Who requires a garage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've owned my own home since 1991, and never had a garage until 2004. I'm never going back. Absolute deal breaker. It can be a one car garage, but there must be a garage.

Same here. One of my favorite parts of moving to our current home was not having to deal with the elements when coming and going from our house, especially since I had small children in tow. It's so nice to go out to a cool car in the summer and a clear, warmer car in the winter. I'd never want to give up a garage.

+1

+2 ... no snow/ice scraping!!!

On the other hand, no garage usually means no driveway. In our house we have a parking spot behind the house but no driveway or garage - and that is ideal for me. No driveway = no shoveling except my front walk and the sidewalk in front of my house.

I hate shoveling snow, and any minor work to scrape ice or snow off my car pales in comparison to the benefit I get from not having to shovel a driveway!

[Anonymous]

Have lived in Arlington for almost 15yrs without a garage, first in a condo wtih street parking and now in a SFH with a driveway and plenty of street parking.

It's not a deal breaker for me, but boy would I love one if I had the chance! However, I would not want to live in a such a tight, urban environment where I have to fight for parking within a 2 block radius of my house, which some of our friends do in parts of DC. So, garage is not a deal breaker, but do need some sort of guaranteed parking like a driveway or in a neighborhood with lots and lots of street space comparative to the volume of cars.

[Anonymous]

DH flatly refused to look at any house that did not have off-street parking. He was a total PITA about it and drove our realtor crazy, since we live in DC and that eliminated a LOT of houses.

I was so frustrated, but now that we have DC, I'm glad DH stuck to his guns. It does make life easier.

I wish we had covered parking, but that 60% rule is a bitch.

[Anonymous]

Me..between wifey and I we had six cars last year. Now it's down to four (all purpose SUV, sports car, wifey beater, and family/hubby sedan) and DD will be driving for soon. When I was looking for houses 20+ years ago one of the requirement is that it MUST have a two car garage. Our garage is deep so two midsize cars can fit on either side. We moved from a TH where searching and finding people in your assigned parking spot got tiring real fast.

[Anonymous]

We don't have a garage or off-street parking and are perfectly happy. Those are things we were willing to sacrifice for living in the awesome neighborhood we live in. I've actually never had a garage, so I don't get what the big deal is, but maybe if I did, I would know.

I guess I do need to walk up my front steps in the rain sometimes, and our one Honda does get some rain/snow on it. Everything shuts down when it snows anyway, so it's not like I do a whole lot of digging out the car. We metro to work anyway since we live right near the metro. We have a workroom in the basement that my husband keeps all his tools, etc., in.

I don't feel like I am missing out on anything by not having one.

[Anonymous]

To be honest it's kind of like you are happy with what you don't know.

Like those people who don't understand why you would need more than 2000 SF and love old houses. Until you live in something that is better you are happy with what you have.

[Anonymous]

I don't have one anymore and I miss it so much. I hate getting rained on, taking groceries in in the rain, the car heating up to 150 degrees, clearing frost and snow, shoveling the car out, going out in the dark when I forget something in the car... I miss garages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be honest it's kind of like you are happy with what you don't know.

Like those people who don't understand why you would need more than 2000 SF and love old houses. Until you live in something that is better you are happy with what you have.

There, there,, dear. Not the same thing at all.

[Anonymous]

On the other hand, no garage usually means no driveway.

Not true at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Me..between wifey and I we had six cars last year. Now it's down to four (all purpose SUV, sports car, wifey beater, and family/hubby sedan) and DD will be driving for soon. When I was looking for houses 20+ years ago one of the requirement is that it MUST have a two car garage. Our garage is deep so two midsize cars can fit on either side. We moved from a TH where searching and finding people in your assigned parking spot got tiring real fast.

Me again, Garage Porn, one of favorite sites... http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=7

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Me..between wifey and I we had six cars last year. Now it's down to four (all purpose SUV, sports car, wifey beater, and family/hubby sedan) and DD will be driving for soon. When I was looking for houses 20+ years ago one of the requirement is that it MUST have a two car garage. Our garage is deep so two midsize cars can fit on either side. We moved from a TH where searching and finding people in your assigned parking spot got tiring real fast.

Me again, Garage Porn, one of favorite sites... http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=7

want.. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?s=9b9af4ae7373b3d52b8328140b3510d4&t=238709

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've got one of those 1950s garages that's great for bikes and garden supplies. $1.3 million house inside the beltway. We moved from a house with no garage so were excited to have it. So probably a deal breaker at this point but I don't need to be able to put a car in it.

So really, you require a shed, not a garage.

[Anonymous]

It is not a requirement at all for us. Easy parking is, but I couldn't care less about a garage. We have parking spots right in front of our house and we have a shed to put bikes, lawn crap, etc. in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To be honest it's kind of like you are happy with what you don't know.

Like those people who don't understand why you would need more than 2000 SF and love old houses. Until you live in something that is better you are happy with what you have.

+1, dc area housing is very expensive. You basically take the level of ses and drop it by two levels to adjust your expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No deal breaker for us.

We've lived in rowhouses without even a driveway.

We now live close-in in an extremely walkable neighborhood with a long driveway and no parking. Homes here sell in the 1.2-2 million range without garages.

We do have a large shed in the back.

+1

But- I also don't drive expensive cars so I don't really care about their exposure to elements. I could see how a car aficiando would want to have one. The large shed in our back could fit two cars. It's where garden tools, ladder, bikes, etc. are stored.