlds. You'll have to compare the neighborhood comps. to determine how bad it would be. If everyone else has one in your price point, it's not a great idea.

[DawnMTL]

My house in CT was at the end of a T-shaped intersection. We didn't have any problem with headlights or acceleration sounds because the rooms that would have been affected were either at the upper level or at the back part of the house.

The PLUS side of being at the end of a T-shaped intersection: When you look out the windows from the rooms at the front of the house, you look down a tree-lined street, rather than look at the house across the street from you.

ETA: The other school of thought on this is that trash blowing around will stop at (and on) your property. That wasn't a problem for our house, though -- since it was in West Hartford, all trash had to be in enclosed bins. But had that not been the case -- if loose trash was allowed to be left at the curb -- this might have been cause for being peeved.

[CTGirlNoMore]

Oh I meant to add about noises too. My house is on the house and it is VERY noise. We have very rude people on this (side) street who wil sit at the stop sign and rev their engines just to show off.

VERY annoying.

[InCT]

Originally Posted by nep321

I was speaking with my mother last night on the phone about potentially buying a house in the coming months. Both of my parents have been in the real estate business for decades, so I try not to take their advice lightly. But I was curious as to what others think on this issue.

No garage. Is it really that bad? And to what extent does it harm the property/resale value?

Obviously, I would prefer to have a garage than to not have one. It would be very useful in the winter so that I don't have to scrape ice or remove snow from my car. But my mother mentioned something that I never would have thought. She said that a house with no garage is essentially an open invitation for a burglar, because it's so easy to tell if you're not home (with no car in the driveway). Lol...wow, I never thought of it that way.

What are all you're thoughts on a lack of a garage for considering a home?

Other things that I have seen are houses with huge power line transmission towers in the backyard, or houses that are too close to a major highway (which brings noise pollution). My mother also strongly recommended me against corner lots, because of the nuisance of hearing cars stop a the stop sign, then rev up to accelerate. Also, living in a house at the end of a T-shaped intersection is not good, because of the headlights constantly projecting into the house, as well as vehicle acceleration noise. I will admit, all of these things are a turn off for me and I can't imagine plunking down thousands and thousands of dollars for something like this.

Does anyone have an opinion on these things and their impact on a property/resale value?

Thanks

You should listen to your parents. They know what they are talking about. I have bought and sold 8 houses in my life and all your parents have said makes complete sense to me. BTW, I don't love or respect real estate agents but your parents are giving you sound advice.

[Konig1985]

Originally Posted by nep321

I was speaking with my mother last night on the phone about potentially buying a house in the coming months. Both of my parents have been in the real estate business for decades, so I try not to take their advice lightly. But I was curious as to what others think on this issue.

No garage. Is it really that bad? And to what extent does it harm the property/resale value?

Obviously, I would prefer to have a garage than to not have one. It would be very useful in the winter so that I don't have to scrape ice or remove snow from my car. But my mother mentioned something that I never would have thought. She said that a house with no garage is essentially an open invitation for a burglar, because it's so easy to tell if you're not home (with no car in the driveway). Lol...wow, I never thought of it that way.

What are all you're thoughts on a lack of a garage for considering a home?

Other things that I have seen are houses with huge power line transmission towers in the backyard, or houses that are too close to a major highway (which brings noise pollution). My mother also strongly recommended me against corner lots, because of the nuisance of hearing cars stop a the stop sign, then rev up to accelerate. Also, living in a house at the end of a T-shaped intersection is not good, because of the headlights constantly projecting into the house, as well as vehicle acceleration noise. I will admit, all of these things are a turn off for me and I can't imagine plunking down thousands and thousands of dollars for something like this.

Does anyone have an opinion on these things and their impact on a property/resale value?

Thanks

I will not care too much simply because everything they have said is reflected by the price. It is not something that the market hasn't priced in and start to price in after you buy the house. For me, how much garage dictates resale is determined by the houses around. If most of your neighbours have no garage I don't think resale will be affected that much (assuming your neighborhood has an active market).

However, if you are the only house on the street without garage it will be a real problem. A garage costs around $60000-$80000 to expand so unless the sellers price their homes at $100000 discount relative to other properties, I will pass