Quick opinion:

My neighbor is selling his house and I am about to put mine on the
market.

We have basically the exact same house, except he has a 2 car garage
(mine is only a 1 car, both detached) but my backyard is about 3 times
as big (my house is on a bend in the road, so my backyard is extra
large).

My driveway is not wide enough to park 2 cars.

If I were looking at the 2 houses as a buyer I would probably prefer
the 2 car garage over the larger backyard. What do you think? If the
consensus is that the 2 car garage trumps the large backyard, what
would you think the right price difference should be? i.e. If the 2
car garage house is worth X, what would the big backyard house be
worth?

Just looking for some opinions.

On 18 Sep 2005 22:03:45 -0700, in misc.consumers.house "cmay"
wrote:

Quick opinion:

My neighbor is selling his house and I am about to put mine on the
market.

We have basically the exact same house, except he has a 2 car garage
(mine is only a 1 car, both detached) but my backyard is about 3 times
as big (my house is on a bend in the road, so my backyard is extra
large).

My driveway is not wide enough to park 2 cars.

If I were looking at the 2 houses as a buyer I would probably prefer
the 2 car garage over the larger backyard. What do you think? If the
consensus is that the 2 car garage trumps the large backyard, what
would you think the right price difference should be? i.e. If the 2
car garage house is worth X, what would the big backyard house be
worth?

Just looking for some opinions.


What if one house has a one car garage and the other has the garage converted to
living space? What house is worth more? Both driveways only hold one car.

"cmay" wrote:

If I were looking at the 2 houses as a buyer I would probably prefer
the 2 car garage over the larger backyard. What do you think?

I suspect that in most neighborhoods, the number of potential buyers with two
working adults in the family exceeds the number of potential buyers with kids
wanting a large yard.

That said, real estate valuation is local - find yourself a good agent...

If I were looking at the 2 houses as a buyer I would probably prefer
the 2 car garage over the larger backyard.

It depends on the buyer. Some want more back yard. Some want their
cars covered. Some want more garage to store all their stuff and don't
care whether their cars are outside.

In terms of selling price, that's best left up to your real estate
agent. If you are a FSBO, ask you insurance agent what the price
should be.

"cmay" writes:
Quick opinion:

My neighbor is selling his house and I am about to put mine on the
market.

We have basically the exact same house, except he has a 2 car garage
(mine is only a 1 car, both detached) but my backyard is about 3 times
as big (my house is on a bend in the road, so my backyard is extra
large).

My driveway is not wide enough to park 2 cars.

If I were looking at the 2 houses as a buyer I would probably prefer
the 2 car garage over the larger backyard. What do you think? If the
consensus is that the 2 car garage trumps the large backyard, what
would you think the right price difference should be? i.e. If the 2
car garage house is worth X, what would the big backyard house be
worth?

Just looking for some opinions.

My gut reaction is "the 2 car garage will pay for itself."

The reason is that even if people want a "big backyard" there's no
field in MLS that's used reliably enough for people to make it a
search criterion for new homes with their realtor.

However, having less than 2 in the garage field makes it such that
folks who might otherwise love your house, or even "settle" for the
1-car-garage, it doesn't matter since they'll never see it because
they've selected 2 car garage as one of their search criteria.

I have a 1-car garage, and lots of folks say that it just won't work
for them as a result. If I could put a 2-car garage on this place, I
would do so in a heartbeat.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

In article , Todd H. wrote:
"cmay" writes:

The reason is that even if people want a "big backyard" there's no
field in MLS that's used reliably enough for people to make it a
search criterion for new homes with their realtor.


Lot size.


However, having less than 2 in the garage field makes it such that
folks who might otherwise love your house, or even "settle" for the
1-car-garage, it doesn't matter since they'll never see it because
they've selected 2 car garage as one of their search criteria.

I have a 1-car garage, and lots of folks say that it just won't work
for them as a result. If I could put a 2-car garage on this place, I
would do so in a heartbeat.


My gut geeling is that the land is worth more. You could build a 2 car
garage and *still* have a larger yard. I say this as someone who never
parks my car in my garage, though. I also love to garden. I've actually
considered tearing down the garage I have.


All things considered, though, I think the land is more valuable. It
sounds like the difference is large. You could build a 3 car garage back
there if you wanted to.


