Is garage needed when you buy a home? (fit in, school district)
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We don't have a garage, but have a full basement and full attic spanning 4 bedrooms & 2 full baths, and a shed out back. We have too much room right now for 4 people. Yes we still have all the twins' baby stuff (2 of everything). I still haven't done anything like put in an extra tv for the basement - it goes pretty much unused even though it's finished.
We did run out of room in the 3 bedroom Levitt with a garage, but no basement, for the 4 of us. I disagree that a garage is an absolute minimum. Nice to have, but not required for "stuff" if you already have a basement + attic. Time for your yard sale.
I disagree. If you have kids and do your own lawn a shed is insufficient. Also having a basement is critical for any house if you care about access for future projects or if you don't want your utilitys inside your living space. Any finishing is gravy. My garage is a wood shop and my basement is unfinished for now but, I don't store much down there just a pool table and foosball table. Basements aren't ideal to store things anyway unless the basement is finished and climate controlled. Now if you farm out all your maintenance and don't have any manual skills then sure, no garage is necessary.
We have a dehumidifier for the basement which is only necessary in the summer and it does a fine job.
I agree if you've got a hobby like that then a garage is what you want but saying it's an absolute requirement? No, not even close to the majority. Frankly with all these 100x60 lots in Nassau, a choice to use that space for a garage instead of living space would be surprising. I wonder if people would convert it to living space if it were free to do so...
We have a large shed for lawn/gardening/pond maintenance accessories, but keep the ride on mower on the main level of the garage with the cars, bicycles, motorcycles, kayaks and paraphernalia. The upper level is for hobby stuff as well as infrequently used items like big exterior Christmas decoration are excess vehicle parts.
The house basement has a finished area for hanging out, an exercise room, and an unfinished laundry room/pantry, and utilities room with indoor oil tank. The house attic is a small office for me on one side with an unfinished storage area on the other.
We did what rh71 mentioned -- converted an attached garage into living space, but built a very large detached garage which more than made up for that loss of space.
What I've come to learn is people tend to amass stuff relative to the size of their space.
No garage or basement is a deal killer for me. My house does not have a garage. However, we have a corner lot with a circular driveway ---- plenty of parking for us and our guests.
We have a dehumidifier for the basement which is only necessary in the summer and it does a fine job.
I agree if you've got a hobby like that then a garage is what you want but saying it's an absolute requirement? No, not even close to the majority. Frankly with all these 100x60 lots in Nassau, a choice to use that space for a garage instead of living space would be surprising. I wonder if people would convert it to living space if it were free to do so...
That's a picture of an empty shed. Where are the kids things? Where's the snowblower? The rakes and shovels? The bicycles and sporting goods?
That's a picture of an empty shed. Where are the kids things? Where's the snowblower? The rakes and shovels? The bicycles and sporting goods?
Out on the deck are the kids' outdoor things and in the winter it goes in the basement. In a den closet is all their hockey gear, soccer/baseball gear (not much to those)... The bikes are in the house (one thing I did say earlier could use a garage just for convenience), but also could easily be in the shed. Rakes and shovels are right in there. Snowblower I lent to my dad. Why? Does it look like I have no room for that?
On the same token, are you saying your house with no room for anything can't benefit from a yard sale? You really need all that stuff that spans 3+ bedrooms of basement and attic space? There's a reason the shed looks empty now - only what I NEED. Should've seen it before with extra roof shingles and random-size wood pieces & hardware. Just a real haven for insects. Are you telling people they NEED a garage so they can be pack rats? Or is every single-family home owner a woodworker or car guy (btw, I've done plenty of aftermarket installs in my driveway)?
For us, its no garage, no basement - No deal. We really value the garage and the basement is a must for all our storage needs.
Agreed -- we use both for storage, but the garage specifically comes in handy for my furniture refurbishing hobby. When we were looking for houses, I saw a house like you are talking about - no basement, and they had converted the garage into another living room/den type area. We have a 2 car garage but we don't park the cars in there. Everyone is different with their needs, but I love having a basement as a storage space to minimize clutter in the main living area. Eventually when there are more people (i.e. kids) living in our house, maybe we'd finish the basement to have a hangout area. To each his own tho, I remember when we went to the open house I just mentioned, there was a couple head over heels with the house drafting their offer.
I think people might underestimate the value of storage. Clutter makes me bonkers.
Out on the deck are the kids' outdoor things and in the winter it goes in the basement. In a den closet is all their hockey gear, soccer/baseball gear (not much to those)... The bikes are in the house (one thing I did say earlier could use a garage just for convenience), but also could easily be in the shed. Rakes and shovels are right in there. Snowblower I lent to my dad. Why? Does it look like I have no room for that?
On the same token, are you saying your house with no room for anything can't benefit from a yard sale? You really need all that stuff that spans 3+ bedrooms of basement and attic space? There's a reason the shed looks empty now - only what I NEED. Should've seen it before with extra roof shingles and random-size wood pieces & hardware. Just a real haven for insects. Are you telling people they NEED a garage so they can be pack rats? Or is every single-family home owner a woodworker or car guy (btw, I've done plenty of aftermarket installs in my driveway)?
Just answering the OP's question...
Sounds to me like you could use a garage.
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There's a reason the shed looks empty now - only what I NEED. Should've seen it before with extra roof shingles and random-size wood pieces & hardware. Just a real haven for insects. Are you telling people they NEED a garage so they can be pack rats? Or is every single-family home owner a woodworker or car guy (btw, I've done plenty of aftermarket installs in my driveway)?
