4 bed plus integral garage or 5 bed no garage ?

[aroundanothercorner]

We are planning an extension to a 3 bed house. At present we have 2 double & 1 single bedroom & integral garage. If you were a potential purchaser would you definitely want a garage with a 4 bed family home? We can get 3 cars on the drive. Obviously the 5th bedroom would be downstairs and we would probably use it more as a study/den.

I am sure demand for 4 bed is greater than 5. Whilst few people use a garage for cars, they are sough after for storing stuff, bikes, a workshop etc. I would dread to think where we would have store all our ‘junk’ if not for the garage.

4 bed with a garage for me. No garage is a deal breaker as we do actually use our garage for its intended purpose.

For me it would depend how safe the area was for cars on drive and where else there was to store stuff. (We’re about to convert our garage into half-storage/half-utility.)

I'd pick more downstairs living space over a garage for sure.

Is there lots of off road parking?

I would generally say more living space rather than a garage, but I would want sufficient storage space for things like bikes, a utility etc.

I've seen a few places that garage conversion as extra living space is broadly neutral. Some people prefer the garage, others the living space, and both pay about the same. By converting it you'll probably sell it to a different person, but - very roughly - you won't get more or less for it. This also means you might not make back the money you spent on it. Obviously it depends on local conditions, the balance of the house currently etc.

I wouldn't think of it as a 5th bedroom really though, unless you have acres of living space already. We have a 4 bed with garage conversion and it's still a 4 bed IMO. We've been advised by an agent that 5th bedrooms aren't much of a selling point anyway, partly because people would rather have extra living space.

I think the maximum interest you'll generate is adding a 4th bedroom upstairs, and then using the converted garage as an additional living space (i.e. kids playroom / 2nd lounge etc).

If you're using a garage as a 5th bedroom, that's not what most buyers would expect of a 5 bed property. If you do need a 5 bedroomed property, you normally expect 5 bedrooms upstairs and the same size footprint downstairs. Having the 5th bedroom downstairs means you're imbalanced - lots of bedroom space but small living space. You'd only appeal to a narrow market.

If you go for 4 bedrooms and keep the garage, you'll widen your market slightly but the downstairs space will still be smaller than most 4 beds because its an integral garage. If you convert the garage to living space, and have a 4th bed, I think that maximises the appeal of the house / value.

Hardly anyone parks cars in garages now, especially as you have a drive that can take 3 cars. People can use sheds etc for storage of all the other stuff that's usually housed in garages.

A few houses round here have done the half storage/half accommodation conversion, which I think is a good compromise.
Converting garages into rooms results in unusually long thin rooms.
Our last house had a living which was converted from integral garage and I always thought that the proportions were all wrong

Thanks a useful range of views. I don't think the space would be imbalanced as have a 6m long living room with an L and a decent size open plan kitchen/dining room.

The storage point is obviously valid. We've inherited a couple of sheds so bikes, lawnmower could go in those down one side ie not visible from living room or dining room.

It's a DH thinks one thing & I think the other.

I think just a shed is absolutely fine. I think "stuff" tends to expand to fit the storage you have available for it. Once you've had a big clear out you'll never miss 90% of the junk you keep in a garage.

We’re house hunting, and won’t consider places without a garage.

A few houses in our area have left the front but as a bike/garden store accessed via the garage door, and the back a utility or study with access from the house. It seems to work really well.

Why don’t you keep the garage and build on the side where the sheds are if you want a family room? Is it wide enough?

I'd prefer a 4 bed with an extra living room/study space/kids room over a 4 bed with a garage.

We knocked ours down when we did our extension.
We now have :
Downstairs: lounge, snug, huge kitchen/diner, utility and wc
Upstairs: huge master bedroom with dressing room and ensuite, 2 double bedrooms, single bedroom and bathroom.
We have a massive lift and shed outside for stuff.

In my view, another room downstairs is another reception room and not a fifth bedroom.

Do what's right for your family not for resale

Loft not lift

We have a 4 bed house and converted the double garage into a playroom. But we retained the back 6ft (1.8m) of the garage for storage which runs the entire 5.5m length.

The drive has parking for 4 cars so no issues there and we have 2 lofts and a shed for bikes.

I think mostly when people say they want a garage they aren't looking to put a car in it, it is the potential storage space.

We moved here a long time ago and the garage conversion gave us a room for the children to store all their toys and a place to play with friends. It leaves the lounge free of toys.

Not wide enough space down side for sensible extension.

It looks like a garage is on the want list of those looking to move but people who are settled think generally the space can be better used.

What would be better for you right now, OP? Are you planning to sell soon?

I lean towards extra room. DH wants to keep garage but we'll never end up putting a car in it based on current usage. Probably sell in 5 years when hopefully empty nest.

I have no use for a garage. They are spidery so I don't like going in them and modern cars defrost easily in cold weather. The previous owners got rid of the garage to do an extension. We don't miss is at all. We have off road parking, and a shed for storage.

I don't think the space would be imbalanced as have a 6m long living room with an L and a decent size open plan kitchen/dining room.

Actually I do think that would be imbalanced living for a five bed. To me a real 5 bed would have the kitchen diner and large lounge, plus a family room (smaller lounge), seperate dining room and utility as a minimum.

I wouldn't see the 5th downstairs bedroom as a bedroom - I'd see it as a family room or storage room in a 4bed house.

I think garages are useful but when integrated in the house also take up valuable living space. I think a small garage, plus a utility and family room would be better additions to the downstairs space (presuming there is space behind the garage for the extension to use to get all that in).

Assuming you're leaving the structural stuff in place (same walls etc) a garage would be really easy to convert if people wanted to, but leaving it will still attract those buyers who want one. A fifth room/'bedroom'(and you'd have to think about how you market it) isn't going to add much value wise (saw Phil of Phil and Kirstie saying so, must be true). It will cost you though. So basically it's not worth the spend if you're moving soon.

We needed a 5 bed house (have 4 children) but we discounted any where the 5th bedroom was on the ground floor.
Also, if you are the size of family that needs a 5 bed house you usually want a garage too (ours is stuffed full of bikes and scooters and assorted stuff!)