Dimitri

(D. Gerasimatos) writes:
In article , Todd H. wrote:
"cmay" writes:

The reason is that even if people want a "big backyard" there's no
field in MLS that's used reliably enough for people to make it a
search criterion for new homes with their realtor.

Lot size.

This is not reliable because you don't have a "home footprint" field
to subtract off and get to any conclusion about what if any back yard
there is.

Then again, another variable that I'm not sure was mentioned here is
"where is this house?" If you're in the snow belt, and you have two
working adults, a 2-car garage nearly always trumps having 1-car's
worth more back yard, especially on a 1-car width driveway.

If however it's in a place where there's never a possibility of
scraping snow and ice off a vehicle, YMMV.


Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

In article , Todd H. wrote:

Lot size.

This is not reliable because you don't have a "home footprint" field
to subtract off and get to any conclusion about what if any back yard
there is.


It's good enough. It two houses are 2000 square feet and one is on a
40000 square foot lot and the other is on a 120000 square foot lot
then there's a more than good chance the latter has a bigger yard.


Dimitri

(D. Gerasimatos) writes:
In article , Todd H. wrote:

Lot size.

This is not reliable because you don't have a "home footprint" field
to subtract off and get to any conclusion about what if any back yard
there is.


It's good enough. It two houses are 2000 square feet and one is on a
40000 square foot lot and the other is on a 120000 square foot lot
then there's a more than good chance the latter has a bigger yard.

For you maybe. But around here, it's a lot of quarter acre or smaller
lots where the comparisons aren't so easy. Odds are the OP is
competing with a neighbor whose MLS will list the same lot size.

Also, the square footage field is not uncommonly zerod out and not
reliable either, so savvy shoppers seldom use it as a "filter" field
in most markets (at least the 3 I've shopped for homes in). Because
you'd lose houses you'd want to see that just don't happen to know
their livable square footage.

Finally, with a detached garage as the original poster I believe is
discussing pondering, the issue becomes even trickier still because
you won't find that area counted anywhere in MLS.

Dont' get me wrong I respect and even perhaps agree with your valuing
the land more than the extra stall in the garage, and I'd love you to
come buy my 1-car garage, biggest-backyward-in-the-neighborhood house.

But I can tell ya from experience, as a seller who's on the market
today, I've taken a lot of lumps for having only a 1 car garage when
most neighbors have 2, and the only folks that say "wow what a big
back yard" are the ones that are interested enough in my listing to
actually get in the front door.

Just like a resume, MLS is a weeding-out mechanism, and you loose more
lookers there by not having a 2 car garage than any crazy math you try
with 2 or 3 other fields searching for the magical "big back yard"
formula. You might do it, but I'd say most buyers and realtors do
not.

Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/

"cmay" wrote in message
ups.com...
If I were looking at the 2 houses as a buyer I would probably prefer
the 2 car garage over the larger backyard. What do you think?


Personally, as a buyer I would prefer the bigger backyard. I could always
build another garage or add on to the exisiting one or widen the driveway
later. There's no way I could create more land for a backyard.

wrote:
If I were looking at the 2 houses as a buyer I would probably prefer
the 2 car garage over the larger backyard.


It depends on the buyer. Some want more back yard. Some want their
cars covered. Some want more garage to store all their stuff and don't
care whether their cars are outside.

In terms of selling price, that's best left up to your real estate
agent. If you are a FSBO, ask you insurance agent what the price
should be.

I think in part it depends on what is standard for the neighborhood. If
most houses have 2-car garages and yours doesn't, that's going to dink
you in price/appeal a little. If most houses have spacious yards and his
doesn't, that's going to dink him in price a little.

Where I live (1900-1950s inner suburb), no one has 2-car garages, many
of those with 1-car garages use them for storage rather than carpark,
and a significant percentages of houses either never had garages to
start off with, had detached garages that have crumbled to dust, or else
have their garage converted into a 4-season rec room or workshop or
something. Where I live, most houses also have pretty small lots, but
there are some houses with larger lots, and that brings a significant
premium, because the price of land itself is a good part of the value of
the house. So, for right here, anyhow, big lots (which some people have,
and many people want) wins out over big garage (which no one has, and no
one expects).