Houses with attached garages? (Milwaukee, Madison: apartment, rental market, neighborhoods)

[TXred]

Hello! I am/was planning on moving to Dallas but a situation has arisen where I may be accepting a job in Wisconsin! Talk about extreme opposites! Anyway, I've been looking around and researching your beautiful city and area online. I am interested in renting a house but have noticed, at least in my price range, that most homes have either no garage, or it is detached with alley access. The job would be in Waukesha so I have been looking at all areas in between there and Milwaukee. I have been putting in up to about $1300 max for a house. I know there are a lot of older homes in the area, and I love that. They are beautiful! But how do people deal with the snow without a garage or carport?

Are there areas I should focus on, or a larger budget, where there are newer homes with attached garages?

Thanks for your input

Oh and if it helps...I am single with no kids so schools don't matter. I'm not real concerned about proximity to nightlife, etc as I'm pretty much a homebody. I'd rather be near a nice park where I can walk my dog and a nice, safe, clean neighborhood.

[ranger17]

my humble opinion after only being in SC 5 years; as i can still remember all the WI winters which were a major reason in our migration. I would suggest if possible that a garage is a huge plus to start with. Your car is out of the snow, and is protected against the deeper cold temps making morning runs to work easier to deal with. Nothing like spending time scraping your car off while it warms up before work lol.... and of course depending on the area lived in, it can offer some safety as well. Same for those few real hot days in summer.... nice to have it out of the sun for awhile anyhow.

To me an attached garage is ideal but that may not always work for one's location or budget. Detached is still a viable option, though i'd want to see what the walk to it is like before making a decision if it was me (do you have to wander thru much snow or in the dark to get to it, compared to just having your car on a pad right outside your door).

Early on we lived in farmhomes that didnt have garages, but I can say once i had one i'll never go without. But if you have no choice, on bad days all you can do is bundle up and deal with it lol.

[TXred]

Thank you for the reply! I am already sold on having a garage...I will up my budget for one lol. I guess my question is where are they???? I've seen some random listings for houses with attached garages but they are over 2 and 3,000 sf which I do not need of course. I'd be perfectly happy in a 1,000 sf house with a single car attached garage. Any ideas of where to look?

[ranger17]

Originally Posted by TXred

Thank you for the reply! I am already sold on having a garage...I will up my budget for one lol. I guess my question is where are they???? I've seen some random listings for houses with attached garages but they are over 2 and 3,000 sf which I do not need of course. I'd be perfectly happy in a 1,000 sf house with a single car attached garage. Any ideas of where to look?

i'll have to defer to the Milw peeps on the forum to answer that question; except for growing up in Milw as a kid (lived there when the Brewers first came to town, oops just aged myself lol) all my time was more in the Madison area. But they should be able to give solid pointers.

good luck!

[admiralsfan24]

Originally Posted by TXred

Thank you for the reply! I am already sold on having a garage...I will up my budget for one lol. I guess my question is where are they???? I've seen some random listings for houses with attached garages but they are over 2 and 3,000 sf which I do not need of course. I'd be perfectly happy in a 1,000 sf house with a single car attached garage. Any ideas of where to look?

I grew up in Hartland. My house was around 1,300 sf and had an attached garage. I'm not sure what you would find on the rental market but many homes, especially ranch style have attached garages.

[Jesse276]

Originally Posted by TXred

Hello! I am/was planning on moving to Dallas but a situation has arisen where I may be accepting a job in Wisconsin! Talk about extreme opposites! Anyway, I've been looking around and researching your beautiful city and area online. I am interested in renting a house but have noticed, at least in my price range, that most homes have either no garage, or it is detached with alley access. The job would be in Waukesha so I have been looking at all areas in between there and Milwaukee. I have been putting in up to about $1300 max for a house. I know there are a lot of older homes in the area, and I love that. They are beautiful! But how do people deal with the snow without a garage or carport?

Are there areas I should focus on, or a larger budget, where there are newer homes with attached garages?

Thanks for your input

Oh and if it helps...I am single with no kids so schools don't matter. I'm not real concerned about proximity to nightlife, etc as I'm pretty much a homebody. I'd rather be near a nice park where I can walk my dog and a nice, safe, clean neighborhood.

I would try looking for a house rental in a mid-century neighborhood. There are many nice neighborhoods like this on the west side of Milwaukee and Wauwatosa. Also, you might have some luck in Waukesha city, but I'm not familiar enough to give you specifics.

There's also the northern area of Brookfield and southern Menomonee Falls have pretty much what you're looking for.

Post back some street intersections if you're unsure about a neighborhood.

[pete6032]

Get a remote starter.

[ProkNo5]

I hope you choose Milwaukee, it's a great city. That said, winter is COLD and there's no avoiding it. You will have to accept that otherwise you'll be miserable living here. Most of the Victorian neighborhoods have detached garages. You'll just have to run from the house to the garage in the cold. All Wisconsinites do it. There's no shame in running across your backyard in PJs and a winter cap.

If you're looking for housing in a historic house in the city, most have alley parking but in the denser neighborhoods like the East Side, Riverwest, Bayview, etc they're often occupied. This is because almost all Victorian houses were built as duplexes with 1-2 car garages. It's tight. Just keep hunting and you'll find something.

DO NOT DO STREET PARKING IN MILWAUKEE!!! Milwaukee has a fleet of parking checker jeeps and they're on commission and insane. On top of the ridiculous rules where you need to get permission to park on any city street ever night, and alternates sides randomly, they're always looking to write tickets for being more than 8 inches from a curb and other garbage like that. People who grew up in the city and know all of the rules still get a ticket monthly.

I also second Pete's suggestion of a remote starter. In Wisconsin you MUST warm your car up before you start driving. It's no fun to go outside to start the car, then come back in and wait for ti to warm.

If you're not sold on a Victorian near downtown, definitely look into Wauwatosa, or maybe even West Allis. West Allis has a blue collar reputation, but if you're not looking for nightlife, it might be perfect.

[HyperionGap]

I will definitely second this post regarding the parking checkers/ meter maids. They're like a pack of circling sharks who smell blood in the water.

[TXred]

Wow, thank you so much for the info on parking on the streets! Not that I would want to...but good to know. Where I live is very cold in the winter so I'm used to it. And I actually had a remote starter on the 4wd I just sold!!

Starting out, I may just look into an apartment downtown. Most list the parking as "heated garage". That sounds pretty good to me, and no yard (snow shoveling) maintenance might be a good idea for my first year or until I figure out the areas.

Thanks everyone!!!