How much value does a garage add to a property

aidso

I'm looking at a house in a fairly new development (3-years-old with new houses still being added) and comes with a garage and rear garden. There are other houses being added to the development right now £10k less than this one (same no. of bedrooms etc), but instead of the garage, have an additional reception room - plus they are full turnkey.

I am wondering, when it comes to negotiations of "old" versus new, could the £10k be justified against the old?

"Old"

• 3 Bed
• Garage
• Garden
• No work needs done

New

• 3 bed
• NO garage
• Full turnkey (furnishings and white goods)
• No work needs done

Grenage

If there's an additional reception room, it's not much of a comparison.

Does the addition of a garage affect garden size?
Where is the garage located?
How big is the extra reception room?
Are the rest of the rooms the same size?
Etcetera, etcetera.

If there was enough parking, I'd rather have the extra reception room.

I would be suspicious of a not-quite-new house being 10k more than a new build on the same estate, considering new builds tend to devalue the second you walk through the door.

You would have to post links for a fair assessment.

Seabee42

The benefit of a garage is 100% down to whether there is adequate parking. Most modern garages do not fit modern cars easily but even so if it saves you from the bun fight of not having any allocated parking it can save you a lot of stress. If both houses have drives i.e. off street parking the garage is then only a storage shed.

bod1467

As above, if there is off-street parking (driveway) then I'd go for the extra room. Lots of people these days convert their garages to extra rooms because the garage is only ever used as a storage location - not to put the car.

(Many garages wouldn't even take a family-sized car these days).

SailorSam

How big is the garage ?
You find most of the time that those garages that are attached to the side of a house are not much more than garden sheds. They're not made for modern cars, you maybe able to drive into them but then there isn't room to open the car door to get out.
My garage is 20'x25'. I like to think something like that does add value.

david1951

Modern cars are weatherproof and don't really need to be kept inside, and as others have said are much bigger than they used to be, so you might find a garage is more hassle than it's worth.

However, if you are in a controlled parking zone, or somewhere where there is competition for the on-street parking, this changes things dramatically.

If you own a high-insurance car then keeping it in a garage overnight will reduce insurance premiums.

lewishardwick

Which would fit better with your lifestyle? The extra room indoors, or the extra (outside) storage space.

If you opt for the extra room, will you have a private driveway to keep your car off road? What happens if you get a second car? Is there's a front garden big enough to park two cars?

Do you have children? An extra reception room will make it more 'breathable'. There's seems to a fad of most 'family' homes only having a joint Lounge/Diner reception space, so the extra room could be helpful for either a kids room, or a proper 'sitting' room for guests who don't want to see the clutter kids produce.

JP08

Don't know about value - but for me (still wanting my classic car) it was the difference between going to see the house or not !

hazyjo

Lots of newer houses have leasehold garages so you may find you have a bill every quarter. Some future buyers may also be a bit jittery with it having a LH garage and service charge.


As above really, depends on if they want to put a car in the garage, how big the garden is - can they fit a decent sized shed in instead for storage, is it integral (lots convert it to a room), and what's the parking situation like. Most are happy with a driveway. If neither and if it's tricky to get parked, they may want a garage.


Jx

aidso

I dont think Ill be able to get my car in it (garage was locked at the time) but it's primarily a storeage requirement of mine as I do a lot of outdoor sports.
Just wondering if I was to put a bid in, could i negotiate against the two houses...or would they come back and say "but there's a garage, its worth the extra" against the new house.

Richard_Webster

Dangerous to compare newbuild prices with each other as developers tendto invent the prices to suit themselves and to reflect what they think they can get away with.

Real test is what house will sell for relative to other slightly oder houses in 5-10 years time - so you should look at similar slightly older houses in your area to see what they are going for - and whether a garage makes a difference to their prices.

Of course they are very good at building things like 3 storey tonwhousses and link detached that may not otherwise exist in an area so it is difficult to find comparables - they then invent a high price and tell how wonderful the particular house is....