Selling house with converted garage

[Deleted User]

We're about to put our house on the market.

When we moved in 10 years ago (the house was new then) we wanted a gym so we did a DIY job on the garage. We put a plaster board wall up to cover where the garage door was, put in a plaster board ceiling, painted the walls and put a laminate floor down. There's no door directly from the house although the garage is attached to the house.

It's not a proper conversion and could easily be converted back to a garage - just a bit of work and the hire of a skip. However, whilst we no longer use it as a gym it does make a fantastic storage room or even an outside playroom for kids on rainy days. It's lovely and clean, dry and warm (no drafts from under the garage door).....unlike a bog standard garage. I don't think anyone in our area uses the garage as a garage. A lot have had proper conversions done. Others simply use the garage as a store room.

I suspect that a lot of people might like the garage as it is although I suspect if it was me buying I'd rather just have the garage as I wouldn't trust what someone else had done. Where do we stand when it comes to selling? We're in Scotland where we now have to get a home report and survey done before the house goes on the market.

Chippy_Minton_2

Am I correct in thinking that all you will need to do is pull down some plaster board and it will again become a garage?

I have seen numerous properties advertised with part garage conversions so why not ask a local EA which would be best for the area and style of home you have. If most buyers in your area are after homes with a garage get yourself a skip this weekend.

27col

Most garages seem to be too small to take modern cars anyway. It is quite noticeable over the years how the size of even small cars have increased and the size of garages have not. Also all good proportion of new houses are quite small as a general rule and a lot of house-holders seem to use the garage as extra storage.

[Deleted User]

My concern here is that it's not a proper conversion but a DIY job. It's been done well - it's been in place 10 years and it's nice and dry and pleasant in there. Think more of a garage that's been made to look nice and clean and room-like rather than an actual room and you'll get the idea.

When you walk in the garage you think - "Oooh - a nice little 'extra' - somewhere to use as a gym/play room/work room/store room". But it's not a real room and you couldn't sell it as being a room.

Or do people think "does this have planning permission etc?" ? As far as I know something like this doesn't need planning permission or to conform to building regulations but will people realise this or will they worry that there's some 'bodging' taken place because it's not a proper garage and not a proper room?

I've got estate agents coming to look at the house so they will advise but I like to think these things through myself first so I can ask the right questions!

I've only got a citroen C1 and I wouldn't fancy trying to get my car in the garage (although I have to admit I'm not much of a driver)! People tend not to use the garages for cars around here. Very many are converted into rooms or else they're used for storage. As it stands it might give people the idea "Hey - we could get this converted properly and have a nice big extra room". It does look nice. And there are lots of uses for it as it stands.

But are you even allowed to sell a house with a garage that's not really useable as a garage? I'm wondering what a surveyor would make of it.

Doozergirl

You can sell a house with a garage that is 'pretty'. What you cannot sell is a house with a 'room' that used to be a garage and to all intents and purposes still is. Selling it as a conversion is where you will fall down. It is not a conversion.

On floorplans and descriptions it needs to be 'garage' do not even bother saying 'currently used as a gym' because this is where you start blurring things and solicitors start asking questions and confusing the whole situation.

Presumably it still has a garage door?

[Deleted User]

It still has a garage door, but it's currently 'hidden' behind a plasterboard wall. Easy enough to rip down if you want to start using it as a garage again though.

To turn it back to a garage I'd need to hire a skip and take down the partition wall and lift the laminate flooring. So no big deal. I guess what I'd like to do is leave it as is but offer to revert it to a garage if the buyer wishes. However, in Scotland we need to get a home report (which includes a survey) prior to putting the house on the market. I'm just not sure what a surveyor would make of a 'pretty' garage without a functioning garage door! Would he flag it up as a problem in the survey?

dander

My feeling would be as long as you're honest with the estate agents and potential buyers, then it'll be fine. As Doozergirl says, selling it as a room may well make people question - but if you say exactly what you've said here - tell people that all that's been done is a basic tidy-up job to suit your purposes, then I think most people will probably think it's a benefit - those that might want a 'real' conversion will be able to get a feel for what they could get in there, and those that might want a garage will know how easy it would be to convert it back.

Personally if someone explained this to me and I was buying, I would think that it was nice that the seller was honest, and feel more inclined to trust you rather than think that it was a sign of bodge jobs.

27col

I agree entirely with dander. As long as there is no attempt to conceal anything and all the information is on the agents details. Some purchasers might well think that what has been done is just what will suit them.

baldelectrician

It will be picked up in the survey

As it will not have building warrant approval you may have to apply for one (and bring the whole lot up to todays wiring and insulation standards), or a letter of comfort (a slim, but possible option)

The buyers lawyer will pick it up on the survey - it all depends on the price and how the buyer is. They may buy it as is or request you to remedy the work or revert it back to the way things were.

In England / Wales you can get insurance to cover this- I am not sure if this is possible in Scotland as I have never heard of it here.

gabyjane

hi i have posted about this before as we were/are looking into doing this..despite the typical responce on here about new builds ours is big enough to get our car in and is a good size..when people see it they kind of go 'ooohhh!!'..
I have the same concerns as you though and am not sure where you stand but would like to know the answer!..
Good luck.