Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

We have an attached garage we will be turning into a family room within the next few months. We had spoken to a real estate agent a few months ago about this & whether or not having no garage would affect our ability to sell our house in a couple of years. Real estate agent said it wasn't a big deal, especially since we are putting up a shed in our backyard.

My questions is this...if we take the garage door away completely & make it a regular "house wall" with a window, will that affect our ability to sell in the future any more than leaving the garage door up & just building a wall behind it on the inside? I'd think that if the garage was now a family room, it;d be nicer to have a reg wall & a window to look out. DH seems to think if we left the garage door the buyers would have the option to turn it back into a garage.

Any thought/comments/advice/opinions? TIA!

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

Danielle wanted to do this but I didnt want to because we need the storage, but if your going to do it I would get rid of the door and put a nice bay window there. I think the people that dont change the door are the ones that arent getting a permit and are doing the change illegally.

Scott

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

the house we bought had converted the garage into a family room and they removed the garage door. we didnt have a problem with it cause we have a huge shed in the backyard. a lot of houses in our neighborhood have done the same thing and i dont think there's any issue with it!

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

I would never turn a family room or den back into a garage. I turned my car port into a master b/r with master bath and walk in closet, we have a shed and now 3 b/r's 2 full baths.
I think it would be deceiving to home buyers if they saw a garage door and learn that its a family room instead. I say take doors off.

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

thanks everyone!!!!

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

I am in the process of buying a home that did this. We have a full basement, so dont need the storage space. They converted the garage into more living space and put a big bay window in the front. Were leaving a 2 car detached garage which I will miss, but we'll just buy a large shed. I think living space is more important that garage space. Good luck with everything!

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

we have no garage and honestly it does suck not having one only for storage reasons but if you have a nice sized shed then its not a huge issue (we have a small box that i made from scrap wood to house the lawn mower and some tools.) Our house had the converted garage into a apartment which we then turned into a "pub room" which is really a bedroom with a full bath attached which i hope to turn into a master one day.

I would completely take out the door and make sure the wall is properly built out and a window is installed correctly. Just make sure you do the correct permits and such otherwise yes you will have a problem when trying to sell.

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

It might be easy or it might not.

1/ you need to make sure your garage is "up to code" to be liveable space. For example, we thought about extenting the end of our garage and have our LR in it. We had a contractor and he told us he would not do it because it was not up to code with the flooring for liveable space.

2/ If you have no basement, I would seriously reconsider converting the garage.

If you really want more space, add and extension to your house.

Message edited 9/21/2011 11:13:46 AM.

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

I would def. just change it full on into a family room. Honestly, though, and I'm not sure if you want to hear this but, I do think it will affect your ability to sell the home in the future if that is a consideration. I, personally, would never buy a home without a garage (at least a detached one) and, I know of at least one home in our area which is a beautiful home but, has not sold b/c of this exact issue its been on the market for over a yr and they really need to reduce the price alot to account for it.

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

we just bought a house with a converted garage ... the door is gone, a big bay window in its place.

there is plenty of storage without it. we have a shed, attic, crawl spaces and a full finished basement (part unfinished for storage)...

we didnt think twice about it. as long as there is a basement or attic along with shed, you should be fine.

here is our house, converted garage on the right. we even have a wood burning fireplace in there



eta - pics are too big. sorry

Message edited 9/18/2011 9:39:30 PM.

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

We have a small ranch with a garage that was converted to a 3rd br/2nd ba. As long as it's done legally it shouldn't be an issue with selling. We have plenty of storage in the attic and have an 8*16 shed. We put the shed on concrete and extended it a bit incase DH need to work on any man projects out there lol.

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

Our house had a family room that was a converted garage. We love it! It's a really large, sunken room with plenty of room for our family and friends. The front of the house (Where the garage doors were) is sided the same as the rest of the house, and there are larger windows at the front and rear of the room (great ventilation). I have to say that for us, this room is perfect, as is and we would never think about having a garage instead.

We have a shed in the backyard that serves its storage purpose!

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

I would definitely take the doors out.

It could hurt the resale. It depends, do the other houses in your neoghborhood have garages....if so I'd leave it a garage. When I was looking at houses I would not even consider a house without a garage. We have tons of other storage space but we have motorcycles and needed it, plus many people actually put their cars in there.

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

We are trying to sell our house since March and the only drawback people are saying is that there is no garage. We have a shed but people want a garage. It's very frustrating to us.

Re: Changing a garage into a family room (kind of long)

For me it would be a negative if I was a buyer. We have 3 kids and a lot of crap in the garage (and we have a Shed on the property as well)

If I was going to convert a garage I would get rid of the door.