Impact of garage on house price

pledgeX

Our house came with a garage on the deeds. The garage is in a compound around the corner and not attached to the house. We used to park a car in there, but it's too narrow for pretty much any modern car so it's no longer used.

I'm looking into the possibility of selling the garage and am trying to gauge the value of selling the garage separately and how that compares to how much value it would add to the property when trying to sell.

As I said, the garage is in a compound and too small for a car realistically, so I'm not sure how desirable this would be for a future buyer. Unless I owned a motorbike/classic car/jetski, or loads of tat that I needed to store, I know I wouldn't really care about it.

There is of course the option of renting the garage out, but I'd like to keep that out of the discussion as that's a whole separate line of investigation I'm looking into.

ST1991

But when you sell, your buyer might have a motorbike/classic car/jetski...

It is bonus storage space if nothing else. Are there any houses nearby who have and don't have garages, and you can look at the price difference?

PasturesNew

Sell the house with optional garage, available at an extra £X - and if it's not wanted/bought, sell it separately afterwards.

theartfullodger

I'd ask the next-to-the-garage garage owners: They might knock-through...

glasgowdan

Is there space in the garden to build storage?

NaughtiusMaximus

For me a detached garage separate from the property (as opposed to a detached garage at the end of the garden for example) wouldn't really add anything to the value of the house. I'd only really use a garage for storage rather than for putting a car in and I'd regard a detached one as too much of a security risk.

That's just my opinion though, I'm sure others will think differently

chelseablue

As above I would much rather my garage was attached to my house rather than in a block down the road.

davidmcn

Depends on the local market I would have thought - round my way it's mostly flats (with no garages next door), so even relatively remote lock-ups are useful for people who own anything which they neither wish to park on the street nor carry inside.


And are you sure about the "too small for a car"? There are lots of small cars!

pledgeX

ST1991 wrote: »

But when you sell, your buyer might have a motorbike/classic car/jetski...

It is bonus storage space if nothing else. Are there any houses nearby who have and don't have garages, and you can look at the price difference?

Very true regarding potential buyers, but I personally think the list of buyers who'd pay extra for the garage would be less then those who don't care about it - but that's just a guess of course.

Regarding nearby houses. I've not had any luck finding them so far. Houses don't tend to sell that frequently here so even if I do find them it might be tricky working out what it translates to in 'today's money'.

theartfullodger wrote: »

I'd ask the next-to-the-garage garage owners: They might knock-through...

Possibly but I can't imagine the benefit would outweigh the cost of going with this approach.

PasturesNew wrote: »

Sell the house with optional garage, available at an extra £X - and if it's not wanted/bought, sell it separately afterwards.

I'm not looking at selling the house any time soon though (5+ years), only the garage.

glasgowdan wrote: »

Is there space in the garden to build storage?

We've already got a small shed with enough room for a few bikes, lawnmower, bbq etc. You could add another small shed or extend the existing one, but you definitely wouldn't be be able to get the equivalent storage from the garage.

NaughtiusMaximus wrote: »

For me a detached garage separate from the property (as opposed to a detached garage at the end of the garden for example) wouldn't really add anything to the value of the house. I'd only really use a garage for storage rather than for putting a car in and I'd regard a detached one as too much of a security risk.

That's just my opinion though, I'm sure others will think differently

Well that's my opinion too, it's just trying to work out whether us two are a fair representation of the rest of the country

pledgeX

davidmcn wrote: »

And are you sure about the "too small for a car"? There are lots of small cars!

We used to have a Y reg fiesta and that was a tight squeeze for a reasonably slim person even when the passenger side of the car was right up against the opposite wall, and modern cars in general are much bigger than this. I don't have a chance of getting out of my focus in there (and I'm slim!).

But you're right, obviously it'll be fine for an old style mini or a smart car or something of that ilk

aliby21

What is parking like? Do you have driveway parking, is it easy to park on the road? If parking is at a premium then I'd say having a garage is going to add value or at least make your house more attractive. Not all modern cars are that big, not all potential purchasers will check if their car fits the garage. If you have ample parking then the garage will not be so important.