Doing what to the garage will increase the value of the home the most?

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phjmp

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Hi everyone! First time poster here!

My wife and I are going to buy our first home. It's 4br, 1 bath, and a garage attached to the house. I was thinking about the garage. It seems like it would be a tight fit for a car, if I wanted to have other things in the garage. That got me thinking:

What would be the best thing to do to the garage to make the home worth more? I've thought of some options, like converting it into another room, like a den or office space. Or keep it a garage, but make it a nice garage. What would be best?

Thanks,

Peter
 
Sounds like your just iching to get started on something, anything. Don't worry, there will be lots to do.
The best you can do with a house is make it really work well for what you and yours do there. The kind of changes you asked about are the things you might do as you are getting ready to sell it.
 
If you convert a single garage to living space, any gain to the house's value is lost by having no garage at all. Most people today want a garage, not just for vehicles but for storing their other stuff as well. Also, I'd give serious thought to adding another bathroom, or at least a half bath.
 
Thanks for that, it makes sense that the gain could be lost from a lack of garage. I'll look into adding an additional bathroom.
 
If you plan on staying in this house a while, just live in it for a at least a few months, then make a list of things that would make the house more your own or just make it more comfortable to live in with your life style.

Any "new to you house" if it's an older home will have things that need to be repaired. If you rush into spending money on something that's not broken and the moneys gone it can be hard coming up with the money to do an expencive project like replacing a leaking roof for an example.

Keep in mind anyone selling a house is not going to tell you the flaws only the pluses and even a home inspector can miss some items.
Intil you have lived in the home your not going to know if breakers trip, lights dim, roof leaks, strange smells, hot water is never hot enough, home will not heat or cool enough.

Any new home owner I've ever met wants to start changing things inside the house first.
It's far better start to check the far more important things first, condition of roof, siding, insulation, HVAC, condition of windows, foundation, plumbing, wiring. If there all fine then make a prioritized list of future projects.
 
Wow, that makes perfect sense, thanks for that advice!
 
I think your best bet would be to just turn it into a better garage. Most people now need a garage and want a garage so turning it into something else would just bring the value of the house down. Nowadays most people like nice garages that can be used not only for parking the car but for other activities such as a pool table, ping pong table etc. So if you really want to do something I would just remodel the garage.
 
You should put your money and energy into places which would make the house more valuable to the next owner.

Upgrade the bathroom and kitchen with higher-end finishes and fixtures
Add a bedroom
Upgrade windows and energy saving
Upgrade mechanicals (A/C, HEPA filter, etc)
Look at solar electric which runs power back onto the grid (eliminates batteries and cuts your utility bill to near-zero)
 
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