Garage conversion to garden: home value?

Our home was built in 1923 with an attached garage instead of a garden (cars/garages were all the rage in the ’20s). The garage is not structurally associated with the house, it simply abuts it. We want to take 3/4 of the garage and rip off the roof, turn a window into a doorway opening to make a walled garden/patio, and keep the remaining 1/4 as a storage shed with access via the garage door. The garage is too small to fit a standard car today so it is not functional as anything other than a storage unit. Any thoughts on how this might impact home value? We thinking have additional outdoor space in the form of a walled garden will be amazing, but acknowledge that we’re removing the function of it as a “garage”. Thanks!

jonbranch99

in General Discussion 7 years and 1 month ago

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greenworks | 7 years and 1 month ago

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Counterpoint here: we don’t even use our car that much but we paid more for a home with garage/parking just because we felt it was a very big pro — even tho our garage/driveway has REAL constraints (our garage is shorter and our driveway is only 80-82″ wide for about 35′ of it). That is VERY limiting as we can’t get a car wider than ~73″. We have friends with even tinier garages and they just get minis, HRVs, or Priuses (Priui)?

I’m not sure how bad parking is in your nabe but even in the time since we moved in to ours, it went from being able to find a spot if you needed to park before 6pm to TOTALLY parked up all day every day in three years.

So we are VERY grateful that we insisted on looking at properties only if they had a garage.

BUT — we don’t know your situation — is it super easy to find a street spot at any time? How likely is that to change? (it did in our neighborhood overnight-all of a sudden every person over 16 in a household thought that they couldn’t deign to take the subway that’s only two blocks away).

Although I love to be optimistic I wou ldn’t count on DOB changing any time soon (this is the same DOB that was one of the last to start allowing NM and also makes homeowners go through four -FOUR!-Board approvals to install battery backup for your solar system).

Also, tho Uber and self-driving cars are not too far off, obviating the need for many to own a car, there are probably going to be those stalwarts out there who will cling to their car for years to come and would LOVE to fork over more money for your home if it had that garage, despite the constraints.

rocketship | 7 years and 1 month ago

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To address the original question, I think this could add value to your home. Assuming the garage is next to the house, this opens up future possibilities (for you or the next owner) of windows into the side yard, a valuable commodity in the land of row houses! I would suggest keeping (defending) your curb cut and a parking space, whether you use it or not – the surface need not be concrete. Sheds are generally not an issue if they are for storage, but you should get a permit for the demolition of the garage.

murph | 7 years and 1 month ago

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Think NYC DoB then forget your plan. It’s on the original blueprints as a garage then re-purposing it is difficult. Drop in on Brooklyn DoB on their open night advise time to home owners for their advise which will be: “Yes, you need permits, an architect, a ‘facilitator’ and ‘no, you can’t do that.'”. I got a Honda HRV. It’s short and I can park it anywhere. Give it a look–bring measurements.

wizzzz

in General Discussion 7 years and 1 month ago

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Motorcycle parking all the way.

wizzzz

in General Discussion 7 years and 1 month ago

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Motorcycle parking all the way.

chemosphere | 7 years and 1 month ago

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I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next 10 years the DOB changed their policy about restrictions on the use of these types of buildings. Many cities with housing crunches are actually making it possible to convert garages to living spaces – many levels more permissable than what is allowed in NYC! We are way behind in this push by modern thinking city planning depts.

CarmenR | 7 years and 1 month ago

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@caitlin the shed is larger than they would ordinarily allow if built new (even though our CoO has a second “auxiliary building” and lists two buildings on our lot.) They told us if we touched the shed, we had to tear it down and rebuild it to current code. It’s WAY bigger than is currently permissible (it’s 15X17′ and 14′ tall) so there was no way we were going to tear it down. Also it has electricity, which is not ok, so we removed it from the plans to stay out of the DOB’s way

jonbranch99 | 7 years and 1 month ago

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@CarmenR can you share the DOC objection? If it’s not a living space, what say can they have? Thanks!

jonbranch99 | 7 years and 1 month ago

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@CarmenR can you share the DOC objection? If it’s not a living space, what say can they have? Thanks!

CarmenR | 7 years and 1 month ago

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dougb we also wanted to turn our oversized shed (was a stable back in the day) into a indoor/outdoor entertaining area but the DOB was NOT having it. They kill all the fun 🙁

dougb | 7 years and 1 month ago

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Fun! I’ve always liked the idea of making an existing garage into a cabana/party space by putting doors that fold out of the way (or a second garage door) into the wall of the garage facing the back of the house – would be great for entertaining. You could also consider putting a stronger roof on the garage (I-beams) and making it into a green roof, or simply adding a usable roof deck. A walled garden sounds neat, but might not get much sun, whereas the roof of the garage probably gets plenty of sun for growing plants, etc.

resident2 | 7 years and 1 month ago

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Without knowing more details: neighborhood, do you have your own curb cut or is it a shared back alley entrance to your garage etc. And times/fashions/neighborhood culture etc change all the time….
In my opinion to keep /maintain/enhance value it is always best to keep unique assets; features of a property, and of course the right to private parking; work/studio space etc is a unique asset in the City.
You say the garage is too small for a “standard car today” as more people that might have a “City” car might be going with an electric Smart or equivalent car of a motor cycle, or even a family of bicycles a garage is a major asset. Once you abandon the use of a curb cut, you may well loose it to a parking meter, a City Bike rack or some other perceived City need.
Once you have knocked down a structure it could be difficult to build it back in the future.
I would keep the garage, maybe build a roof deck over it or amend one wall of the “garage” to create a garden “room” pergoda kind of space, put some large skylights in it to make a winter garden…. Use it to add value . Just another house with a garden is just that… A house with a garage/workspace/studio, garden room etc is so much more…