Why convert garage into bonus room? Property value??
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
To me, a converted garage the way most people do it is very low-class. I have seen a few that were done with a permit, and done correctly, and the house just becomes bigger and has no garage, and the exterior is remodeled along with the interior, windows are added, etc. Those are ok (although I wouldn't want to live somewhere with no garage). But I seriously dislike it when the garage door is left on so it appears there is still a garage from the outside. They just seem trashy to me. Sorry for anyone who has done it and is insulted, but that is my opinion of them.
Beyond that, in my area, it is usual for a house not only to have a garage, but to have a large garage. 1 car garages on anything built in the last 20 years or so are pretty rare. Small houses have a 2 car garage, and larger houses have a 3+ car garage. My parents once lived in a house with a 5 car garage, and have built several (they are builders, among other things) with 4 car garages. Their current house's garage is technically a 3 car, but has TONS and TONS of extra storage space all around the edges. By square footage, you could probably fit 5 cars in it. As it is, you could fit 3 LARGE cars and at least 5 or 6 motorcycles. My dad's extended bed/extended cab truck fits in his bay with lots of feet to spare, you could easily park 2 small cars end to end in his bay. My sister just built a house and her 3 car garage fits their 2 cars, 2 motorcycles, and all their sports equipment and shop equipment with lots of room to spare. I'm used to not only garages, but large garages.
When I built my house, I was moving from an apartment complex where I had 1 covered parking space and one uncovered space. I was just as excited about the prospect of parking my cars in the garage as I was about the house itself. My garage is just a 2 car, because that is all we need. I don't ever intend to own anything again that doesn't have at least a 2 car garage.
A garage is super important- especially in climates where it snows! It was a no-brainer for DH & I to buy a house with a garage!
One of DH's friends however, converted his attached garage into a Bonus Room / Guest Suite but he also built an oversized two car detached garage in the back yard.
Maybe your neighbor is contemplating building a detached behind the house?
It beats me why somebody would want to give up their garage entirely!
My neighbor converted his garage into a bonus room. The whole exterior was redone, and the job is seamless. It looks good but now he doesn't have a garage? We live in NJ. It snows here! What was he thinking?? I would never consider a house without a garage. They have no children, so I can't imagine space is that tight!
Property value concerns?
If he's not selling the house, he doesn't care about the impact to his property value.
I bought a 1960 rancher with no garage. The houses were built with either no garage, or a one-car garage (that is now way too small by today's standards -- SUVs don't even fit in them). Many of the homes now have added garages, either on the side of the house or in the back yard, but there are plenty that just park in the driveway like I do. I miss having a garage, but to me, there were many other things about the house that compensated for the lack of one (big yard for the dogs, plenty of storage space in shed and basement). However, I don't think I would have wanted a house with a converted garage. The house must be pretty small to have to take away the garage for more living space.
One of the split-levels up the street has a converted garage. So now, besides the big bay window in the living room, they have a big bay window where the garage used to be. That looks really stupid.
I wouldn't want to live where zoning or an HOA would allow this.
I wouldn't want to live in an area where people were not free to convert their garage into living space if they wanted to.
In the Dallas area, this practice is quite common, esp. in older homes. By older I mean ones that were built in the '40s-'70s. I am an appraiser, and I did it in a home I owned 30 years ago. I had it done professionally though by having it vented to the central HVAC units, leveled the garage floor, added a window, etc. I also added a carport that matched the roofline, and the conversion was at the rear of the house and not facing the street. I didn't get all of the cost out of it when I sold, but it was worth it to us. We used that space a lot; it was our den where we watched tv, had the computer, lots of built-in storage, fireplace, etc.. Dollar wise, it's usually not a good investment. But it made our small house a LOT more enjoyable to live in, and it was well worth it. You can't put a price on that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There must not be too many places you'd want to live, then.
