patrick.net

That's a really difficult question to answer because many things determine what a house is worth and what features it has such as location and so on. I can only say that I spend a lot of time in the garage and so a house without one is a deal-breaker for me. On the other hand I know plenty of people who don't have a garage and seem fine with that.

1. Is it possible to build a garage by the house? If not, it will turn more buyers away and you have a better room to bargain.

2. If the answer to question 1 is yes, how much would it cost to build a garage? $10,000? That should give you a rough idea.

It doesn't have enough space to build garage. Old garage has been converted into the living room.

I'd prefer a house with a move in ready Mancave than a garage that I would have to convert myself.
Garage or no garage, I looked for sq footage and yard size.
And if the place had a garage, I would then have to recalculate sq footage with out the garage factored in. A 1700 sq ft house with a two car garage, could be less than 1200 sq ft, when you take out the Garage space.

What is customary in the area for similar houses? Garages, no garages, an even mix of both? Not being able to build one does hurt you, but if most houses in the area don't and can't have a garage, then it shouldn't be a big deal...

The finished space (that used to be a garage) is worth more than the garage...almost certainly.

Almost all the houses in the neighborhood have garage. Actually I am fine with no garage but I am worried about re-sale.

A lot depend on location.
In suburban 2-3 car garage is desirable. You can count 1 car garage as $10,000, 3 car garage $30,000. Off street parking space probably half of that.
In urban setting with very extensive public transportation and waking distance to all, no garage has small impact on resale value, especially if all houses around don’t have it.

ran says

Almost all the houses in the neighborhood have garage. Actually I am fine with no garage but I am worried about re-sale.

You may have a problem. If you sell in hot market – everything sales, if in dead market – you’ll be stuck for good or discount at least 10%.

ran says

Also, how difficult is to sale single family house with no garage?

Dude, you haven't even bought it yet and you are worried about re-sale value? If the garage was converted into a living room, was the original living room converted into 2 or 3 bedrooms? If you are actually planning to LIVE there for some amount of time, you can renovate the arrangement to your liking. If you don't really mind the arrangement, then there is surely another buyer out there that will buy it from you someday for an inflation-adjusted amount more than you paid for it.

If your concerns are about future returns, then pick it up now, renovate it back into a normal house and you can probably sell it for more. It's called "flipping."

bmwman91 says

Dude, you haven't even bought it yet and you are worried about re-sale value? If the garage was converted into a living room, was the original living room converted into 2 or 3 bedrooms?

I guess we can't ignore re-sale issue even though I will be living in the new house for at least 10 years. Here I am not talking about making money. I just want a house that won't be difficult to sale.

Yes they added one extra room.

How much does this house cost when compared to other similar garaged houses in the area?

How much is it going to cost to convert the room back to a garage?

If the price makes it worth your while, then yes I would buy it and then convert the garage back to a garage. You can always get estimates.

Personally I would not buy a SFH with no garage.

^^ I think its priced correctly if it had garage. I want to keep away from conversion.
They have driveway parking and of-course street parking.

I am trying to figure out how much it is worth in the current market.

Lets say $30k is garage cost, but I can't simply minus this amount as there is no space for building new garage. So there should be more than $30k deduction. But not sure how much.

From the above response, looks like buying this house is not a good idea.

When I was shopping a few years ago I saw a few houses with converted garages. In. each case the garages was counted in the square footage of the house. Double check the stated size of the house to see if the sellers have done this. If so you will have to deduct it at sale if you convert it back.

Also check CAREFULLY the quality of the work. I was not impressed with what I saw in my own search.

Personally I would avoid such a house UNLESS the conversion was not included in the size of the house AND the garage could be reverted to a very nice place to park my car.

You need to ask yourself 2 questions.

1. Is the house in the REAL Bay Area (SF-->San Jose).

2. If yes, then WHY THE HELL HAVE YOU NOT ALREADY OVERBID BY $50,000 over asking??

You will be priced out of this HOT MARKET FOREVER.

^^ It is really ridiculous right now in SF bay area. I see $100k increase in just last 6 months. Its crazy. Its very discouraging. Looks like I might end up giving up desire to buy a house altogether.

Almost zero inventory is the reason for this madness. I don't want to get into bidding war.

ran says

^^ It is really ridiculous right now in SF bay area. I see $100k increase in just last 6 months. Its crazy. Its very discouraging. Looks like I might end up giving up desire to buy a house altogether.

Almost zero inventory is the reason for this madness. I don't want to get into bidding war.

I hear you. My wife wants to buy this year. The madness at every open house is off-putting for her, and especially that fact that the $200k in cash that we have saved isn't worth shit in this market. You can't compete with IPO cash, rich foreigners trying to get their ill-gotten money out of the homeland, and late-20-somethings with parents giving them a LOT of money for the house. Oh, and then add in the hordes of people that can borrow $730k with a FICO of 580 and a 3.5% DP. From a disinterested perspective, it is flat-out comical, except for the relentless rent increases anyway.

ran says

We liked a house but it doesn't have garage.

My question is what should be the price difference between two houses one with garage and other with no garage, assuming everything else is same.

Also, how difficult is to sale single family house with no garage?

In rough numbers ~ 20-25K. Can you build a garage? In most parts of the country, some kind of carriage portage is a must.

I think bay area had more inventory in October than February. Its weird.

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Fremont/41213-Erma-Ave-94539/home/1572490

It was listed for $835k in the last July and didn't sell, now they want $968k

Looks very convincing reason.
Thanks

Park the car on the roof.

House listed for sale on 5/7/2011 for $835k. No takers. Listing removed 7/24/2011. House re-listed 2/1/2013 for ~$969k. House is on a corner, small backyard.

To compare a 3357 sqft house WITH a three car garage on a 7700 sqft cul de sac lot in a nice area of Fremont is estimated to be $80k LESS than this POS.

Sorry, Mission schools or no IMO this house is grossly overpriced!

JodyChunder says

Park the car on the roof.

Why? That's what lawns are for!

ran says

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Fremont/41213-Erma-Ave-94539/home/1572490

It was listed for $835k in the last July and didn't sell, now they want $968k

What a dump.

Seriously. Save your money.