The pros and cons of a garage conversion
Home-owners need to consider the pros and cons of a garage conversion to additional living space. Yes, it adds extra square footage to your living space, but leaves your car out in the cold. Oklahoma is known for our hail storms in addition to tornadoes, and it’s important to some people to protect their cars from damage.
And that’s not really the issue, because many people who HAVE garages simply use them for storage and park their cars in their driveway. But when house shopping, Buyers will tell their Realtor to search for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, and 2-car garage home, for example. It almost comes out automatically. If you don’t have a garage, your house will not be seen by prospective Buyers because it will not come up in the search.
In midtown Tulsa, garages are a luxury and many homes only have a 1-car garage. Sometimes carports are added. Some people have porte-cochères.
If feasible, I ask Sellers to convert their added living space BACK to a garage before listing.
Garages are important to Buyers in order to store their toys – boats, 4-wheelers, golf carts, skis, bicycles and such. Garages seem more important to men because they want their tools protected and not kept in an unheated shed. People want to put a second fridge in the garage. For areas that have attached garages, it’s a safety feature. People like to open the garage door remotely and be inside before leaving their car. And the list goes on.
The pros and cons of a garage conversion
Obviously, if you NEED additional space, convert your garage to living space. But do so in a manner that it can easily be converted BACK to a functional garage.
If you think your additional living space is so special that someone would prefer to have it than a garage, there is a way to get around not coming up in searches. Advertise that it has a 2-car garage. Then, specify in the remarks that “Seller will convert garage back with acceptable offer.” There is a slim chance that someone will love everything about the house and ask you to convert the living space back to a garage, but be prepared to do so if you make that statement. At least that will get them in your home so that they will consider purchasing it.
I’m sure this differs in other parts of the country, but if you’re selling a home in Tulsa Oklahoma, I would urge you to consider the pros and cons before converting your garage to living space!
Content written and published by Lori Cain.
