Garage or not? Advice please!

theoilman

Hi

My husband is in the process of sorting his mum's house which he inherited a few years ago to sell in the near future. It has an old asbestos garage attached to the property which he is arranging to be removed. Our question is, do we buy a replacement garage to put there or just make tidy the area that is left? We both feel that a garage is a good selling point but wonder if it is worth the outlay. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Many thanks
Jane

fed_up_and_stressed

I'm looking at moving soon. Will ONLY be considering properties with garages replacement is (in my view) unlikely to add the cost back in value but garage conpared to no garage is a no brainer in my books. Garage every time.

AnnieO1234

According to recent reports more and more people aren't bothered with garages provided there is ample storage room and parking areas.

Personally I'd need a minimum of two car spaces. You'll need to look at the layout of the land, maybe look at what other similar properties have sold for etc.

Some will say there's no point spending say £3,000 on a garage replacement because it won't add any greater value to the property. However someone's value isn't about the asking price but about the kerb appeal iyswim x

eddddy

theoilman wrote: »

Hi

My husband is in the process of sorting his mum's house which he inherited a few years ago to sell in the near future. It has an old asbestos garage attached to the property which he is arranging to be removed. Our question is, do we buy a replacement garage to put there or just make tidy the area that is left? We both feel that a garage is a good selling point but wonder if it is worth the outlay. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Many thanks
Jane

Hi Jane

As a starting point, I would say to 3 or 4 local estate agents:

"We're planning to sell a house, can you come round and tells us what it would be worth with/without a garage, and advise us about what else we should do to improve its saleability."

But be slightly cautious about taking all their advice. EAs want to get houses on the market quickly. So they tend to recommend doing less work, so they can get it on their books sooner.

DUTR

theoilman wrote: »

Hi

My husband is in the process of sorting his mum's house which he inherited a few years ago to sell in the near future. It has an old asbestos garage attached to the property which he is arranging to be removed. Our question is, do we buy a replacement garage to put there or just make tidy the area that is left? We both feel that a garage is a good selling point but wonder if it is worth the outlay. Any advice would be gratefully received.

Many thanks
Jane

The garage cost itself will not be much (relatively) however chances are you will require a new base and that is where the expense will be.
It depends on the size of garage also, cars are getting larger, if you have to squeeze the car into the garage then chances are it won't get used for parking the car. For now leave the parking space and let the next owner make the choice as the asking price will be less and the property available to more prospectors.

kidmugsy

Leave it be; the new owner can decide whether or not to replace it.

oystercatcher

Space for a garage can also = space for extension depending on layout or extra parking, caravan storage ....
I'd leave it be and let the buyer decide what they want to put there. It's unlikely you'd get back more than the garage cost to build.

lincroft1710

Choice is the key word

Without a garage, a prospective buyer has the choice of

1. Erecting a brick garage of the size they require.

2. Erecting a concrete garage of the size they require.

3. Erecting a timber garage of the size they require.

4. Using the space for an possible future extension.

5. Just using it as a parking space.

katejo

Since i have no car, the presence of a garage would be low down on my list of priorities. I agree that it would be better just to highlight the space made available by the removal of the asbestos garage and leave it to the buyer.

Emmylou_2

I'm in the process of starting to look for a "forever house" and one of the "musts" is a garage - but actually, now I think about it, it's "space for a garage". It's more for hubby to do his tinkering in, so as long as there's room for an outbuilding that we can send power to, I wouldn't care what state it was in. I'd obviously prefer a nice new one, but I'd go for a slightly tatty one over none at all - because then in a couple of years, we could put up a nice new one when we can afford it.

joolesw1972

We had a long list of wants when we were looking at houses, but our 3 'must have's' were; 3 bedrooms, a dining area or space and a garage or somewhere to put one (or a large shed) - we would have been happy to buy one with the space you describe, hope that helps x