How much for a fancy garage like this?

[Anonymous]

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/1313-N-Frederick-St-22205/home/11237358

Pictures 3-7 are of the garage. Pretty swanky if you ask me. How much for something like that? $150k? Would that ever be worth doing?

[Anonymous]

Not so much a garage as a would-be carriage house. 80K sounds about right, but only because it looks like they did it 'half-way'. They kept the framework of the garage while trying to turning it into a home and getting something halfway in-between. The first floor of the garage is dank and dark with the ceiling, drywall and plywood doing it no favors, the half-kitchen is a cop-out, the bathroom is nice, and there's no bedroom.

Basically it looks like an unfinished man cave with an office upstairs. They could have done a lot more and made it a decent in-law suite. As it stands now, they could open those double garage doors they left on and park a car inside with no difference. I would not pay $150,000 for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not so much a garage as a would-be carriage house. 80K sounds about right, but only because it looks like they did it 'half-way'. They kept the framework of the garage while trying to turning it into a home and getting something halfway in-between. The first floor of the garage is dank and dark with the ceiling, drywall and plywood doing it no favors, the half-kitchen is a cop-out, the bathroom is nice, and there's no bedroom.

Basically it looks like an unfinished man cave with an office upstairs. They could have done a lot more and made it a decent in-law suite. As it stands now, they could open those double garage doors they left on and park a car inside with no difference. I would not pay $150,000 for that.

$80k? Is that all?

I mean, it doesn't have to be the Four Seasons....just somewhere to stuff the in-laws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not so much a garage as a would-be carriage house. 80K sounds about right, but only because it looks like they did it 'half-way'. They kept the framework of the garage while trying to turning it into a home and getting something halfway in-between. The first floor of the garage is dank and dark with the ceiling, drywall and plywood doing it no favors, the half-kitchen is a cop-out, the bathroom is nice, and there's no bedroom.

Basically it looks like an unfinished man cave with an office upstairs. They could have done a lot more and made it a decent in-law suite. As it stands now, they could open those double garage doors they left on and park a car inside with no difference. I would not pay $150,000 for that.

$80k? Is that all?

I mean, it doesn't have to be the Four Seasons....just somewhere to stuff the in-laws.

The floors on the first level look like painted concrete, there doesn't seem to be any insulation there either, and I don't see heating/air ductwork. Maybe the second floor could work, IDK but if I put my mother in what was clearly the garage/workspace she would pitch a fit. Paying over ~100K and getting that would just be foolish in my eyes. It would be worth double in value if it was an actually in-law suite with full kitchen, bedroom, downstairs living room etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not so much a garage as a would-be carriage house. 80K sounds about right, but only because it looks like they did it 'half-way'. They kept the framework of the garage while trying to turning it into a home and getting something halfway in-between. The first floor of the garage is dank and dark with the ceiling, drywall and plywood doing it no favors, the half-kitchen is a cop-out, the bathroom is nice, and there's no bedroom.

Basically it looks like an unfinished man cave with an office upstairs. They could have done a lot more and made it a decent in-law suite. As it stands now, they could open those double garage doors they left on and park a car inside with no difference. I would not pay $150,000 for that.

$80k? Is that all?

I mean, it doesn't have to be the Four Seasons....just somewhere to stuff the in-laws.

LOL.

[Anonymous]

No way that was only $80K.

[Anonymous]

You are looking at 150k at the very least.

Just did a similar project in Arlington.

[Anonymous]

Our neighbors did something similar. I think they did say it was somewhere around $150-200k. They use the bottom as a garage and the top as an office/guest room.

[Anonymous]

I'd say at least $125k

[Anonymous]

Depending on finishes, and work around the exterior that is required, I would say the brackets are $75K on the lower end and $120K on the upper. Lot of lightly finished space downstairs and no real high end finishes anywhere.

Feel pretty confident in that number.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depending on finishes, and work around the exterior that is required, I would say the brackets are $75K on the lower end and $120K on the upper. Lot of lightly finished space downstairs and no real high end finishes anywhere.

Feel pretty confident in that number.

We were quoted 80 low end, 150k high end.

I am very skeptical it can be done well under 100k.

[Anonymous]

On fresh ground? I'd say $150k if done well. Just the foundation and excavation would be $30k at least.

Also you need to check zoning if you want to do this. In MoCo, they are pretty strict about accessory structures and this would be seen as an accessory apartment. Basically only one allowed per block (at least in R90 zoning) and lots of restrictions on it.

[Anonymous]

There are lots of restrictions on what you can put in a garage like that, check the zoning code. You might not be able to plumb it or turn it into living space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On fresh ground? I'd say $150k if done well. Just the foundation and excavation would be $30k at least.

Also you need to check zoning if you want to do this. In MoCo, they are pretty strict about accessory structures and this would be seen as an accessory apartment. Basically only one allowed per block (at least in R90 zoning) and lots of restrictions on it.

My understanding is that in Arlington, where this house is located, is that if you add a half floor of living space above a garage, it's still a garage, no extra permit (like this one), but if it's a full second story, it changes the nature of the space and you need a separate permit.

[Anonymous]

150K-AT LEAST. 80K is laughable.