Personal Finance
What a Garage Adds to Home Values in Raleigh
Homes with garages sell for more. How much more?
![](https://patch.com/img/cdn20/users/23297783/20190707/013505/styles/raw/public/processed_images/23297783what-a-garage-adds-to-home-values_facebook_thumb_1200x628_v20190618194426.jpg)
You’re living the American dream: You’ve got a home of your own with a nice-sized yard, a lush lawn, lots of shrubbery, maybe even the classic picket fence — and you’ve got a garage. It’s convenient, it protects you and your car when the weather is bad, and it’s valuable.
Most houses sold in the U.S. (85.2%, as a matter of fact) have garages, and they increase a home’s value by 12%, according to new research from Redfin. The real estate brokerage says houses with garages tend to sell for $23,211 more than houses that don’t have them.
That’s the national average. There may be a higher or a lower premium in Raleigh, so read on to find out how much value is parked in the typical garage locally.
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The ‘garage premium’ in Raleigh
![A suburban home with a three-car garage at dusk or sunrise.](https://media1.moneywise.com/a/5537/what-a-garage-adds-to-home-values_full_width_1_1200x500_v20190618193849.jpg)
A two-car garage can cost more than double what you’d pay for a one-car.
Garages add the most to home values in the Midwest — up to 38% — and the reason is obvious. They’re a huge plus during frigid, snowy winters. In places with warm weather year-round, a garage is more of a take-it-or-leave-it item, so if you have one and you live in that type of climate your house might sell for as little as 2% extra when the time comes.
Having said that, here’s the story in Raleigh: Redfin says 81% of houses sold locally last year had a garage, and that feature brought in an average $3,961 for home sellers.
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Looking at it another way, homes with garages in Raleigh typically sell for 2% more than homes without.
Do you consider a garage a must-have? Lots of us do, says Redfin agent Andrew Vallejo in Austin, Texas.
“Homebuyers don’t necessarily expect to get a garage if they’re buying a home inside the city, though many people do value them, particularly in the suburbs where a two-car garage is the norm,” he says.
Should you add a garage?
![A home with a beautiful wood stained garage suburban home with bicycle parked out front.](https://media1.moneywise.com/a/5537/what-a-garage-adds-to-home-values_full_width_3_1200x500_v20190618194753.jpg)
A two-car garage can cost more than double what you’d pay for a one-car.
If your home doesn’t have a garage and you’ve been thinking of adding one, the garage premium might be a clincher. Particularly since the cost of your new garage may be lower than you think.
The national average is about $26,500, according to HomeAdvisor, but there are a lot of variables that can reduce the price.
Building an attached garage costs less than a detached one, and single-car is cheaper than a two-car garage.
For a single-car attached garage, you can expect to pay between $7,500 and $10,000. The cost of a detached garage of the same size ranges from $9,000 to $12,000, but that’s without electricity, plumbing, and heating and cooling. Adding that stuff increases the price to around $14,000, HomeAdvisor says.
A two-car garage can cost more than double what you’d pay for a one-car.
Depending on the amount of equity you have in your house, you could tap some of it to finance your new garage, using a home equity loan or a home equity line of credit (HELOC).
Here’s one way to think of the garage question, especially if you paid a lot for your car (too much?) and it’s your “baby”: You have a nice home. Doesn’t your car deserve one, too?