How often do you use your garage? Do you even own a vehicle? If you do, how often do you park it in the garage?
Many homeowners will just park on the street or in their driveway. If this is the case, then you may want to use that unused garage space for something else.
In fact, even if you do park your car in the garage, you may want to consider leaving it outdoors so that you can convert the garage to a more useful space.
As far as what to convert the garage into, you should strongly consider converting the space into a bedroom.
The following are five reasons why you should convert a garage into a bedroom:
1. You need the extra space
People don’t always plan ahead when they buy a new home.
Maybe you bought a two-bedroom thinking that would be plenty of space, and now you have two kids with another on the way. A third bedroom would sure be useful in this case, wouldn’t it?
If it looks like it’s going to get crowded pretty soon because your family is expanding, then converting your garage into another bedroom is an excellent way to increase the amount of living space in your home.
Even if you aren’t planning on expanding your family anymore, maybe your parents need to move in with you sometime in the future because they can no longer live on their own – but you don’t want to just leave them in a retirement home.
2. You want a guest bedroom
How often do you have guests over to your home?
If you find that you have old friends or family members coming to visit on a regular basis – or if your home becomes the gathering point during the holiday season – then having a guest bedroom can make things a lot more comfortable for everyone.
You’ll no longer have to blow up that air mattress in the middle of the living room or make your guests sleep on the couch. If you convert a garage into a bedroom for your guests, then not only will you give your guests more privacy and comfort, you’ll make things more comfortable for yourself as well.
There’s nothing more awkward or frustrating than not being able to sit in the living room and watch TV because your guests are still sleeping – or have gone to sleep early, after all.
3. You can make some money by renting it out
Mortgage payments can be quite expensive. If things are a little tight – or if you simply want to make some extra money, then you might want to consider renting out a room.
By converting your garage to a bedroom, you’ll have an easier time finding people who will be willing to rent a room in your home. This is because they will have more privacy – especially if you make sure that the converted garage has its own entrance.
It will also be less inconvenient for you and your family since you won’t have someone from outside the family wandering through the main parts of your home.
Of course, different areas have different building and housing codes for rental units. So, if the ability to rent out your converted garage is important to you, make sure your contractor plans for this.
4. It’s cheaper to convert a garage into a bedroom
Technically, if you needed an extra bedroom or wanted a guest bedroom, you could just build an addition to your home. However, this is much more expensive than simply converting the garage.
While you may end up investing between $7,500 to $20,000 into converting the garage depending on certain factors (such as if you need to do plumbing work in order to add a bathroom to the space), you’re going to spend more on an addition.
Not only do you have to actually build the walls, floor and roof, which will require materials and labor, you’ll also have to do plumbing and electrical work.
A home addition can end up costing between $21,694 and $62,999 on average.
5. It’s more practical to convert a garage into a bedroom
Even if you’re willing to invest the money required to build an additional bedroom instead of converting your garage, you may not be allowed to.
A lot depends on the building regulations of your town as well as those of your Homeowner’s Association (HOA). The HOA you belong to may not allow any homes to build add-ons as a way to preserve the neighborhood’s specific aesthetic look and to keep it from affecting the values of the other homes around you.
Even if you can get the necessary permits to build on to your property, you may not have the necessary space – and you may not want to take up all the space in your yard either.
Want To Convert Your Garage?
Are you in Nassau or Suffolk County and considering converting your garage into a bedroom (or any other type of living space for that matter)? If so, we can help you out.
Click the button below and submit your contact details so we can schedule a FREE in-home estimate.
