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Most people who say "siding" mean the vinyl kind, which is obviously different than stucco, which is different than wood, and so on.
BZZZZT! Wrong. Not sure what area you're talking about but siding here is normally cedar but can be other wood shingles, boards, panels, vinyl, cement board, aluminum, asbestos, etc. Sometimes brick, stone or ye, even stucco. Vinyl is extremely rare except in a small percentage of the cheapest houses.
Location: The Land Mass Between NOLA and Mobile, AL
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But then it all depends. Our house has a garage, but a lot of houses here do not. If people have lived where hurricanes are a potential weather factor, then they would know why shake shingles (fugly) are not a great idea.
But then it all depends. Our house has a garage, but a lot of houses here do not. If people have lived where hurricanes are a potential weather factor, then they would know why shake shingles (fugly) are not a great idea.
On a roof cedar shakes could be a problem if not installed properly but I've never seen more than a stray shingle missing or damaged here after a hurricane and they are very easy to replace; much more so than vinyl siding.
Having recently purchased our home, I have seen hundreds of homes, maybe even thousands flipping through on line home sale offers on different websites. For us a killer was a converted garage. They just look ugly and are noticeable immediately as being just that. So for us, a house with garage conversion is worth zero. We didn’t even look at one.
I like to drive into my garage to unload groceries and just be out of inclement weather, keep my vehicle nice and secure. Also the uses of a garage to store a number of things you don’t want in the house is so useful. Not talking the hoarder situations where you can’t get a car into the garage because of so much “stuff” packed into them, but reasonable items like paint, tools, etc stored in an orderly fashion.
As someone else mentioned it must be a love or hate thing for people judging from responses here.
I would not purchase a garage conversion house so in answer it would lower the value to zero.
That's obnoxiously snarky. I wouldn't purchase a split level house but that doesn't mean its worth nothing. Go away and don't come back til you have something productive to add.
Quote:
Originally Posted by adjusterjack
I wouldn't spend hundreds of thousands on a house and have to park my cars outside.
I think that eliminating the garage in any house is the kiss of death for that reason and because having a driveway leading up to a wall looks like crap as well.
I suggest you turn the room back into a garage or at least leave yourself that option rather than turning your house to crap by walling it up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cowboyxjon
I wouldn't even consider a house with a converted garage. I'd rather have the garage. Most of the conversions I've seen have been shoddy.
Growing up in the Midwest, even a detached garage is considered a huge negative. In a Phoenix, AZ, it probably isn't that pleasant either because of the unrelenting sun. In North Carolina? You can buy a $600K house in the nicest part of Raleigh and not have a garage. You see some garage conversions and it doesn't seem to be a big problem.
So it would seem that its a local question. Do you see any/many conversions, or is it a rarity?
Growing up in the Midwest, even a detached garage is considered a huge negative. In a Phoenix, AZ, it probably isn't that pleasant either because of the unrelenting sun. In North Carolina? You can buy a $600K house in the nicest part of Raleigh and not have a garage. You see some garage conversions and it doesn't seem to be a big problem.
So it would seem that its a local question. Do you see any/many conversions, or is it a rarity?
I wouldn't say many, but they're also not very rare. Our last rental house was a garage conversion and it was really nice to have that extra bedroom. During our house search, we looked at about 15 houses and saw three garage conversions. The first one had a weird layout and we weren't interested. The second one, the conversion wasn't done very well. We were actually interested in the house because of the way the layout was and the location, but we decided that we couldn't afford all of the work that the house would need (fixing up the conversion and doing some other work in the kitchen and in one of the bedrooms). The third one was done very well and we actually bid on the house but someone else outbid us.
When we looked at the rest of the houses after we didn't get the house we had bid on, we thought about whether each house would be easy to convert and also make a reasonable floor plan (i.e. you wouldn't have to walk through the laundry room to get there). This house fit the bill.
Thank you for all of the responses! It does look like a love/hate thing. I think we are leaning toward doing it but waiting a year or two to see what the market does, if we feel any more likely to move vs. stay, etc, and making a final decision then.
We are thinking 5-10 years. The kids are teens so it depends on when they move out... my youngest is 14 so I’m thinking it will be 10 years max. Good point about maybe standing out when the time comes.
As for the permit, we didn’t pull one for the first conversion because it wasn’t required (didn’t add any electrical work, didn’t change the footprint or change/add an exterior door. We would have a subsequent addition permitted and the square footage would be added on the tax records.
You MUST be permitted by law here for that conversion. My brother in law did the same thing in Sarasota and was told if he did not convert it back or get his conversion permitted, the county would fine him $100 per day until he did one of the above.
Also, since it has not been permitted, if God forbid, you have a house fire in another part of the home, your insurance can legally not cover your damage.
I've been an agent here in Fort Lauderdale and garage conversions to a fourth bedroom always bring in more money than a 3/2 with a garage. You don't need a garage. Many million dollar plus homes in my neighborhood use a tarp like thing for shade.
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Seems like some bug climbed into your tinsel.
