Check the value of houses in your area, if there is little off-road parking, homes with garages might be valued higher than those without. Unless the added space is vital, don’t run the risk of reducing the value of your own home. A partial conversion should cost less, but not by much.

Ninety-three percent of homeowners surveyed use garages for storage while 84 percent use it for parking a vehicle.

A garage and garage door also help those who don’t use a car everyday in a variety of ways as well as helping those that use them among other types of transportation. A garage keeps your motorcycles, bicycles and even trailers just as safe from weather and other things as it keeps a car.

But is it all just down the size of the garage? Just to check that this was not just a British problem, over in the USA, where everything is BIG, a recent report by a well known DIY magazine found that 82% of homes have two-car garages or larger, but only 15% use them to park the car inside!

For many homebuyers, a garage is a necessity. If you own a vehicle, a garage offers safety and convenience, as well as extra storage space. Even if you don’t need a garage, you could decide to sell your home in the future and have a hard time if it doesn’t have one.

According to the estate agents we spoke to when we were looking into this – as long as you have enough off road parking space for two cars, you will not devalue your house. If it’s done well it will add value.

Here are 6 improvements to focus on.

• Upscale garage door replacement.
• Manufactured stone veneer on exterior.
• Wood deck addition.
• The kitchen (within reason)
• Siding and vinyl window replacements.
• Bathroom remodel.

Converting a garage is often more affordable than adding on Indeed, depending on where you live, building an addition could run you anywhere from $20,000 to over $65,000. A garage renovation, on the other hand, comes in at $11,000 on average.

How much value a garage adds to your home varies. The cost to build a garage starts at $7,500, with most garages costing much more. On average, expect to spend around $27,000 to build a garage. This will likely up the resale value of your home by about $21,000 for an 81 percent return on your investment.

Garages: This too depends on the value of the home and location. Typically for a suburban home the value of the garage is going to be approximately $4,000 to $5,000 per bay. Tandem bays are typically adjusted at half the value of full bays.

Do Appraisers Look in Garage? Yes, they sure do! They are mostly looking for size, condition, and function — not how well you organize your tools.

While a finished garage may not add to the home’s appraisal value, it can certainly be a factor in convincing a buyer that the home is right for them. It can make your home stand out from the pack and holds major appeal for potential buyers who love home improvement projects.

10 Helpful Tips to Maximize Your Garage Space

1. Build garage cabinets.
2. Install wall organizers.
3. Add overhead or ceiling storage.
4. Create a folding workbench.
5. Get magnetic boards for the small parts.
6. Go mobile with work areas.
7. Upgrade to adjustable shelving.
8. Install pegboards and hooks.

Whether you’re just adding storage, re-coating the floor, or doing a complete teardown, garage improvements are well worth the investment. Your new and improved garage will give you a ton more storage and flex space. You can make a new hobby or workshop room, a home gym, or give your family more room to spread out.

The average cost of a garage conversion is between $6,000 and $19,000, according to HomeAdvisor. The total cost will depend on the size of your garage, the type of room you are constructing and the amount of professional contracting assistance you need.

Planning permission is not usually required to convert your garage into additional living space for your home, providing the work is internal and does not involve enlarging the building. In such instances you will need to apply for permission to vary or remove the condition.

Average Cost to Drywall a Garage by Size

How to Convert a Garage Into a Bedroom Without Removing the Garage Door

1. Set out your plans. Consider your utilities. Automatic garage door closer. Add insulation.
2. Build a wall. Water-seal | Weatherproofing. Design.
3. Flooring. Lighting. Paint Job. Arrangement.

Living in a garage in California is only legal if the garage has been converted to a habitable space through the proper channels. Letting guests sleep in an unconverted space for a night can be a big enough violation to result in fines.

Furnish the garage with necessary items in lightweight, versatile pieces. Use a futon from another room or an air mattress. Use a side table as a nightstand or borrow one from a bedroom within the home. Add a chair and fold-away clothes rod to make the space more comfortable.

Converting the garage into a bedroom with a bathroom is likely to cost $10,000 to $15,000. Converting the space into an in-law apartment with a kitchen and bath is likely to cost about $15,000 to $25,000.

If it’s integrated or attached, the garage should be fairly easy to work into the main accommodation. You could knock through the wall to join up with an existing zone, for instance – perhaps enlarging a hallway or creating a front-to-back kitchen-diner.

No value gain: A garage conversion rarely will increase the property value. Many buyers place a premium on a protected parking space, and this is lost with a garage conversion.

The cost for a 24×24 Two Car Garage ranges from around $13,500 for a Standard Garage with SmartSiding to around $30,900 for a Legacy Two Story Detached Garage with clapboard siding.

Multiply the two dimensions together to determine the area of the wall. For example, a 24-feet-long side that is 8 feet high equals 192 square feet of siding for that wall.

A 2-car (detached) garage is 7-9 square. That would be 5-6k at these costs. Your looking at roughly 1k in materials, and 32 man hrs would do it, (2-men/2-days).

Siding Cost Per Square Foot For an average 1,500-square-foot home, the cost of wood exterior siding, the cheapest siding material on the market, would cost you about $3,000. But there are some unexpected additional costs to take into consideration: The shape of your house may influence the cost of exterior siding.

Build the entire structure from scratch using raw materials, and you’re looking at $19,600 to $28,200 in detached garage costs to build though it’s entirely possible to buy a pre-made detached garage kit for under $6,000 and do all the work yourself.