Don’t Convert Your Garage!
Many people, particularly people with older homes, like to look for ways to increase their livable space. This seems to them like a good way to build upon their home loan investment; after all, it’s generally the living space that you’re paying for in a home. However, the common strategy of converting the garage into a bedroom is not generally a good idea.
The first thing to remember is that your garage is not as easy to turn into a bedroom as you may think. Some people want to assume that, since it already has a roof over it, it’s an easy enough operation to lay down some carpeting and put up a new wall where the garage door used to be. However, garages lack the insulation of the rest of your home, so temperatures and noise dampening will be a problem. Meanwhile, anything short of a complete re-do is going to leave you with a room that clearly used to be a garage.
When it comes time to sell this home, you’re probably not going to benefit from this extra bedroom. Potential buyers are likely to use it as leverage for a lower price, or at very least demand that it not count as part of the livable space they are paying for. Not only is a converted garage an unattractive prospect for many buyers, a lot of buyers will be looking for the security and storage space that goes with a garage. Save yourself the time and money, and leave your garage the way it is.
