We have a 2 car garage. It was seriously on top of our list too. We're in Fairfax trying to sell our house at the moment, but with your budget you are likely looking at houses in much better school districts than ours.

But I hear you OP. On our first hunt we were baffled by the lack of garages. We only saw 3 houses in our price range, out of 37 that we looked at, that had any garage. We put in bids on all 3 and got the 3rd one, finally.

The lack of garages is odd, especially when you consider how wretched public transport is. But, I think the lots are mostly too small. Why people pay so much to live in such tiny houses with no amenities is incomprehensible, but that appears to be the market. Plenty of areas that do have garages and sidewalks though! Don't lose heart.

We live in a Fairfax County neighborhood of mid-century modern homes, and they did not take covered parking into consideration with most of the homes. It's always driven us a bit crazy that cars were just an after thought, or perhaps meant to be showpieces that clearly stick out? We've lived without a carport or garage for several years now, and are dying for at least a carport. To us, that would be a huge step up to keep the cars covered and protected from tree goo. My DH is also an avid cyclist, and all he wants for his bikes is a bigger shed. Only a few homes in the neighborhood have garages as additions, and most of those would not pass the approval process we have in place today.

I know OP. It's depressing. It makes you realize how poor this area was for so long.

I'd take a carport over a space in a DC alley to park where your car is exposed to the elements, it smells like urine, and you have to look over your back every second.

Anonymous wrote:OP here- we're looking in Fairfax county, so not very close in. DH would not leave his bikes in a shed and there are many of them.

A well-built shed is really no different than a garage. It's basically a detached garage in some cases. Our is built on a concrete slab and has electric outlets. But if has to be a GARAGE, well then keep looking for a garage. Even in Fairfax County, the people I know who live out there don't have garages.

OP here- we're looking in Fairfax county, so not very close in. DH would not leave his bikes in a shed and there are many of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't buy a home without a garage. and inspection mandate no fumes into the house.

Car ports can be difficult to convert to a garage if it is close to the property line.

Car ports are put up for homes for the less affluent.

We're looking at homes up to 900k! Which I realize is pretty low in this area, but still.

Those homes were originally built for a lower demographic, of course now they are in a location that is very expensive.

OP, if you're open to the idea of having a shed you'll probably find a lot more homes to look at. I don't know where you're looking, but very few homes in closer-in neighborhoods have garages. The lots just aren't big enough and garages aren't a real priority around here because of the weather.

Most homes DO have a shed if they don't have a garage. Ours is big enough to easily hold bikes, lawnmower, etc. and easily access these items when needed.

So seriously that's it? I would think that if they took out HELOCs they would get back every penny by adding a garage. So many houses weren't even coming up on my searches because I had garage checked and they only had carports.

You want people to borrow against their homes to build a garage so you can maybe get a shot at having a garage ?

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't buy a home without a garage. and inspection mandate no fumes into the house.

Car ports can be difficult to convert to a garage if it is close to the property line.

Car ports are put up for homes for the less affluent.

The horror.

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't buy a home without a garage. and inspection mandate no fumes into the house.

Car ports can be difficult to convert to a garage if it is close to the property line.

Car ports are put up for homes for the less affluent.

We're looking at homes up to 900k! Which I realize is pretty low in this area, but still.

I wouldn't buy a home without a garage. and inspection mandate no fumes into the house.

Car ports can be difficult to convert to a garage if it is close to the property line.

Car ports are put up for homes for the less affluent.

We're hands on people and we can most definitely add a garage on, but I guess this is why my results were coming up with so few homes (because I checked garage).

I want to demolish our detached garage and get small shed for storage. More yard space!