I have seen many real estate trends come and go over the past 35 years. Recently I’m seeing one on the residential side which is not yet part of the common discussion. It seems that even with the high cost of buying and maintaining cars, the days of keeping them in the garage seem to be over for many homeowners and tenants.
The garage is becoming another room for the house, especially when attached. People are placing exercise equipment, refrigerators and freezers, dining tables, audio equipment (listening room), or creating what is essentially a storage locker. Cars are parking in the driveway full-time. I’m seeing some garages being turned into a covered and protected patio with residents and visitors enjoying meals and snacks while the garage door is open.
If you don’t believe this, try driving around an established neighborhood on a weekend morning or often during the week in the early evening hours. Chances are you will see a percentage of garage doors open and being used for one of the aforementioned purposes. Residents are entitled to utilize their property as they see fit.
What interests me about the trend is that I’m not hearing anything about it from real estate agents, lenders, or others involved in residential real estate. Over the past few years, the onslaught of working from home led to home buyers and home owners using an extra bedroom as an office. An example is an individual looking to rent or buy a 2-bedroom place for the purpose of using one bedroom as their office.
As of now, I have not seen any agents presenting a home with options for the garage beyond how many cars it can park and, sometimes, if there is shelf space. Doing so could create a vision for a potential buyer or tenant which makes a property more appealing. On the other side, having a garage being used for a purpose other than parking vehicles could be turned into added curb appeal.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will appraisers consider this a positive, negative, or no change? Will contractors begin to offer garage conversion plans? Will homeowners use the garage for these other purposes while keeping unpainted or unattractive walls and flooring?
Hopefully, this trend will continue to open up doors!
